Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints

Rating:
Summary: We meet Miriam of Nazareth
Review: As an RICA teacher I had been searching for the historical and cultural Miriam of Nazareth, Mary the mother of Jesus. In TRULY OUR SISTER, we learn about Miriam's probable village life in historical context. This book also describes how Miriam was mythologized over the centuries and was taken away from women as an unobtainable ideal. Solid Marian theology.

Rating:
Summary: Mary's life enriched and expanded
Review: Elizabeth Johnson is a theolgian much respected by her peers. She does not write theologically incorrect books. Her approach to Mary resonates with all women in a very positive way. In order to understand Mary one needs to understand not only the scriptural references but also the time and culture in which she lived. Each new presentation of her life enriches my understanding of her place in the history of the church. This books does all of this.

Rating:
Summary: Mary's life enriched and expanded
Review: Elizabeth Johnson is a theolgian much respected by her peers. She does not write theologically incorrect books. Her approach to Mary resonates with all women in a very positive way. In order to understand Mary one needs to understand not only the scriptural references but also the time and culture in which she lived. Each new presentation of her life enriches my understanding of her place in the history of the church. This books does all of this.

Rating:
Summary: A stimulating revival of Mary¿s image
Review: In a previous book, ("She who is"), Elizabeth Johnson helped us gain some insight into the mystery of God seen from a feminist standpoint. She tried to emphasize the feminine in God. She focused on God as "Wisdom Spirit" which is perhaps the most abstract of our concepts of the Divine.
In the present book, so to speak, she comes back down to earth by focusing on Mary, who was intimately linked to the Spirit and yet remains far more accessible to us humans. Mary can be named, and quite naturally be represented as a woman. She is a definitely more attractive, familiar and reassuring image than that of a spirit.
The author goes, maybe with too much detail, into the historical and cultural contexts in which Mary spent her time on earth. She does that in order to show that Mary was a real woman, a real sister to the other women of this world. She rejects the usual image of Mary as the perfect icon because she finds it counterproductive. All the out-of-this-world privileges which are bestowed on her in the classical view, actually put her out of reach from other women. In the end, she has nothing left in common with the real women of this world.
Elizabeth Johnson wants to convince that despite all that has been said, Mary remains within reach of her twenty first century sisters. That Mary was a very active, autonomous and responsible woman who can be and should be a real model for all the women of this world, because she actually was one of them. She lived and strived in a difficult male-oriented patriarchal society. She lived and acted in her own right, and not as someone who received her identity through a man from whom she should necessarily depend.
This also holds true regarding the unique relationship that Mary enjoyed with the Divine. Elizabeth Johnson wants to demonstrate that Mary was not just a passive obedient tool in the hands of God, but an active, willing and determined participant in the history of God's self communication to humanity. When she was visited by the angel, she decided on her own to agree and to go along with God's project. And then, during all her life she remained consistent with this positive and responsible attitude.
A lot of other interesting considerations are to be found all along this stimulating book, if the reader takes his or her time on the way.

Rating:
Summary: Truly our Sister: A theology of Mary in the Communion of Sa
Review: It is not necessary to use 1000 words to say this book is not theologically correct according to Catholic doctrine. No true Catholic or lover of the
Lord's precious Mother would allow this book to be in their possession.
It also seems to me that when crucified Jesus gave Mary to the world to be our Mother, not our sister.
I do not recommend this book and in glancing at who gave positive reviews I am proud to be a dissenting reviewer.

Rating:
Summary: Assault on our blessed mother
Review: The problem with Johnson is simply this: awful scholarship. In theology or scripture, one should not by into a school of criticism and then try to mold the truth to fit an ideology. Johnson's ideology is modern feminism, and she willfully tries to create an image of Mary in this book that fits this paradigm. That this image is not based on truth should go without saying. One cannot throw away scripture, logic, and reason and expect to produce anything except subversion. This author freely admits this, saying that it is time to read the story of Mary subversively. I humbly disagree, and defend truth, as revealed through scripture, tradition, and magesterium of Holy Mother Church.

One of the things that bothers me most about Johnson is the thought that she might be successful in her efforts to undermine our Lady. Ironically, in so doing, this dissenting theologian may destroy developing Christian unity. As Rev. Charles Dickson, a protestant pastor, points out, Catholic dogma about Mary, when viewed correctly, is largely Christological. Rather than express the Immaculate Conception negatively i.e. "by saying Mary was preserved from the stain of original sin, we may put it in the affirmative and say she was preserved in a right relationship with God." (Dickson) Given the fact that Mary was chosen by God to be the mother of our Lord, this teaching makes sense, and finds support in the scriptures. Arguing that Mary is our just our sister with no special graces, gifts, or attributes defies logic, and the scriptures themselves.

Again, to quote Dickson "To appreciate Mariology in proper perspective is to recognize that it is vitally related to our understanding of anthropology, Christology, and soteriology. Scripture, Tradition, and reason are compelling arguments for the entire Christian community to revisit our thinking on this controversy and to recognize the importance, for all Christians, of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. In opening, or reopening, our minds as the case may be, we may well be establishing new avenues of communication in the quest for a greater and meaningful Christian Unity." (Dickson)

We are already seeing this occur. In the excellent book "Mary - A Catholic Evangelical Debate" authors Dwight Longnecker and David Gustafson go head to head on Mary. Longnecker, a convert to Catholicism, defends Catholic doctrine articulately in the face of a very competent challenge from Gustafson. This book, which comes out of ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) is a clear example of the search for truth via serious dialog and debate.

What if Johnson is successful, and we Catholics abandon our traditional view of Mary? Then the Orthodox Church would stand alone in making the case for Mary's special role in salvation history. This is asking our Greek brethren to do far too much of our heavy lifting. When one looks at Mary in Patristic thought one sees a view of her as Theotokos that is beautiful and inspiring. I strongly suggest Luigi Gambero's "Mary and The Fathers of the Church" published by Ignatius to get a picture of Mary in the early church. We ought to defend Mary, not slander her.

Finally, a personal note on the role of Mary. My wife read snippets of this book and became quite angry. Growing up, Mary was in many ways her mother in the absence of her birth mother. To say that all women love Johnson's vision is a crass overstatement. Mary became my wife's mom. She didn't need a sister who was just as flawed, and marred as she was. She needed a mom. And no, a maternal image of God is not a substitute.

Mary is my mom also. She was human and real just like us. She was a creature, like one of us, but she was also the mother of our Lord: Theotokos. This is not a vision that is in anyway oppressive, unless one views the traditional roles of mother as oppressive. Hence Johnson's book and her agenda. Modern feminism reads wife and mother as inferior. Nothing could be further from the truth. I relate to Mary as mother because Christ took the time, with spikes through His feet and hands, to give us to her by adoption. Johnson cannot accept that because modern feminism is more important to her than the truth.