Mary, Woman of Controversy, Con't

McKnight addresses three of the most controversial issues between Protestants and Roman Catholics in chapter 13: the immaculate conception, the glorious assumption, and the mediatrix. I thought that he tried to represent the Roman Catholic side respectfully and fairly.

The immaculate conception is a phrase that refers to God supernaturally preserving Mary from sin from the time that she was conceived in the womb. He notes that this did not become the official teaching of the Roman Catholic church until Pope Pius IX's declaration in 1854. He then quotes the pope's declaration. McKnight summarizes the doctrine of the immaculate conception by saying that it "is the belief that Mary was by God's gracious work cleansed so she would not pass on a sinful nature to her son" (p. 130). He then notes that in all of his study, he has not found with the biblical writer's a connection between Mary's virginal conception with Jesus' sinlessness: that is a connection made later by theologians. In other words, this dogma is "unnecessary" to believe in Jesus' sinlessness.

The glorious assumption is the belief that while Mary died while in the presence of others, when they checked her tomb she was gone: her body had been taken up to heaven. Pope Pius XII made this the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church in 1950. There is precedent for this belief. In Genesis Enoch was "assumed" into heaven, and in II Kings, Elijah was "assumed" into heaven. McKnight notes that there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that she was assumed into heaven, but that doesn't necessarily mean that she wasn't.

The last doctrine that McKnight focuses on and on which he spends the most time is Mary's role as mediatrix. He writes,

Roman Catholicism has for centuries taught that Mary was in some sense the Mediatrix, the female mediator between sinful humans and an all-holy Son. In so teaching, however, Roman Catholics have never argued that Mary was divine or that the Trinity really was a Quadrinity (Father, Son, Mother, Spirit). And they do not believe the Son of God can be manipulated by his mother (p. 133).

According to McKnight, Roman Catholics arrived at the idea of Mary as the mediatrix through the notion that we are co-workers with God (This idea is found in I Corinthians 3). Mary's role as co-worker is unique because as Scott Hahn, A Roman Catholic theologian has written, "...the Father willed that His son's entire existence as a man would hinge, so to speak, upon the ongoing consent of Mary" (p. 134). He is referring to Mary's "may it be."

While McKnight acknowledges that official Roman Catholic teaching is clear about Mary's status as a human being, his major concern with this doctrine is "a tendency--or, as many see it, more than just a tendency--to elevate Mary so high that she becomes and idol" (p. 136).

After discussing issues around devotion to Mary, and his concerns that for many devotion is often eclipsed with worship, he ends on an irenic note: "In an age such as ours is today, when cooperation between Christians of all sizes and shapes will be required, we can begin today...to converse thoughtfully with one another if only we will take the time to understand what each segment of the Church believes" (p. 140). I say "Amen" to that.