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The Catholic Church’s teachings on the role of Mary in salvation are supported by both the Bible and Patristics (the writings of the Early Church Fathers).
Mary as the New Eve
In the Garden of Eden, there’s
Both Adam and Woman are born without sin, but fall into the temptation to eat of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and death enters the world.
The Redemption lifts the curse of Adam, and it reads like “Eden, take 2.”
Now, normally, the "seed’ is measured through the man, as verses like Genesis 38:9 make clear – about the only exception is when a promise is that a *specific *woman will give birth (for example: God makes promises to Abraham for his seed, but also to a seed for Hagar, meaning a lineage separate from the one that Abraham will enjoy through Isaac – Genesis 16:10). Note that even though Adam is also present, it’s the “Seed of the Woman” which Satan needs to be worried about. So from the very start, God had a specific and individual role for Mary in the plan of salvation. It was Mary who bore Christ, and who taught Him, who was with Him from Womb to Tomb and beyond.
This has been called co-redemption, but due to the ambiguities of the term (namely, that it sounds like She half saved the world, when that’s not what the Church teaches or has taught), that term isn’t favored with Pope Benedict. It’s a poor term for an accurate dogma.
*There’s an issue her with the gender of the word used - it’s neuter. So it might be “He” (Christ), “She” (Mary), They (offspring, or Jesus and Mary together). That’s a separate issue. Even if it means “He,” as most modern Bibles have concluded, He is still the seed of the Woman.
Mary as the New Eve
In the Garden of Eden, there’s
- A sinless man, Adam
- A sinless woman. She’s known in the Garden as “Woman” (Genesis 2:23), and is later named Eve when she becomes “Mother of the Living” (Gen. 3:20)
- The woman is a virgin, symbolizing her purity from sin.
- The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Gen. 2:9)
- The Tree of Life (Gen. 2:9)
- Fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, which brings sin and death into the world when they partake of it (Gen. 2:17)
Both Adam and Woman are born without sin, but fall into the temptation to eat of the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and death enters the world.
The Redemption lifts the curse of Adam, and it reads like “Eden, take 2.”
- There’s a sinless Man, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 4:15). St. Paul makes the Adam parallel blatant in 1 Corinthians 15:45.
- There’s a sinless Woman, Mary. Jesus twice refers to Her by the name “*Dear *Woman,” which both alludes to, and distinguishes Her from, Eve (John 2:4; John 19:26). Like Eve, She’s the Mother of the Living (Revelation 12:17). Of course, unlike Eve, Her progeny are spiritual, not physical (just as Christ’s are: see John 3:6).
- The Woman is a Virgin, symbolizing Her purity from sin (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:18-23).
- “The Tree” is, of course, the Cross. 1 Peter 2:24 and Galatians 3:13 both explain how Christ took up our sins, and **became **the curse of the Adam, fulfilling the curse on “the Tree,” the terms both passages use. That they refer to it as “the Tree,” and not “the Cross” to make the Eden parallel more blatant.
- The Tree of Life is the Church, as Revelation 22:2 makes pretty clear (with the “twelve crops” representing the Apostles, who are in turn a fulfillment of the Twelve Tribes under the Old Covenant).
- Christ is the fruit, as Galatians 3:13 makes clear. Just as the fruit of the first tree was sin, Christ becomes sin, that is, becomes the fruit, and is put up on the Tree to replace the fruit which was taken disobediently. But notice that even this context is Marian: it’s in Luke 1:42 that Elizabeth proclaims to Mary, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
- While Eve came entirely from Adam, the reverse is true here: the “last Adam,” Christ, is Flesh and Blood entirely from the last Eve, Mary. So it’s Mary’s physical body which God forms Jesus from, and Her flesh becomes His Flesh, and the salvation of the world.
Now, normally, the "seed’ is measured through the man, as verses like Genesis 38:9 make clear – about the only exception is when a promise is that a *specific *woman will give birth (for example: God makes promises to Abraham for his seed, but also to a seed for Hagar, meaning a lineage separate from the one that Abraham will enjoy through Isaac – Genesis 16:10). Note that even though Adam is also present, it’s the “Seed of the Woman” which Satan needs to be worried about. So from the very start, God had a specific and individual role for Mary in the plan of salvation. It was Mary who bore Christ, and who taught Him, who was with Him from Womb to Tomb and beyond.
This has been called co-redemption, but due to the ambiguities of the term (namely, that it sounds like She half saved the world, when that’s not what the Church teaches or has taught), that term isn’t favored with Pope Benedict. It’s a poor term for an accurate dogma.
*There’s an issue her with the gender of the word used - it’s neuter. So it might be “He” (Christ), “She” (Mary), They (offspring, or Jesus and Mary together). That’s a separate issue. Even if it means “He,” as most modern Bibles have concluded, He is still the seed of the Woman.
