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When you say, "What about Mary?" to Anglicans, the question is met with a sort of blank answer of "Well, I have never thought about Mary. I have never been taught about Mary." I think that has been the story in other Protestant denominations ever since they came into existence in the 17th century.

Oden: There were important reforms in Marian theology right at the beginning of the Reformation. [The Reformation] cleaned up some of the abuses. [Before this] Mary was overly sentimentalized and took on an intercessory role for the saints. For the most part, the Reformation accepted the ecumenical doctrine established [at the Council of Ephesus] in 431. But it did not accept all of the accumulation of piety and merit that Catholics believed can be acquired through prayers to Mary, like the rosary.

Why should evangelicals pay attention to Mary?

Oden: I think it is important that evangelicals clearly affirm that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. But there is nothing unusual with that: it is a consensual, classical teaching. What is more controversial is the notion of Mary as intercessor. That is very controversial between Catholics and Protestants because in the 16th century [that teaching] had been abused. Luther never revolted against the Virgin Mary. There is no hint of that. But he did revolt or protest against abuses of Mary as intercessor.

Packer: I think we lose by not focusing on Mary. On the one hand, she is a magnificent model of total trustful devotion. She's being told she is to fulfill the public role of an unmarried mother. Yet she says, "Be it to me according to your will." We evangelicals ought to remember Mary for that.

Secondly, we ought to take the theology of the Magnificat seriously and celebrate Mary, the mother of the Lord, as head of the line of those who are blessed to be saved sinners.

Todd Hertz is assistant online editor for Christianity Today.

Copyright © 2002 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Articles also appearing on our site today include:

The Serene Contradiction of the Mother of Jesus | In an excerpt from Blessed One: Protestant Perspectives on Mary, author Kathleen Norris explains why she reclaimed the virgin mother as a significant figure in her faith.

Previous CT articles on Mary include:

What Does James Ossuary Say About Mary? |  Does James's bone box destroy Roman Catholic teaching of Mary's perpetual virginity? (Oct. 23, 2000)

Mary, Mother of Darth Vader | NBC's "Mary, Mother of Jesus" tries to make Mary more noble, but only by making everyone else worse. (Nov. 8, 1999)

Let Mary Be | Why the pope shouldn't give Mary that which belongs to her Son. (Dec. 8, 1997)

CT Classic: Whose Child Is This? | The early church's opponents claimed Jesus was illegitimate. Its heretical fringe said he wasn't human. The doctrine of the Virgin Birth set them both straight. (Dec. 17, 1990)

Books and Culture, our sister publication, had a two part look at "The Evolution of Mary" in May 1997 (print only).

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December (Web-only) 2002, Vol. 46