http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050321/graphic/
Posted on 06/18/2009 4:02:05 PM PDT by bronxville
Mary not just for Catholics anymore
By Patricia Zapor Catholic News Service
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- As publications from Time magazine to Christianity Today have discovered recently, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is not just for Catholics anymore.
Features on Mary are perennial favorites for editors looking for a religion-themed story before Christmas, and in the last few years many of these articles have focused on the increasing popularity of Mary among Protestants.
Marianist Father Thomas Thompson, editor of the Marian Library Newsletter at the University of Dayton in Ohio, points out that the expanding Protestant acceptance of Mary is based upon a strictly scriptural view of her, rather than on any change in Protestant theology.
Some Catholic doctrines about Mary, such as the Immaculate Conception -- the belief that she was conceived without sin -- remain controversial among Protestants, Father Thompson said. But as anti-Catholicism has waned among Protestants, the barriers to Episcopalians, Baptists and evangelicals turning to Mary have faded as well.
"We're very happy to see others taking an interest in Mary," he said in a telephone interview with Catholic News Service.
Timothy George, dean of Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, a Baptist college in Birmingham, Ala., wrote recently that "it is time for evangelicals to recover a fully biblical appreciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her role in the history of salvation, and to do so precisely as evangelicals." George's comments appeared in the December 2003 issue of Christianity Today and in a 2004 collection of essays by various theologians, "Mary: Mother of God."
"We may not be able to recite the rosary or kneel down before statues of Mary, but we need not throw her overboard," George wrote.
In the magazine, he quoted an early 20th-century Southern Baptist New Testament scholar, A.T. Robertson, who said Mary "has not had fair treatment either from Protestants or Catholics." Robertson argued that while Catholics have "deified" Mary evangelicals have coldly neglected her.
"We have been afraid to praise and esteem Mary for her full worth," said George, citing Robertson, "lest we be accused of leanings and sympathy with Catholics."
George's article went on to explain historical, scriptural and theological reasons why Protestants should embrace Mary.
"We need not go through Mary in order to get to Jesus," George concluded, "but we can join with Mary in pointing others to him."
Another recent book, "Blessed One," is a collection of 11 essays about Mary by Protestant scholars.
In their introduction, editors Beverly Roberts Gaventa and Cynthia L. Rigby, professors at Princeton Theological Seminary in New Jersey and Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Texas, respectively, said their goal for the book was to help Protestants think in new ways about Mary, "blessing her and being blessed by her."
"She is a person of faith who does not always understand but who seeks to put her trust in God," they wrote.
For Muslims, on the other hand, Mary has always been a part of the picture.
John Alden Williams, professor emeritus in the humanities of religion at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, is a Catholic historian who has studied Islamic civilization and religion. He and fellow William and Mary professor James A. Bill published "Roman Catholics and Shi'i Muslims" in 2002.
It notes that two sections of the Quran, the sacred book of Islam, are devoted to Mary, known there as Maryam. She is recognized as the purified woman chosen to be the mother of the promised Messiah. Islam considers Jesus an important prophet, but not the incarnation of God.
Williams explained in a phone interview that, like Catholics, Shiite Muslims, who are a minority compared to the vastly more numerous Sunni Muslims, believe in intercessory prayer through saints and other holy people. That includes Mary, who is highly revered as a mediatrix between humans and God, or Allah. Sufis, another Islamic sect, also believe in intercession.
In Sunni Islam, "the whole idea of intercession is disputed," Williams said, "just as it is among Calvinist Protestants."
Among the differences the leaders of the Protestant Reformation had with the Catholic Church was the growth during the Middle Ages of devotion to Mary. Reformers argued that Jesus was the only mediator between God and mankind and that "exuberant Marian devotion seemed to them to threaten the clarity of the Gospel message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, through Christ alone," wrote Daniel L. Migliore, a theology professor at Princeton Theological Seminary, in his chapter in "Blessed One."
Muslims who seek Mary's intercession, on the other hand, see her in much the same way Catholics do, said Williams.
While living in the Middle East, he said he witnessed several striking examples of the reverence many Muslims have for Mary.
At the Convent of Our Lady, an Orthodox church in Sednaya, Syria, he watched devout Muslims roll out prayer rugs to join Christians in reverencing an icon of Mary that is reputed to have been painted by St. Luke the Evangelist and believed to have the power to cure illnesses.
And in the late 1960s, many Muslims were among the millions who gathered in a Coptic Orthodox church in Egypt, hoping to catch a glimpse of reported Marian apparitions, he said.
For more than a year starting in 1968, apparitions of Mary were reported over the domes of the Church of the Virgin Mary in the Zeitoun area of Cairo.
Williams went to the church once during that time and was surprised to see Muslims among the crowd, he said.
"I asked some people, 'Isn't it a little funny for you to be coming here to a Christian church?'" Williams said. They said they considered it only proper that Mary would appear at a church dedicated to her, but explained that they believed she was speaking to all Egyptians, not just Christians.
