Universalism and necromancy in the messages of Medjugorje
There are several problems with the phenomena of Medjugorje, not to mention the basic theology. In the first place, There are some inconsistencies in the testimonies of the visionaries. The 30 June 1981 (the first week of the apparitions), the seers reported that the “Ma'am” it would only appear three more times. This is a proven mistake. Furthermore, when the apparitions began, they claimed there were five secrets. These were then changed to ten. They tried to explain these apparent contradictions, but in the wake of a thousand disputed messages, they have not succeeded.
There is also the problem that some messages are typical of New Age universalists (which implies the salvific validity of all religions). In 1981, a priest asked the visionaries: “all religions are good?” Their response was that the Lady says:
All religions are good before God
Some other time, in a message he stated:
You are not true Christians if you do not respect other religions. The division between religions is caused by man, not from God.
Laurentin tried to defend these statements by stating that the woman only asked for tolerance towards the different religions. however, even Vatican officials dealing with these messages claim that these messages are at least ambiguous, if not really universalist in content.
Another troubling aspect of Medjugorje is that some of the seers have seen, touched and talked to dead people. In the case of Ivanka, she hugged and kissed her dead mother. This sounds very similar to the occult practice of necromancy, a practice that the Bible explicitly condemns (Deut. 18:10-12; Isa. 08:19, 1 Chron. 10:13-14). While some may argue that this isn't technically necromancy, because the dead are not summoned, they are the seers who receive information from the dead – which is however quite foreign to Scripture and very similar to occult practice equally. We also argue that Mary is also among the dead. If contact with spirits is really happening, it must be concluded that it is communication with demons.
We would do well to heed the warnings of Scripture:
Examine everything and feel good” (1 Tess. 5:21)
Dear friends, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God (1 Giovanni 4:1).
It is not to be believed that the events of Medjugorje have been adequately tested for signs of the demonic. Spraying holy water mixed with salt is not enough. Another thing he reflects on is that Scripture teaches us to test spirits, is the fact that the woman who appeared in Lourdes and Fatima also initially refused to identify herself and this raised great suspicion about her true identity .
Whether the cause is demonic or human, in both cases the effect of this phenomenon is to lead people away from the truth of God's Word. In reality , if we are to succeed in guarding against this type of spiritual aberration, Sacred Scripture must be our filter. Protestants have long argued that what Catholicism has lacked and does not want to understand is to accept it supreme authority of Scripture. The lack of this authority allowed the Catholic doctrinal excesses found today in Mariology.
Who goes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of Christ, has not God. He who abides in the doctrine, He has the Father and the Son. (2Giovanni 9)
This is particularly tragic because the popularity of these apparitions shows that millions of Catholics are genuinely hungry for spiritual truth.
however, the truth that makes men free is found only in Christ of the apostolic writings. Therefore, it is precisely because of this respect for Christ and for Scripture (as well as the true honor of the mother of Christ) that we must protest against the Marian apparitions and the cult of the Virgin Mary.
