For centuries, devotion to the virgin Mary has been a central aspect of Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Coptic churches. These churches teach that Mary was sinless, forever a virgin, and assumed bodily into heaven; and they believe that today she holds a prominent role in the church and in heaven. She is venerated in these churches through statues, artwork, hymns, prayers, feast days, shrines, and pilgrimages; and many buildings are named in honor of “Our Lady.”

The Roman Catholic church teaches four dogmas (#1-4) and three prominent doctrines (#5-7) about Mary:

1. Mary, being the mother of Jesus, is called the Mother of God.
2. Mary was a perpetual virgin.
3. Mary was sinless.
4. Mary was assumed bodily into heaven.
5. Mary is the Mother of the Church.
6. Mary is the Queen of Heaven.
7. Mary is Mediatrix (mediator) between mankind and Jesus, interceding on behalf of believers and mediating God’s grace to them.

Once for all handed down

In 1995, Pope John Paul II said, “Many centuries were necessary to arrive at the explicit definition of the revealed truths concerning Mary.” The title “Mother of God” was stated as dogma in 431, Mary’s perpetual virginity in 553, the immaculate conception in 1854, and the assumption in 1950.

However, Jude wrote that the faith was “once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3 NASB), and the early Christians believed that Jesus committed the entirety of the Christian faith to the apostles, who then taught it throughout the known world:

• “In the Lord’s apostles, we possess our authority. For even they did not of themselves choose to introduce anything [new], but faithfully delivered to the nations the teaching that they had received from Christ. If, therefore, even ‘an angel from heaven should preach any other gospel’ [Gal. 1:18] than theirs, he would be called accursed by us.” – Tertullian (c. 197)
• “Although dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, the church has received this faith from the apostles and their disciples. . . . Although she is scattered throughout the whole world, yet she carefully preserves it, as if she occupied only one house. She also believes these points just as if she had only one soul, and one and the same heart. She proclaims these things, teaches them, and hands them down with perfect harmony.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “From this, therefore, do we draw up our rule. Since the Lord Jesus Christ sent the apostles to preach, no others should be received as preachers [i.e. founding teachers] than those whom Christ appointed. For ‘no man knows the Father except the Son, and he to whomever the Son will reveal Him’ [Matt. 11:27]. Nor does the Son seem to have revealed Him to any other than the apostles, whom He sent forth to preach.” – Tertullian (c. 197)
• “We must not at all depart from the evangelical precepts. Disciples should observe and do the same things that the Master both taught and did. . . . So then, neither the apostle himself nor an angel from heaven can preach or teach anything other than what Christ has once taught and that His apostles have announced.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “Those who seek to set up any new dogma have the habit of very readily perverting into conformity with their own notions any proofs they care to take from the Scriptures. . . . The apostolic word marks out the case in these words: ‘If anyone preaches any other gospel to you other than that which you have received, let him be accursed’ [Gal. 1:18]. Consequently, in addition to what has been once committed to us by the apostles, a disciple of Christ should receive nothing new as doctrine.” – Disputation of Archelaus and Manes (c. 320)

If the fullness of the faith was handed down once for all by the apostles to the early Christians, it follows that the writings of both groups should accurately portray that faith. So what did the apostles and early Christians write concerning Mary?

Question #1: Is Mary the Mother of God?

The title “Mother of God” comes from the Greek word theotokos, which literally means “God-bearer.” It has no exact equivalent in English and is typically translated as “mother of God.” The term theotokos (or its Latin equivalent Dei Genitrix) is found nowhere in the New Testament or in the writings of the first two hundred years of Christianity.

One of the earliest uses of the term is in an ancient Egyptian hymn sung to Mary, dating to the third or fourth century (possibly as early as AD 250). The hymn is called Sub tuum praesidium and reads, “Beneath your compassion, we take refuge, O Mother of God (theotokos). Do not despise our petitions in time of trouble, but rescue us from dangers, only pure, only blessed one.”

