The World's First Love

Rating:
Summary: A Magnificent Achievement
Review: A beautiful book on Our Blessed Mother -- remarkably thoughtful and incisive, and very well written. Moreover, for a book first published 50 years ago, "The World's First Love" remains fresh and relevant. To be sure, some aspects are a bit dated: Communism is not the threat it was in 1952, and the same is true of atomic war. Also, Archbishop Sheen has proven to be more optimistic than history has warranted. He more or less predicts, for example, that within 30 years (that is, by the 1980s) the world would have pretty much seen the Light that is Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Tragically, that wasn't true 20 years ago, and it's certainly not true today (if the sewage was up to our waist in 1982, it's up to armpits in 2002).

No matter. This is a beautiful book on Mary, and I heartily recommend it (along with "A Woman Clothed with the Sun" as a delightful companion piece).

Rating:
Summary: Irish Wit, Humour & Our Lady
Review: Bishop Fulton Sheen has done a wonderful job explaining devotion to Mary. If you had the opportunity to create your mother, how would you make her? Wouldn't you want a perfect mother if you could make her so? And if so, why would God be any different in making Our Lady than you or I?

This is one example of the way Bishop Sheen reasons his way through Marian doctrine. Of course, the good Bishop's wit is present throughout.

Because of Bishop Sheens wit and ability to communicate, his reasoning is quite easily understandable. For non-Catholics, this work may give you pause to think about the woman whom the Holy Spirit inspired to say "All generations shall call me blessed."

I found most interesting Bishop Sheen's treatment of how Muslims have a devotion to Mary. She is most blessed above all women, even above Mohammed's own daughter, Fatima.

Although this book is in no way intended to be a scriptural defense of Marian doctrine, Bishop Sheen's refreshing insights and new ways of looking at this topic are sure to benefit any reader who is open to thinking about what the mother of Our Lord must have been like and what qualities she might have had.

I recommend this book highly. Don't pass the opportunity to put this one into your library.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely not one of Sheen's best!
Review: I am a great admirer of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen and I adore many of the books he has written, but I believe that The World's First Love is not one of his best literary works.

This book is filled with such sweeping generalities and general statements that sometimes it is hard to take Sheen seriously. In fact, this is one of the criticisms levied against Sheen by Thomas Reeves in his book America's Bishop. Reeves notes that many of Sheen's works include so many broad assertions and generalities that Sheen often had to defend and recast some of the things he wrote.

Just a few of the grand assumptions Sheen makes are things such as, since Jesus taught so much to the Apostles in the span of 3 years, just imagine what he taught His mother over the span of 30 years. How does anyone know what he taught Mary while he lived with her? Scripture is silent on such issues, but scripture does tell us that Jesus became actively involved in his public ministry after his baptism in the Jordan. Any imaginative specualtion about Jesus' years with Mary is just that, speculation.

Moreover, in the beginning Sheen attributes some verses in the book of Proverbs describing wisdom to Mary. These are new developments to me! To assume that Mary was innocently playing during the acts of creation by God is quite a grand leap in logic. At one point Sheen remarks that this Wisdom being discussed in these verses is Jesus, but in the beginning of his book he says these verses are describing Mary.

Also, implicit in Sheen's book is the idea that Mary is the pinnacle of human creation; The capstone of God's handiwork if you will. I have no qualms by saying that Mary was one of the holiest, if not the holiest person born of man who ever lived, but I don't place her at the pinnacle of human creation. Sheen's remarks about Mary being the quintessential woman and what every man desires as the perfect mate, and what every woman aspires to be in earnest are grand assumptions indeed.

Nevertheless, I did appreciate a few aspects of this book. I loved how Sheen illustrated that every Christian who ignores Mary's epithet of mother of God can be classified into four groups all condemned as heretics. All Christians need to recognize that Mary is in fact the mother of God and needs to be called by that distinguished title; To not do so is to rob her of the distinction she claimed for herself in the first chapter of Luke when she stated that all generations will call her blessed. Second, I liked how Sheen debunks the view that Joseph was an old man when he married Mary. Sheen does an excellent job of showing why such a view is erroneous and implausible.

