Pentecostal Leader Says, "I Love Mary"
Alfred G. Green, Jr.
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Taken from: http://www.charismamag.com/stories/cd196108.htm
Copyright: Chrisma Magazine, Strang Communications Co.
Who Is the Virgin Mary? ...and why is she so controversial?
Though Roman Catholics often place too much importance on Mary, it's too
bad that Protestants tend to ignore her. We have much to learn from the
mother of the Christ child.
By: Mark A. Pearson
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Years ago I drove Pentecostal leader David du Plessis around New England
for a series of meetings sponsored by the Institute for Christian
Renewal.
At one point the man known as "Mr. Pentecost" turned to me and said, "I
love Mary."
For the life of me I could not figure out who he was talking about. Was
his
mother named Mary? A favorite niece perhaps? Mary Poppins, or Mary Queen
of
Scots? I had no idea.
"Mary who?" I asked.
"You know, Mary!" he replied in his Scottish burr. "The Virgin Mary. I
love
her!"
This was about the last thing I expected to hear from a world-renowned
Pentecostal leader.
"I not only love her, but I obey her," he continued. "And you should,
too."
I had grown up in a blue-collar, heavily ethnic Roman Catholic
neighborhood
west of Boston. Although I knew that we Protestants did not have the
total
of Christian truth and needed to learn some things from non-Protestant
Christians, I also knew that Roman Catholicism needed reforming.
Obeying Mary was not on my radar screen. But here was Mr. Pentecost
telling
me to obey Mary.
"I always obey Mary," he explained. "What is her only command? It's, 'Do
whatever He tells you.' You know, when the wine ran out Mary told the
servants to follow the instructions of her Son. I try to obey Mary's
command. I try to follow whatever Jesus says." (See John 2:5.)
David du Plessis was ahead of his time. Just as he was God's forerunner
with the blessings of the Holy Spirit to the non-Pentecostal world, so
he
anticipated what is now the beginning of a coming together between
Catholics and Protestants on the Virgin Mary.
This coming together is not a compromise for the sake of a false unity
but
a mutual going back to the teaching of the Scripture and the witness of
the
early church. It is a moving away from positions taken in reaction to
each
other and a joint effort in rediscovering scriptural and post-apostolic
truth.
Mark Frank, a 17th-century English clergyman, expressed the problem with
Mary found in Christendom: "Because the Roman Catholics make little less
of
her than a goddess, Protestants make her not even a good woman; because
[Roman Catholics] bless her too much, Protestants will not allow her to
be
blessed at all."
What is needed is the appropriate spiritual balance between the garish
Roman Catholic devotional practices and the sterile Protestant fear of
even
mentioning her name. Protestants have no trouble extolling the virtues
and
spiritual giftedness of Billy Graham or Benny Hinn, but they cannot
bring
the same honor to the one who gave human nature, birth and spiritual
nurture to the Savior of the world.
What son is there among us who does not want others to honor and respect
his mother? We honor Mary for her great influence on our Lord in His
education, His spiritual training and His mental development. Although
Jesus' divine nature was the second person of the Trinity from all
eternity, His human nature came from His mother.
It was not some pope or priest or monk who first addressed her with
reverence; it was the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:26-28). One's interest in
and
respect for Mary need not be a superstitious accommodation of pagan
mythology; it can be a following of the scriptural example of the
angels.
Mary as Our Example
Mary stands for Christians as a model of discipleship in several ways:
1. In humility. She was a poor, humble peasant who answered the call of
God. She did not tell God what to do but simply stated, "'Behold the
maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word'" (Luke
1:38, NKJV).
2. In belief. Even though the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus
troubled
her (Luke 1:29), she nonetheless obeyed God's plan. Her cousin Elizabeth
bore witness to Mary's fidelity when she said, "Blessed is she who
believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were
told
her from the Lord" (Luke 1:45).
3. In depth of spiritual life. Unlike many Christians today, Mary did
not
just grab a religious "thought for the day." Instead, she meditated and
pondered on what God was saying and doing (Luke 2:19 and 2:51).
4. In prayer. Mary was part of that incredible prayer meeting described
in
Acts 1 that prepared the church for the outpouring of the Spirit.
5. In life in the Spirit. Mary could be described as one of the first
charismatics. She prophesied that wonderful hymn we call the
"Magnificat"
(Luke 1:46-55). In addition, she was part of that company the tongues of
fire rested on, who began to speak in tongues as the Spirit gave
utterance
(Acts 2:3-4).
