Equal Time (for Mary)

by Timothy F. Kauffman

We received some time ago a letter from a Roman Catholic who took exception to the book, Quite Contrary: A Biblical Reconsideration of the Apparitions of Mary. He wrote, "Luke 1:48 expounds the Magnificat and there is no excuse for anyone claiming the name Christian to fail to carry out her scriptural mandate of, '...Behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.' There is no exemption on this for any generation of Christians to not actively do so. Those journeying to approved [Marian] apparition sites certainly are doing it. You are not. Who is the Bible Christian?"

Before we proceed any further, perhaps it would be best to dispel a misconception that plagues many of the Marian devotees with whom we interact. We have noticed, for example, a tendency among the devout to attribute to Mary things she did not say. One person recently cited in this newsletter disagreed with our doctrinal position and informed us that "At the wedding feast at Cana, upon Mary's request, Jesus turned the water into wine." A cursory glance through John's account of the wedding (John 2:1-10) does not reveal anything of this nature. Mary submitted no request to Jesus that we know of; she merely stated that "They have no wine." (John 2:5) Mary requested nothing. Likewise, in Luke 1:48, Mary does not mandate anything. Certainly Daniel did not mandate that the 'little horn' should persecute the elect (Daniel 8:24-25), and Paul did not mandate apostasy in 1 Timothy 4:1. These men merely prophesied that certain events would come to pass. Similarly, Mary did not give us a Scriptural mandate in Luke 1:48. All she did was prophesy that all generations would call her blessed. This may seem too fine a distinction, but it bears the making of it, for one way we can truly honor Mary is to refrain from attributing to her that which she did not say.

The reprimand we received made the accusation that we are not fulfilling Mary's mandate to call her blessed, while asserting that many of those who have fallen under our criticism are in fact doing that very thing: "Those journeying to approved apparition sites certainly are doing it. You are not." Aside from the fact that the simple statement "shall call me blessed" does not even begin to entail the exhausting penitential journeys undertaken by millions yearly to the shrines of Marian apparitions, we ask how it is that we fall short of Mary's prophesy when we simply say with millions of Christians, "Mary is blessed among women!" We state this boldly, but at the same time we wonder why it is rendered meaningless by our critics just because the statement is not accompanied by a 6000-mile 2 week journey to, say, war-torn Bosnia-Herzegovina. When Mary says, "all generations shall call me blessed," did she mean, "all generations shall travel thousands of miles to visit shrines which will be set up in my honor," or did she just mean what she said?

The reason this becomes an issue is that Luke 1:48 is very frequently cited as the justifying verse of all Marian piety, no matter how extreme. Pope Paul VI demonstrated this in his encyclical Signum Magnum (May 13, 1967), when he used this verse to justify centuries of Marian devotion and pilgrimages to Marian shrines:

"Oh! with how much maternal satisfaction the Virgin Mary must have looked on the pastors and the faithful in that glorious hour of the history of the Church, recognizing in the hymns of praise, raised in honor principally of the Son and then in her own, the echo of the prophetic canticle which she herself on the impulse of the Holy Spirit had raised to the Most High [in Luke 1:48]. On the occasion of the religious ceremonies which are taking place at this time in honor of the Virgin Mother of God in Fatima, Portugal, where she is venerated by countless numbers of the faithful for her motherly and compassionate heart, we wish to call the attention of all sons of the Church once more to ...the duties of redeemed men toward her, the Mother of the Church." (emphasis added)

And again in Marialis Cultus (February 12, 1974) Paul VI wrote:

"But anyone who with trust in God reflects upon these phenomena discovers that many tendencies of modern piety ...are meant to play their part in the development of Christian piety in general and devotion to the Blessed Virgin in particular. Thus our own time, faithfully attentive to tradition and to the progress of theology and the sciences, will make its contribution of praise to her whom, according to her own prophetical words, all generations will call blessed (cf. Lk. 1:48)."