The term begins to appear regularly in writings and liturgies of the fourth century:

• “The Spirit could not abide upon all men, but only on Him who was born of Mary, the God-bearer.” – Disputation of Archelaus and Manes (c. 320)
• “Our Lord Jesus Christ in very deed (and not merely in appearance) carried a body, which was of Mary, the God-bearer.” – Alexander of Alexandria (c. 324)

In AD 431, the Council of Ephesus convened to decide whether Mary should be referred to as theotokos (“God-bearer”) or christotokos (“Christ-bearer”). In order to refute the Nestorians, who taught that Jesus’ human and divine natures were separate, the council affirmed the title of theotokos for Mary and denounced the Nestorian view as heretical. Today, the Roman Catholic church teaches the “divine motherhood” of Mary as dogma, refers to her as the “Mother of God,” and uses this doctrine as a basis for other Marian teachings.

The term theotokos dates to AD 250 at the earliest. Was it used in the churches of the first and second centuries and handed down through oral tradition until AD 250, when it was first recorded? Or did the first 200 years of Christianity see the introduction of the term as Marian veneration was brought into the church? The answer to these questions may become clearer as we consider more of the historical writings of the early church.

Question #2: Was Mary a perpetual virgin?

Did Mary remain a virgin after Jesus was born? The question is not easy to answer. Matthew 1:25 says that Joseph “knew her not until she had given birth to a son,” and some manuscripts add that she gave birth to her “firstborn son.” A cursory reading of the words “until” and “firstborn” would indicate that Mary did not remain a virgin after Jesus was born, and that she had other children. However, this does not necessarily have to be the case, as “until” could simply refer to the time period ending with Jesus’ birth, and Jesus could be an only child and still be the firstborn.

The New Testament does not indicate whether Mary was a perpetual virgin. However, it does mention the brothers of Jesus (Matthew 12:46-49; 13:55; Mark 3:31-34; Luke 8:19-21; John 2:12; Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5). The early Christians wrote:

• “There still survived some of the kindred of the Lord. These were the grandsons of Jude, who according to the flesh was called His brother.” – Hegesippus (c. 170)
• “Jude . . . was the brother of the sons of Joseph. And he was very religious. Although experiencing the near relationship of the Lord, yet he did not say that he himself was His brother. But what did he say? ‘Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ’ – of Him, as Lord; but ‘the brother of James’ [Jude 1]. Jude was his brother, through Joseph.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “Some say, basing it on a tradition in the Gospel According to Peter, as it is entitled, or the Book of James [i.e. the spurious Protoevangelium of James], that the brothers of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now, those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end. . . . And I think it is in harmony with reason that just as Jesus was the first-fruit among men of the purity that consists in chastity, so was Mary among women. For it was not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the first-fruit of virginity.” – Origen (c. 245)

The idea that Joseph was a widower and had other children from his first marriage came from a fictitious writing called the Protoevangelium of James. It was written in the late second or early third century but purports to have been written by James, the brother of Jesus. The book narrates events in the lives of Mary and Jesus, and it is the source for many of the Marian doctrines of the Roman Catholic church. However, the epistle was never included as part of the New Testament canon because it was known to be fictitious. It was officially condemned by Pope Damasus I in 385, Pope Innocent I in 405, and Pope Gelasius I in 496.

Even though the Protoevangelium of James was spurious, Mary could have been a perpetual virgin. (Pope Martin I affirmed this teaching at the Lateran Council in 649.) Neither Clement of Alexandria nor Origen dismissed the idea, and Clement believed that Jesus’ brothers were sons of Joseph from a former marriage. On the other hand, Origen said that “some” believe this teaching, indicating that it was not necessarily the teaching of the church but also was not considered heretical.

Was Mary a perpetual virgin? The issue is historical rather than doctrinal, and the historical record is not conclusive either way. If the church held differing views in Origen’s day, it is unlikely that the modern church will be able to come to a unified conclusion.

Question #3: Was Mary sinless?

A prominent teaching of the Roman Catholic church is the Immaculate Conception, stating that Mary was conceived without original sin (the sin nature inherited from Adam). (The Eastern Orthodox church differs by saying that Mary inherited a sin nature but never chose to sin.) The idea of the Immaculate Conception was controversial during the Middle Ages but gained popularity in the 1800s. In 1854, Pope Pius IX defined this teaching in the influential document Ineffabilis Deus: “We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.”

