It is a good and holy act for Christians to honor Mary and ask her intercession

ROUND 2 Rebuttal. "If my opponent can manage to prove that Catholics (namely those who are following proper Catholic tradition and teachings) worship Mary, then I invite the voters to give DATCMOTO the win." Tradition is precisely the problem: Mark 7:8 "You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions." Mark 7:13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that." "Honoring Mary Contention 1: Example of Scripture P1 (Premise 1)- We should follow the example of Christ" Nowhere is scripture do we observe Jesus or anyone else praying to anyone but the father or Jesus. *please note that my opponent has NOT provided scriptural evidence for his assertion. "P2- We should follow the example of holy Scriptural characters" Nowhere is the Bible do we observe any scriptural characters praying to anyone but Jesus or the Father. *please note that my opponent has NOT provided scriptural evidence for his assertion. "P3- Christ honored Mary by making her the Mother of God" He honoured her; He NEVER prayed to her. "P4- Elizabeth and the Angel Gabriel honored Mary" They honoured her; they NEVER prayed to her. "C1 (Conclusion 1)- We should follow the examples of Christ, Gabriel and Elizabeth and honor Mary" It is exactly BY following the examples of Christ, Gabriel and Elizabeth that we should NEVER come to the conclusion to pray to Mary, thus exulting her beyond her scriptural status and worshipping her. *please note that my opponent has NOT provided scriptural evidence for his assertion. "Contention 2: Scriptural Prophesy P1- In Luke 1:48 Mary says that 'all generations will call me blessed'." Mary, like everyone else, is blessed by God and so calling her blessed honours God and not Mary. "P2- Christians should follow the commands and advice of Scripture" There is no command in scripture to pray to Mary. *please note that my opponent has NOT provided scriptural evidence for his assertion. "C1- Christians should call Mary blessed (i.e. honor her) 'for all generations'" Calling Mary blessed honours God, NOT Mary. "Asking Mary's Intercession Contention 1: prayer is good P1- Asking for others to pray for you is a good thing" Asking others to pray for us and praying to someone in heaven are completely different acts with no connection in scripture what so ever. *please note that my opponent has NOT provided scriptural evidence for his assertion. "P2- The holier a person is, the more help their prayers will be" This would only apply having established scriptural authority for the contention. (that praying to someone in heaven and asking others to pray for you are somehow connected) "P3- Mary was a holy follower of Christ" 'Was' being the operative word. "C1- it is a good thing to ask Mary to pray for us" A theological 'house of cards' without a shred of scriptural foundation is MY conclusion. " For premise 3, the angel Gabriel calls Mary 'full of grace'. This title, at the very least, shows that Mary was not a serious sinner. " Mary was (your word; WAS) full of God's Grace NOT her own; it is ALL gift and ALL grace so to imbue Mary with Holiness and grace from her own being is clearly WORSHIP; worship that belongs to GOD. "Contention 2: Christ Listens to Mary P1- In John 2 Christ changes water into wine at the request of his mother" John 2:1-5 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine." "Woman,[a] why do you involve me?" Jesus replied. "My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever he tells you.", Within this passage is a teaching about authority NOT intercession: Jesus' mother is mentioned first because she was the invited guest at the wedding and Jesus and His disciples had 'also' been invited meaning they were Mary's guests. So Mary had authority over the servants and commanded them to obey her son, she took advantage of the one occasion she had authority because she was the principle guest. "C1- Christ will do things at the request of his mother which he may not have otherwise done" Even if this scripture were not already refuted, it would still be an enormous leap to go from here to praying to Mary. "C2- Mary's prayers can help us" A false conclusion without scriptural foundation. SUMMARY. My opponent has provided NO scriptural basis for praying to Mary and I have shown that all honour belongs to God. a