Why Our Lady is important to us as Anglicans
Why Our Lady is important to us as Anglicans
1. First of all, why are you wasting your time with a catechism of Mary when Jesus Christ is the Centre of the Christian Faith?
Is the moon any less important or lovely because the sun is the centre of our solar system? Just as the moon is beautiful (yes, and beneficial) by reflecting the sun's light, so is Mary beautiful and beneficial to us by reflecting the Light and Glory of Christ.
Also, the New Testament has more material on Mary than on any other woman. That tells me that Mary is an important figure and that I ought to take notice.
2. What was Mary called among her own people and what does the name mean?
Among the Aramaic speaking Jews of her own time she was called "Maryam," the Hebrew version of which is "Miriam." There is some debate, but many scholars connect the name to a root whose meaning is "bitter." It was not lost on the early Christians, however, that the Aramaic form of her name could be broken down to two words meaning "Lord of the Sea" (Mar = Lord, Yam = Sea) which they saw as referring to Christ the "Fish." (The letters of the Greek word for "fish" were taken by early Christians to stand for "Jesus Christ God's Son Saviour")
3. How old was Mary when she gave birth to Jesus?
We cannot, of course, say for certain, but a likely conjecture is between 14 and 17 years old.
4. How literally does the Church understand the doctrine of the Virgin Birth?
The Church has always understood that when St. Luke tells us (1: 27) that the angel Gabriel came to a "parthenos" (virgin) he meant it quite literally, and that when Mary asks the angel how she will bear a son since she "knows not a man" (that is, has not had intercourse) she was telling the truth. The Holy Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church, traditional Anglicans and Lutherans, as well as most conservative Protestant bodies believe the Virgin Birth to be a literal, historical fact: Jesus Christ was conceived in Mary's womb without the aid of a man and by the direct working of the Holy Spirit upon her.
There is, to be sure, a deeper theological meaning to the doctrine of the Virgin Birth in addition to the literal one. Almost everything and everyone in Scripture has a secondary, "typological" significance. In causing His Son to be conceived in an intact virgin, God was demonstrating that He was taking up His abode with men among "virgin Israel," that is, among the Righteous Remnant of His People.
5. So, Mary has a symbolic meaning as well as her historical meaning as the Mother of Jesus Christ?
Absolutely! The early Fathers of the Church saw in Mary a personification, as I said, of Virgin Israel, the Righteous Remnant, out of whom was born the Messiah. Her very statement in her beautiful song of praise, the Magnificat, that "from henceforth all generations will call me blessed" recalls the promise to Abraham (and hence his people) that whoever blessed him (and them) God would bless.
To bless Mary (as did Gabriel, her cousin Elizabeth, and countless others through the ages) is to bless not only her, but also the Righteous Remnant of Israel to whom Jesus Christ came and among whom He first proclaimed the Kingdom of God.
The Church Fathers often call Mary the New Ark (i.e., of the Covenant). St. John tells us (1:14) "the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." If one translates the Greek into Hebrew the word "dwelt" would be "shakhan," obviously from the same root as "Shekhinah," the Presence of God that rested upon the Holy Ark. John is saying quite forthrightly that Jesus is that Divine Presence, but no longer resting on an Ark of wood, He "pitched His tent among us" in the Womb of a living woman of flesh and blood.
6. Granted that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus by the Holy Spirit, but I have heard Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and others call her EVER-virgin! Come on now, the Bible is quite clear: Mary had other children; it even names Jesus' brothers!
Does the New Testament say Mary had other children? Read carefully now. St. Matthew (13: 55) and St. Mark (6:3) do give the names of those it calls Jesus' "brothers," namely, James, Joses, Simon, and Jude. However, if you look at Matthew 27: 56 and Mark 15: 40 you will see both Evangelists tell us quite clearly that James and Joses were NOT sons of Mary or Joseph but children of a different "Mary" who is called both the Wife of Alphaeus/Cleopas AND the Virgin Mary's "sister." Now, it would have been highly unlikely in those days for two Jewish sisters to have the same first name, but obviously some close relationship is implied among all these people. It's really fairly easily solved: Alphaeus/Cleopas was the brother of St. Joseph, hence Alphaeus' wife, Mary, was the sister-in-law of the Virgin, making James, Joses, Simon, Jude, and the "sisters" to be Jesus' cousins. That the Evangelists call such cousins "brothers and sisters" isn't surprising but quite in line with Semitic thought where close kin were often called brothers/sisters.
Also, read John 19:25-27 (NJB): Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, "woman this is your son." Then to the disciple he said, "This is your mother." Thus, Jesus gave away his mother to the care of St. John the apostle, which would be very strange and probably even illegal had Mary had children of her own who could have cared for her.
One must also take into account the almost universal belief of Christians throughout the ages that Mary, the Mother of Jesus, whom we call the God-bearer, was ever-virgin. The majority of the ancient Fathers of the Church believed Mary was ever-virgin, including Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and St. Jerome. Many Reformers did as well (surprisingly to most Protestants) including Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and John Wesley.
