Introducing Mary
Mary. Yeah, you know her. Jesus’s Mommy. Jesus’s Mommy. So why is there such a controversy surrounding Mary? What’s there to not like about Mary? She is Jesus’s Mommy. We should love her as Jesus loves her – because we are called to love as Jesus loves.
The problem is Protestants don’t think about Mary like that. Before they can really consider anything concerning Mary, they see Marian devotion in the Roman Catholic Church and see that people are putting Mary up on a pedestal like they should be doing with Jesus – and Jesus alone. Well, the perception is wrong and over-reactionary… but I’ll get to that later. Protestants then wonder: How can a Christian Church put emphasis on someone other than Jesus? And if it were just devotion, that would be one thing… but they also have Traditions and theologies surrounding her.
But the thing of it is… …it’s really not that crazy.
Consider this:
Jesus is the most perfect person who has ever lived. Perfect such that He fulfilled the Law as no other human has. Perfectly obedient to the Moral Law which includes the commandment “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.”
Now, before going further, it’s important to understand this commandment a little more contextually – namely, the Jewish context. I will point you here for a brief explanation of the commandment as it appears in Hebrew. The short of it is that the commandment calls for us to not just honor in the sense of “giving good reputation to” our parents but to also revere our parents. To, in a sense, bestow glory upon them from within ourselves as well as in what we do.
So, from this we enter into Marian theology. We enter into it because we are forced to ask: How do we reconcile Jesus, the perfect fulfiller and obedient follower of the law, and His relationship with His mother? If Jesus is to have a proactive reverence in heart as well as in action towards His mother, how would that be manifested… how far would He go?
And thus we enter into the Marian mysteries: the Immaculte Conception – that in the moment of Mary’s conception, the stain of original sin did not afflict her, and so she was born perfect – and her Assumption into heaven – that her body did not fall into decay and ruin but was assumed into heaven just as Moses and Elijah’s bodies.
Why am I writing about this? Well… this is something I’m not personally very clear about, so I’m trying, as I can, to put the teachings I know into my own words. And so that I can have a deeper appreciation of the Marian devotions I participate in. And so that, hopefully, as I make clear(er) these teachings and mysteries for myself, I can make it clear(er) for you, dear reader.
…and plus… I started thinking about it because I saw this recently: A RCC/Anglican ecumenical commission came out with a statement surprisingly and largely agreeing with the RCC teachings
I’m close enough to Methodism’s Anglican roots that I don’t mind it so much.
The RCC is embracing the traditions of the larger Christian movement, rather than being purely focused on Jesus. I don’t have a problem with it as long as Jesus has primacy. 
A true, Catholic understanding of Mary always says that Jesus has the primacy… “Do whatever he tells you” from the Wedding at Cana and all that.
First, a correction. Originally in the post I said this was something “I’m personally very clear about” when it was meant to read “I’m not personally…”
Which is to say, I know the teachings… just not something I’ve tried to speak “what and why” in my own words before.
Now, as to Geof and Jason, Jason’s right. The only concern for Mary is Jesus as my post illustrates. The only reason why the Catholic Christian Tradition has anything to say about Mary more than she was just around is that Jesus is her son… that and she has no burial place. Anyways…
All “why’s” find their root in Jesus and thus God. In other words, Mary does not stand apart from Jesus. Her being is a proclomation of the greatness of the Lord.
Oh, I know that most Catholics have a very Jesus-centered faith, and that a lot of the Protestant propoganda against it is just that. [I have a close friend whose conversion to Catholicism is much like yours, Spencer, and it's interesting to discuss things with him...] I was just playing the Protestant role.
I have always seen Mary’s role as pointing us to Jesus as Jesus points us to the Father. I’ve had to clarify to people that the Catholic Church does not teach worship of Mary but veneration. They don’t like it. I get weary of trying to correct misunderstandings of this kind. It was much easier being a non Catholic. Other Christians left me alone and didnt try to correct my beliefs or dismiss me because of where I went to church. Drives me crazy some days(like today). And this from people who have walked alongside me in my journey for over 15 years. It is plain painful.
Hope,
I know how you feel about people who have walked along side you for 15 years. I several close friends who think I’m crazy after spending 29 years as a Protestant that I would choose to return to my Catholic roots. It is painful when you want those you care about to see the Church and all it’s beauty and glory the way you do but you have to just leave them with the Lord. Answer whatever questions they may have and be faithful. I myself will probably be purging out false Protestant ideas out of my thinking for years to come. I’m still working through Marian theology myself. One of the things I have learned to ask myself is if doctrines I’m not sure about are anti-Christ? So far I have not found one doctrine in Catholic theology that I can say that about. I am putting my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ first of all and secondly in the Church that He left here to preserve the faith.
In Christ,
Philologus
I am a Christain and I love Jesus with all of my heart. As Christains, Christ should be the primary and only focus in our lives. Now to Catholics. I am not bashing Mary, for I repect her greatly because God choose her to be Jesus’ earthly mother, but to say that she was a perfect person is going a little to far. The Bible teaches us that there was only ONE perfect person ever to be in existence and his name is Jesus Christ. The Bible makes no reference that Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus was perfect in any way.There is also only ONE person that points us to Jesus and that IS Jesus And Geof,I am not bashing you but this larger Christain movement concerning Mary and not putting the focus purely on Jesus Christ, is unbiblical. The Bible tells us to put our full attention, thoughts, and actions towards Jesus Christ, the only person to save all of humanity from their sins. We as Christains should PRUELY FOCUS on JESUS CHRIST. Period. If you put your focus on anything else, it is known as idol worship. There is only one type of theology and that is Jesus’ Theology. There should be no Protestant or Catholic theology. Or in another way: What would Jesus do? What would Jesus accept? Would Jesus put the slightest focus on anything else besides God? The last time I checked Mary does not save you from your sins, does not bring peace to your life does not grant you eternal life.And about no burial place? The Bible says nothing about Mary being taken up into Heaven So putting her on a pedestal, as a statue in courtyard, or in any place near Jesus is just flat out wrong. Now just to remind you, I am not bashing Catholics or Mary, I am just telling the truth. God is speaking the truth though me. Do not be offended, for both Jesus and all Christains want people to have a better understanding what Christ has planned for your lives. Stay and pray in the Word and you will live the Word. This is what God has taught me. In the kind of society we live in today, the truth needs to be told. Not the half truth or the truth + “additional” information. Just the TRUTH!! It is Jesus’ vision and it should be our vision. I would like to thank whoever is reponsible for this website for letting me share this. For the Kingdom of God! Amen.
In Christ Jesus,
Philip Burns
I love how I am being accused of being Marian here. :snort:
Philip, I think you pretty much missed the whole point. You asked, “What would Jesus do?” That is the point. What would Jesus do? Certainly Jesus would honor God, His Father. But would Jesus also honor His mother? Indeed!! He has and does and ever will! And so, in our imitation of Christ, we also honor Mary. We focus on her because Jesus focuses on her. She indeed has saved us from our sins, though not in the sense that Protestants mean. She is the mother of our Savior and as extention, the mother of the Church, the mother of all salvation – our salvation. Yet even in those roles, she also has our same Savior, and it is only by Him that she so worthily holds those roles.
This is a page from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’d be good for you to read. Guess I know what I’ll be blogging about next