[The following is taken, with permission of the author and publisher, from The Truth About Mary: Mary in Scripture and the Historic Christian Faith (Truth about Mary)] 

1. INTRODUCTION

The trilogy The Truth About Mary: A Scriptural Introduction to the Mother of Jesus for Bible-Believing Christians sets out to show that the doctrines of Mary's Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, Divine Maternity, Assumption and Maternal Mediation are inescapably rooted in Scripture. Volume One is Starting Points in Discerning Biblical Truth, Volume Two is Mary in Scripture and the Historic Christian Faith and Volume Three is A Response to Fundamentalist Misconceptions and a Return to Historic Christianity. This booklet is a summary of the trilogy that, we hope, will stimulate the reader's interest in the trilogy itself and in the numerous works cited therein.

From Genesis to Revelation, from Bethlehem to Cana to Calvary, the most powerful procession of images in Scripture is the dazzling vision of the Woman and her Seed, the Virgin and her Son, the Queen-Mother and the King, the Daughter of Zion and the messianic Son of Man, the New Adam and the New Eve. This striking sequence of scriptural icons locked itself into the minds and hearts of the Christian faithful, starting with the Apostolic Community of the first century, the first Fathers and the earliest

Councils, and resulted in a vast treasury of doctrinal and devotional masterpieces. The union of Mother and Son in the Son's mission of salvation and in the war against the Serpent is a persistent theme of Scripture mirrored in Christian doctrine and devotion through the centuries. This union of the New Adam and the New Eve has been portrayed from a wide variety of perspectives, the most recent being the union of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary. To see the Son without the Virgin Mother, the Seed without the Woman, the King without the Queen-Mother, the New Adam without the New Eve is to do violence both to Scripture and to all of Christian history. For the Christian who enters the mind of the New Testament Church, the idea of "Jesus alone" without Mary is as unthinkable as the idea of the New Testament alone without the Old or the divinity of Jesus without the Humanity.

An Example of Mary in Scripture

The trilogy addresses in detail common Protestant Fundamentalist misconceptions about Marian doctrine and devotion. An instructive instance, in this context, is the Woman Clothed with the Sun in Revelation 12. If this Woman is Mary then core components of Marian doctrine and devotion are vindicated and central Fundamentalist objections eviscerated. For here we have Mary assumed into Heaven shown as the mother of all Christians. While portraying the satanic onslaught against the Woman and her children, the chapter also shows her with "the moon under her feet" signifying the triumph pre-figured in Genesis 3.

The objections to the obvious Marian interpretation of Revelation 12 are surprisingly weak. The Woman Clothed with the Sun is called the mother of the man-child who will rule all nations with a rod of iron. And since this man-child (from the reference to Psalm 2:9) is Jesus, His mother is obviously Mary. Fundamentalists have tried to avoid this obvious scriptural teaching by abandoning their usual literalism and resorting to allegory. They have interpreted the Woman to be Nation Israel or the Christian Church - anyone but Mary. The allegorical interpretations do not work simply because (a) you cannot consistently interpret the "son" to be an individual while preferring a collective interpretation for the mother (b) the church does not give birth to Christ but originates from Christ and so it cannot be His mother (c) since the Woman is the mother of all Christians it cannot be the Jewish synagogue which is considered in Revelation as hostile to all Christians (d) in terms of usage, there is no instance in the Old Testament where Nation Israel is designated the collective mother of the Messiah; similarly, the Church is called the Spouse of Christ and the "Mother of the faithful" but never the Mother of Christ. To be sure, in addition to signifying Mary, the Woman could, at a secondary level, also exemplify the Church. Double and triple signification is not uncommon in Scripture (take for example the healing of the paralytic in John 5:2-9 which also carries a symbolic message of Israel in the wilderness for thirty eight years, the five books of the Law and the spiritual healing of baptism).