7. But doesn't the Scripture say that Joseph "knew her not UNTIL she brought forth her first-born son?" "Until" implies relations afterward and "firstborn" implies second (third etc.) born.
In the Old Testament it is written that Michal had no child until the day of her death; does that mean she had one after she died? Of course not! The Evangelist, by stating that Joseph did not "know" Mary "until" she had given birth to Jesus, is simply re-emphasizing that this was a virgin birth, a birth caused by God and not man. Even John Calvin believed "firstborn" simply indicated that she was a virgin.
As for "first-born," Colossians 1: 15 calls Jesus the Firstborn of all creation in God's image. Does this mean that there is a second, third, fourth born? That would be heresy. A first-born can be the only born. The term "firstborn" also had an important meaning in Judaic religion: The firstborn was considered holy and belonging solely to God as it was written in the Torah, "The first son that opens the womb shall be holy to the Lord." The parents had to "redeem" the firstborn son with offerings and sacrifice. Firstborn also is a synonym for "preeminent" in this ancient usage.
However, Mary's position as "ever-virgin" is less of a statement about the condition of her hymen than a statement about the grace of God. The term speaks more of a place of honour than a physical status. Do we have little enough faith than to doubt the grace of God?
8. Why is Mary called "Mother of God (Gr: theotokos)?" How could Mary give birth to God?
Mary was declared the "theotokos," Greek for God-Bearer, in early Christian worship, and the title was officially made doctrine at the Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD. The term "theotokos" does not mean that Mary is somehow the mother of the Trinity, or that she existed at the beginning of time. Absolutely no informed or educated Christian believes this; it seems only those who would seek to mischaracterize catholic belief assert that we believe Mary is somehow the mother of the entire Godhead.
The history is a bit long and messy, but affirming Mary as mother of God has little to do with who Mary is, but a lot to do with who Jesus is. It has everything to do with Christ being God and human at the same time. Calling Mary God-Bearer simply affirms that Mary is the mother of the one person, Jesus, who is both fully human and fully divine. This is all "theotokos" implies. Catholics, the Orthodox, and virtually every protestant denomination accepts the statement of the Council of Chalcedon calling Mary "theotokos." This includes Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and many Baptists.
9. You said that even the Protestant reformers called Mary "mother of God" and " ever-virgin." Can you give some quotes from them concerning Mary?
Of course. Let's start with Luther:
It is an article of the Faith that Mary is the Mother of the Lord and still a virgin...Christ, we believe, came forth from a womb left perfectly intact. The Works of Luther, by Weimar, translated by Jaroslav Pelikan.
In this work whereby she was made the Mother of God, so many and such great good things were given to her that no one can grasp them..." Ibid.
Calvin agreed Mary was the Mother of God and that her perpetual virginity was possible:
Elizabeth called Mary Mother of the Lord.....the mortal man engendered in the womb of Mary was at the same time the Eternal God. The Works of Calvin, Berlin, 1863.
Helvidius displayed excessive ignorance in concluding that Mary must have had many sons, because Christ's 'brothers' are sometimes mentioned...The inference he [Helvidius] drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband...No just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words...as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called 'first-born'; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin..." Harmony of Matthew, Mark & Luke, sec. 39 (Geneva, 1562), vol. 2 / From Calvin's Commentaries, tr. William Pringle
Zwingli (Swiss reformer whose teachings influenced later Anabaptists, although they were more radical than he was) said similar things:
I esteem immensely the Mother of God, the ever chaste, immaculate Virgin Mary. The Works of Zwingli, Corpus Reformatorum, Berlin, 1905.
The more the honor and love Christ grows among men, the more esteem and honor for Mary grows, for she brought forth for us so great and so compassionate a Lord and Redeemer." Ibid.
John Wesley, an Anglican priest and founder of the Methodists (later became the Methodist Church) wrote this in a letter to a Roman Catholic, explaining the beliefs Anglicans and Roman Catholics share:
I believe... he [Jesus Christ] was born of the blessed Virgin, who, as well after as she brought him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin. "Letter to a Roman Catholic."
10. When you quoted Zwingli I saw that the Reformer used the word "immaculate" concerning Mary. Does this have anything to do with the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception?
The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is actually a doctrine specific to the Roman Catholic Church, and as such has no official status within the Church of England. It was proclaimed a dogma of the Roman Church by Pope Pius IX in 1854, the doctrine teaches that Mary, from the moment of her conception, was without original (and consequently actual) sin. It actually caused quite a furor when it was first proclaimed, and a lively debate among Roman Catholic theologians, although it was not exactly a new idea, as pious opinion had held it as truth for several centuries. However, it is not accepted by the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox (Copts, Armenians, et al), most Anglicans, or any Protestant group [Editor's Note: The concept of Mary being conceived immaculately (and the feast celebrating it) is first encountered within an Eastern Church, the Syrian Church, around the 4th century. However, after Monophysitism overran much of that Church, the feast gradually fell out of use.].
