TAKE IT FROM MARY
By Albert Mohler
TIME MAGAZINE'S
cover carries this statement "Catholics have long revered Mary, but now
Protestants are finding their own reasons to celebrate the mother of Jesus."
What's going on here?
The TIME cover story is part of a larger phenomenon, with many mainline
Protestants turning to a reconsideration of Mary and incorporating the
veneration of Mary into personal devotions and corporate worship. Some are going
so far as to acknowledge Mary as an intercessor, addressing prayers to her as
well as to other saints.
The background of this includes the argument put forth by feminists that a
male-oriented world of biblical scholarship has ignored the roles played by Mary
and other women of the Bible. Going beyond this, some feminist scholars argue
that the Bible is itself warped by a "patriarchal" bias that sublimates and
hides the role of women. Added to all this is the doctrinal evacuation of many
mainline Protestant denominations and the influence of New Age forms of
spirituality, often packaged as a "do-it-yourself" mix of whatever elements
appear to be most interesting.
In the world of biblical scholarship, much of the attention to Mary can be
traced to Beverly Gaventa, Professor of New Testament Literature and Exegesis at
Princeton Theological Seminary. In Mary: Glimpses of the Mother of Jesus,
Gaventa argues that Protestants have missed much of the biblical teaching
concerning Mary. In other writings, she has pressed her case, proposing a
recovery of Mary as a major figure in the history of the church. Furthermore,
Gaventa has pressed on to argue that Protestants should join with Catholic and
Eastern Orthodox Christians in addressing Mary as "Mother of all Believers."
Looking especially at texts in the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts, Gaventa
argues that Mary is so central to the gospel story that, other than Christ,
"there isn't a figure comparable to her." Specifically, Gaventa points to
several aspects of Mary's role as revealed in the Gospels, including, "Mary's
consent to God's intervention in her life, her exultation in God's redemption,
her pondering the meaning of Jesus, and certainly her persevering presence with
other believers." As she concludes, "By identifying Mary as our Mother, we do
not so much elevate Mary as recognize in her story the fundamental Lukan claim
that nothing will be impossible with God, not even our consent to God's will."
Of course, referring to Mary as "Mother of all Believers" is characteristic of
Roman Catholic piety and devotion. The New Testament clearly presents Mary as
the human mother of Jesus, and affirms her role as the submissive, obedient, and
trusting virgin in whom the Christ was conceived. Without doubt, Mary is
presented in the biblical text as a model of faithfulness and devotion.
Furthermore, her song of praise to God, commonly known as "The Magnificat" [Luke
1:46-55], offers a masterful tapestry of prophecy mixed with some of the most
elevated theological themes found anywhere in Scripture.
Nevertheless, to refer to Mary as "Mother of all
Believers" is to go beyond the biblical text and to assign to the mother of
Jesus a role that is, to say the least, not explicitly found in Scripture.
Though forms of Marian devotion can be traced to the earliest periods of church
history, an expansion of Mary's role became seemingly inevitable when she was
declared to be "Mother of God" at the Council of Ephesus in 431. In naming Mary
as "Mother of God," the church was primarily concerned with the identity of
Jesus Christ as the Son of God--not with Mary as his mother. Nevertheless, when
a theologian named Nestorius declared Mary to be the "Bearer of Christ" rather
than "Bearer of God," the church faced a Christological crisis.
In Catholic devotion, and in official church teaching, Mary would later be
declared to have been free from original sin by the miracle of "immaculate
conception" [1854] and to have been assumed into heaven without experiencing
bodily corruption [1950]. Beyond official Catholic teaching, Marian devotion has
become a staple of Catholic piety around the world. Most Catholics pray to Mary,
asking for her intercession before Christ. The famous "Hail, Mary" prayer of
Catholic devotion is based first in Luke 1:28, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord
is with you." The second part of that prayer, "Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray
for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death," claims for Mary a role that
is neither revealed in Scripture nor compatible with the unique role of Christ
as Mediator.
Surprisingly enough, some Protestants now argue that believers should pray to
Mary, and should request her intercession.
Robert W. Jenson, a theologian affiliated with the Center of Theological Inquiry
at Princeton, New Jersey, argues that Protestants should feel free to pray to
Mary and other saints. In his words, "There seems to be no reason why I cannot
ask also a departed believer to pray for me. And if I can do it, there will
certainly be contexts where I should do it." Jenson, a Lutheran, is fully aware
that his proposal contradicts historic Lutheran teaching. As he told TIME, the
pastor of his Lutheran youth would have been dismayed by this argument. "My
pastor would have been horrified," he reported. "The pastor was my father."
