Recently in Mary Category

I believe most Protestants know more about what they don't believe about Mary than what they do believe about Mary. In an effort to get us to think about Mary, I wrote The Real Mary. I think we've got to get back to the Bible to see what it says. Themes about Mary are found not only in the Bible; the early churches struggled with how to understand Mary. Was she sinless? the immaculate conception? and what about her death?

When we were in Denmark and I chose to teach one morning on Mary, I was told that some were a bit nervous that I would talk about Mary. Some were worried that I might be "too Roman Catholic." I must say, however, that from what I heard my teaching session about Mary was the talk that they most liked. Since today is the feast of Mary's assumption in the high-church traditions, let me give a bit from a chapter in my Mary book on the assumption of Mary -- which I didn't discuss in Denmark.

Because Roman Catholics believe Mary was immaculately conceived and sinless, and because sin’s consequences are disease, aging, and death, they also concluded that Mary’s end could have been, and indeed was, abnormal. Instead of dying and decaying as other humans, Mary “died” in the presence of others, yet when they checked on her tomb she was gone. This is called the “glorious assumption” of Mary.

What do you think of the dogma of Mary's assumption? What can we as Protestants (who in most cases do not believe in the Assumption of Mary) learn from this? The Gospel of Luke tells us that "from now on all generations [except Protestants!] will call me blessed." How do you do this?

Before I resume my section from the book, let me say this: the first step for all of us is one of understanding what the RCC teaches about the assumption of Mary. Before we interact or criticize, first we must listen. And I think it important, also, to ask why the RCC developed their Marian teachings in this direction. Now, back to what I said in The Real Mary.

John of Damascus, in the 7th Century and a highly-esteemed theologian, pulled together various traditions and stated it like this:

St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened, upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.

This conviction became official dogma on 1 November 1950 when Pope Pius XII declared it binding and infallible dogma:

By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.

There is, of course, biblical warrant for humans being “assumed” into heaven: In the fifth chapter of Genesis, we read these words: “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.” About Elijah, the great prophet, the second chapter in 2 Kings says this: “When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind…” and then later, after blessing his successor Elisha, the Bible records this: As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

And, of Jesus, the first chapter of Acts records a similar event: “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.” Such things can happen.
The question we need to ask about Mary is this: Was she also taken into the presence of God miraculously? As Protestants we go to the Bible first, but we find nothing like this in the Bible. Does that mean it didn’t happen to Mary? None of us believes that everything was recorded in the Bible, so we are left to examine the evidence and make up our own minds.

We get enough e-mails about our books; rarely do I say much about them, but I have to share this one. Why? Because she's eighteen and because her letter was so delightful for both Kris and me. I've edited it a bit to hide her identity.

Dear Scot,

Hello! My name is Laura and I am 18 years old. I just finished reading
your book, The Real Mary, and loved it! My church has an extremely committed youth group who puts on annual theater productions. Our show this past year was called [N], a little play that
incorporates the annunciation through the flight to Egypt. I played
Mary, the central character of the play. For a long time, I did not
think I had the power or will to play Mary (not to mention the fact I
am an awful singer) and considered quitting. However, I found comfort
in the verse "Nothing is impossible with God" (Luke 1:37). I applied
this to my everyday life and from that point on, I began to look for
parts of my own that I could identify with Mary.

Through all of this, I really looked up to Mary, and her faith that everything would play out the way it was supposed to if you trust in God.

I wish I would have heard about your book sooner however, as the play
had been over for 2 weeks before my Mom came across a recommendation in a magazine. But again, I took this as another sign from God, and ran
out to find The Real Mary. I loved the book so much, and was able to learn so much about who Mary really was, especially since I had only
focused on the early history of Mary.

Some of my favorite parts included your [hey, nice grammar here] mentioning of how Mary struggled with her faith, and how she is not perfect, just as I am not perfect and struggle with my faith. I also liked the line where you said that "No one else can sing the magnificat as she did", because it made me realize it did not matter if my singing of it was good, or not, it will never top that of the real Mary. I highly believe in the part regarding chutzpah, a woman with confidence is truly indestructible!

Thank you, [your book] has affected my life and spiritual journey very much!

Laura

PS....I wore Carolina-Blue (ironic huh?)

I apologize for last week's omission of our development of the characters of Peter and Mary when it comes to a crucified Messiah. We were in Seattle, got home late, and it didn't even cross my mind. But, we're back -- Mary's at the Cross, Peter has skipped away. The rugged reality confronts both of them and the meaning of "Messiah" will never be the same.