However, neither the New Testament nor the early Christians teach that Mary was sinless or that she was conceived without original sin (the idea arose from the spurious Protoevangelium of James). In fact, the New Testament gives ample evidence that Mary was a sinner. In Luke 1:46-47, Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Why would Mary have needed a Savior if she was sinless?

After the birth of Christ, Mary brought to the temple a sacrifice of two doves (Luke 2:24). This was to fulfill the instructions given in Leviticus 12:8 for purification after childbirth: “And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.” Why would Mary have needed to bring a sin offering if she was sinless?

Romans 3:23 teaches, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” No exception is made for Mary by Scripture or by the early Christians:

• “I know of no one among men who is perfect in all things at once, as long as he is still human. . . . The only exception is He alone who clothed Himself with humanity for us.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “To the Son of God alone was it reserved to persevere to the end without sin.” – Tertullian (c. 197)
• “God alone is without sin. And the only human without sin is Christ, since Christ is also God.” – Tertullian (c. 210)
• “If by the phrase ‘those who were without sin,’ [the pagan critic Celsus] means those who have never at any time sinned, . . . we reply that it is impossible for a human to be without sin in that manner. In saying this, we except, of course, the man understood to be in Christ Jesus, who did not sin.” – Origen (c. 248)
• “No one is without stain and without sin. . . . In the Epistle of John, it says, ‘If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us’ [1 John 1:8].” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “No one can be without defect as long as he is burdened with a covering of flesh. For the infirmity of the flesh is subject to the dominion of sin in a threefold manner: in deeds, words, and thoughts.” – Lactantius (c. 304-313)

Far from revering Mary as being sinless, the early Christians actually criticized Mary for her lack of understanding and her sin of unbelief:

• “When Mary urged Him on to the wonderful miracle of the wine and was desirous to partake of the cup of emblematic significance before the proper time, the Lord restrained her untimely haste, saying, ‘Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come’ [John 2:4]. He was waiting for that hour that was foreknown by the Father.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “‘Who is my mother or my brothers?’ [Matt. 12:48] . . . He was justly indignant, that persons so very near to Him ‘stood outside’ [Matt. 12:46], while strangers were inside hanging on His words. This is particularly so since His mother and brothers wanted to call Him away from the solemn work He had at hand. He did not so much deny them as disavow them. Therefore, to the previous question, ‘Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?’ He added the answer, ‘No one but those who hear my words and do them’ [Matt. 12:50]. He thereby transferred the names of blood relationship to others whom He judged to be more closely related to Him by reason of their faith. . . . He preferred people of faith to His own kindred, who did not possess that faith.” – Tertullian (c. 207)
• “‘The Lord’s brothers had not yet believed in Him’ [John 7:5]. . . . There is also a lack of evidence of His mother’s adherence to Jesus – although the Marthas and the other Marys were in constant attendance on Him. Indeed, in this very passage, their unbelief is evident. Jesus was teaching the way of life, preaching the kingdom of God . . . but, meanwhile, while strangers were intent on hearing Jesus, His very nearest relatives were absent. . . . They preferred to interrupt Him; they desired to call Him away from His great work.” – Tertullian (c. 210)

Nowhere do the New Testament and early Christian writings teach that Mary was sinless or conceived without sin. Rather, they teach that she, just as everyone else who has ever lived, was a sinner who needed a Savior.

Question #4: Was Mary assumed bodily into heaven?

Another important Roman Catholic dogma is the Assumption of Mary. The church teaches that at the end of Mary’s life, she was taken bodily into heaven (they do not state whether or not she died). In 1950, Pope Pius XII defined this dogma in the document Munificentissimus Deus: “We pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

No historical record exists as to where, when, or how Mary died. In the late 300s, church historian Epiphanius searched for evidence about her final days but found none:

• “Hardly shall we find traces of that holy and blessed [Virgin], so that it is also impossible to find anything about her death. I do not say that she remained immortal, and I do not assert as certain that she died. . . . Therefore, Holy Scripture, overpassing the human mind, left this in suspense. . . . Whether she died and was buried we do not know. . . . But if she was tortured according to the words of Holy Scripture – ‘A sword shall pierce your soul’ [Luke 2:35] – her lot is with the martyrs and her holy body with the saints. . . . Or [perhaps] she still tarries on this earth, for to God it is not impossible to do what He wills. For her end no one knows.” – Epiphanius (c. 375)