In the final analysis, Jenson does not provide much of a theological argument in
defense of his claim that believers should pray to Mary. In Mary, Mother of God,
edited by Jenson along with Carl E. Braaten, several theologians offer
reconsiderations of Mary's role in both theology and piety.
Inevitably, the background to all this is the Marian saturation of Roman
Catholic devotion. Martin Luther, whose love and appreciation for Mary are well
documented throughout his sermons and writings, eventually ceased to address
prayers to Mary, believing that the practice was neither sustained by Scripture
nor profitable for believers. As he advised fellow evangelical pastors at Erfurt
in Germany: "I beseech in Christ that your preachers forbear entering upon
questions concerning the saints in heaven and the deceased, and I ask you to
turn the attention of people away from those matters in view of the fact . . .
that they are neither profitable nor necessary for salvation. There is also the
reason why God decided not to let us know anything about His dealings with the
deceased. Surely he is not committing sin who does not call upon any saint but
only clings firmly to the one Mediator, Jesus Christ. In fact, such a person is
on safe and sure ground. Why do you want to turn away from the safe and sure and
bother with that which is neither necessary nor commended?"
Baptist theologian Timothy F. George of Beeson Divinity School suggests that
evangelicals should take care, lest they neglect the Bible's positive statements
concerning Mary. At the same time, when it comes to asking for the prayers of
Mary and other saints, George concludes that "there's no biblical warrant for us
incorporating this into piety."
George argues, "It is regrettable that many evangelicals do not distinguish
between official Catholic teaching about Mary and the popular beliefs and
practices of Marian devotion." If this is so, much of the blame can be laid at
the feet of Pope John Paul II, whose demonstrations of Marian devotion include
references to her as "Mediatrix," "Co-Redemptrix," and "Mother of all Graces."
When interviewed by TIME, I responded that the new theological constructions
proposed by some Protestants concerning Mary are evidence of "overreaching,"
"wishful thinking," and risk "flirting with Catholic devotion."
David Van Biema's report including coverage of persons such as Mary Burks-Price,
manager of Pastoral-Care Education at a Louisville hospital, who told of
discovering a role for Mary as she pondered a statue of Mary which stood next to
a barn. "Her hands were outstretched, and her face was looking down on me with
this great compassion," she reported. "I realized that she knew what it was like
to see her son die on the Cross, to bear that sorrow and grief. I felt like she
was giving me a window into the compassion God had for me in my own experience."
TIME further reported that Burks-Price fills her office with images of Mary,
including porcelain statuettes, prayer cards, and icons. Beyond this, she prays
the Rosary with Catholic patience and reports that sometimes, "I know [the
prayer] better than they do."
In this case, Burks-Price is not merely flirting with Catholic devotion, but
accepting it whole scale. She may claim to remain a Baptist by affiliation, but
she has accepted theological assumptions and spiritual practices that are
fundamentally at odds with both the Bible and Baptist tradition.
Those who argue that Mary offers us a more
compassionate understanding of God than is revealed in Jesus Christ alone insult
both the person and work of Christ and accept the worst excesses of Catholic
piety.
As I told TIME: "Insofar as Evangelicals may have marginalized Mary's
presentation in the Bible, it needs to be recovered. But the closer I look at
the New Testament, the more convinced I am that it does not single her out for
the kind of attention that is being proposed. We have not missed the point about
her. To construct a new role for her is simply overreaching." Van Biema
explained that "Mohler's judgment may sound blunt, but his questions are
legitimate Protestant ones. The point at which Marian respect turns into Marian
veneration is more easily parsed by theoreticians than by believers trying to
work out its practice."
The TIME cover story is a prime example of a serious theological issue treated
with respect and fairness. In the final analysis, evangelical Christians should
gladly affirm every truth about Mary revealed in the Scripture, gladly receiving
her as a model of piety, devotion, and faithfulness. Nevertheless, Mary is not
presented as sinless, and her faith at times is clearly tested by the
circumstances of Jesus' life and the content of his teaching. Yet, it is Mary
who was the obedient young virgin in whom Jesus Christ was conceived, and it is
she who was the faithful mother who stood at the foot of the cross until the
end. But, affirming all that the Scripture reveals about Mary, we must take care
to go not even one step further.
In the end, perhaps the most
important lesson we can learn from Mary is found in the instructions she gave to
the disciples of Jesus at the wedding of Cana in Galilee, at which Jesus
performed His first miracle: "Whatever He says to you, do it.
Take it from Mary.
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