Let this be clear first and foremost: no one embraces the cross naturally. Not the mother of Jesus and not the principal apostle.

Peter, whose story is so well known, is interrogated or at least questioned within earshot of Jesus during his ordeal -- and Peter claims he's never heard of Jesus and, in spite of his Galilean accent, he cannot be connected to Jesus. Why? He's afraid of the cross as an instrument of death that could engulf his own life. He knows what it would mean to say, "Yes, I know him; and I happen to love him and follow him." It means that Peter, too, would bear the cross. Peter gets this one opportunity and he fails ... miserably ... sadly ... and the event will mark Peter.

The cross scares because a life of following Jesus can involve dying with Jesus.

Mary is there ... and that's about all we know. Mark 15 tells us that the women who were around her -- Salome (her sister), Mary of Clopas and Mary of Magdala -- were followers of Jesus and that they provided for Jesus. We can assume these are not onlookers, but genuine followers who are close enough to Jesus to see the cross, his pain, and his death. They watch it.

What did Mary think of it all? We don't know, but what we do know is that what she thought would happen -- her son being the Davidic Messianic king who would establish that final dynasty -- just never quite happened as she thought it might. She had to learn that the Messiah would be a sword who would pierce her soul (Simeon), that her Son had a relationship to a Father that transcended his relationship to Mary, that he would do things in God's own time, and that the true "dynasty" was actually a clutch of those who sat with Jesus, encircled him and listened to his teachings -- and then practiced them.

The Gospels leave us wondering about both Peter and Mary -- what would become of them? ... and many are left wondering today about the sense the cross has when they see its utter reality.

The most neglected texts about women in ministry in the entire Bible are texts about Mary, and because our class has been looking at Mary of late, I thought I'd make a few suggestions about Mary and Ministry for women. It won't do to dismiss these points as nothing more than what only the mother of Jesus could do.

I'll suggest that Mary was first in many ways.

1. Mary was the first to know about arrival of the Messiah, the Son of David, the Son of the Most High God (Luke 1:26-38).

2. Mary was the first to surrender to God's new redemptive plan in Jesus (Luke 1:38). One could say she was the "first disciple" from this.

3. Mary became -- however you care to say it -- the first witness to Jesus Christ. Only she was there at the very beginning, so only she was able to tell this story.

4. This leads me to this conclusion: Mary became the first human font of the "Christian hermeneutic." Let's admit up front that the "Christian hermeneutic" -- the grid of learning to read the entire story of God through the story of Jesus -- is revealed to Mary by the Holy Spirit, but that entire grid was passed on from the Holy Spirit through Mary to others. In other words, though not alone, Mary is the first one to know what has become the orthodox Christian view of Jesus: we now believe Jesus as Messiah, as Son of the Most High God, because Mary "passed on that hermeneutic" to others. (She's not alone, but she's first.)

The words we use, the words that shape what we believe, are words that have their human origins in Mary.

5. Mary is the first "follower of Jesus" (while still in her uterus) to declare what that kingdom ministry would look like when it occurred -- even if she had to adjust her thinking, her Magnificat announces what God will do through her Most High God Son (Luke 1:46-55). Both Zechariah and Simeon confirmed this, and then Jesus himself preached it and lived it out (Luke 4:18-19 and Matt 11:5-6).

6. Mary is the first (along with Joseph) to hear that her Son would not only cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, but that the "sword" would pierce her own soul -- surely an indication of the crucifixion at some level (2:33-35).

7. Mary is the first (perhaps along with Joseph) to hear that her Son had a unique and transcending relation to his Father (Luke 2:41-50).

8. Mary, perhaps along with Peter, was the first to struggle with the unique kind of Messianic ministry Jesus would actually carry out -- from the incident in the Temple (#7) to the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11) to her brush with Jesus' vision of the true family (Mark 3:20-21, 31-35) -- and one of the first to be a witness to the crucifixion as God's saving event (John 19:25-27).

9. Mary, with others, was the first to participate in the Spirit of Pentecost (Acts 1:14).

Put together, we've got Mary as not only a unique person in history but a dynamic woman minister -- she verbally and theologically shaped how you and I understand who Jesus is.

Can anyone tell me why Mary is so often neglected when it comes to talking about women in ministry?

And, if you are interested in helping more churches get women connected to ministry, check out this blog by Ben Dubow at St. Paul's.