Marian Mediation

To many Protestants, the main stumbling block in Marian doctrine is the idea of Mary's mediation and intercession. It seems to them that Catholics and Orthodox somehow impugn the sovereignty of God or the all-sufficiency of Christ by introducing the idea of a Marian role in the scheme of salvation. But Lutheran theologian Charles Dickson, in his recent book, A Protestant Pastor Looks at Mary, notes that Protestants have traditionally tended to separate the divine and the human natures of Christ so radically that the work of salvation is attributed to His divine nature alone. Once it is fully realized that the Word became flesh, that God was actually incarnate, then the importance of Mary's role becomes obvious. "In 451 the Council of Chalcedon dealt with the subject of dual natures by affirming the inseparability of the two natures," writes Dickson. "If this Chalcedonian formulation is given serious attention in contemporary Protestant thought, some feel the human nature of Christ will not continue to suffer the devaluation of the past nor will therefore its precursor in the Incarnation - the Virgin Mary."¹

The Eastern Orthodox theologian Kallistos Ware considers the full implications of Mary's role in the Incarnation: "At the Annunciation God waits for the voluntary consent of her whom He had chosen to be His Mother. He asks for her permission. 'Here am I; I am the Lord's servant; let it be to me as you have said' (Luke 1.38). In Mary's reply to the angel we see humanity saying Yes to God; and this reply, this acceptance of her preordained vocation, was not a foregone conclusion. Mary could have refused; she was not merely the pliant instrument of God's Incarnation but an active participant in the mystery. What we see in her is not passivity but engagement, not subordination but partnership, not submission but mutuality of relationship. She is a decision maker. St. Paul's words, 'We are fellow-workers (synergoi) with God' (1 Cor. 3.9), are supremely true of her; she expresses, more fully than any other human person, the genuine nature of synergeia, of cooperation between divine grace and human freedom. ... While in no sense questioning the primacy of God's grace, we believe that full value should be given also to human freedom ... If it is true that without God we can do nothing, then it is also true that without us God will do nothing. ... Through this right use of her personal freedom, alike at the Annunciation and throughout her life, she reveals to us in this way what it means to be genuinely human. She is our model and example, the mirror in which we see our own authentic face."² In affirming Marian mediation, we are affirming our own call to mediate God's grace to all of humanity.

On another plane, we must recognize that Scripture points to our identification with Jesus Christ at every level. "I live; yet not I but Christ liveth in me" proclaims Paul (Galatians 2:20). Peter tells us that we can become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4). This identification is two-way for the Lord tells Paul on the road to Damascus: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" God is not the only player on the stage of salvation. The closer we identify ourselves with Christ, the greater is our participation in His work of salvation. The more we mediate the grace of Christ, the greater is the manifestation of His glory. Scripture explicitly calls all Christians to share in the unique Sonship and Priesthood of Christ as well as in his unique Mediation. Far from undermining the all-sufficiency of Christ, Marian mediation and intercession powerfully manifest it. Mary's mediation is a secondary participation in the unique mediation of her Son and is a model for all Christians who are also called to participate in His mediation.

Most of the misconceptions about Marian mediation arise from a misinterpretation of 1 Timothy 2:5, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all." Three things must be said about this passage:

• As Manuel Miguens has shown, this passage should be translated to read "There is one and the same God [for all], there is also one and the same mediator [for all]" - the idea is not to prove that there is numerically one God or numerically one mediator but that the loving and saving care of God is not just for a few (e.g., Jews or Christians) but for all and the redeeming mediation of Christ is "for all."
• The Greek word for "one" used here is heis and not monos. Monos signifies "only" in the sense of exclusive uniqueness while heis is "one" in the sense of "sameness" of function. It is clear that the writer of the epistle is aware of this distinction because he uses monos in every other instance of "one" in the epistle in order to signify uniqueness but uses heis only in this passage.
• In his epistles, far from declaring that Jesus is the only mediator, Paul in fact teaches that there are three kinds of mediators: priestly mediators (Christ, Aaron), covenantal mediators (Moses, Jesus) and factual (as opposed to juridical) mediators (Abraham, Paul). A factual mediator is one through whom, by divine decree, the grace of God is channeled to a community. The Gospels show that Mary is a factual mediator. Christ is the one mediator in the sense of being the primary mediator and all other mediators participate in His mediation.

