Do Christians worship Mary?

This question comes up because of the verse in the Quran:

God will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "O Jesus, son of Mary! Did you say unto men: ‘Take me and my mother as deities beside God?’"  He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say).  Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it.  You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours; truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden.  Never did I say to them except what You commanded me - worship God, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up, You were the Watcher over them; and You are a Witness to all things.
(Quran 5:116-117)

Of course,  different Christians can do different things.  Some may worship Mary as a god.  But does the Bible permit worship of anyone but God?

Here are some verses that command against worship of any other than God:

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God
--Exodus 20:5

And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
--Luke 4:8

 And the people gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man. And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
--Acts 12:22-23


And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things.
Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
--Revelation 22:8-9

Similarities between Isaac and Jesus

In discussion with Muslims, the topic of Isaac tends to come up.  I once attended an interfaith dinner where all the talks were about Abraham, so that is how it arose.

There are several parallels between Isaac and Jesus that are useful to know about:

1. miracle birth

2. nations would be blessed

3. sacrificed by father; Father's very advanced age, like God

4. carried wood to sacrifice--or tried to

5. "Only begotten"


From the bottom of the wiki article, I see that the Greek OT used the word monogenes for Isaac, and so John 3:16 uses this word.
At the time of this incident,  Abraham had Ishmael and Isaac, so Isaac is not  the "only" son, but Isaac is called monogenes.

Here is the Wiki article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monogen%C4%93s

What is the Christian Form of Government?

I was once asked about what form of government that the Bible prescribes.
Islam has the concept of sharia law, so is there an equivalent concept in Christianity?

Actually, Christianity does not have a concept of a government that is comparable to what Muslims have.

Jesus said, "my kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).  He was not establishing a form of government.

Paul writes about government,

...he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
--Romans 13:4

Here the Government has the sword, not the church. The symbol for Christianity is the cross, but the symbol of Islam is the sword, specifically a Scimitar  (a  cured sword).  See the Wiki page.

What Christianity offers in place a form of government is the Kingdom of God.  The first words of Jesus in Mark's gospel are about this:

14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
--Mark 1

Where is the kingdom of God?  It is where ever people are obedient to God.  When Adam and Eve ate the fruit that was forbidden, they rebelled against the rule of God over them.

 The ultimate expression of this rebellion is described in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 with  "the man of lawlessness" (NASB).

However, God offers you the opportunity to be restored to fellowship if you repent and submit to his authority if you repent and believe the Gospel.  This is government directly from God, not from man.