At a glance:
Working under the assumption that Mary’s assumption actually took place; the next step in her exaltation is to crown her as Queen of heaven. This comes from a misidentification and misapplication of the woman in Revelation 12. In the Vatican approved Bible, The New Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (translated from the Latin Vulgate, A Revision of the Challoner-Rheims Version) we find the following footnote: “this is not the Blessed Virgin, for the details of the prophecy do not fit her…By accommodation the Church applies this verse to the Blessed Virgin.” In the Bible the “Queen of Heaven” is an idol, an abomination to God.
The Catholic Catechism #966 states, “Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death.”1
“The title ‘Queen’ was first used in association with Mary by Pope Martin in the seventh century. Boniface IX (1389-1404) called her ‘Perfect Queen, royal Virgin, Queen of the heavens.’ Sixtus IV in the following century acknowledged her as ‘Queen of Heaven.’”2
Mark Brumley reasons, “as Christ, the new Adam, must be called a King not merely because He is Son of God, but also because He is our Redeemer, so, analogously, the Most Blessed Virgin is queen not only because she is Mother of God, but also because, as the new Eve, she was associated with the new Adam (Ad Caeli Reginam, no. 38).”3
Saint John Chrysostom wrote:
May we all receive the benefit of having recourse to the holy Virgin and Mother of God. Those of you who are now virgins should be devoted to the Mother of the Lord, because it is she who procures for you this fair and incorruptible possession…Who is holier than she? She is unsurpassed by our ancestors, by the prophets, apostles, or martyrs, by these patriarchs or the Fathers, by the angels, thrones, dominions, seraphim, or cherubim, or by any other created thing visible or invisible…If your beliefs correspond to your own ideas, perceive your danger.
But if you believe the word that is preached, it is no longer you who must render an account but the bishop. Believe what we say about the Virgin…Do you desire to know how far the Virgin surpasses the powers of heaven? Give me your attention then. They veil their faces as they hover in fear and trembling, but she offers the human race to God, and through her we receive the forgiveness of our sins…the boast and foundation of our Church. Plead earnestly for us that through you we may obtain mercy on the Day of Judgment.4
The Bible Makes Very Clear Who is Ruler Over All Things:
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’” (Matthew 28:18).
“And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy” (Colossians 1:18).
“He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery’—just as I have received authority from my Father” (Revelation 2:27, Jesus quoting Psalm 2:8-9).
“in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way” (Ephesians 1:20-23).
God “has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe” (Hebrews 1:2).
“‘you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet.’ In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him” (Hebrews 2:7-8).
Note that these statements are all made in the singular He, Him, Jesus, is given everything, not they nor them and there is no sharing of power.
The Real Queen of Heaven:
Now we present some rather lengthy quotations from Jeremiah in order to show what the Bible has to say about the Queen of Heaven.
New American Bible; Jeremiah 7:12-13, 17-20, 24-28, 30:
You may go to Shiloh, which I made the dwelling for my name in the beginning. See what I did to it because of the wickedness of my people Israel. And now because you have committed all these misdeeds, says the LORD, because you did not listen, though I spoke to you untiringly; because you did not answer… Do you not see what you are doing in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, the fathers light the fire, and the women knead the dough and make cakes for the queen of heaven, while libations are poured to strange gods in order to hurt. Is it I whom they hurt, says the LORD; is it not rather themselves, to their own confusion? See now, says the LORD God, my anger and my wrath will pour out upon this place… But they obeyed not, nor did they pay heed. They walked in the hardness of their evil hearts and turned their backs, not their faces, to me. From the day that your fathers left the land of Egypt even to this day, I have sent untiringly all my servants the prophets. Yet they have not obeyed me nor paid heed; they have stiffened their necks and done worst than their fathers.
When you speak all these words to them, they will not listen to you either; when you call to them, they will not answer you. Say to them: This is the nation which does not listen to the voice of the LORD, its God, or take correction. Faithfulness has disappeared; the word itself has vanished from their lips…The people of Judah have done evil in my eyes, says the LORD. They have defiled the house which bears my Name by setting up their abominable idols.’
Jeremiah 44:15-28:
Then all the men who knew that their wives were burning incense to other gods, along with all the women who were present—a large assembly—and all the people living in Lower and Upper Egypt, said to Jeremiah, ‘We will not listen to the message you have spoken to us in the name of the LORD! We will certainly do everything we said we would: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and will pour out drink offerings to her just as we and our fathers, our kings and our officials did in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and were well off and suffered no harm. But ever since we stopped burning incense to the Queen of Heaven and pouring out drink offerings to her, we have had nothing and have been perishing by sword and famine.’ The women added, ‘When we burned incense to the Queen of Heaven and poured out drink offerings to her, did not our husbands know that we were making cakes like her image and pouring out drink offerings to her?’ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, both men and women, who were answering him, ‘Did not the LORD remember and think about the incense burned in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem by you and your fathers, your kings and your officials and the people of the land? When the LORD could no longer endure your wicked actions and the detestable things you did, your land became an object of cursing and a desolate waste without inhabitants, as it is today. Because you have burned incense and have sinned against the LORD and have not obeyed him or followed his law or his decrees or his stipulations, this disaster has come upon you, as you now see.’ Then Jeremiah said to all the people, including the women, ‘Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah in Egypt. This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: You and your wives have shown by your actions what you promised when you said,
‘We will certainly carry out the vows we made to burn incense and pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven.’ ‘Go ahead then, do what you promised! Keep your vows! But hear the word of the LORD, all Jews living in Egypt: ‘I swear by my great name,’ says the LORD, ‘that no one from Judah living anywhere in Egypt will ever again invoke my name or swear, ‘As surely as the Sovereign LORD lives.’ For I am watching over them for harm, not for good; the Jews in Egypt will perish by sword and famine until they are all destroyed. Those who escape the sword and return to the land of Judah from Egypt will be very few. Then the whole remnant of Judah who came to live in Egypt will know whose word will stand—mine or theirs.’
