The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus by Scot McKnight
What kind of woman was Mary, the mother of Jesus? No one really knows; at least, that is what many of us from Protestant traditions are inclined to think. Yet the New Testament is filled with valuable clues about Mary's character and faith. Because of our reaction against Roman Catholic teaching, Mary is almost invisible to us as we read the gospels.
Scot McKnight in The Real Mary opens our eyes to the Mary we have all but lost in our Protestant tradition. McKnight shows Mary's incredible faith and trust in God by accepting God's mission for her. He shows the radical and subversive nature of the magnificant as an expression of Jewish messianic hopes. Yet he also shows how Mary is confronted with a messiah she had not expected. He is a messiah who lays down his life for others. McKnight points to evidence of Mary's struggles as she went from being the mother of the messiah to being Jesus' disciple.
Especially powerful are McKnight's observations about Mary "treasuring these things" and "pondering them in her heart." McKnight shows this was not the idea of someone going into solitude for personal reflection. Rather it was Mary making note of what was happening and weaving events into a narrative as she struggled to make sense of it all.
I have always appreciated books that open avenues of understanding biblical characters in ways that erase the distance of time and culture. This book does just that. In addition to reflecting on the biblical texts, McKnight respectfully explores the Roman Catholic position on Mary. At the end of the book, he offers appendices to help with further reflection on Mary. There are fourteen chapters of about ten pages each written in McKnight's usual engaging style. It would make a wonderful resource for reflection during this Advent season, but it is not a book about Advent. It is a book about one of the Bible's most amazing disciples, and I highly recommend it!
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