An Orthodox View of The Virgin Mary
A Protestant preacher recently said that devotion to the Mother of God is the cause of all bad in the world , since she was not a virgin after she gave birth to Christ and was just another woman . This really has upset me . Why do we worship the Virgin Mary and how do we answer those who say that she was nothing but another woman ? What significance does she have for us Orthodox ? ( B . W ., TX )
One cannot react to every opinion and idea about Christianity . At some point , common sense must prevail . In the first place , the idea that devotion to the Theotokos , or Bearer of God , is the cause of the world ’ s ills is a ridiculous proposition . One must look at such an idea with the same passivity that we show towards so-called scholarly attempts to prove that Christian devotion to the Virgin Mary is derived from the pagan cult of the earth goddess . It does not deserve a response . Secondly , while non-Orthodox Christian denominations may differ with regard to their assessment of the significance of the Mother of God , this does not explain the views of those who would like to believe - an incredible , if not demonic thing - that a woman chosen by the God of the universe to bear His Incarnate Son would simply return , after this miraculous event , to the world of the flesh . If St . Paul praises the chaste life , if Christians are called to become eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom , and if , at least in the Orthodox , Catholic , Anglican , and Lutheran Churches , monks and nuns are called to uphold the standard of virginity and purity , how could any rational person suggest that the woman called to bear the Son of God would be exempt from such a pious commitment ?
We will not , here , comment on the mistranslation and misuse of Scripture by which some heterodox try to claim that the Virgin Mary was a virgin only “ up to the time ” of the Virgin Birth and not after , or by which they rather naïvely understand the children of St . Joseph ( the Virgin Mary ’ s step-children ) and their cousins to be the literal “ brothers and sisters ” of Christ . The Fathers of the Church have written at length on these matters . Suffice it to say that ancient Christian tradition supported the idea that the Mother of God was ever-virgin , just as Church Fathers and Councils condemned heretics in the early Church who , like their counterparts today , questioned the spiritual eminence of the Theotokos .
As for the very eminence of the Mother of God , let us turn to Scripture . Going to the house of Zacharias , the Virgin Mary greeted his wife , Elizabeth . “ Filled with the Holy Spirit ,” St . Elizabeth cried out , “ Blessed art thou among women ...” ( St . Luke 1 : 40-42 ). In response , the Theotokos observes that “... henceforth all generations shall call me blessed .” It would , again , suggest a psychological or spiritual problem of no small ensions for anyone to believe that , after these statements , the Virgin Mary would simply return to the life of the flesh and set aside her spiritual role in the salvation brought to mankind by Jesus Christ .
Finally , we Orthodox do not “ worship ” the Virgin Mary . We “ venerate ” her and show her great honor . Nor have we ever , like the Latins , developed the idea that the Theotokos was born without sin ( the Roman Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception ) or that she is a co-redemptor with Christ ( the cult of the Redemtrix in the Latin Church ). The consensus of the Church Fathers rejects such ideas , and the Orthodox Church adheres to that consensus . However , we do believe that the Virgin Mary is an image , as St . Maximos the Confessor says , of the Christian goal of becoming Christ-like , of theosis . Just as the Theotokos gave birth to Christ in a bodily way , so we must , St . Maximos tells us , give birth to Christ in an unbodily or spiritual way . In so doing , we imitate her practical spiritual life , including the purity and humility by which she formed her free will into perfect obedience to the Will of God . Of this practical image of the Virgin Mary , one of our readers , Archdeacon Basil Kuretich , D . D ., has written some words that bear repeating here . They give us a clear picture of the importance of the model which she presents for every Orthodox believer :
“ We ... are aware of the part played by Divine Grace in the Virgin Mary ’ s life and are aware of the perfection of her virtue . However , we cannot lose sight of the importance of free will in the development and expression of her rich personality . After the Annunication , she kept the secret of God ’ s plan for her ; she faced misunderstanding and accusation from others . She quickly visited her cousin , Elizabeth , not thinking of her own needs , but only the need of Elizabeth to share her joy . She endured the journey to Bethlehem ; she humbly prepared for the birth of her Child and obediently accepted the command to flee into Egypt . The Virgin Mary , aided by Divine Grace , carried out these actions in a real world - with real effort and sacrifice . Thus she is for us a model of many virtues .”
From the “ Question and Answer ” section of Orthodox Tradition , Vol . IX , No . 4 , pp . 8-9 . Originally titled “ The Theotokos .” For more on the evolution of the term Theotokos and its central significance for upholding Christianity , see the Documents of the Third Œcumenical Synod . It is worth pointing out that though many Protestants realize this Synod was about the condemnation of Nestorius ’ s teaching , few know that the arguments centered around the use of the term Theotokos , or “ Mother of God ,” for the Blessed Virgin Mary . This was so much the case that Bishop Kallistos ( Ware ) has written : “ The same primacy that the word homoousion occupies in the doctrine of the Trinity , the word Theotokos holds in the doctrine of the Incarnation .” ( The Orthodox Church , p . 25 ) So why do Protestants not use the term Theotokos , let alone even honor the Virgin Mary ? In not doing so , they in practice deny the Incarnation and fall under the anathemas of the Third Œcumenical Synod . Food for thought .
The Apostle ’ s Path 4