Clearly the Queen of Heaven was a false goddess, an idol, an abomination to God. To refer to Mary as the Queen of Heaven is to incriminate her and those who hold to that tradition, it is offensive to the real blessed Mary. Equaly clear is that, as we have seen in the essays Immaculately Conceived?, Sinless?, Coronation in Heaven? and here in Queen of Heaven?, a choice must be made concerning Marian dogma.
Either Mary is the woman in Revelation 12 and she was crowned in heaven as Queen of Heaven, but she was not immaculately conceived. Or else, Mary was immaculately conceived but is not the woman in Revelation 12 and therefore, was not assumed into heaven and was not crowned as Queen of Heaven.
This is because the woman in Rev. 12 is suffering from the pain of child birth, which means that she is suffering from the stain of original sin and therefore, not immaculate (see Genesis 3:16). Also note that the answer given to Jeremiah is much like the answer given today, when people place candles, flowers, rosaries, scapulars, etc., before the statues of Mary the response is that “Things are well and so we’ll keep doing it.” Pragmatism is not kosher.
Mark Brumley and The Catholic Faith Magazine:
I have decided to a dedicate a section of this article to respond to an article written by Mark Brumley, managing editor of The Catholic Faith5 magazine (hereinafter TCF). While responding to the whole article would take up more room then we can offer here, we will comment on certain attempts to defend Mary as being Queen of Heaven.
Mark Brumley as well as Catholic apologist Tim Staples make a fairly common argument, TCF states:
In 1 Kings 2:19, Bathsheba, the queen mother of Solomon, is honored by her son, who stands to greet her and pays her homage when she comes to him on a matter of state. The Bible declares, ‘Then he sat down upon his throne, and a throne was provided for the king’s mother, who sat at his right.’
Firstly, note that in Ad Diem Illum-10, Pius X wrote, “Mary as Queen stands at His right hand.” Note that in order to force 1st Kings 2:19 to speak of Mary, apologists make her sit at the king’s side but when the Pope himself spoke out on this issue, he says that she stands. Do not consider this as a petty issue because the apologists who claim to be part of the one true holy mother church are contradicting the Pope who is supposed to be their infallible leader.
Secondly, we point out that while according to Israeli monarchical filial piety the king may have his mother sit by his side, God tells us “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD” (Isaiah 55:8).
Moreover, we must wonder if 1st Kings 2:19 is a good example to use of Mary’s relationship to Jesus, particularly of her role as co-mediatrix? Verses 19-20 are very useful indeed:
Bathsheba therefore went to King Solomon, to speak to him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her and bowed down to her, and sat down on his throne and had a throne set for the king’s mother; so she sat at his right hand. Then she said, ‘I desire one small petition of you; do not refuse me.’ And the king said to her, ‘Ask it, my mother, for I will not refuse you.’
But we must ask whatever came of this request? Verses 23-25 state:
Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying, ‘May God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah has not spoken this word against his own life! Now therefore, as the LORD lives, who has confirmed me and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has established a house for me, as He promised, Adonijah shall be put to death today!’ So King Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he struck him down, and he died.
Following this we find out that Joab and Shimei are also executed (v. 34 and 46). Certainly, this is not the sort of text we ought to exploit in an eisegetical (or, isogetical) manner in order to claim that the Scripture is stating that which it is not.
Pope Paul VI wrote:
To the Catholic bishops of the world. Venerable brothers, health and apostolic blessings. THE GREAT SIGN which the Apostle John saw in heaven, ‘a woman clothed with the sun,’ is interpreted by the sacred Liturgy6, not without foundation, as referring to the most blessed Mary, the mother of all men by the grace of Christ the Redeemer.7
TCF:
But who is the Woman? Some commentators have argued that she is the Church, not Mary. Others see the Woman as the Old Testament People of God personified, e.g., the Daughter of Zion. Both of these interpretations have merit, for both express aspects of the Woman. Yet neither of these interpretations is sufficient by itself. Mary must also be included in the passage, though the case for a Marian interpretation of the text is not as obvious as it may seem at first glance…
For one thing, the Woman gives birth ‘in travail,’ seemingly contrary to the tradition that Mary was exempt from the pangs of birth…Revelation 12 seems to be such a messianic and prophetic interpretation of Genesis 3:15, so it seems likely that the Woman is Mary. That said, elements of the other two interpretations can be brought together in a Marian interpretation (cf. Redemptoris Mater 24, 47).
