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How Do You solve a Problem Like Maria?
By Dwight Longenecker
Book Review: Mary, Mother of God, Carl E.Bratten, Robert Jenson (eds.), Eerdmans, Grand Rapids MI, 2004, 122 pp.
Kimberly Hahn, the wife of the eminent Catholic theologian (and former Presbyterian pastor) Scott Hahn, said there were three things that kept her from converting to the Catholic faith: “Mary, Mary and Mary”. Most Catholics are quite innocent of the enormous obstacle their veneration of the mother of Jesus presents to many Evangelicals. Evangelicals, for their part, cannot understand why Catholics insist on such an exalted role for Mary of Nazareth.
While the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission has recently expressed agreement on basic Marian beliefs, everyone is aware that the accomplishment, while laudable, is limited in its acceptance and effect. Most Anglican Evangelicals retain the traditional suspicion of Marian devotion and dogma, and are nowhere close to accepting ARCIC’s optimistic assessment.
All the more reason for this book. Mary Mother of God is a collection of essays by theologians representing the ‘three great traditions’ of Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy and Evangelicalism. All of them work in North America, but they know their respective traditions well and speak authoritatively from a scholarly, universal and historical perspective. The essays were first delivered at a conference in Minnesota which ‘brought scholars together to honor Mary in ways that are scripturally based, evangelically motivated, liturgically appropriate and ecumenically sensitive. The essays are creative, well written and (for the most part) accessible, making this volume an excellent and thoughtful way into Marian studies for theologians of all levels from all denominations.
In their introduction the editors reflect on the division in the Church over Mary. After observing Luther’s high regard for the Virgin Mary, they go on to admit that “Virtually all that was retained in the Protestant tradition of Luther’s Marian devotion was his harsh criticism of the abuses.” The editors go on to observe that the documents of Vatican II teach again that Mary’s role is “firmly connected to Christ and the Church”, and that she can never play an independent mediatory role in salvation. The clear statement of this truth, along with ecumenical realities, demands fresh considerations of the role of Mary the Mother of Jesus. Non-Catholic Christians really do need to grasp this nettle and ask why Catholics and Eastern Orthodox (not to mention the chief Reformers and Charles Wesley) all held the Virgin Mary in such high regard. Could it possibly be that the army of zealous and sincere Evangelicals are missing something important? There are an increasing number of organisations, conferences, journals, and books in which Eastern Orthodox, Evangelicals and Catholics dialogue together, and Mary Mother of God is an important contribution to this new open-ness between the traditions.
Jaroslav Pelikan opens the collection with an in depth consideration of the term ‘mother of God’ and the language for Mary within the Eastern Orthodox liturgy. This is probably the least accessible of the essays. It is detailed and dense, but worth the work. The essay successfully draws us into the mindset of the Eastern Orthodox so we can share the glories and depth of their deeply Scriptural liturgy. Pelikan digs into ancient liturgies, hymns and prayers to find the praise of Mary present at every level. She is present as bystander and full participant of the mysteries of salvation, (both on earth and in heaven) and is therefore praised not for her own greatness, but for the wonders that God has accomplished in her. Pelikan observes the roots of the much loved Anglican hymn, Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones. The author of the hymn was a keen student of Eastern Orthodoxy and Pelikan rightly finds echoes of the Eastern liturgy in the verse, O Higher than the Cherubim, More glorious than the seraphim, lead their praises, Alleluia! Thou Bearer of the Eternal Word, Most Gracious, Magnify the Lord…
Beverly Roberts Gaventa has recently published her own study on the Virgin Mary, and here she contributes an excellent Scriptural study on the phrase, ‘Nothing Shall be Impossible with God.’ Gaventa sees Mary as ‘Mother of Believers’ because of her place as ‘the first Christian’. In this essay and her current book, Gaventa rightly challenges herself and her Protestant friends to ‘move beyond saying what we do not believe in order to articulate what we do believe.’ After a thorough study of the New Testament references to Mary, Gaventa draws the conclusion that the most important aspect of Mary’s motherhood of all believers is that ‘we receive her story as our own.’ This is not just a matter of appreciating Mary’s role in salvation, nor simply observing it with devotion. Instead it is to enter into that role with her, and therefore to enter into her intimacy with Jesus Christ—her saviour and ours. Whether she knows it or not, Gaventa has articulated precisely the reason for Catholic devotion to Mary—better than any Catholic I have ever heard or read.
Laurence Cunningham, of Notre Dame University contributes a meditation on the single mention of Mary in the writings of St. Paul. Not mentioning her by name, she is referred to obliquely in Galatians 4:4 when it is said that ‘in the fullness of time God sent forth his son born of a woman.’ Cunningham’s essay is modest in its assertion of Mary’s special status, and as a Catholic theologian his restraint and careful exegesis of the Scriptures is especially to be appreciated.
Robert Jenson’s essay is a creative and thought provoking meditation on the Mary as ‘a space for God.’ He touches on the image of Mary as ‘Ark of the Covenant’ and takes us into the reality of the incarnation through a consideration of Mary’s role. The next two essays by a Lutheran (David Yeago) another Eastern Orthodox (Kyriaki FitzGerald) explore Mary’s relationship to the church and Mary’s life as a call to holiness while the final essay by Timothy George, Dean of Beeson Divinity School, summarises a positive Evangelical position on Mary.
The theological interaction between Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical scholars is alive and well in the United States, and it is an abundant relationship that should inspire similar enterprises elsewhere in the world. This volume is a good example of its fruit. The result is a creative, thoughtful and illuminating book that serves as an example of the best sort of fraternal dialogue, mutual appreciation and fruitful cross fertilisation.
Dwight Longenecker was brought up as an Evangelical and served as an Anglican priest before being received into the Catholic Church. He is co-author (with John Martin) of Challenging Catholics- A Catholic Evangelical Dialogue [Paternoster] and of Mary- A Catholic/Evangelical Debate [Gracewing]
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