Is Mary the Greatest?

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If Christ states that John the Baptist is the greatest of all born of a woman, then why do we consider Mary the greatest creation?
 
Because the least in the kingdom is greater than he, also he had original sin. Although do be wary of justifying all things about Mary from only Scripture. Understanding of her radically developed from being somewhat negative, to highly loved and symbolic. Also it is not exactly a literal statement, he is surely not saying John is better than himself.
 
John the Baptist is the greatest born of women, but Mary made herself the least in Heaven by consenting to give her own flesh & blood son in atonement for the whole world. The least in Heaven is greater than even John.

Those who are the least are the greatest, and Mary made herself less and less.

Peace.
 
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Because Jesus was using a figure of speech.

Somewhere, I have a coffee mug that states “Best Mom Ever”. I am sorry to say, I am not.

I’ve introduced my boss before a large conference and referred to him as “The Best Speaker On Earth”.
 
Keep reading that verse. He is saying those in the Kingdom are greater than He–and those greater include those born of woman. Jesus Himself was of course also born of woman.

Here’s what the Haydock commentary says:

He that is the lesser, &c. Many understand this of Christ, who is less in as much as he is more humble, younger in age, and according to the erroneous opinion of men, of less sanctity than John. Maldonatus and Tolletus suppose the meaning to be, that he who is the least in sanctity in the Church of Christ is greater than John; not that John did not excel in sanctity many, nay even most of the children of the Church of Christ, but that those who belong to the Church, on account of this circumstance of their being under the new law, which is the law of children, are greater than those under the old law, which was the law of bondsmen, as the least among the children is greater than the greatest among the bondsmen. Now John in this respect did not belong to the Church of Christ, as he was slain before Christ’s death, before which time the gospel was not fully established. (Menochius) — There hath not risen … a greater, &c. This comparison, by what we find, Luke vii. 28, is only betwixt John and the ancient prophets, to signify that John was greater than any of the prophets, at least by his office of being the immediate precursor of the Messias. The comparison cannot be extended to Christ himself, who was both God and man, nor to his blessed Virgin Mother; nor need we understand it of this apostles. (Witham)
 
StJosephPrayForUs said:
Understanding of her radically developed from being somewhat negative
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When was understanding of Our Blessed Mother ever “somewhat negative”?

She was loved by the Apostles. Our understanding of her has developed over time, but there was never a “negative” period.
 
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Tis_Bearself said:
When was understanding of Our Blessed Mother ever “somewhat negative”?

She was loved by the Apostles. Our understanding of her has developed over time, but there was never a “negative” period.
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Exactly. ‘All these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.’ - Acts 1:14
Why is Mary singled out in this passage? It implies reverence and prominence.
 
I don’t know if ‘negatively’ would be the right word, but it did take a lot of time for Marian devotion to develop and become commonplace. Even today we can see veins of negativity towards Mariology among Catholics, either because they think it will make us look bad around protestants, or because they just don’t like it themselves.
 
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The “negativity” around Mary nowadays is coming from people’s own personal hangups, not from Church teaching on Mary.

The poster who brought it up suggested that such negativity was present in the Church’s original old teachings about Mary. I’m not aware of any such thing. Mariology developed over time, as did other theologies of the Church.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
The “negativity” around Mary nowadays is coming from people’s own personal hangups, not from Church teaching on Mary.

The poster who brought it up suggested that such negativity was present in the Church’s original old teachings about Mary. I’m not aware of any such thing. Mariology developed over time, as did other theologies of the Church.
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The Council of Ephesus was held in 431 to determine whether Mary was the Mother of Jesus (only in his humanity) of the Mother of God ( in His total being humanity and divinity). The Council taught she was the Mother if God, which the Church teaches today. There was a crowd of lay faithful outside the Church where the bishops were meeting and they started celebrating when the bishops proclaimed that Mary was the Mother of God. So I agree that I don’t see any negative teachings about Mary in the early Church.

(As an aside, I’ve often wondered what the crowd would have done to the bishops if they had NOT proclaimed Mary as the Mother of God.)

Pax
 
TK421 said:
I don’t know if ‘negatively’ would be the right word, but it did take a lot of time for Marian devotion to develop and become commonplace.
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St Louis Marie de Montford stated that in the early days of the Church, that the Holy Spirit somewhat hid Mary so as not to draw people away from the reality that Jesus is the only Saviour. It was for the purpose of rightly establishing devotion and
worship to Jesus. In St Louis’ book ’ True Devotion to Mary he states that the devil fears Mary more than all angels and men. St Louis prophesied that his book would go missing for about two hundred years after his death and so it did. It was eventually discovered for " those more than ever perilous times which are about to come " This book and devotion was intended for our times .
 
Gavin said:
If Christ states that John the Baptist is the greatest of all born of a woman, then why do we consider Mary the greatest creation?
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John the Baptist was the greatest of those born [ONLY] of woman. Mary was “full of grace” thus she was born of “water and the Spirit” - that is, she was “born again” or “born from above” - at the moment of her conception. Mary, then, was not born [only] of her mother, but was born also of the Spirit, and thus, into the Kingdom of God. Jesus was born of woman, but not born [only] of His mother Mary - He was and is eternally begotten [or “born”] of the Father, eternally alive in the Holy Trinity.

So Jesus was speaking of a category of persons that included all men and women except Adam and Eve, Mary, and Himself. Everyone else was born of woman [only], and comprised the “generation” of Adam, and included John the Baptist. Those born of the Holy Spirit (“born again”) are born into His Kingdom, and the least of those in His Kingdom are greater than the greatest of any NOT (yet) in that Kingdom - which group included, at that time, John the Baptist. John is now recognized as being in the Kingdom - hence is now St. John the Baptist.
 
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What is meant is that John the Baptist was the greatest of all the prophets.
 
Great is a subjective, human term. You have to think of great as in a heavenly, saintly, virtuous sense not a human one.
 
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