6. In suffering for the gospel. Though we Christians rejoice in the
miracles God sends us, we are not promised a life without tribulation or
persecution. Mary suffered for the gospel by knowing from Jesus' infancy
that a sword would pierce her heart (Luke 2:35). Ahead there would be
pain
caused by the incredulity of friends, suspicions of promiscuity and
illegitimacy, and the horror of seeing her son killed. Her very name is
derived from the Hebrew word mara, which means "bitterness."
7. In steadfastness. Most of Jesus' male disciples fled the events of
Good
Friday; Mary stayed by the cross in faithful witness (John 19:25).
8. In relationship with Jesus. Christianity ultimately is not doctrines
for
the mind or experiences for the heart; it is a relationship between a
believer and the Lord. When Jesus was born, a mother was born, too.
Christian art depicts this relationship in the Madonna and Child and in
the
Piet... (Mary holding the body of her crucified Son).
In these ways Mary is a model for Christians. If we read Christian
biographies to emulate the lives of heroes of the faith, giving thanks
to
God for their lives and witness, should we not do the same for the
mother
of our Lord?
The Protestant Witness
I was a talk-show host of a Christian radio program many years ago. One
day
I mentioned how important it was to confess our sins not just to God
directly but also to other Christians.
One particularly indignant man called to say that confessing one's sins
to
others was "of the devil." When he gave us his reason--"It's Roman
Catholic!"--I sensed that this was the dirtiest and most evil two-word
descriptor he could think of. He continued, "You show me one place in
the
Bible where it says I should confess my sins to another."
I responded: "James 5:16; and it doesn't just allow confession to
others,
it commands it."
Sad to say, the beliefs of some people who claim to be "Bible believing"
are more framed by their hatred of Roman Catholicism than by what the
Bible
actually says. This is often true about Mary.
Many people are surprised to discover how positively Mary was treated by
leading Protestant reformers.
Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531) commended his followers to praise her, though
he
denied the appropriateness of invoking Mary's aid or praying to her.
Zwingli believed in her perpetual virginity, that she was immaculate and
without the smallest trace of sin, and referred to her with the ancient
term theotokos ("God-bearer").
Martin Luther (1483-1546)--though he wrote scathing denunciations of
false
Catholic doctrines--preached sermons with reverence toward Mary, not
hesitating to call her "Mother of God" because of who Jesus was and is.
Because all that Jesus has must be ours as well, he saw Mary as "mother"
of
us all.
If this small sample of the attitudes and actions of Protestant
reformers
demonstrates reverence of Mary, why is that not reflected in
Protestantism
today? The answer is twofold.
First, not long after Luther's break with Rome, Protestants and Roman
Catholics started reacting against each other. The more Protestants
dropped
some Roman Catholic doctrines, the more Catholics sought to take what
had
been pious opinion about Mary and make it doctrine.
In fact, most of the major Marian doctrines are not ancient or even
medieval, but post-Reformation. In reaction to this, Protestant leaders
in
the generations after the Reformers became silent or even hostile toward
Mary, ignoring what the Reformers said, and even turning from what is
clearly biblical.
The second factor is the negative effects on the Protestant church from
the
so-called Enlightenment. This period of extreme rationalism made
Protestantism highly suspicious of anything supernatural, including the
virgin birth, Jesus' bodily resurrection and ascension, and the miracles
of
the gospels. In this light, anything to do with Mary sounded
superstitious.
Roman Catholic Excesses
If many Protestants do not believe enough about Mary, then many Roman
Catholics believe too much. As I have read the writings of the church
fathers, I've concluded that most of the dubious beliefs about Mary stem
from the fifth century or later. This date is significant for two
reasons.
In the third century, Christianity went from being a persecuted sect to
being the state religion. Nominal and half-converted people became part
of
the church because it was necessary for advancement in society. Many
brought a worldview foreign to the gospel, usually some form of
Platonistic
philosophy.
Part of this was a belief that sexuality in and of itself--and not just
in
a sinful misuse--was unworthy of discipleship. As more and more
spiritual
giants accepted celibacy as a condition of spiritual maturity, the
attempt
was made to sublimate one's sexual desires into a reverence of Mary,
sexless and pure.
Second, various pagan tribes conquered Rome, and while they submitted to
Christianity, they did not lose all of their pagan beliefs. If God
increasingly became remote and hostile, Mother Mary was available and
nurturing.
