"The Catholic Mary": Quite Contrary to the Bible?
The “Catholic” Mary and the “biblical” Mary are one and the same — that’s Dave Armstrong’s thesis, against the Protestant claim that Catholic Marian devotion corrupts the humble handmaiden of the Gospels into something contrary to Scripture. Twenty-one chapters of biblical and rational defense, one doctrine at a time.
Armstrong takes on the harder cases head-on: the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, the perpetual virginity, asking Mary to intercede, the Rosary, the flowery devotional language of saints like Louis de Montfort and Alphonsus de Liguori, and Mary’s role as a distributor of God’s grace. Each doctrine grounded in Scripture and analogy, each common objection answered, each devotional excess unpacked on its own terms rather than as caricature.
Includes a quiet bombshell that catches Protestant readers off guard — chapter 10 documents the historical Reformers themselves affirming Mary’s perpetual virginity. The result: a complete biblical and rational case for every Catholic Marian belief and practice, written for readers willing to actually engage the texts.
Inside this book
- Biblical and analogical arguments for the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, and the Perpetual Virginity
- Why Catholics ask Mary to pray for them rather than praying directly to God
- A reading of St. Louis de Montfort’s *True Devotion* and St. Alphonsus de Liguori’s *Glories of Mary* on their own terms — not as caricatures
- Traditional Protestant Reformers who themselves affirmed Mary’s perpetual virginity (Chapter 10)
- The misquoted “Pope Pius XII placed Mary in the Trinity” charge, untangled