Mother of God, Mother of Christians

All of Marian doctrine and devotion springs from the scriptural revelation that Mary is the New Eve with Jesus the New Adam. This revelation is also embodied in two central truths about Mary that are undeniably taught by Scripture: she is the Mother of God and she is the Mother of all Christians. "And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" said Elizabeth (Luke 1:43) using "Lord" here in the same sense as "Yahweh" which refers to God in the Old Testament. On Mary's motherhood of all Christians, the three most famous passages are Genesis 3:15, John 19:25-27 and Revelation 12:17:

"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed."

"Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother ... When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother."

"And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ."

The great truths of Mary's divine maternity and motherhood of all Christians were recognized not just by the first Church Fathers and the great Councils but by Christians through the centuries including Martin Luther who said,

"This article of faith - that Mary is the Mother of God - is present in the Church from the beginning and is not a new creation of the Council but the presentation of the Gospel and Scriptures."³

"Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the mother of us all. If Christ is ours, we must be where he is; and all that he has must be ours, and his mother is therefore also ours".⁴

Mary is the New Eve because she obeyed where Eve disobeyed. The immaculate conception, perpetual virginity and assumption of Mary (all of which are shown in Scripture) are inextricably linked to her vocation as the New Eve who is the Mother of God. As Mother of all Christians, she is charged (again, as shown in Scripture) with the mission of bringing all humanity to her divine Son. Marian mediation is the other side of the coin of Mary's motherhood of all Christians. Christians from the earliest times have recognized the maternal role of Mary in their lives as poignantly reflected in the Sub Tuum prayer found in a third century document: "We fly to thy patronage, O holy Mother of God, despise not our petitions in our necessities, but deliver us from all danger, O ever glorious and blessed Virgin."

The exaltation of Mary is nowhere more evident than in Scripture. "No other biblical personage has been given such strong praise", says the exegete Rene Laurentin who writes:

"This [the angel Gabriel's] initial greeting of praise is prolonged throughout the accounts of the annunciation and the visitation. The Lord is with her (1:28), the Holy Spirit comes down upon her (1:35), great things are accomplished in her (1:49) thanks to her faith (1:45), and 'that is why' (as she herself recognizes) 'all generations will call [her] blessed' (1:48). No other biblical personage has been given such strong praise, and without anything said to the contrary.

In Luke 1:35 the angel tells Mary, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow.' In the light of Isaiah 11:2 would it not have been more normal to say that the Holy Spirit was coming on the Emmanuel rather than on his Mother? In Luke 1:42 Elizabeth proclaims Mary's blessing before that of her Son and adds, 'Why should I be honoured with a visit from the Mother of my Lord?' even though the honour that falls to her is actually the visit of the Lord rather than of the Mother. She adds, 'For the moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leapt for joy,' even though in reality the benefit of the visitation is to be attributed to the action of Mary's child rather than to Mary's voice. That Mary should thus be placed in the forefront is most astonishing and gives food for reflection to those who fear that they do Christ some offense in exalting his Mother."⁵

Marian Doctrine and the History of Christianity

In the history of Christianity, the periods in which Marian doctrine and devotion have flourished are also the periods when the worship and adoration of her Son were most prominent.⁶

The first major period ranges from the second to the seventh centuries when the Christian community reflected on Mary's role as the New Eve and acclaimed her divine maternity and perpetual virginity in various councils. This was also the period when the great Christological dogmas were debated and defined. This period saw the Councils of Nicea (325 A.D.), Constantinople I (381 A.D.), Ephesus (431 A.D.), Chalcedon (451 A.D.), Constantinople II (553 A.D.), and Constantinople III (681 A.D.).