In the fifth and sixth centuries, apocryphal works began to speculate that Mary may have been taken directly to heaven, and the idea quickly took hold. John of Damascus wrote: “St. Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem, at the Council of Chalcedon (451), made known to the Emperor Marcian and Pulcheria, who wished to possess the body of the Mother of God, that Mary died in the presence of the Apostles, but that her tomb, when opened upon the request of St. Thomas, was found empty; wherefrom the Apostles concluded that the body was taken up to heaven.”

In summary, the final days of Mary’s life on earth are not recorded either in Scripture or in the writings of the early Christians. Therefore, to state that anyone who denies the Assumption of Mary “has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith,” (as written in the Munificentissimus Deus) is to elevate a tradition of men above the clear teachings of Jesus: “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).

Question #5: Is Mary the Mother of the Church?

The Roman Catholic church teaches that Mary is the Mother of the Church. At the Second Vatican Council in 1964, Pope Paul VI said, “We declare Mary Most Holy Mother of the Church, that is, of all the Christian people.” In 1968, he wrote in the Credo of the People of God: “We believe that the Blessed Mother of God, the New Eve, Mother of the Church, continues in heaven her maternal role with regard to Christ’s members, cooperating with the birth and growth of divine life in the souls of the redeemed.”

In 1987, Pope John Paul II stated the following in Redemptoris Mater: “Mary is present in the Church as the Mother of Christ, and at the same time as that Mother whom Christ, in the mystery of the Redemption, gave to humanity in the person of the Apostle John. Thus, in her new motherhood in the Spirit, Mary embraces each and every one in the Church, and embraces each and every one through the Church. In this sense Mary, Mother of the Church, is also the Church’s model. Indeed, as Paul VI hopes and asks, the Church must draw ‘from the Virgin Mother of God the most authentic form of perfect imitation of Christ.’ . . . Thus, throughout her life, the Church maintains with the Mother of God a link which embraces, in the saving mystery, the past, the present and the future, and venerates her as the spiritual mother of humanity and the advocate of grace.”

Nowhere in the New Testament or in the writings of the early Christians is Mary referred to as the Mother of the Church. In contrast, the early Christians referred to the church, not Mary, as the mother of all believers. Based on Galatians 4:26, which states, “The Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother,” the early Christians wrote:

• “The mother draws the children to herself; and we seek our mother, the church.” – Clement of Alexandria (c. 195)
• “You ascend from that most sacred bath of your new birth [baptism] and spread your hands for the first time in the house of your mother, together with your brethren. . . . Nor is even our mother, the church, passed by.” – Tertullian (c. 198)
• “I gladly rejoice and am thankful, most brave and blessed brethren, at hearing of your faith and virtue, by which the church, our mother, glories.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “They have chosen to consent with you, so that they may remain with the church, their mother.” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “Brethren, the truth of our mother, the catholic [universal] church, has always remained and still remains with us.” – Seventh Council of Carthage (c. 256, held under Cyprian)

Contrary to the teachings of the Roman Catholic church, the early Christians nowhere referred to Mary as the Mother of the Church. Rather, they viewed the church as the mother of all believers.

Catholics frequently reference John 19:26-27, which says: “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” Catholics frequently use this passage to prove that when Jesus gave Mary as a mother to John, He gave her as a mother to the entire church. However, three issues arise with this interpretation: (1) This conclusion is not obvious from a plain reading of the text; (2) John understood Jesus to mean that he was to care for Mary as if she were his own mother; and (3) the early Christians unanimously taught that the church, not Mary, is the mother of all believers.

Question #6: Is Mary the Queen of Heaven?