Keith Fournier, an apologist for the Roman Catholic religion, recently expressed similar sentiments in Charisma & Christian Life magazine (July 1995). In his article, "What Protestants Should Know About Catholics," he writes, "Catholics only worship and pray to the Creator, not to creatures. It is in this context that one has to understand the role of Mary in Catholic theology. Among the saints, the mother of our Lord is special. Since the first century, Christians have given her a distinctive place of honor. ...Mary's yes to God counteracted Eve's no. Eve's sin brought death; Mary's faith brought the Giver of Life. No wonder Mary said, 'From now on all generations will call me blessed' (Luke 1:48). And all generations have--without seeing it as a conflict with the homage due her Son. This is the context in which Christians have sought Mary's intercession and prayers. This is the tradition in which Catholics stand." Aside from the standard fallacious Roman Catholic assumption that Mary is responsible for counteracting the sin of Eve, we see again that Luke 1:48 is pressed into service by the Roman Catholic in order to justify centuries of devotion to Mary.

We will pause at this point to acknowledge that Luke 1:48 is not the only verse used to justify Marian devotion. We have heard the many arguments for hyperdulia (literally, hyper-veneration) based on other passages of Scripture. But what becomes clear is that, according to Roman Catholic opinion and writing, Luke 1:48 is sufficient . That is, even if this were the only verse on Mary, it would be enough to warrant the displays of piety we have seen in centuries of Marian pilgrimages, indulgences and papal doctrines. And it is at this point that the Romanist tips his hand and it becomes clear that his devotion stems from his own contrivances imported into Luke 1:48 instead of allowing Scripture to order his devotion. The need to point out this discrepancy becomes clear in light of Mark 14:9.

In response to the Apostles' criticism of the woman pouring fragrant ointment on His feet, Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her." This woman (very likely Mary Magdalene, cf. John 11:2, 12:1-7) acted in such a way in her worship of Christ that she provided a model of worship not just for the whole world, but for all time. One is tempted to say, "for all generations." Was this not a "mandate" from Christ himself, a command which requires all Christians for all time to venture out into distant lands, to risk life and limb to honor her at her many shrines around the world? Where are the myriad papal encyclicals which proclaim plenary indulgences to all who will attend to her shrines? Where are the prayers and incantations directed to the holy name of Mary Magdalene whose actions were so commendable that Jesus instituted a permanent form of veneration in her honor?

The perceptive Roman Catholic will argue (correctly, we believe) that in Mark 14:9 Jesus was not instituting a permanent form of devotion particular to the actions of Mary Magdalene. In fact, a proper reading of Mark 14:9 reveals that Jesus was merely foretelling that whenever the good news of the gospel of Christ is preached throughout the world, Mary Magdalene's story will be told as well. We can safely assume that wherever the Bible is freely taught and expounded, it is rather difficult to avoid Mary's beautiful story. It is related in Matthew 26:6-12, Mark 14:3-9, Luke 7:36-50, John 11:2 and John 12:1-7. The good news of salvation by grace through faith alone, and the teaching of good works as a response to forgiveness (and not the ground of it) would hardly be complete without Jesus' parable of the two debtors, a parable which was inspired by Mary's worship: "And when they had nothing with which to repay, he freely forgave them both." (Luke 7:42) The regular preaching of the story of Mary Magdalene serves to illustrate our point: it is all that is required to fulfill Jesus' prophecy. Apparently, Roman Catholics agree with us, else there would be yearly gatherings of devotees at her many shrines, and endless papal encyclicals in her honor. But there are not.

Shall we say then that Roman Catholics are not properly obeying Jesus' clear mandate in Mark 14:9 regarding Mary Magdalene's story? After all, there is no exemption on this for any generation of Christians to not actively do so, is there? And even though Mark 14:9 is not the only verse we could use to justify devotion to Mary Magdalene, it is certainly sufficient. Of course, we must end this facetious display of faulty reasoning here, but we hope the point has been made. Mary's statement in Luke 1:48 cannot begin to carry the tremendous exegetical burden which has been placed on it by Rome any more than Mark 14:9 can possibly support the extravagant Magdalenian devotion we have proposed here. Let it suffice to say that both verses can be fulfilled by a simple statement of Mary's blessedness and a simple rendering of the story of the forgiven Magdalene. No less, and nothing more, is required of the honest student of the Word. Consistency therefore demands that both Marys receive equal representation and equal time. Since Rome, though capable, is unlikely to elevate devotion to Mary Magdalene to the same level as devotion to the mother of Christ, we suggest that Romanists curtail their Marian devotion and seek their guidance from what is said in Scripture, and thereby give honor to God, Who in His mercy "regarded the lowly state of His maidservant." (Luke 1:48)