The Mary Of Roman Catholicism
Both Catholics and Protestants recognize
Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ. However, beyond this, their views
are vastly divergent. Just how different are they?
Of the many issues which divide Catholics and Protestants, the question
of Mary’s status within the church is definitely one of the most
prominent ones. In fact, the beginning of the problem can be traced
all the way back to the Council of Chalcedon, which took place in 451
A.D. Here, Mary was officially given the title Theotokos (which means
God-bearer” or “mother of God ). Well, this designation
was meant to underscore the fact that Jesus is God in the flesh —
one person who possessed two distinct natures, rather than two persons
who were somehow joined together. Unfortunately, the title paved the
way for extreme Marian devotees to filter into the church.
In confessing Mary to be “the mother of God,”we simply mean
that it was within Mary’s womb that the eternal Son became united
to a human nature and entered the world as theantropos, the God-man.
Mary was truly Jesus’ mother, but let’s make an important
distinction here — she was Christ’s mother with respect
to His humanity and not His deity. We affirm with Catholics that Mary
was indeed “blessed among women” (Luke 1:28). After all,
God chose her to give birth to the Messiah. But we firmly disagree with
those Catholics who hold that Mary deserves to be exalted or venerated
because of her unique relationship with Christ. Jesus Himself, in several
instances, down played His physical relationship with His mother while
at the same time emphasizing His spiritual relationship with all believers
(Matt. 12:46-50; Luke 11:27-28).
Unfortunately, the exalted position that Mary
holds in the Catholic church has given rise to several unwarranted doctrines.
One of them is that Mary remained a virgin throughout her lifetime (cf.
Matt. 1:25; 13:55-56). Another is that she herself was conceived without
sin (cf. Rom. 3:23); and also that she was assumed or taken up to heaven
either before she died or shortly thereafter. It’s important to
note that this is a far cry from the Mary of the Bible — a Mary
who saw herself simply as God’s humble servant (Luke 1:38, 48),
a sinner who (like you and I) was also in need of a savior (Luke 1:47).
These are important issues, and we simply can’t just afford to
ignore them.
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