Devotion to the "Blessed Virgin Mary" (as she is commonly
called by Catholics) has been a centerpiece of Catholic belief and
piety for centuries. However, the last century and a half has seen
a dramatic increase in Marian devotion. This resurgence of the
"cultus of the Virgin" can be attributed to two primary factors.
First, Mary's already exalted status in the church was
substantially enhanced by Catholicism's official acceptance of the
Marian dogmas known as the Immaculate Conception (1854) and the
Assumption (1950).[1] The second force behind Mary's growth in
popularity, especially among the laity, is not so much doctrinal as
experiential. It is her alleged appearances to people throughout
the world.
These appearances (called _apparitions_) have occurred with
increasing frequency since the nineteenth century, and have
attracted widespread attention. Pope Pius XII, in calling attention
to the apparitions, referred to the nineteenth century as the
"century of Marian predilection [i.e., preference]." And the
present century cannot be far behind: one leading Marian scholar
notes that there have been more than 200 reported apparitions since
the 1930s alone.[2] With the various shrines dedicated to the
particular apparitions attracting millions of pilgrims each year,
it is easy to see that this phenomenon is having a substantial
impact on the almost one-billion-member Roman Catholic church.
The focus of this two-part article will be to address this
somewhat mysterious matter of Marian apparitions. In approaching
this unusual phenomenon, many questions immediately arise. What
actually is an apparition? What were the circumstances surrounding
these supposed appearances? How does the Catholic church officially
evaluate these claims? And more importantly, at least for
evangelicals, what is the biblical perspective on these events? Are
they supernatural in origin, or is there some natural or
psychological explanation?...
Source File: crj0078a.txt
...d." CRI researcher Ken Samples, who specializes in Roman Catholicism, is presently evaluating the Medjugorje phenomenon. He presents a summary of his findings in the Winter and Spring 1991 issues of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL and are available in file form under the original CRI file names crj0078a.txt and CRJ0079A.TXT. *Harvest House Withdraws _Satan's Underground._* The February 19, 1990 issue of _Christianity Today (CT)_ reports that _Satan's Underground,_ Lauren Stratford's controversial story of satanic worship and ritual abuse, has been withdrawn from publication by Harvest House Publishers. Since its release in 1988, more than 130,000 copies of the book have been sold. In it, Stratford describes a horrid past of sexual abuse, pornography, prostitution, and eventually Satanism. She also alleges that two children she bore were killed in "snuff" films, and a third sac...
Source File: crn0020a.txt
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