What Mark Brumley does in order to force Revelation 12 to speak of Mary is to take three interpretations of the text, the views that interpret the woman as Israel, as the church and as Mary. He then rejects some of the framework of each interpretation, glues together what is left over and he ends up with an interpretation which he thinks fits Mary and proves that she is the Queen of Heaven. One of the odd things that he is forced to do is explain away the woman’s stain of original sin, TCF, “If the childbirth in travail does refer to the crucifixion, then the Woman of Rev 12 could just as well be Mary at the foot of the Cross.” He makes this very odd statement because he points out that Jesus likened the sorrow of His crucifixion to childbirth in saying to his Apostles, “you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world” (John 16:20-21).
Of course the difference is that while to the Apostles Jesus spoke of birth pangs metaphorically, in Rev. 12 the woman is literally giving birth. Also, note that while the Apostles knew that Jesus was going to be killed, Mary did not know it at the time of His birth (which is what Revelation 12 is supposed to be about) rather, Mary found out later on that something terrible would befall Jesus (see Luke 2:33-35).
Indeed, the woman in Revelation 12 is Mary only in as much as it accords with Roman Catholic theology. Consider that in 12:17 it states, “the dragon went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who kept God’s commandments and give witness to Jesus” (Roman Catholic New American Bible). See the point? If Mary was perpetually a virgin then who are the rest of her offspring? The Roman Catholic Douay Version translated from the Latin Vulgate reads “the rest of her seed.”
TCF:
According to the Book of Revelation, Jesus has made His followers ‘a kingdom and priests’ that ‘will reign on earth’ (Rev 5:10; cf. Rev 1:6)…2 Timothy 2:11-12: ‘If we have died with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with him.’ In Revelation 2:26, the Lord Himself declares, ‘He who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, I will give him power over the nations, and he shall rule them with an iron rod, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received power from my Father’ (RSV)…
the aforementioned texts refer to faithful Christians in general. Yet if they apply to all faithful Christians, then surely they also apply to Mary specifically, especially given her deep union with her Son. If all faithful Christians are to reign with Christ as ‘kings’ and ‘queens,’ it makes no sense to object to calling Mary ‘Queen,’ for she, too, is a faithful follower of Jesus.
If we grant this argument, then by its logical conclusion the Catholic Church should be just as adamant in referring to King Peter, King Paul, Queen Priscilla, Queen Magdalene and so on, given their deep union with Jesus, but we find no such thing. In other words the title Queen of Heaven is protected and justified by the above argument, but the above argument is never followed through and applied to “His followers ‘a kingdom and priests’ that ‘will reign on earth’…faithful Christians in general.”
This reasoning does not escape Mark Brumley who further states in TCF:
Calling Mary ‘Queen’ unduly singles her out; all the saints in glory are kings and queens in Christ…The fact that all the saints in glory have a royal dignity does not mean Mary should not be given the title ‘Queen,’…Mary alone is the Queen Mother of the Messiah in the literal sense. Finally, Scripture itself declares that ‘all ages shall call’ the Virgin blessed (Lk 1:48)…And if Scripture itself singles out Mary in a special way as the one especially blessed by God to be the Mother of the King of Kings, then how can it be objectionable for Christians to acknowledge this?
Simply stated, since the Bible refers to Mary as blessed then we may acknowledge her as blessed and since it does not refer to her as Queen of Heaven then we are under absolutely no obligation to acknowledge her as such. Note also that while it is undeniable that Mary was blessed, so were all believers, here are some examples:
Blessed are the poor in spirit…Blessed are those who mourn…Blessed are the meek…Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Blessed are the merciful…Blessed are the pure in heart…Blessed are the peacemakers…Blessed are the eyes that see what you see…Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Matthew 5:3-9; Luke 10:23; Revelation 14:13).
In responding to those who state that Mary is given the title Queen of Heaven (which is an idol, a goddess and an abomination to God), the argument is made in TCF that “The fact that the Devil (or the wicked King of Babylon, depending on your interpretation) is called ‘the morning star’ in Isaiah 14:12 does not mean we cannot use the same title to refer to Jesus, as in 2 Peter 1:19 and Revelation 22:16.” We point out that technically it is Lucifer and not the devil who is referred to as the morning star. What we mean is that Lucifer only became the devil or satan (the adversary) after his rebellion. Lucifer means light bearer, shining one, luminescent, and so when Isaiah refers to Lucifer as the morning star he is referring to Lucifer the anointed cherub, the faithful servant of God, the high ranking angel, not the adversary, the father of lies whom he later became.
Thus, referring to Jesus as the morning star, is to refer to Him as a faithful servant of His Father, the anointed, a light, as is made obvious by Peter’s reference to “a lamp shining in a dark place” (2nd Peter 1:19) and John’s recording of the words of Jesus stating that He is “the bright and Morning Star” (Revelation 22:16). In contrast the Queen of Heaven was nothing more than an idol, a goddess and an abomination to God.