Mary in the New Testament A Collaborative Assessment by Protestant and Roman Catholic Scholars Edited by Raymond E. Brown, Karl P. Donfried, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and John Reumann From discussions by PAUL J. ACHTEMEIER KARLFRlED FROEHLICH MYLES M. BOURKE REGINALD H. FuLLER RAYMOND E. BROWN GERHARD KRODEL SCHUYLER BROWN J. LOUIS MARTYN KARL P. DONFRlED ELAINE H. PAGELS JOSEPH A. FITZMYER JOHN REUMANN Sponsored by the United States Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue ~ PAULIST PRESS New York/Mahwah MARY IN mE NEW TESTAMENT Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Main entry under title: Mary in the New Testament. Includes bibliographies and indexes. 1. Mary, Virgin-biblical teaching. 2. Bible. N.T.-Criticism, interpretation. etc. I. Brown, Raymond Edward. II. Achtemeier, Paul J. ill. United States Lutheran-Roman Catholic Dialogue (Group). BT611.M37 232.91 78-8797 ISBN 0-8091-2168-9 Copyright 0 1978 by Fortress Press Published by Fortress Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Paulist Press Mahwah, New Jersey All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or produced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations em bodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Fortress Press. 2900 Queen Lane, Philadelphia. Pennsylvania 19129. Manufactured in the United States of America PREFACE In 1973 a task force of NT scholars produced a collaborative study entitled Peter in the New Testament. They did this work at the request of the participants in the National Dialogue between Lutheran and Roman Catholic theologians who were then prepar ing a study on Papal Primacy and the Universal Church, the fifth volume in the series Lutherans and Catholics in Dialogue (Min neapolis: Augsburg, 1974). The whole tone of that National Dialogue and its series of volumes had been governed by an effort to see in a new light the old problems that had been separating the churches. Certainly one of those problems was the claim of the papacy to authority over the church in terms of a succession to Peter. While discuss ing those claims, the theologians of the National Dialogue thought it would be heipful to see what modern biblical scholars with various church backgrounds could say in common about Peter's role in NT times. Peter in the New Testament was well received in scholarly circles, not only for the expertise of the contributors, but also because the ecumenical dimension of their work brought new insights. Perhaps the best testimony to the value of its contribution is the fact that it has been translated into German, French, Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese, along with a separate British edition. It has also been cited in the various ecumenical and interchurch dialogues about authority in the church, with respect to the papacy. The scholars who took part in the discussions which pro duced Peter in the New Testament reported that working together v vi PREFACE was a learning experience that they wished to continue, and they proposed one more study on a very divisive topic in Christianity, namely, the role of Mary in Christian thought. As previously, they did not hope to settle all the ecumenical aspects of this question but only to ascertain what modern scholars could say in common about the picture of Mary in the various NT books. They approached the theologians of the National Lutheran/Roman catholic Dialogue to inquire if such a biblical work could be useful to their discussions, as Peter had been. By this time the theologians had begun their discussion of papal infallibility and teaching authority. This was not a Marian subject; yet the defini tions of the dogmas of the immaculate conception and the as sumption of Mary were the most obvious exercises of the claim of papal infallibility, and therefore a Marian study would not be unrelated to the purposes of the Dialogue. Consequently the same sponsorship was given to the study of Mary in the New Testament as to the previous work on Peter. We repeat here what we affirmed before. We know that some voices in Christendom have questioned both the propriety and the reliability of the critical approach to biblical research of which both the Peter and Mary volumes are examples. We ourselves recognize its limitations in reaching final theological conclusions. Nevertheless, it is our belief that responsible inquiry into original source material is a necessary task and should further our mutual understanding of issues that have vexed Christian relationships over the centuries. We rejoice that the task force, with four Lu theran and four Roman Catholic members, had the added partici pation· of two Episcopalian members and two members of the Reformed tradition. This Marian biblical study is to the best of our knowledge a first on the subject in current ecumenical discus sions and should be of service to many inter-Christian dialogues. While this work has been carried on with all the techniques of scholarship, the editors have sought to phrase the results with an eye toward general