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It is unlikely that Paul had considered that Mary was the archtype for the Church - pure and spotless (as he writes in Ephesians)

+Paul and all others to be exact, starting with +Peter. Truth is: none of the Apostolic leaders of the Church regonized Mary as the arch-type of the Church, or as "Second Eve."

Some suggest that it was +Ignatius, as early as 90 AD, who mentions that Mary's virginity is one of the three secrets kept from the rulers of the world. However, even the Catholic Encyclopedia says:

"The two letters to the Apostle St. John and the one to the Blessed Virgin, which exist only in Latin, are unanimously admitted to be spurious."

They are actually 14^th century manuscreipts of Western origin extant on ly in Latin.

In the second century, the Church makes no pronouncements linking Mary to the arch-type of the Church.

We have to wait until the just about the 3rd century, when +Irenaeus links her to the "Second Eve."

And it took almost two centuries since then for the Church to proclaim that she is the Birth-Giver of God (Theotokos), and a Mother of God (Mater Theou).

We have to wait until the just about the 3rd century, when +Irenaeus links her to the "Second Eve."

And it took almost two centuries since then for the Church to proclaim that she is the Birth-Giver of God (Theotokos), and a Mother of God (Mater Theou).

That is presuming that no one actually spoken theologically about Mary UNTIL St. Irenaeus WROTE "Against Heresies". I think it is safe to say that he was not an innovator. His writings about the link to the beliefs of the Church and the Apostles is pretty clear. He would be the last guy I'd think was "inventing" anything.

I believe the kernel for all of our teachings were given by the Apostles, but it has taken awhile for the Church to discover herself from this one-time revelation.

Regards