Overview:

In the past, traditional Mariology has focused itself upon Mary's identity as Mother of God, and this privileged link to Jesus has been the source upon which much of the varying attributes of  Mary, the woman of Nazareth have been built. Throughout the ages, consideration of Mary in her role as 'mother' has also provided the fuel for the development of popular devotion.

While Mary's role as the mother of Jesus is a  fundamental reality that cannot be denied, and is, ultimately, the lynch pin of  all other assertions (scriptural and dogmatic) about her, more recent Mariology has insisted that there is a "more" about Mary that we can learn if we pay  attention to the biblical foundations of Marian devotion. Though the gospel  portrait of the woman of Nazareth consists more of faint brushstrokes rather than fine detail, it is important to realize that they are the grounding upon which  all Mariology and Marian studies must be built.

If Scripture provides us with the ground upon which Marian studies finds it source and witness, the  evolution of the church's thinking about her is also important. With Mary, as with Jesus, a clear historical "trajectory of understanding" exists. This course on Mary seeks to follow that trajectory in order to understand more and more  clearly, the place of Mary within the Christian tradition.

The Marian Trajectory:

The New Testament canon is generally considered to have been written over a period of about fifty years during the early development of the  Church. The first writings were the Pauline letters, then Mark, then Matthew,  then Luke/Acts, then John and Revelation. Later, Sacred Tradition - the councils, works of the doctors of the Church and the major encyclicals - developed, adding to the theological understanding revealed in the Bible.

Each layer of Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition reflects the theological development of a particular Christian community at a particular  point in time, that is, has a "viewpoint" or level of understanding, or perspective. When you look at each in turn, a trajectory, or path of theological  development, usually emerges.

An example of a trajectory: The  understanding of Jesus as God emerged over time in the Christian community. From the earliest times, Jesus was recognized as somehow inside the definition of God. The Christian community - Jewish and holding the "oneness of God" as its highest value (the Jews were called a "stiff-necked people" because no one could get them to recognize polytheism) - struggled with what this might mean.

Looking at a simple question: "When do the various canons suggest that Jesus become incorporated into the definition of God?" we get a clear  trajectory:

The Pauline (1 Cor 15:3-8, and others) formula incorporates  Jesus into the definition of God by God's unexpected action. As Paul saw things,  Jesus was raised up by the hand of God on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and became part of God. Paul has Christ becoming inside the definition of God after death, as a result of God's action in "raising him up".

Mark has Jesus incorporated into the definition of God as he begins his  ministry. At the baptism, the Holy Spirit descends and God announces Jesus'  "sonship".

Matthew and Luke bring the "birth narratives" to the table,  reflecting an understanding that Jesus was within the definition of God from the moment of his conception, from the moment he was "begotten".

John,  reflecting our current understanding, places Jesus at the center of the definition of God from the beginning: "In the beginning was the Word, and the  Word was with God, and the Word was God ..."

In the post-Biblical period  the focus turned to a related question: how there might be "one God" but three manifestations of God ("God the Father", "Jesus the Son" and the "Holy Spirit").  The relationship of God to Jesus was central to the question. The base question seems to have been: was Jesus subordinate to God the Father ("of the Father") or consubstantial ("with the Father")? The Council of Nicea (325) eventually  defined the relationship - Jesus is defined "begotten not made, one in being  with the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God",  reflecting the understanding of the community that Jesus was, in fact, both "of the Father" and consubstantial. The basis of the Church's understanding of Jesus had been settled.

The Marian story reflects a similar trajectory. While  it is clear that Mary was a member of the Christian community from the beginning (Acts 1:14), the community's understanding of her role and relationship to us,  to the Church, to Jesus and to God has evolved and deepened over time. Our  understanding continues to grow, and needs to do so, since Marian theology is  shared by our brothers and sisters in the Coptic and Orthodox communities, but  is not yet, by any stretch of the imagination, settled. As the Pontifical International Marian Academy noted -- concerning the Vox Populi petition - our  present understanding of the role of Mary still needs "further study" and "theological maturity." It is in the light of this statement that this DE  program is offered.