The Lost Gospel of Mary: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts [Hardcover]

Frederica Mathewes-Green (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2007

Some Christians have piled the status of the mother of Jesus so high that it rivals that of her Son. Others ignore the Virgin Mary entirely. Behind all of the images is a girl who grew up to be the mother of Christ. How did the first Christians view her? What were the commonly understood facts about the Blessed Mother's early life --- before the Annunciation? How did Mary, the mother of Jesus, become the Theotokos? Frederica Mathewes-Green opens up the Virgin Mary's early life, offering a window into her centrality to the Christian Faith in new and sometimes startling ways.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The Virgin Mary means different things to different cultures--the flower of femininity or the champion of feminism; the paragon of obedience or the advocate of liberation. Which view of her you take depends on what cultural side you're on. In this slim volume, Mathewes-Green tries to uncover the Mary that early Christians knew through a reading of three ancient texts: a narrative of Mary's life that Mathewes-Green calls the Gospel of Mary, which was written in 150 and was extremely popular in its day; a brief prayer to Mary, found in Egypt on papyrus dated to 250, though Mathewes-Green thinks it is probably older; and a long hymn written by the Syrian deacon St. Romanos that is considered one of the finest examples of Eastern Christian poetry. By examining these texts, Mathewes-Green offers a new perspective on Mary's life, legacy, and meaning for generations of Christians. Advocates of Marian literature will surely appreciate Mathewes-Green's thoughtful comments. June Sawyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Do you want to get to know Mary a bit better? Are you interested in entering a faithful Marian spirituality? Let Fredrica Mathewes-Green Facilitat a rich, traditional, authantic meeting of Mary. When it comes to spending time with the mother of our Lord, this book is second only to scripture." -- Lauren F. Winner

"Frederica Mathewes-Green is a sparkling writer. In The Lost Gospel of Mary, not only is her material fascinating, but so is her perspective as a thoughtful and irenic Orthodox Christian. There is much here to warm the heart as it engages the mind from here to warm the heart as it engages the mind from early in our comon Christian tradition." -- Brian McLaren, author of A Generous Orthodoxy

"The Mary that Frederica Mathewes-Green gives us in these winsome texts- a palably real women, at once humble and exalted-transcends the differences that persist even today among the main streams of the Christian Tradition, not least because this Mary points beyond herself to the ultimate source of our hope and our joy" -- John Wilson

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 159 pages
• Publisher: Paraclete Pr (April 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557255369
• ISBN-13: 978-1557255365
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #922,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Well Done, March 3, 2010

By 

Charles R. Wiese - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Lost Gospel of Mary: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts (Hardcover)

Paraclete Press sent me a complimentary copy of The Lost Gospel of Mary by Frederica Mathewes-Green. The title might suggest a sensationalistic book which contains some supposedly lost gnostic writings that tell us about the real Mary--a Mary that is nothing like the Mary found in the Christian Scriptures. But that's not the case at all. Paraclete Press is probably trying to attract the attention of those who are interested in gnostic writings but the scholarship within the book is very good. The book contains three texts from the early church that are either about or addressed to Mary with lots of introductory material and commentary.

The first text is the longest and is my favorite. Most scholars refer to it as the Protevangelium of James. Frederica Mathewes-Green calls it the Gospel of Mary and her title is fitting. This was written sometime before AD 150 and is all about the life of Mary from her birth through the birth of Christ. In the early church some regarded it as canonical. It fills in some interesting information about her betrothal and supports the tradition that Mary remained a virgin through the birthing process. Frederica Mathewes-Green writes within the Eastern Orthodox tradition and offers a pretty balanced view of how we should regard this document. I don't see anything in this text that contradicts the Scriptures--just some filling in of details. I'm suspicious of a few of the details in the story but the bulk of it seems believable. There are a few translations of this text floating around the internet but this translations is the easiest read and has lots of helpful notes.

The second text is a prayer addressed to Mary, asking her for protection that was written around AD 250. This text does not really tell us about Mary and who she is. I don't believe this is practice that we should imitate but it does help us understand how some in the early church understood Mary. Mary certainly does pray for us but we have no promise that Mary hears our prayers.

The third text was written by St. Romanos around AD 520. The Eastern Orthodox refer to it as the "Akathist Hymn." Frederica Mathewes-Green appropriately calls it the "Annunciation Hymn." It is sung from the perspective of Gabriel. There are many Scriptural allusions throughout the hymn and some very clever poetic work that brings out some profound theological truth. I'm not saying agree with everything the hymn says about Mary but there is much truth to be found there and some excellent poetry. Frederica Mathewes-Green does caution against taking some of the things that are said about Mary too literally.

I disagree with some of the theology of the book but I still recommend it highly. Frederica Mathewes-Green has a real gift for being able to communicate to those outside of her own tradition without pandering to them or misleading them.

22 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this Book, April 27, 2007

By 

John F. Michalski "I am a human being, and re... (Dubuque, IA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Lost Gospel of Mary: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts (Hardcover)

Like all of Ms. Mathewes-Green's books, this is a joy to read as well as nourishing food for the soul. If you come from one of the Protestant traditions (as does the author herself) forget everything you think you know about the tradition of Mary. This little gem will introduce you to a beautiful, new world.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that tells us "the rest of the story...", October 23, 2010

By 

Beachgirl61 (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lost Gospel of Mary: The Mother of Jesus in Three Ancient Texts (Hardcover)

Christianity is derived from two sources: Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. All too often, Scripture is emphasized more so than tradition. In this book Ms. Mathewes-Green introduces us to the Sacred Tradition behind Mary and the events leading up to the birth of Christ. I really appreciated the way she outlined the Protoevangelium and made it easy for people to understand. This 'pre-gospel' written by James the brother of Jesus is not one that is accepted by Protestants and even some Catholics get 'nervous' about it, but I feel that even though it is not a part of the recognized "canon" it is still a very interesting and useful source for Christians to understand why the Theotokos the Virgin Mary is important for us to respect, and it demonstrates in detail how her example of obedience to God is a good example for all of us to follow.