For the past couple of weeks I've been reading a few pages a day of Jim Harnish's new book, Surprised by Mary.
In it he refers to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and he reminds us of who she was and who we are. In a Facebook note I quoted Jim's words about some Christian believers who struggle with the virgin birth. Jim's comment was, Life is complicated enough without confusing theology with gynecology.
When I read those words I did not think Jim was denying the virgin birth, but rather, inviting us to contemplate a bigger view of who Mary was and is.
However, two friends have reached out to remind me of The Immaculate Conception. I had to (kindly of course) remind them that The Immaculate Conception is part of Roman Catholic dogma. It states that Mary herself was conceived from a virgin mother and Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus. The Immaculate Conception is not in the Bible and, in fact, was not officially defined as Catholic dogma until 1954 when it was made official by Pope Pius.
But, for me, the book Surprised by Mary , goes much further into who Mary was while she was on this earth. She, along with her husband, raised Jesus. She stayed with Jesus throughout his entire life. She asked him to perform his first miracle. She was momentarily rejected by him. She was there at the cross. She delivered The Magnificat, one of the most powerful messages in the New Testament.
She was in the room where it happened! All of it.
Why does any of this matter? Because we all know how the church has categorized women since the very beginning. Because my own gifted pastor, Rachel, was told last week that she should not have leadership in the church.
Why? You know why.
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