Mary

Theotokos (Luk 1:43)

Role: mother of Jesus
Era: 20 BC–50 AD
Passages: 26
Named in: New Testament (4 books)

Dates are inferred rather than recorded.

Mother of Jesus.

The name

Μαριὰμ Mariam — Mary lexicon

Family

Spouse: Joseph Mat 1:24
Child: James Mat 13:55 disputed
Whether the "brothers of the Lord" are sons of Mary is exactly what the traditions dispute; recorded here as disputed rather than settled either way.
Child: Jesus of Nazareth Luk 1:31

What the traditions disagree about

Should Christians ask Mary to pray for them?

Church-dividing

Common ground. All traditions call Mary blessed, as she says she will be called, and none treats her as divine or as a source of salvation. This is the same question as the saints generally.

Catholic and Orthodox practice asks her intercession. The Reformation churches hold that Christ is the sole mediator and that prayer is addressed to God alone.

Roman Catholic: Her intercession is asked, as that of a member of the body of Christ who prays for the others; the honour given her differs in kind from the worship due to God alone. Council of Trent, Session XXV
Eastern Orthodox: Her intercession is asked constantly in the liturgy, with the same distinction between veneration and worship. Second Council of Nicaea, 787
Lutheran: Rejected as invocation, while the saints are honoured and remembered with thanksgiving. Augsburg Confession XXI
Anglican: Rejected: "The Romish Doctrine concerning ... Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented." Articles of Religion XXII
Reformed / Presbyterian: Rejected: religious worship and prayer are to be given to God alone, and to no creature. Westminster Confession XXI.2
Baptist: Rejected; prayer is addressed to God through Christ alone. Second London Confession XXII

Traditions not listed have no position recorded here. That is a gap in what we have written down, not a statement that they are silent.

Was Mary preserved from original sin from her own conception?

Church-dividing

Common ground. All traditions hold that Mary was chosen and graced by God, and that whatever holiness she has is God's gift and not her own achievement.

Defined as dogma for Catholics in 1854. The Orthodox honour Mary as all-holy but reject the definition, partly because it presupposes an understanding of original sin they do not share. The Reformation churches reject it as without scriptural warrant.

Roman Catholic: Defined as dogma: Mary was preserved from all stain of original sin from the first instant of her conception, by the foreseen merits of Christ. Ineffabilis Deus, 1854
Eastern Orthodox: Rejected as a definition. Mary is Panagia, all-holy, but the dogma presupposes a doctrine of inherited guilt the East does not hold, and so answers a question it does not ask.
Lutheran: Rejected as lacking scriptural warrant. Formula of Concord
Anglican: Rejected as a required article; Article VI admits only what may be proved from scripture. Articles of Religion VI
Reformed / Presbyterian: Rejected. Mary is held to share the common condition of humanity and to need a saviour, as she says herself. Luk 1:47
Baptist: Rejected on the same ground.

Traditions not listed have no position recorded here. That is a gap in what we have written down, not a statement that they are silent.

What happened to Mary at the end of her life?

Church-dividing

Common ground. All traditions hold that Mary has died in Christ and shares the hope of resurrection held out to all the faithful.

Catholic teaching defines her bodily assumption; the Orthodox keep the feast of the Dormition and believe she was taken up, without defining it as dogma. The Reformation churches hold that scripture says nothing and therefore neither should the church.

Roman Catholic: Defined as dogma: at the end of her earthly life Mary was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Munificentissimus Deus, 1950
Eastern Orthodox: The Dormition is kept as a great feast and her translation is believed, but it is held as the church's tradition rather than defined dogma, and the definition of 1950 is not received.
Lutheran: Not held; no scriptural warrant.
Anglican: Not required. Scripture is silent and Article VI governs. Articles of Religion VI
Reformed / Presbyterian: Not held, on the same ground.

Traditions not listed have no position recorded here. That is a gap in what we have written down, not a statement that they are silent.

Did Mary remain a virgin after the birth of Jesus?

Genuine disagreement

Common ground. All traditions confess the virginal conception of Jesus, which is what the creeds actually assert. The question here concerns only what followed.

Catholic and Orthodox teaching holds that she did, and the Reformers largely agreed; most later Protestant readings take the "brothers of the Lord" at face value and conclude that she did not.

Roman Catholic: Held: Mary is ever-virgin, before, in and after the birth. Lateran Council, 649
Eastern Orthodox: Held: she is "ever-virgin" in the liturgy and the conciliar language. Second Council of Constantinople, 553
Lutheran: The Smalcald Articles call her "the pure, holy, ever-virgin Mary"; later Lutheran opinion is divided and the point is not made binding. Smalcald Articles I.iv
Anglican: No confessional requirement. