Die Buchwalds

Funky Dung poses these questions about Mary:

Why did the Church find it necessary to define the Marian dogmas as such? Shouldn’t dogma be limited to those articles of faith which are absolutely required for salvation? My faith is unaffected by whether or not Mary was conceived without sin. Nor is it affected by her bodily assumption into Heaven. I accept these dogmas as a faithful and obedient Catholic, but I do not understand why they are important.

Could someone please explain why they were defined? In particular, why couldn’t they remain at the level of doctrine rather than be promoted to dogma? I’ve heard that the Orthodox agree that Mary was conceived without sin, but were uncomfortable about declaring as dogma. Since the Orthodox Church is the only other Church we recognize as maintaining the Deposit of Faith, their discomfort gives me pause.

On a related note, where does the tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity come from? I know the words for “brother” and “sister” in Scripture can mean “cousin” or other relatives, but what evidential support do we have for this interpretation?

Mrs. B. proposes these answers:
Shouldn’t dogma be limited to those articles of faith which are absolutely required for salvation? In a word, yes. In a few more words, Mary’s Immaculate Conception and Assumption are articles of faith required for salvation. Why? My thought is this… Mary is definitely not your typical woman. She gave birth to God.
As far as the Immaculate Conception goes, I think in order to carry out such an important task you’d have to be totally without sin. If an angel showed up & told me I’d give birth to God, I’d totally freak out because I’m certainly no saint. Not Mary, though, she said yes with very little hesitation. Mary’s Immaculate Conception is directly tied to the Annunciation and Nativity… and Jesus being both God & Man. So… if believing that Jesus is God & man is dogma, then it would follow that believing Mary was immaculately conceived would also be dogma.
The Assumption is also important to our salvation. Sure, Jesus was raised from the dead & ascended into heaven… He’s God. For Mary to be assumed, body and soul, into heaven gives us the extra push of hope & faith that we’ll share the same someday. It’s saying that it happened to someone who, though without sin, was not divine and thus can/will someday happen for all who are in heaven.

On a related note, where does the tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity come from? I know the words for “brother” and “sister” in Scripture can mean “cousin” or other relatives, but what evidential support do we have for this interpretation? I don’t know where exactly the tradition comes from, and I don’t have any sources to back me up, but I will say that I struggled for a long time with Mary’s perpetual virginity. One day, it occured to me that Mary’s marriage to Joseph could not have been a typical marriage whatsoever. So, even though nobody’s ever put anything in front of my face & said, “see, the answer is HERE,” I no longer find it difficult to believe. It was a weird little epiphany. I just suddenly realized that Mary’s existance as Mary’s life was most incredibly unique and extraordinary and that nothing about the idea of her perpetual virginity seemed weird anymore.

So, there you have it, Funky… Mrs. B.’s take on Marian theology, however flawed it may be.

Stay Tuned for Next Week’s puzzle… Advent: Blue or Violet???

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