I am now reading through Jaroslav Pelikan's third volume in his series The Christian Tradition: A History of Doctrinal Development. This volume is entitled The Growth of Medieval Theology. One of the doctrinal development that Pelikan explores in this volume is that of Mariology, or the cult of Mary, which sprang up within the Medieval church.
This blog is not intended to critique Mariology, per se, though I have to admit up front that I do not believe that Mary should be either venerated or worshiped. Our veneration and worship should be kept for God alone; anything other than that, in my mind, constitutes idolatry. What I am more interested in here in the development of the doctrine and practice, which as Pelikan notes, should be considered an outgrowth of liturgical theology.
Pelikan notes that some have criticized the rise of the Marian cult as being a revival of the ancient fertility religions which were present in Mesopotamia. In Medieval literature, Mary is referred to as the Fertile Virgin, the one who redeemed fertility from the curse, the one who opened heaven's doors by the opening of her womb to the Messiah, and the one who released femininity from the curse by bearing the Messiah without disrupting her virginity, and without suffering any physical pain.
Mary Magdalene was incorporated into the cult of Mary as well. Mary Magdalene symbolizes "the bride of God who was drawn from the paganism of the heathen to the source of [true] grace." The Virgin Mary was likened to the Second Eve. "Just as through Saint Mary the Virgin . . . the gates of Paradise has been opened, so also through Saint Mary Magdalene the shame of the female sex has been undone, and the splendor of our resurrection . . . has been granted to us by her." "David's beloved kinsmaid (the Virgin Mary) cast out the curse of Eve and elevated the status of women. Eve had been the instrument through which folly had been mediated to her descendants, but through Mary wisdom had one more been mediated to the human race" (all quotes page 167).
It was this latter provision which, in the mind of some medieval theologians, placed Mary in the role of Mediatrix, as it was taught that her special intercession mediated the way between Christ and mankind. Humanity's return to God was given by Christ to her. "Mary," it was stated, "Had been chosen by God for the special task of pleading the cause of men before her Son" (page 168). And on and on it goes -- this Medieval attraction to Mary, who, as the Queen of heaven, became the idolization of the masses.
I wrote in the column of Pelikan's book that "I almost wonder if this is the fulfillment of the romantic male who has suppressed his human romanticism due to asceticism and celibacy." The worship of the feminine doesn't surprise me, for men have always been captivated by women. I have told my wife several times that I do not understand the feminist movement: "Women have always ruled the world," I told her. "They rule the world through the men that they have in their clutches."
Another thought came to me as well. We are now in the clutches of the worship of an infertility cult. The goddess in this worship is not fertile, nor dare she be fertile, for fertility is verboten. I made another comment in my margin referencing this: "So often the men who 'rule the world' worship at the feet of a woman.'" Barack Obama is no different with his femininistic manifesto to ensure 'women's reproductive rights,' which has become a code-word for birth control and abortion. In the Medieval days, men worshiped Mary for her productivity. In our modern day, men worship women for their infertility. In the Medieval days, Mary was extolled for her chastity. In our modern day, women are revered for their 'in-chastity,' for their availability, for their sexuality, for their degradation. In the Medieval days, Mary was venerated, for "blessed is the fruit of your womb." Under our modern day worship of women, cursed is the fruit of the womb, so cursed, in fact, that we kill it!
Barack Obama is closing the gate of heaven by shutting the wombs of our women. No longer are women exalted; they are now degraded and given over to exploitation and to subjugation. Women are so often now simply considered a piece of meat in an overly indulgent and sex-crazy culture. If it is true that men will always be worshiping women, then give us a 'religion' that will worship the fullness of the woman in all of the mystery of her femininity, mother and womanhood. For if I have to worship the woman, I strongly prefer the fertility cult of worshiping Mary to the infertility of Obama. Thus I say, tongue in cheek, "Hail Mary, mother of Grace;" and let's do away with "Hail Obama" and his cult of infertility, hostility and murder.
PS. Lest anyone misunderstand, I am not advocating the idolatry of Mariology. The Scripture commands us to worship the true God and to worship Him alone. This is one of the many reason why I am a Baptist and not either an Eastern or a Western Catholic.
ReplyDeleteI wrote in the column of Pelikan's book that "I almost wonder if this is the fulfillment of the romantic male who has suppressed his human romanticism due to asceticism and celibacy."
Yes, it's striking that a celibate male priesthood is so infatuated with a female idol.
"Women have always ruled the world," I told her. "They rule the world through the men that they have in their clutches."
Whenever I read Genesis 3, I get the impression that whereas Eve's sin was "the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life" (verse 6), Adam's sin was idolatry --- putting his wife above God, and joining her in her sin. (Indeed, it's the first thing God says in verse 17: Adam sinned in heeding his wife rather than God --- his eating the fruit followed.) Also, the way Adam peevishly blames God for giving him the woman suggests that Adam's temptation was not so much the fruit but the woman. ...And as you say, this has been a problem through the ages, to quote your article, "Women have always ruled the world... They rule the world through the men that they have in their clutches."
Sadly, even amongst the churches which don't venerate Mary, woman-worship is endemic (few pastors now can bring themselves to teach the whole counsel of God, and exposit Christian doctrine on male headship or female submission, or that woman was made for man, not man for woman, etc.).
No longer are women exalted; they are now degraded and given over to exploitation and to subjugation. Women are so often now simply considered a piece of meat in an overly indulgent and sex-crazy culture.
The weird thing is that women embrace this so eagerly, having swallowed the idea that shameless sexual sin is "emancipation". Women today speak openly and loudly in ways which a century ago would've made a sailor blush. Clearly they are learning to enjoy their indisputable sexual power over men, but see the consequences of this as being of no concern: one hears women boasting that they've had many men, not only seemingly oblivious to the fact that for a woman, having sex with a man is hardly an achievement (and is literally as difficult as lying down), but also without the least scruple about the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual repercussions of this. And the church all but keeps silent, for fear of appearing "judgmental".
...And I think that ultimately woman-worship in the churches simply lets women down. Where accountability is absent, fallen human nature will wreak havoc.