Digging Out the Embedded Church - The Maranatha Community

d) The Veneration of the Virgin Mary and the Place of Mary in Salvation.
Both Catholics and Orthodox have a deeper veneration for Mary than is usual among
Protestants. The Immaculate Conception of Mary – the dogma that she was conceived
without original sin – is held by the Roman Catholic Church, having been promulgated in
1854. The Eastern Orthodox Churches tend to reject this dogma, or suspend judgement on it,
on the grounds that it would impair Mary‟s actual sinlessness and because their concept of
original sin differs from that of the Western Churches.
The Bodily Assumption of Mary – the dogma that after her death she was assumed bodily into
heaven – is held by Orthodox and Catholic Churches alike. It was promulgated in the West
in 1950.
Both dogmas claim to have a long history of acceptance in the Church, though the Scriptural
evidence for them is suspect and sparse. The earliest homily we have on the Bodily
Assumption is by Theoteknos, Bishop of Livias, in Palestine, in the 6 th Century. Neither of
these dogmas about Mary is accepted by the Protestant churches.
These dogmas should not take away from the supremacy of Christ in salvation, because
Mary‟s immaculate conception and bodily assumption do not save us. However, in the Credo
of the People of God in the Vatican documents 170 (146) it is held that Mary „cooperates with
the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed,‟ and most Protestants would
be unhappy with that statement.
The whole issue of Tradition versus Scripture comes into focus on doctrines concerning Mary
more than in any other area of doctrine. Protestants are concerned that there are unwarranted
inferences made about Mary in Church tradition, which elevate her role in salvation and tend
to undermine belief in only one mediator. Further, in what way can the Catholic Church
speak of Christ being Mary‟s Redeemer if she was sinless in conception and life?
The word „Mediatrix‟ is used of Mary in Vatican II documents, but with a caveat. Using this
term for Mary would seem to detract from the supremacy of Jesus, and it is hard to see how
the Catholic position can be maintained, yet officially the teaching is that acceptance of
Mary‟s role in bringing the Saviour into the world does not diminish Jesus‟ place as sole
Saviour.
In Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church 171 this supremacy is maintained. The
statement reads:
„In the words of the apostle there is but one mediator: “for there is but one God and
one mediator of God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a redemption
for all” (1 Tim 2.5-6). But Mary‟s function as mother of men in no way obscures or
diminishes this unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power. But the Blessed
170 Ed Flannery, Austin, OP, Vatican Collection Vol 1, Vatican Council II, The Conciliar and Post-
Conciliar Documents, New Revised Edition 1992 (ninth printing), Dominican Publications, p 391.
171 Ed Flannery, Austin, OP, Vatican Collection Vol 1, Vatican Council II, The Conciliar and Post-
Conciliar Documents, New Revised Edition 1992 (ninth printing), Dominican Publications, pp 418-
419.
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