“Why not the Patriarchs and the Prophets whose contributions were all so necessary to bring about the coming of our Lord? Truly, it could be argued that each provided a piece necessary to the whole, even as Mary did. Granted, Mary’s participation was of a more personal physical nature, but all of them were deeply altered, all were subjected to pain and ridicule, and many died in the service of our Lord.”
Perhaps the personal, physical nature of it indeed has something to do with it. The incarnational aspects of Catholicism and Orthodoxy always seem to give Protestants the willies.
You are certainly right to a point- It's all so "fleshy" n' stuff... Protestants tend to ignore (even abhor) the 'flesh'. It is all about the spirit.
Hah, I doubt that most protestants even notice or care.