Like I stated at the beginning, I am a great admirer of Sheen and love his literary works, but this book had too many defincencies and does not live up to the quality of some of Sheen's other works. Read this book to gain a greater appreciation for Mary and to contemplate her role in the New Testament, but do not take everything Sheen writes at face value.

Rating:
Summary: Mary and More
Review: I was surprised that I enjoyed this book to the extremes that I did. I was equally surprised by the elegance of the writing. I know that many women will read this book and cringe at statements such as "Here is the essence of womanhood--acceptance, resignation, submission"(83). Reading this line did scare me, but if read within the context of the entire book and keeping in mind Sheen's undeniable love and respect for women throughout his discussion, it can be thought of in a completely different way. Basically, I view much of the writing in the book as ideals, such as ideals of love or ideals of men/women. Unfortunately, the world is often so corrupt that it is difficult to live or even think in ideals. This book is full of such beauty that it will make many women consider what it means to be a feminist or complete woman. I don't think women have to become men to be successful. Besides all of this, it is a wonderful introduction to Mary and the rosary within a broad discussion of love. The book does have some outdated sections, due to its publication in 1952, but much of it remains timeless. Even if you end up hating what the book says, you will not be able to deny the beauty of some lines such as "All human love is an initiation into the Eternal" (12).

Rating:
Summary: Mary and More
Review: I was surprised that I enjoyed this book to the extremes that I did. I was equally surprised by the elegance of the writing. I know that many women will read this book and cringe at statements such as "Here is the essence of womanhood--acceptance, resignation, submission"(83). Reading this line did scare me, but if read within the context of the entire book and keeping in mind Sheen's undeniable love and respect for women throughout his discussion, it can be thought of in a completely different way. Basically, I view much of the writing in the book as ideals, such as ideals of love or ideals of men/women. Unfortunately, the world is often so corrupt that it is difficult to live or even think in ideals. This book is full of such beauty that it will make many women consider what it means to be a feminist or complete woman. I don't think women have to become men to be successful. Besides all of this, it is a wonderful introduction to Mary and the rosary within a broad discussion of love. The book does have some outdated sections, due to its publication in 1952, but much of it remains timeless. Even if you end up hating what the book says, you will not be able to deny the beauty of some lines such as "All human love is an initiation into the Eternal" (12).

Rating:
Summary: Marvelous book on Marian doctrine
Review: The late Archbishop Fulton Sheen pulls together common misconceptions various religions have about the Catholic Church's beliefs about Mary, and gives insights and Biblical reasons why Catholics honor her so greatly. There is also a chapter I found really informative on "Mary and the Moslems" which tells about the Islamic beliefs of Mary, i.e. that she is to be the most honored of women and that the Koran speaks of Mary and the Virgin Birth of Jesus. This book would be wonderful for those wishing for a greater love for Our Blessed Mother, as well as those Protestants who mistakingly think Mary should be less revered and those beginning their conversion to Catholicism.

Rating:
Summary: The book that will infuse the reader with a love for Mary
Review: This book tells the story of Mary. It is not a biography, but a theological and devotional treatise on the Mother of God. Bishop Sheen adeptly considers the different phases of Mary's life from her Immaculate Conception to her Assumption. He examines Marian beliefs ranging from her position as Mother of God to her Apparitions at Fatima in 1917, and the importance of the Rosary. Sheen sets out to prove that devotion to Mary cannot be seperated from devotion to her Son, Jesus. Likewise, true love for Jesus should lead the disciple to a devotion to Mary. Sheen points out that without Mary, we could not have Jesus and we should love Mary simply because Jesus did! One cannot help but be moved by the authors portrayal of this Woman of Faith. It was Sheen's hope that his book would draw the reader to Mary as he was, "like a piece of iron to a magnet but never without her Son." It is this readers view that Sheen succeeded admirably.

Rating:
Summary: A Magnificent Achievement
Review: This is probably one of the best book on Mary I have read. Any theologian and even Apologists will find this helpful of knowing Mary. I love this book, and anyone will too.