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Summary: Gentile feminist remakes Mary after her own image
Review: Cunneen's treatment of Mary (Miriam) is much more of a self-portrait. Her Gentilized remake of this remarkable Jewish woman is almost laughable, were it not laced with subtle anti-semitism. As a Jewish feminist, I do not judge my Catholic sister; but Cunneen seems oblivious to how much she projects her own alienation from Catholicism onto Mary -- as though de-judaizing this woman of faith is the best way to make her a model for Gentile feminists.
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Summary: Help for Christians Confused About Mary
Review: I found Cunneen's In Search of Mary to be a well-written introduction to Marian theology. In a scholarly manner it traces the significance of Mary in the Church and larger society since biblical times. It seems to reflect the author's search for the meaning of Mary in her own Catholic faith, a faith where changing church doctrine in the last several years has obscured her role. Cunneen, a Catholic feminist theologian writes objectively. There is no attempt to overtly promote a renewel of Marian piety. However, she does a good job at refuting the Reformation's attempt to completely eliminate Mary from the Reformed church. She writes particularily well about Protestant women who tried to integrate Mary into their faith in the late 19th century. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to get their feet wet in this fascinating and controversial area. Bob Devereaux, M.D.
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Summary: Marcionite approach masks Mary's Jewishness
Review: Where is the jewishness of Mary? Where is the Hebrew Bible background? Cunneen's analysis is exclusively rooted in New Testament and Greco-Roman developments. Is she allergic to her identity as a Jewish woman of faith? Or does that not relate to her feminist agenda? A nice balance of modern political correctness and ancient marcionitism. Latent anti-semitism too.
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