Some churches were dedicated to Mary, often in buildings that previously
had been dedicated to local goddesses. One wonders how much of the
beliefs
and practices of the pagan shrines were simply transferred to Mary.
In this climate of religious syncretism and compromise, various pious
opinions about Mary started being taught. Though these opinions did not
carry the force of dogma in the Roman Catholic Church until quite
recently,
these opinions were held increasingly by most Christians from the fifth
century onward.
Some doctrines about Mary held by the Roman Catholic Church may not
necessarily be wrong. In many cases the biblical witness is not that
clear,
or it is silent.
First, the assumption of Mary (the belief that she was bodily assumed
into
heaven, perhaps without dying, before the general resurrection at the
last
day) could have happened. It happened to Enoch and Elijah for sure, and
possibly to Moses.
Second, Mary could have been a virgin perpetually. As we saw, some of
the
Protestant Reformers thought so. Biblical scholars are divided on
whether
the Greek word for Jesus' "brothers" (as in Matt. 12:48) means
biological
brothers or could also mean close relatives.
Though there are some doctrines about Mary that do not really matter one
way or the other, there also are some doctrines that are harmful to
biblical orthodoxy.
The Immaculate Conception (proclaimed as dogma in the Roman Catholic
Church
in 1854 by Pius IX) states that Mary was conceived without the stain of
original sin. Since Augustine, the belief was that original sin is
passed
on not simply because all humans are "in Adam" but because of human lust
in
the sex act.
Even though official Roman Catholic teaching acknowledges that Mary
still
needed a Savior (as she herself acknowledges in Luke 1:47), the doctrine
of
the Immaculate Conception says Mary received the benefits of salvation
from
original sin in advance of her faith and even her birth.
The problem with this doctrine is twofold.
First, if Mary had to be kept free from the stain of original sin to be
a
pure womb for the Savior, why isn't the same true for Mary's mother,
Anne,
and all the way back through history?
Second, the door is open to the heresy of docetism, which denies the
reality of Christ's human body. If Jesus truly adopted our human nature
in
all ways except for sins of His own choice, anything that buffers Him
from
the completeness of human nature takes away from His identifying with
us.
Even more dangerous is the teaching that Mary is "co-Redemptrix" and
"co-Mediatrix"--that in some way she shares the redemptive and mediatory
work of her Son. The official Roman Catholic explanation of these
doctrines
is that Mary is co-Redemptrix and co-Mediatrix only because she gave
birth
to her Son.
This subtle distinction is lost on the minds of many Roman Catholics,
including, apparently, some of their leaders. Contemporary theologian
Edward Schillebeeckx writes, "Christ is the Mediator between God, the
Father, and men; and...Mary is the Mediatrix between Christ and us."
The biblical teaching, however, is that no one comes to the Father
except
through Christ (John 14:6) and that there is one mediator between God
and
man, Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). To elevate Mary to a role as Redemptrix and
Mediatrix is to take away from the uniqueness of her Son.
Bind Us Together, Lord
There are signs that Christians across the Protestant-Roman Catholic
divide
are starting to listen to each other and jointly go back to the
Scriptures
and the witness of the early church. Who would have believed years ago
that
there would ever be a Roman Catholic charismatic, much less millions of
them?
Who would have thought that in the "convergence movement" Pentecostal
pastors would embrace liturgical worship and a higher view of the
sacraments? Who would have imagined that David du Plessis not only would
visit the Marian shrine in Medjugorje but also proclaim how much he
liked
it?
Who would have guessed that staunch Reformed scholar Herman Bavinck
would
have said of Mary, "She far surpassed men and angels in the undeserved
grace bestowed upon her," or that Pope John XXIII would have warned his
flock that Mary "is not pleased when she is put above her Son."
As God prepares us for the hostility that is increasing all over the
world
toward the gospel, perhaps He is inviting us--Protestant and Roman
Catholic--to learn from each other, to bring needed words of correction
to
each other and to be the first generation since the Reformation in which
all Christians are one in calling Mary blessed (Luke 1:48). q
The MagnificatAnd Mary said:
"My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
>From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever."
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About the Author: The Rev. Mark A. Pearson is president of Institute for
Christian Renewal and rector of Trinity Church, Plaistow, New Hampshire.
He
is a theologian affiliated with the Charismatic Episcopal Church.
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(c) 1996 Strang Communications
Cliff Anchor
Oh MARY! Get over your fantasy!