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Are visions of the Virgin Mary REAL?
Did the children of Fatima see Mary?
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Q. I'm curious to your opinion about the children of Fatima or other people that
claim to have been visited by the Virgin Mary. Do you think this was something
inspired by God? (Submitted by: Sandy) A. The problem we face here is twofold: - Are the dead alive?
- Can other spirit beings besides God and the holy angels visit people?
So then, is the Virgin Mary presently conscious, in heaven or elsewhere? Can she then visit people on earth? But if the dead aren't conscious, then the Virgin Mary can't be visiting anyone. This leads to the whole issue of the state of the dead and whether or not they have an immortal soul. For if the dead are dead, then they can't visit anyone, including in (for example) seances. Notice especially Ecclesiastes 9:5-6, 10: "For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward; but the memory of them is lost. Their love and their hate and their envy have already perished, and they have no more for ever any share in all that is done under the sun. . . . Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol [the grave], to which you are going." So now, if the dead aren't conscious until the resurrection, then the Virgin Mary couldn't be leaving heaven to visit people.
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But then, this leads to the other question above: Are there other spirit beings who may be visiting the dead? And are they good spirit beings . . . or evil ones? I maintain that in any case in which fakery isn't going on (and the famous magician Houdini found lots of that when investigating mediums who held seances, etc., early in the 20th century), but a real spirit force is involved, it's a "angel" who is lying. That means it's an evil angel, or demon, who is doing it then. A good case of this can be found when King Saul got a purported visit from the judge Samuel when the former went to the "witch" (really, medium) at Endor in 1 Samuel 28:3-25. Notice that "Samuel" here told Saul in advance a true prediction of his dreadful fate. So this means that not everything a demon says has to be wrong or false in a seance. (Compare this demon's way of operating to what God let Satan do in Job 1-2). Hence, not everything the children of Fatima hear from "The Virgin Mary" would be false. But such a spiritual source shouldn't be relied upon.
One way to judge such revelations is whether or not they agree with prior revelations from God and whether or not they always come true if they are predictions (see Deuteronomy 13:1-5; 18:18-22). Hence, if a prophet makes any false statements that don't agree with the Bible's teachings or false predictions, nothing he (or she) says should be relied upon as really being from God. I can tell you know about this principle at least implicitly when noting that praying the rosary (i.e., a purported "good work") in order to enter heaven contradicts what the Bible says about Jesus being the only way (John 14:6). But, of course, that does lead to the issue of whether anyone who has died is now in heaven (see John 3:13 and Acts 2:29, 34) . . . Obviously, we shouldn't pray to the Virgin Mary since only God should be worshipped (see Luke 4:8, which cites Deuteronomy 6:13). So if these "revelations" contradict the Bible, it's time to throw all of them out as spiritually reliable! Recommended Bible Study Resources: Answer Given By: Eric Snow
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