The Roman Catholic church teaches that Mary is the Queen of Heaven. In 1854, Pope Pius IX wrote in Ineffabilis Deus that Mary “has been appointed by God to be the Queen of heaven and earth, and is exalted above all the choirs of angels and saints, and even stands at the right hand of her only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

A century later, in 1954 (proclaimed as a Year of Mary), Pope Pius XII wrote in Ad Caeli Reginam: “From the earliest ages of the catholic church a Christian people, whether in time of triumph or more especially in time of crisis, has addressed prayers of petition and hymns of praise and veneration to the Queen of Heaven. And never has that hope wavered which they placed in the Mother of the Divine King, Jesus Christ; nor has that faith ever failed by which we are taught that Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, reigns with a mother’s solicitude over the entire world, just as she is crowned in heavenly blessedness with the glory of a Queen.”

Nowhere in the New Testament or in the writings of the early Christians is Mary referred to as the Queen of Heaven or given any position of authority above other Christians. Scripture teaches that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father (Matt. 26:64; Mark 16:19; Luke 22:69; Acts 7:55; Romans 8:34) but makes no mention of Mary’s role anywhere.

Catholics frequently quote Revelation 12:1-17, drawing a parallel between Mary and the “woman clothed with the sun” who gave birth to a male child, was pursued by Satan, and fled into the wilderness for three and a half years. However, the early Christian writers who referenced this passage always understood it to refer to the church:

• “By the ‘woman clothed with the sun’ [Rev. 12:1], he most obviously meant the church, endued with the Father’s Word, whose brightness is above the sun. And by ‘the moon under her feet’ [12:1], he referred to her being adorned like the moon, with heavenly glory. The phrase ‘upon her head a crown of twelve stars’ [12:1] refers to the twelve apostles by whom the church was founded. And the passage, ‘She, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered’ [12:2] means that the church will not cease to bear from her heart the Word that is persecuted by the unbelievers in the world. He says, ‘And she brought forth a male child, who is to rule all the nations’ [12:5]. By this is meant that the church – always bringing forth Christ, the perfect male child of God (who is declared to be God and man) – becomes the instructor of all the nations.” – Hippolytus (c. 200)
• “The woman clothed with the sun and having the moon under her feet . . . is the ancient church of fathers, prophets, saints, and apostles.” – Victorinus (c. 280)
• “The woman who appeared in heaven clothed with the sun . . . is certainly, according to the accurate interpretation, our mother, . . . whom the prophets . . . have sometimes called Jerusalem, sometimes a Bride, sometimes Mount Zion, and sometimes the Temple and Tabernacle of God. . . . So the church stands upon our faith and adoption . . . until the fullness of the nations come[s] in. She labors and brings forth natural men as spiritual men. For this reason, she is also a mother. . . . The church conceives those who flee to the Word and forms them according to the likeness and image of Christ.” – Methodius (c. 290)

Interestingly, the term “Queen of Heaven” is used five times in the Old Testament – once in Jeremiah 7:18 and four times in Jeremiah 44:17-25. The mother goddess of the pagans was named Ashtoreth and was given the title “Queen of Heaven.” When the Israelites left the commandments of the Lord and fell into idolatry, they began to worship Baal and Ashtoreth (Judges 2:13), idolizing this female goddess as the “Queen of Heaven.” According to Jeremiah 44:19, they “made offerings to the queen of heaven and poured out drink offerings to her . . . [and] made cakes for her bearing her image.” The Lord pronounced judgment on the nation of Israel for their idolatry:

• “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: You have seen all the disaster that I brought upon Jerusalem and upon all the cities of Judah. Behold, this day they are a desolation, and no one dwells in them, because of the evil that they committed, provoking me to anger, in that they went to make offerings and serve other gods that they knew not, neither they, nor you, nor your fathers. Yet I persistently sent to you all my servants the prophets, saying, ‘Oh, do not do this abomination that I hate!’ But they did not listen or incline their ear, to turn from their evil and make no offerings to other gods. Therefore my wrath and my anger were poured out and kindled in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem, and they became a waste and a desolation, as at this day.” – Jeremiah 44:2-6

Neither Scripture nor the early Christian writings granted to Mary any position of authority in the church, much less the title “Queen of Heaven.” In fact, the term was originally used to refer to the pagan mother goddess Ashtoreth, which God judged the Israelites for worshipping.

Question #7: Is Mary Mediatrix?

