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[cajunrick]

A user on the CHN forum just called this article to my attention.  It is excellent, and I wanted to share it with all of you.

The article is entitled Evangelicals and the Mother of God, written by Dr. Timothy George, an ordained Baptist minister and the Dean of the Divinity School at Samford University, and written for First Things magazine.  You'll find the article online here.

George does a very good job of explaining Catholic Mariology from a scriptural, historical, and theological perspective.  He stops just short of acknowledging the perpetual virginity and sinlessness of Mary, but he comes close enough that the article can serve as a bridge to those evangelicals who reject the Catholic faith and use our belief in Mary as the Blessed Virgin Mother of God as their excuse.

He does cite those excesses where Mariology becomes Mariolotry, but all faithful Catholics recognize and reject raising Mary to the level of Christ, and he acknowledges that these excesses are equal to the faults of evangelicals in minimizing Mary's role.  He also cites Luther, Calvin, and Zwingli's beliefs in Mary as part of basic Protestant doctrine.

Those who are engaged in ongoing discussions with evangelicals over the Catholic faith would do well to print this article and have it on hand for future discussions.

[Dale]

First Things is an excellent magazine and one worth the cost of the subscription.  Even its letters to the editor will make you think and give you a deeper understanding of religion and public life.

I hope that Evangelicals will receive the article with the openness it deserves.  Fr. Neuhaus has worked hard at closing the gap between Catholics and Evangelicals over the years.  I hope we continue to draw closer and share a mutual appreciation of our respective strengths.