intelligibility and pedagogical principles. The contributing scholars have understood that they are speaking not only to other scholars but also to the parish clergy and knowl edgeable laity of the churches. We hope that that wide aim will make Mary in the New Testament useful for college, university. PREFACE vi1 and seminary classrooms, as well as for more general discussion groups and adult education classes. Ample documentation and footnotes have been provided, for the experience with the previ ous volume on Pe1!er has shown that such an ecumenical biblical study can serve as a resource in college religion classes and in seminars at theological schools. ,All those who profit from this work will share our debt to the twelve scholars who worked without remuneration or royalty. Their generosity testifies to the importance they attribute to a study which is virtually unique as an ecumenical contribution. On behalf of the National Dialogue we express our appreciation to the Catholic Biblical Association of America and the Lutheran World Ministries for their financial contributions, and to the Au burn Program of Union Theological Seminary (N.Y.C.) for having placed its library reading room at the disposal of the task force for its meetings. Paul C. Empie .. T. Austin Murphy Former General Secretary Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore U.S.A. National Committee Bishops' Committee for Ecu- Lutheran World Federation menical and Interreligious Affairs CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE: ORIGINS OF THE STUDY 1-6 CHAPTER TWO: PRESUPPOSITIONS OF THE STUDY 7~t A. The Nature of the New Testament Writings 7 B. The Composition of the New Testament Books· and Their Marian Content· I. The Letters of Paul 9 2. The Gospels 9 3. The Gospel of Mark 14 4. The Gospel of Matthew 17 5. The Gospel of Luke 18 6. The Gospel of John 20 7. The Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse 21 C. Theological Method in Evaluating New Testament Evidence 1. New Testament Pluralism 22 2. The Canonical Status of .. Pluralistic New Testament 2S 3. The Relation between History and Tradition 27 4. The Relation of the Biblical Evidence to Post-biblical Mariology 28 CHAPTER THREE: THE BIRTH OF JESUS IN THE PAULINE WRITINGS 3349 A. Possible Pre-Pauline Formulations in Philippians and Romans 1. Pre-existence in Phil 2:6-11 33 ix Ii CONTENTS 2 .. Davidic Descent and Divine Sons hip in Rom 1:3-4 34 B. Passages of Possible Marian Import in Galatians 1. James, the Brother of the Lord (Gal 1: 19) 2. Born of. Woman (Gal 4:4) 3. Born according to the Spirit (Gal 4:28-29) CHAPTER FOUR: MARY IN THE GOSPEL OF MARK '1-72 A. Who Constitute the Family of Jesus? (3:31-35) 1. The Passage in Itself 2. The Passage in the Marcan Context of 3:20-3~ B. The Rejection of Jesus in His Own Country (6: 1-6a) 1. The Carpenter, the Son of Mary 59 2. The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus 65 C. Mary, James, and Joses (15:40, 47; 16:1) 68 CHAPTER FIVE: MARY IN THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW 73-103 A. Mary in the Birth Narrative (Chaps. 1-2) 74 1. Mary in the Genealogy (1:1-17) 77 2. Mary and the Conception of Jesus (1:18-25) &J B. Mary in the Public Ministry 97 1. The Disciples Constitute the Family of Jesus (12:46-50) 2. The Rejection of Jesus in His Own Country (13:53-58) 99 CHAPTER SIX: MARY IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE AND THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 105-177 A. Mary in the Birth Narrative (Chaps. 1-2) 107 1. Mary and the Conception of Jesus (1:26-38) 111 2. Mary's Visitation to Elizabeth 0:39-56) 134 3. Mary and the Birth at Bethlehem (2: 1-20) 143 4. Mary and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple (2:21-40) 152 CONTENTS xi 5. Mary and the Finding of Jesus in the ,Temple (2:41-52) 157 B. Mary in the Public Ministry 162 1. The Oenealogy of the "Supposed" Son of Joseph (3:23) 163 2. The Rejection of Jesus at Nazareth (4: 16-30) 164 3. The Mother and the Brothers and the Family of Jesus (8: 19-21) 167 4. A Beatitude on Jesus' Mother (11:27-28) 170 C. Mary in the Jerusalem Community of Acts 1: 14 173 CHAPTER SEVEN: THE MOTHER OF JESUS IN THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 179-218 A. Passages of Marian Import in Chaps. 1-12· 180 1. Begotten of God (1: 13) 181 2. The Scene at Cana (2:1-11) 182 3. The Transition to Capernaum (2: 12) 194 4. The Son of Joseph (6:42) 196 5. The Unbelieving Brothers of Jesus (7:1-10) 199 6. Is Not the Messiah to Come from Bethlehem? (7:41-43) 201 7. ""Born of Fornication" (8:41) 204 B. The Mother at the Foot of the Cross (19:25-27) 206 CHAPTER EIGHT: THE WOMAN IN REVELATION 12 219-239 A. ,General Remarks on Apocalyptic and Revelation 1. The Genre Called "Apocalyptic" 219 2. Various Interpretations of the Book of Revelation 221 B. The Interpretation of ~evelation 12 I. Its Place in the Plan of the Book 223 2. The Structure of Revelation 12 225 3. Possible Sources of the Imagery and the Narrative 228 4. The Primary Meaning of Revelation 12 231 5. A Reference to Mary in Revelation 12? 235