Protestant Mary

[contemplative]

**Protestant Mary

**Traditionally, most Protestants have not shared the devotion Catholics have for the Virgin Mary. In recent years, however, that seems to be changing. More and more Protestants – both mainline and evangelical – are urging a fresh look at the role of the Mother of God in the life of the Church and the formation of faith. Kim Lawton explores this emerging trend among Protestants to reclaim the Virgin Mary as part of their heritage. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, professor of the New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, observes, “We are a lot more interested now in biblical characters who are women. And we’ve talked about all the others, it might be time to talk about Mary as well … In order to understand fully what those Gospels are about, which is so much what Protestants prize, we have to pay more attention to her. We can’t just bring her out for Christmas Eve and put her back away on the 26th.” (Rebroadcast from December 17, 2004)

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[John_Paul_III]

**Protestant Mary

**Traditionally, most Protestants have not shared the devotion Catholics have for the Virgin Mary. In recent years, however, that seems to be changing. More and more Protestants – both mainline and evangelical – are urging a fresh look at the role of the Mother of God in the life of the Church and the formation of faith. Kim Lawton explores this emerging trend among Protestants to reclaim the Virgin Mary as part of their heritage. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, professor of the New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, observes, “We are a lot more interested now in biblical characters who are women. And we’ve talked about all the others, it might be time to talk about Mary as well … In order to understand fully what those Gospels are about, which is so much what Protestants prize, we have to pay more attention to her. We can’t just bring her out for Christmas Eve and put her back away on the 26th.” (Rebroadcast from December 17, 2004)

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This is new news to me, but I would still be very careful on what they come up with, I have read a few of these new books that are talking about women in the bible, and it is not just accuaruate at all, it is possible from a feminist movement that does not always share the same goal as the Church.

 

[Joey1976]

I have also read things locally in my area how the Lutheran Churches are having things celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe. I am not sure if they are really doing this because they are changing their feelings towards Mary or if they are doing it to “recruit” members to their church especially Latinos. The article always talked about the huge Hispanic population and how they are catering towards this big group. It seems to me that they may be wanting to gain members from this large population and they are using Mary to bring them in. I am not sure though.

 

[NonDenom]

**Protestant Mary

**

Traditionally, most Protestants have not shared the devotion Catholics have for the Virgin Mary. In recent years, however, that seems to be changing. More and more Protestants – both mainline and evangelical – are urging a fresh look at the role of the Mother of God in the life of the Church and the formation of faith. Kim Lawton explores this emerging trend among Protestants to reclaim the Virgin Mary as part of their heritage. Beverly Roberts Gaventa, professor of the New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary, observes, “We are a lot more interested now in biblical characters who are women. And we’ve talked about all the others, it might be time to talk about Mary as well … In order to understand fully what those Gospels are about, which is so much what Protestants prize, we have to pay more attention to her. We can’t just bring her out for Christmas Eve and put her back away on the 26th.” (Rebroadcast from December 17, 2004)

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Hi
As more and more church’s are taking their main focus off Christ,
this doesn’t supprise me.
Thanks

 

[Deo_Volente]

Grace & Peace!

NonDenom:

Hi
As more and more church’s are taking their main focus off Christ,
this doesn’t supprise me.
Thanks

Hi NonDenom. I don’t think this is quite accurate. As a “protestant” (Anglo-Catholic) who loves the Theotokos very much, I can tell you (as the Roman Catholics here can) that devotion to Mary opens the door to a greater love of Jesus. It is when our hearts become Mary that we, with her, can say yes to the angel, yes to the will and Word of God, and bear God’s Word, his Son, in our souls. Devotion to Mary is one of the surest protections against a misunderstanding or a denigration of the Incarnation of Our Lord. If we are losing our focus on Christ, it is Mary who will bring us back to her Son. She wants nothing more than all people to come to Jesus. All that she has, all that she is comes from Christ, and all that she has, all that she is she gives back to Christ. If someone is trying to avoid devotion to Jesus, devotion to Mary will be no consolation–The name of Jesus is inextricably bound up in the name of Mary–in a very real, spiritual sense, you cannot say Mary without saying Jesus. You cannot see Mary without seeing Jesus. This is the nature of her ministry–to reveal her Son to the world, to gather the faithful under her mantle and show them the face of Jesus.

I strongly encourage you to look to Our Lady as a model of faith, of love, of hope, and of prayer. In short, as a model of the faithful Christian!

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae!

Under the Mercy!
Mark

Deo Gratias!

 

[contemplative]

I view this step toward Mary as something positive for Protestants. While they don’t have it all correct in their newly published books about her, there is greater hope that eventually Protestants will come to understand the Catholic Mary…the real Mary…the Mary who leads us to Jesus.

Maybe someday my Baptist neighbor will no longer eye my outdoor statue of Mary with such great suspicion.

 

[JaneFrances]

NonDenom:

Hi
As more and more church’s are taking their main focus off Christ,
this doesn’t supprise me.
Thanks

Oh, I totally know what mean. . .Just this morning I was pushing my two young children around in the grocery store and several other shoppers stopped to talk to them and then they had the nerve to comment about how beautiful, sweet, and lovely they were! I mean come on. . .Didn’t they see me? Didn’t they realize that these are MY children. I “made” them. I taught them how to be sweet and lovely! What about me! How dare these people take their eyes off of me to focus on my children and actually recognize beauty in MY creation! How utterly offensive.

I’m sure our Lord must feel the same way when we look upon his creation and recognize the awesome power of his all-sufficient saving work in his Blessed Mother. I’m sure he must get as annoyed as I was when we ponder and honor the wonders of his creation!

Oh. . .wait. . .I’m sorry. It must be the pregnancy hormones kicking in. . .Now that I think about it, I was actually quite honored by others noticing my children and praising the goodness that God has wrought in them!

 

[JSmitty2005]

NonDenom:

Hi
As more and more church’s are taking their main focus off Christ,
this doesn’t supprise me.
Thanks

Did the Jews take their focus off of God when they drew near to the Ark of the Covenant?

 

[JaneFrances]

“Since the creation of the world, invisible realities, God’s eternal power and divinity, have become visible, recognized through the things he has made.” Romans 1:20

 

[mark_a]

Here’s another “Protestants and Mary” link to Time Magazine (from other threads on this forum).

time.com/time/covers/1101050321/

And here’s a quote from Billy Graham that’s pretty interesting:

“I think that Protestants, in reaction to the Catholic position, have made far too little of Mary. Mary was the most remarkable and most blessed of all women.”

And another thing I picked up from this forum:

Billy Graham has an honorary theology degree from Belmont Abbey College.

Just thought I’d spread it around.