Having said that, however, it must be pointed out that the Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox do call Mary the "all-blameless" and "all-holy." While the Orthodox believe that Mary was born with a "tendency toward sin," just like any other descendent of Adam and Eve, and that at the Annunciation, when the Holy Spirit overshadowed her, Mary was completely sanctified. Thus while she may not have always quite understood everything Jesus was saying and doing, she did not commit any actual, willful sins. I have heard nearly the same idea expressed by many Anglicans and even by some Lutherans, both clergy and laity.
One point to remember here is that, whether one holds to the Catholic dogma or the Orthodox doctrine, the cause of Mary's sinlessness (or all-blamelessness) is Christ. And whether she was totally sanctified from sin at her conception or sometime later, we all agree that her holiness comes from Jesus Christ, not herself.
11. All right. All of this is very interesting and does make me think, but, even granted all you are telling me, why do you pray to Mary? Doesn't that constitute worship, adoration due to God alone?
I'll let the early Father and Bishop, Epiphanius of Salamis (4th Century} answer: "Let the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be worshipped, but let no one worship Mary!" And yet, this early bishop has no trouble asking the intercession of the Mother of God.
If I come to you and ask you to pray for me, am I worshipping you? Paul asked the recipients of his epistles to pray for him; was he "worshipping" them by that request?
We never pray to Mary, but pray alongside her.
12. But I am alive, as were Paul's hearers. Mary is dead
So far you have been asking the theoretical questions, now let me ask you a question: Do you believe that what Jesus said is true? If you say yes, hear him now:
I am the Resurrection and the Life; he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. (St. John 11: 25-26, RSV)
"Shall never die." That means that everyone who has "lived and believed" in Jesus from then until now is what? Alive! For as Jesus told the Sadducees, "God is not a God of the dead but of the living, for all live unto Him" (Luke 20:38 KJV). This includes Mary, the One who was the God-bearer.
13. But that still doesn't mean she can hear us when we ask her to pray for us.
The saints who have left this earth are outside time and are "in God" who is present to everything and everyone in all times and all places all at once. The author of Hebrews in fact tells us "...we are surrounded by a so great a cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1, RSV), that is, surrounded by the martyrs and saints. The Church has always taken this quite literally. HOW this can be so is beyond my ken or feeble ability to explain, but if I accept the Word of God, I must accept that it is so. That the earliest Christians believed the saints could be asked for their prayers is beyond question. We have found at Christian gravesites from as far back as the first century itself, graffiti on tombs that say things like, "Aufidia, little daughter now with the Lord, pray for us," or "Matrona, dear wife, you are with Christ, remember me in your prayers!"
Granted, sometimes there have been excesses when people have gotten carried away and asked more of the saints (including Mary) than just their prayers, going against actual Church teaching on the saints. Neither Mary nor the other saints (nor God for that matter) are "holy vending machines" at our whim. This is why many Protestants (even those who confess belief in the communion of saints in the Nicene Creed) will not directly ask the prayers of the saints. However, many ignore the saints altogether (rather like tossing Baby out with the bathwater, if you ask me), but others like Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians will commemorate the saints, either on one day a year (All Saints' Day) or on a specific memorial day for a certain saint. In which case the prayer used is often something like this: "O God, we thank and praise you for St. such-and-such, for his/her life and witness. Grant us to follow his/her example etc." The liturgy of the Lutheran Church (surely the MOST Protestant of all!) even asks God to unite the prayers of the congregation with the prayers of God's people of all times and places. When you come right down to it and in spite of some nitpicking amongst the various churches, doesn't it all boil down to the same thing - that when we pray, worship, and intercede, we are not alone but are surrounded by the Cloud of Witnesses, are united with those that came before, who are still our brothers and sisters in Christ?
If you cannot, as yet, directly ask Mary to pray with and for you, at least thank the Father for her, for her openness to say "Yes!" to the angel, for her standing by the cross of her Son, for her being there in prayer with the Apostles on Pentecost, for her life and witness. You might even ask God to join your prayers and praises to hers and to those of all the saints of Heaven and earth, reminding yourself that you are not alone, but belong to a Great Choir of prayer and adoration.
I would like to end with this ancient prayer in honour of Mary:
Hail Mary full of grace! The Lord is with you! Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb: For you have given birth to the Saviour of our souls!
Truly it is right to bless you, O God-bearer, for you are most blessed, most pure, and the Mother of our God. O higher than the cherubim! More glorious than the seraphim! Without corruption, you gave birth to God the Word: True God-bearer, we magnify you! +Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: both now and ever and to ages of ages. Amen.
Written by David Morrison; Minor Contributions: David Bennett and Fr. Simon Rundell