The Roman Catholic church states that Jesus is the only mediator between God and mankind through His death on the cross. However, they believe that all saints intercede for believers and that Mary is Mediatrix, or the supreme among these intercessors or mediators. As Mediatrix, Mary has special favor with Jesus, according to Pope John Paul II’s 1987 document Redemptoris Mater:

“Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings. She puts herself ‘in the middle,’ that is to say she acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that as such she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she ‘has the right’ to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession: Mary ‘intercedes’ for mankind.”

Catholics frequently address prayers to Mary, including the “Hail Mary,” which says: “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.” When Catholics pray the Rosary, they pray the Lord’s Prayer (“Our Father”) six times and the “Hail Mary” fifty-three times.

Nowhere in the New Testament or in the writings of the early Christians are believers found praying to Mary, asking for her intercession, or teaching that Jesus does whatever Mary requests. On the contrary, Scripture teaches that Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5) and that we can come to Him because He is ever-loving, merciful, and compassionate:

• “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4:15-16

The early Christians likewise taught that Jesus is the only mediator and that He presents our prayers to the Father:

• “Unless man had been joined to God, he could never have become a partaker of incorruptibility. For it was incumbent upon the Mediator between God and men to bring both parties to friendship and harmony, through His relationship to both. He presented man to God, and He revealed God to man.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “Christ Jesus . . . is the Universal Priest of the Father.” – Tertullian (c. 207)
• “We seek a Being who is intermediate between all created things and God – a Mediator. This is whom the apostle Paul calls the ‘first-born of every creature’ [Col. 1:15].” – Origen (c. 225)
• “We offer our petitions to the God of the universe through His Only-Begotten Son. To the Son, we first present them. We beseech Him, as ‘the propitiation for our sins’ [1 John 2:2] and as our High Priest, to offer our desires, sacrifices, and prayers to the Most High. Our faith, therefore, is directed to God through His Son.” – Origen (c. 248)
• “Our duty is to pray to the Most High God alone, and to the Only-Begotten – the first-born of the whole creation – and to ask Him as our High Priest to present the prayers that ascend to Him from us. That is, we ask Him to send them to His God and our God, to His Father and the Father of those who direct their lives according to His Word.” – Origen (c. 248)
• “Christ is the High Priest of His Father, who presents our prayers to Him.” – Julius Africanus (c. 245)

Jesus taught His disciples to pray to the Father (Matthew 6:9), and the early Christians universally opposed prayers of any kind to anyone other than God:

• “Christians . . . pray to God alone through Jesus.” – Origen (c. 248)
• “Every prayer, supplication, intercession, and thanksgiving is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest – the living Word and God, who is above all the angels. . . . To invoke angels, without having obtained a greater knowledge of their nature than is possessed by men, would be contrary to reason. But . . . even if we had this knowledge, . . . it would not permit us to pray with confidence to anyone other than to the Supreme God, who is sufficient for all things, through our Savior, the Son of God.” – Origen (c. 225)
• “In the Apocalypse, the angel resists John, who wishes to worship him, and says, ‘See that you do not do this. For I am your fellow-servant and your brother. Worship Jesus the Lord’ [Rev. 19:10].” – Cyprian (c. 250)
• “You go so far as to lavish this power [of forgiveness of sins] on martyrs as well! . . . Let it suffice the martyr to have purged his own sins. . . . Who can redeem another’s death by his own, except the Son of God alone?” – Tertullian (c. 212)
• “We judge it improper to pray to those beings who themselves offer up prayers. For even they themselves would prefer that we should send up our requests to the God to whom they pray, rather than to send them downwards to themselves, or to apportion our power of prayer between God and them.” – Origen (c. 248)
• “We speak of Paradise, the place of divine bliss appointed to receive the spirits of the saints. There, the saints are cut off from the knowledge of this world by that fiery zone, as by a sort of enclosure.” – Tertullian (c. 197)
• “It is clear that those who make prayers to the dead . . . do not act as becomes men. They will suffer punishment for their impiety and guilt. Rebelling against God, the Father of the human race, they have undertaken unforgivable rites. They have violated every sacred law.” – Lactantius (c. 304-313)