The second period covers the eight and ninth centuries when the Second Council of Nicea (787 A.D.) defined the veneration of images and Christians pondered more closely Mary's relationship to her Son, her sharing in His resurrection, her freedom from sin and the importance of her intercession.

The third period was the age of the Scholastics, notably Ambrose, Aquinas and Bonaventure, who provided a systematic framework for Christology and a clearer understanding of Mary's role in the mystery of salvation. In 1215 A.D., the Fourth Council of the Lateran, and in 1274 A.D., the Second Council of Lyons, made significant pronouncements on the doctrine of the Trinity.

The fourth period stretches from 1300 A.D. to 1800 A.D., from the Renaissance through the Reformation through the Enlightenment. This was a period when many of the great truths of Christianity increasingly came under attack. The lowest point was reached with the so-called Enlightenment Era when atheism was on the ascendant and Christian doctrine was emptied of substance even within various Christian communities. Although the Protestant Reformers had initially tried to hold to some Christological and Mariological truths, many of their heirs gradually came under the influence of the Enlightenment. A famous Lutheran theologian Friedrich Heiler has written that the Marian doctrines were lost by later Protestants because of "the spirit of the enlightenment with its lack of understanding of mystery, and especially of the mystery of the Incarnation, which in the 18th century began the work of destruction."⁷ Another Lutheran scholar, Basilea Schlink, holds that "the majority of us [Protestants] have drifted away from the proper attitude towards her [Mary], which Martin Luther had indicated to us on the basis of Holy Scripture ... [partially due to the rise of Rationalism which] has lost the sense of the sacred. In Rationalism man sought to comprehend everything, and that which he could not comprehend he rejected. Because Rationalism accepted only that which could be explained rationally, Church festivals in honor of Mary and everything else reminiscent of her were done away with in the Protestant Church. All biblical relationship to the Mother Mary was lost, and we are still suffering from this heritage."⁸ Despite the clouds of darkness hanging over Christendom, this period nevertheless saw the production of a number of devotional Marian masterpieces.

The fifth and final period ranges from 1800 A.D. to the present day. It may be said that God launched a Marian counter-attack on the Enlightenment in its nerve-center through a series of Marian apparitions in France. These were the great nineteenth century apparitions of the Miraculous Medal, La Salette and Lourdes which continue to exert a tremendous influence as tangible manifestations of the supernatural world denied by the Enlightenment. Such influential apparitions have continued into the twentieth century, the most notable example being Fatima, Portugal. Accompanying these reminders of the Marian heritage, there has been a revival of interest in Marian doctrine and devotion that continues even today. But many of the Christian communities who have rejected Marian doctrine and devotion have gradually departed from Christological doctrine as well.

The Anglican scholar A. Lancashire shows in Born of the Virgin Mary that a Christianity without Mariology cannot have an orthodox Christology: "A rejection of Mariology must inevitably lead to a rejection of orthodox Christology. ... Devotion to Mary, far from leading men away from Christ, draws the Church into a deeper recognition of the mystery of God's loving activity directed towards man in Christ."⁹

This same point is made using historical examples by John Henry Newman in his famous An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine:

If we take a survey of Europe at least, we shall find that those religious communions which are characterized by the observance of St Mary, are not the Churches which have ceased to adore her Eternal Son, but such as have renounced that observance. The regard for His glory, which was professed in that keen jealousy of her exaltation, has not been supported by the event. They who were accused of worshipping a creature in His stead, still worship Him; their accusers, who hoped to worship Him so purely, where obstacles to the development of their principles have been removed, have ceased to worship Him altogether.¹⁰

Cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Oneness Pentecostals that accept the divine inspiration of the Bible but reject the doctrine of the Trinity have simply taken Fundamentalism to its logical conclusion. When you reject the binding interpretations of the historic Faith there is no doctrine that is safe. Moreover, the history of doctrine shows that the rejection of Marian doctrine leads sooner or later to the rejection of the Christological and Trinitarian affirmations. It is Marian doctrine and devotion that preserved the truth of the Trinity. When the Christian believer sees the biblical portrait of Mary as Daughter of the Father, Mother of the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit, he grasps forcefully the distinctions between the Three Persons. The doctrine of the Trinity becomes a reality for him. On the flip side, the idea of "Jesus alone" with no reference to Mary leads to a focus on God only as Father (Jehovah's Witnesses and some Fundamentalists) or a focus on Jesus that excludes the Father and the Holy Spirit (most Fundamentalists) or an exclusive focus on the Holy Spirit (most Charismatics/ Pentecostals). With a healthy Marian devotion comes an authentic understanding and a conscious grasp of the doctrine of the Trinity. Marian doctrine is equally important for Christology. For instance, the declaration that Mary is the Mother of God said two clear things about Christ: He is one Person, a divine Person; He is a human being because His mother is human. Once the declaration of Mary's Divine Maternity was rejected the next step was to reject the affirmation that Christ is a divine Person.

Finally, each one of the Marian doctrines is in reality both a Christological doctrine and an application of Christology to the human condition. The Marian doctrines not only tell us the central truths of Christology but show their application in the life of humanity as a whole. To say that Mary is the Mother of God is to say that Jesus is God and Man. To teach Mary's Perpetual Virginity is to teach the Virgin Birth and the supernatural nature of the birth of Jesus. To proclaim the Immaculate Conception is to proclaim the reality of the redemption wrought by the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world - to realize moreover that the redemptive effects of His death transcend time. To acclaim the Assumption of Mary is to celebrate the fact that the Resurrection of Christ not only took place but that it opens the door to our own resurrection from the dead. To affirm the mediation of Mary is to affirm both the supreme mediation of Christ and the possibility and the obligation of our participating in this mediation.

Martin Luther and Marian Doctrine

Contrary to popular belief, Martin Luther did not reject major Marian doctrines although some of his followers and present day heirs have done so. This point is well argued by the Lutheran Charles Dickson:

After five centuries of Church history since the period of the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants alike assume the reformers downplayed the role of the Virgin Mary in God's plan of salvation. Actually the facts are otherwise. While it is true that many of the radical leaders who followed the original reformers sought to eliminate the Mother of our Lord from their theology, and in many cases were successful in all but doing so, this does not represent the position of the early leaders.

... Perhaps in no other place is the discrepancy more evident than in the example of the viewpoints of Martin Luther contrasted with the practices and beliefs of modern Protestants. What did Luther really believe about Mary? For an answer to that question, we must search through his original writings. Some interesting points emerge as a result of that investigation.

First, Luther referred to Mary as "the workshop of God" and decried Protestant antagonism toward her as an offshoot of Church conflict.

Luther believed in the help of the Virgin Mary for all worthwhile endeavors. In his letter to Prince John Frederick, duke of Saxony, in 1521 as a prologue to his commentary on the Magnificat of the first chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, he wrote, "May the tender Mother of God herself procure for me the spirit of wisdom profitably and thoroughly to expound this song of hers."

Not only did Luther believe Mary helped Christians who call on her for assistance, he also supported prayers to her. Again, in his commentary on the Magnificat, he wrote, "O Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, what great comfort God has shown us in you by so graciously regarding your unworthiness and low estate."

For those who would follow in the faith, he desired a continued honor of Mary by stating, "The Virgin Mary means to say simply that her praise will be sung from one generation to another so that there will never be a time when she will not be praised."

While he was concerned about any beliefs or practices that might tend to make her equal with Christ in our redemption, in accord with Catholic theology throughout history, he referred to Mary as "Queen of Heaven" and called this a "true enough name".