"They all saw it as a great sign of consolation after the war with Israel (in 1967) that God had not forgotten the people of Egypt," he said.
http://www.time.com/time/covers/1101050321/graphic/
Princeton Theological Seminary's Gaventa was shocked at how little work Protestant scholars had done on Mary, and remedied it
“I have no complaints about Mary being a remarkable woman. I think it is safe to assume that God didn’t pick her name out at random from a phone book.
But of course, Catholic teaching and doctrine goes well beyond saying she was a remarkable woman, deserving honor and respect.”
Perhaps because you haven’t done any research.
The Rev. Maguire has found his Presbyterian congregation in Ohio open to a greater emphasis on Mary's place in Scripture
In many Protestant congregations, Mary is rarely in the spotlight except for Nativity pageants and sermons. But a growing number of scholars and preachers are examining Mary's other significant moments during the life of her son, including her presentation of Jesus at the temple after his birth and her role at the wedding at Cana, where she urges him to perform his first miracle, turning water into wine.
Fine. Please post the scriptures showing she was something more than a remarkable woman, deserving honor and respect.
After the resurrected Christ has ascended to heaven, the Bible's Acts of the Apostles describes his disciples' gathering in an "upper room" in Jerusalem. The group is traditionally understood as the nucleus of the new church, upon which the Holy Spirit next bestows the gifts of the Pentecost. In her final appearance in the Gospels, Mary is the only woman in the room to be mentioned by name. Her advocates see this as a sign of her key discipleship.
Please don't get me wrong, I revere her only as the virgin mother of our Christ/God, she is blessed of all women. Beyond that I would never have to pray through her, she can do nothing for me.
Hi annieokie,
Try praying to her - just say the first part of the Hail Mary like your early reformers used to do. It won’t do you any harm - here’s the first part of the prayer:
Hail Mary full of grace,
the Lord art with thee,
Bless art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.
I can promise it will bring you great fruit and a lot better than asking your neighbor Joe or Josie to intercede and pray for you.
I just did...see post #47 - I think...just above on this page.
I do not accept the immaculate conception of Mary, but to say there is nothing more is not scriptural.
Would you say that "Paul was a human born in sin. That’s all nothing more."? I doubt it. It is short sighted for anyone to dismiss Mary because some have gone too far.
What does Mary say about herself in the Bible?
In the Bible, Mary clearly spells out her role in eternity:
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. (Lk 1:46-49)
The Bible says Jesus is magnified by Mary’s soul. A soul is eternal and not limited by life on earth. Mary reinforces her eternal ministry by saying “all generations will call me blessed.” If the Bible intended Mary’s ministry to end with the birth of Jesus, or at his death, or even at Mary’s death, it wouldn’t use that language.
See also my post #18.
But if you still feel the need to ignore Jesus, have at it.
The Bible says all we’re all born in sin. All have come short of the glory of God. Mary was a human woman that had the unbroken bloodlines of the lineage of David. But she couldn’t carry the title of King, whereas Joseph had broken or corrupted bloodlines but carried the title of last King of Jews. Which explains why Joseph’s seed couldn’t have brought forth the Son of God. The blood would have been polluted. Mary was just young woman that became a mother through extraordinary means because she had the correct DNA. As a mother, I would NEVER belittle her role as a woman, wife and mother. But I could never see her other than the human mother of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
No need to go through subordinates.Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God gives you. {Ex 20:12; Deut 5:16.}
He was obedient to them. {Lk 2:51}
The Lord Jesus himself recalled the force of this "commandment of God." {Mk 7:8-13.} The Apostle teaches: "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 'Honor your father and mother,' (This is the first commandment with a promise.) 'that it may be well with you and that you may live long on the earth."' {Eph 6:1-3; cf. Deut 5:16}
How is His Mother a 'subordinate'?
Our Lord was obedient to His Mother on Earth, why would Heaven be different?
Why do we call Mary the Theotokos ? The Mother of Our God ?
Because in her womb, from the moment of conception Diety and Flesh became one. It was not Flesh first and the later indwelt with Diety. Nor was it Diety first that later manifest as Flesh. It was both united together in her womb.
Thus she is and must be the Mother of God the Theotokos. To say otherwise is to deny the dual nature of Christ.
Why do we say that Salvation came to the world through Mary ?
Because it is true. It was through Mary, conceiving via the Holy Spirit, carrying the Christ in her womb, giving him birth and raising him that our Savior existed. While true that she was granted this gift by God, and was as a result more blessed than any other woman, she was likewise a participant and without her willing service the Christ did not walk the earth.
Okay, fair enough - then how about you pray to Jesus about Mary? Just ask Him to show you the truth about his mother. Ask Him to direct your thinking about her. Ask Jesus if his mother is alive with Him. Ask Him if Mary is praying for us. Just pray to Jesus about her. Try this every night for six weeks. He will bring you to the truth about his mother.
“Even when Jesus was dying on the cross he was thinking about his mother!” (Billy Graham)
Mary clearly spells out her role in eternity:
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. (Lk 1:46-49)
But if you still feel the need to ignore Jesus, have at it.How is asking His Mother to intercede with her Son IGNORING Our Lord?
Hail Mary full of grace,
the Lord art with thee,
Bless art thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus.
{Luke, I, 28}
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.