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Mary, Mother of God

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In a very real sense, creation is incomplete until the occurrence of the Incarnation. Most theologians from the ancient Church would agree that God would have become incarnate regardless of the fall, our felix culpa. And Mary is a pivotal character and reason for this event. But many Christians have no idea about Mary. I remember growing up as a Lutheran and the only time Mary was hardly ever mentioned was during the Christmas sermon since it is generally hard to ignore her part in the story. Even there it was reiterated, in typical Lutheran fashion, that she was "just as much of a sinner as the rest of us, that all have sinned and fall short of God's glory and that there is only one mediator between God and man, and that is Jesus. So let's talk about Jesus..."

As I moved away from that tradition and embraced Eastern Orthodoxy, I was amazed to realize that Christians from the beginning have fulfilled her prophecy that "all generations will call me blessed" by venerating her as the Mother/Birth Giver of God (Theotokos) and that her prayers were asked for in the ancient liturgies and that her image was painted frequently and that she was considered the essential Christian, given her willingness to do the will of God even as it cost her everything.

This fantastic little book is a must read for anyone interested in learning why she has such a profound place in the inner life of the Church from the start, and it is especially recommended for Protestants who are suspicious of the "Mary thing", since many of the contributors are confessing Protestants who are in no way selling the farm to be like Catholics or Orthodox. They simply recognize the full reality of what the Incarnation means, and what it means about Jesus' mom, Mary.

Take a look at the table of contents; a great collection of theologians is there. Much of the book deals with Christology, or "who is Jesus", and rightly so, since every teaching about Mary is really an affirmation of the full divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, our one mediator between God and man. (But don't forget that we are obliged to ask each other for prayers, so why not His mom above all others? Which leads me to some other recommendations about that...

On the communion of saints see Any Friend of God's Is a Friend of Mine. More on Mary in the life of the Church and history see Mary: The Untrodden Portal of God - Expanded and Revised Edition with a General Index, Mary Through the Centuries: Her Place in the History of Culture, Celebration of Faith, vol. III: The Virgin Mary and, for how Mary is active on behalf of all Christians, along with the others in Christ, see Father Arseny, 1893-1973: Priest, Prisoner, Spiritual Father : Being the Narratives Compiled by the Servant of God Alexander Concerning His Spiritual Father and The Mountain of Silence: A Search for Orthodox Spirituality.

Enjoy!

This is fascinating collection of papers given at a conference in 2002 to examine just how the church has and should honor Mary as blessed by all generations.

The reading of this collection of theologians of various confessional strains (Catholic, Protestant, Lutheran, Orthodox) is most worthwhile in primarily exposing one to where the theological thinking is coming from in certain circles of Christianity regarding Mary.

It has an overall theme of trying to show that most of Protestantism has moved away from blessing Mary properly and Biblically. It seeks to do this on two areas: one that she is model and example for faith believers responding to Word; and secondly, that she is an agent is lives of believers, through prayer to and from her.

While most of us can concur with the sad assessment that many do not fulfill the Biblical blessing of all generations, what most will not and should not concur with is the false move to Mary being an agent in redemptive work and thus should receive our intercessory prayers, etc. While most of the contributors state that there is Biblical support for this, this reviewer finds it unconvincing. Too much conjecture. This seems to be tied to Vulgate's rendering in Lk. 1:28 "full of grace." This as one commentator states: "may be rightly understood in the sense of 'unmerited grace received from God," but the passive Greek participle and the context are abused if interpreted as "grace now available to other." Mary is a vessel to receive, not a fountain to dispense. Equally wrong would be a grace merited. The idea of merit is incompatible with the character of divine grace (cf. Rom. 4:4, 14) and the human depravity. If worthiness is asserted, grace vanishes, and the Gospel is replaced with Law."

Truly opens one's theological ears and eyes to the issues. Certainly worth read for those interested in this engaging and most relevant topic.