Finally, neither Scripture nor the early Christians teach that Jesus does whatever Mary asks Him to do. Rather, Jesus rebuked Mary at the wedding of Cana (John 2:4), redirected the attention of those who wanted to venerate her (Luke 11:27), and publicly distanced Himself from her when she came to see him (Matthew 12:46-50). Early Christian author Tertullian wrote:

• “How strange, then, would it certainly have been, if, while He was teaching others not to esteem mother, father, or brothers as highly as the word of God, He were Himself to leave the word of God as soon as His mother and brothers were announced to Him. He denied His parents, then, in the sense in which He has taught us to deny ours – for God’s work.” – Tertullian (c. 210)
• “A certain mother of the company exclaims, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which you have sucked’ [Luke 11:27]. But the Lord said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it’ [Luke 11:28]. Now, He had in precisely similar terms rejected His mother and His brothers, while preferring those who heard and obeyed God. . . . He once again transferred the blessedness (as He had done before) away from . . . His mother to His disciples.” – Tertullian (c. 207)
• “In the denied mother, there is a figure of the synagogue. In the unbelieving brothers, there is a type of the Jews. In the person [of Christ’s nearest kin], Israel remained outside. On the other hand, the new disciples who kept close to Christ within – hearing and believing Him – represented the church. For He called the church ‘mother’ in a preferable sense and a worthier brotherhood, with the repudiation of the fleshly relationship.” – Tertullian (c. 210)

The only mediator known in the New Testament and in the early church before AD 325 was Jesus Christ. Far from viewing Mary as the intercessor of mankind, the early Christians frequently criticized her because of her unbelief (refer to question #3 above) and taught that believers should pray to God alone through Jesus Christ, as taught in the Scriptures.

The Mary-Eve parallel

While the early Christian writers knew nothing of Mary as Mother of the Church, Queen of Heaven, or intercessor, several authors noticed a parallel between Mary and Eve. Justin Martyr introduced the idea in AD 160; and in the next fifty years, two of his contemporaries expanded on it:

• “He became man by the virgin, in order that the disobedience which began with the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her.” – Justin Martyr (c. 160)
• “Mary the virgin is found obedient, saying, ‘Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word’ [Luke 1:38]. In contrast, Eve was disobedient, for she did not obey when she was still a virgin. . . . Having become disobedient, she was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race. Correspondingly, Mary, who was also a virgin (although betrothed to a man), by yielding obedience, became the cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race. . . . This demonstrates the corresponding reference from Mary back to Eve. . . . So it was that the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “Furthermore, the original deception was to be done away with – the deception by which that virgin Eve (who was already espoused to a man) was unhappily misled. That this was to be overturned was happily announced through means of the truth by the angel to the virgin Mary (who was also [espoused] to a man). . . . So if Eve disobeyed God, yet Mary was persuaded to be obedient to God. In this way, the virgin Mary might become the advocate of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin. . . . For in the same way, the sin of the first created man received amendment by the correction of the First-Begotten, and the cunning of the serpent was conquered by the harmlessness of the dove.” – Irenaeus (c. 180)
• “It was while Eve was yet a virgin that the ensnaring word had crept into her ear. And this word was to build the edifice of death. In like manner, the Word of God must be introduced into a virgin’s soul – that Word who was to raise the fabric of life, so that what had been reduced to ruin by [the female gender] might by the self-same sex be recovered to salvation. As Eve had believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel.” – Tertullian (c. 210)

Catholics frequently reference Irenaeus’ statements that Mary “became the cause of salvation” and that the human race was “rescued by a virgin.” Some Catholics use these passages to establish another doctrine of Mary as Co-Redemptrix, saying that she participated in Christ’s work of redemption. In 1918, Pope Benedict XV wrote: “She suffers with her suffering and dying son, almost as if she would have died herself. For the salvation of mankind, she gave up her rights as the mother of her son and, in a sense, offered Christ’s sacrifice to God the Father as far as she was permitted to do. Therefore, one can say, she redeemed with Christ the human race.”

These passages from Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian simply draw an interesting parallel – a parallel that admittedly is not found in Scripture and perhaps should not have been made (refer to the “Once for all handed down” heading above). However, the statements of these three writers in no way portray Mary as sinless, Mother of the Church, Queen of Heaven, Mediatrix, or Co-Redemptrix. The early Christians clearly understood Jesus alone to be sinless and the sole Redeemer of mankind.