Luther's belief in the position of Mary in salvation history is summed up in his conclusion to the commentary on the Magnificat where he states, "We pray God to give us a right understanding of this Magnificat, an understanding that consists not merely in brilliant words, but in glowing life in body and soul. May Christ grant us this through the intercession and for the sake of His dear Mother Mary."¹¹

Conclusion

It is a hard fact of history that Marian doctrine and devotion have been an indivisible part of Christian belief - both in the East and the West - for 20 centuries. Any criticism of Marian doctrine or devotion must overcome this "hard fact." If Christians have been consistently wrong for 20 centuries on their interpretation of Scripture and the Gospel message then there is no guarantee that they will be right on anything. If the Holy Spirit has not been leading them for all these centuries, there is no reason to believe that the Holy Spirit guides anybody. This must be considered by any critic of Marian doctrine before he voices his disbelief.

The primary sources of Marian doctrine and devotion are the following: Sacred Scripture, the divinely inspired inerrant Word of God; the earliest Teaching of the Apostolic Community which in the first four centuries served as the main framework of instruction for believers prior to the fixing of the canon of Scripture; the inner dynamic of Christianity as this emerged through the authoritative interpretation of Scripture by the Councils and Creeds; the liturgy which reflected the Apostolic Faith; the reflections of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church; the testimony of the Holy Ones and Martyrs; the consensus of the faithful. United with all of this also was the living experience of Mary enjoyed by millions.

By establishing its basis in Scripture and the apostolic community's interpretation of Scripture, the trilogy seeks to show that Marian doctrine and devotion are (a) fundamental to historic Christianity and (b) acceptable to all Christians regardless of denominational background. Differences on other issues such as the Papacy and the Sacraments, important as these may be, are not the subject of these volumes since the objective is simply to introduce Bible-believing Christians to their common Mother. Fortunately, there is today a cross-denominational rediscovery of Mary and a renaissance of Marian thought among Protestant Christians. The Ecumenical Society for the Blessed Virgin Mary, founded in 1966, has played an influential role in the contemporary rediscovery. Among the most important recent books on Mary by Protestant Christians are Mary for all Christians by John Macquarrie (Anglican); Down to Earth: The New Protestant Vision of the Virgin Mary by John de Satge (Evangelical); A Protestant Pastor Looks at Mary by Charles Dickson (Lutheran) and Five for Sorrow, Ten for Joy by Neville Ward (Methodist).

In this summary of the trilogy, we will first consider common misconceptions about Marian doctrine and then examine the basis of Marian doctrine and devotion both in Scripture and in the historic faith. This will be followed by a reconsideration of the misconceptions and a review of the Marian testimony of both the Protestant Reformers and modern Protestant thinkers. The final segment of this booklet is a practical introduction to Marian apparitions and Marian devotion.

Notes

¹ Charles Dickson, A Protestant Pastor Looks at Mary (Huntington, Indiana: Our Sunday Visitor, 1996), 12.

² Kallistos Ware, Mary Theotokos in the Orthodox Tradition (Wallington, Surrey: Ecumenical Society for the Blessed Virgin, May 1997), 14

³ Martin Luther, Weimar edition of Martin Luther's Works, English translation edited by J. Pelikan (Concordia: St. Louis), volume 7, 572.

⁴ Luther's Works (Weimar), 29:655:26-656:7.

₅ Rene Laurentin, A Short Treatise on the Virgin Mary, (Washington, New Jersey: AMI Press, 1991), 20-1.

⁶ See also Christopher O'Donnell, "Growth and Decline in Mariology" in Mary in the Church, John Hyland, ed (Dublin: Veritas Press, 1989), 32-41.

⁷ "Die Gottesmutter im Glauben und Beten der Jahrhunderte," Hochkirche 13 (1931), p. 200.

⁸ Basilea Schlink, Mary, the Mother of Jesus (London: Marshall Pickering, 1986), 114-115.

⁹ A. Lancashire, Born of the Virgin Mary (London: The Faith Press, 1962), 142-3.

¹⁰ John Henry Newman, An Essay on the Development of Christian Doctrine (Baltimore, Maryland: Penguin Books), 434.

¹¹ Charles Dickson, A Protestant Pastor Looks at Mary, 40-2.