Is Mary, the Mother of Jesus, Historically Insignificant?
 

I lifted this little quote from "The Jesus I Never Knew," by Philip Yancey

"The virgin Mary though, whose parenthood was unplanned, had a different response. She heard the angel out, pondered the repercussions, and replied, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said." Often a work of God comes with two edges, great joy and great pain, and in that matter-of-fact response Mary embraced both.

She was the first person to accept Jesus on His own terms, regardless of the personal cost."

I found Yancey's thought about Mary strikingly beautiful in it's truthfulness. Upon reading it, I wondered if we Pentecostals - because of our opposition to the fictitious doctrinal view of Mary taught by Catholics - have relegated Mary to insignificance.

I offer three questions to those interested in the topic at hand.

1. Why did God choose Mary as the incubator for His Son?

2. Is Mary, the mother of Jesus, historically insignificant?

3. Is Mary, the mother of Jesus, the most important bible character - other than her Son?

Every generation is supposed to be calling her blessed. I have no problem with that. It is a good thing.

Mary the blessed Mother of Jesus.

I think He foresaw her response to the angel's words that Yancey quotes above. For a human being to find acceptance is critical to that person's development as a human being, especially acceptance by his parents, in particular acceptance by his own mother.

Knowing the rejection that was ahead, perhaps He wanted to have at least one human anchor, one "safe harbor." Becoming human was something new for Him. I think He wanted to experience humanity in its fullness.

I think we Apostolics do tend to react against the RCC's view of Mary rather than acting on our own. There is a great deal of Scriptural exploration that we could do, but it may be met with hesitation and criticism, especially from some of the many former RCCs in our midst.

That's hard to say. Without her there would not have been "the most important character..." But then again, without Abraham, without David... you get the point. I think the various characters are like gem stones- each unique in their qualities and a close examination of any one of them reveals a great deal of truth and beauty.

Who's the most important? I have to give the "cop out" answer: whoever I happened to be looking at when you ask.

To me an important lesson to be learned is look what supernatural things God can do through ordinary people who are yielded to Him.
Since God caused a virgin to conceive it shouldn't be hard for God to do miracles for us in situations that seem impossible to man.

I have started reading this same book, makes about 5-6 of Yancey's books that I have read, love his writings.

#1. Because she was willing to obey and co-operate with God.
#2. Yes
#3. She is certainly among the most notable.

IMO, we have. You may hear her mentioned a bit at Christmas - but that is it. She is given no honor - not even that of a good example for us. I've always thought it interesting that God found her worthy enough that He gave her the honor to be the human vessel for Christ, yet by and large, pentecostals barely acknowledge her and by and large, give her far less respect than we would give any mother.

If one looks at how she was/is regarded by the Orthodox, from whom the RCC pulled away, it seems there may be a clearer picture of her place. The RCC's doctrine on Mary is recent in the historical church - it wasn't put in place as it is today until the mid-1800's and then expanded at Vatican II, I believe. And they continue to revise it. Some of the Orthodox teachings are that she was the first human to experience the life-changing power of Jesus. They also teach that her life is an example of the kind of life God wants us to lead. They believe that the RCC teaching is heresey and that it demeans the life-changing power that Jesus offers. The Orthodox give her tremendous honor, on the level that they give the Apostles. They do, however, they believe that the RCC has tried to put her on par with God.

Yancey's take is that Mary is a central figure to the incarnation, that she was highly favored of God for SOME reason, and that she stands alone as a human who housed God before the rest of us ever could. In a sense, her pregnancy prefigured the Christian experience - specifically the infilling and eventual outpouring of the Holy Ghost.
Mary accepted Him when everyone else, including her betrothed, was rejecting her. She accepted God's will, and the angel's words, without fully knowing the consequences of her decision. She fully trusted the angel.

Remarkable.

She believed something that had never happened before was possible.

i believe imoo, that mary was the mother of jesus, greatly blessed and used by god to bring us his son, himself robed in flesh, therefore she has great significance and my thanks, i needed Jesus, and need him now, thanks Mary, dt:hypercoffee

What are we to do with Mary?

Catholicism deified and mysticized her beyond biblical recognition. Pentecostalism, historically, has categorically rejected her New Testament influence.

How did the early Christian church view her?

What is her proper place in twenty-first century bibliology?

Would anyone care to address this post?