The rise of Marian veneration

As seen in the writings of the early Christians, the early church did not venerate Mary or give her any position of importance beyond what is outlined in Scripture. However, this began to change in the third and fourth centuries around the time of Constantine. In 313, the Edict of Milan made Christianity a legal religion of the Roman Empire; and in 380, the Edict of Thessalonica made it the state religion. By the turn of the fifth century, nearly all of the Roman Empire professed Christianity, but many people were unconverted pagans who simply wished to escape persecution.

For thousands of years, nearly every pagan culture has venerated a mother goddess. Statues in ancient Babylon show the mother goddess Semiramis and her child Tammuz. East Asian religions worshipped the Queen Mother of the West since the fifteenth century BC. The mother goddess figure was called Hertha in Germany, Disa in Scandinavia, Nutria in Italy, Virgo-Patitura in Britain and France (where she was called the “Mother of God”), Indrani in India, Aphodite or Ceres in Greece, and Venus or Fortuna in Rome. Statues of these female deities typically showed the mother holding a child, often surrounded by a halo or stars.

Paganism was at an all-time high when the Roman Empire was established in 31 BC, bringing with it the adoration of the mother goddess. According to Acts 19:27-28, the goddess Diana (called Artemis in Greek) was worshipped not only in Ephesus but in “all Asia and the world.” When masses of unconverted pagans entered the church during the time of Constantine, the church quietly allowed them to transfer their affections from the mother goddess to the virgin Mary, giving her the pagan titles Madonna, Lady of the Sea, and Queen of Heaven.

The rise of Mary veneration in the church was not without its critics. In 365, Epiphanius, a church historian and bishop of Salamis, Cyprus, wrote the following in the Panarion, a 7-volume work refuting 80 heresies since the time of Adam:

• “What happens is that certain women decorate a chair or square stool, spread out upon it a cloth, and on a certain day of the year put out bread and offer it in the name of Mary. All the women partake of the bread. . . . [This is] the malady of the deluded Eve all over again. . . . The body of Mary was holy, but was surely not God. Verily, the Virgin was a virgin, and was honored, but was not given to us to worship. Rather, she worships Him who was born from her according to the flesh. . . . The Lord said, ‘Woman, what have I to do with you? My hour has not yet come’ [John 2:4], in order that from [that statement] none should think the holy Virgin to be greater. He called her woman, as prophesying on account of the schisms and heresies that would be on the earth, in order that none admiring the holy [Virgin] to excess should fall into this frivolity of heresy. . . . These [women] again renew the mixture to Fortune, and make ready the table to the Demon and not to God, according to what is written; and they eat the food of impiety, as the Divine Word says: ‘And the women knead dough, and the sons gather wood to make cakes to the host of heaven’ [Jer. 7:18]. Let such women be silenced by Jeremiah, and let them not disturb the world. Let them not say, ‘We honor the Queen of Heaven.’” – Epiphanius (c. 365)

Roughly fifteen years later, Ambrose, bishop of Milan, wrote:

• “Christ is not divided but is one. If we adore him as the Son of God, we do not deny his birth from the virgin. . . . But let no one extend this to the virgin Mary. Mary was the temple of God, not the God of the temple. Therefore, He alone who was in the temple is to be worshipped.” – Ambrose (c. 381)

Conclusion

The early Christians believed that the apostolic faith was “once for all handed down” (Jude 3) and that no one has the right to alter it. In other words, what was taught as doctrine by the apostles in AD 50 should still be taught today. The early Christians viewed the virgin Mary as an ordinary young girl who found favor with God and was blessed to be the mother of Jesus. While they sought to follow her example of godliness, they did not view her as sinless or venerate her in any way. Let us, like them, carefully avoid placing a tradition of men above the clear teachings of Scripture: “What presumption there is to prefer human tradition to divine ordinance! How can we not see that God is indignant and angry every time a human tradition relaxes the divine commandments and passes them by? . . . Custom without truth is simply the antiquity of error” (Cyprian).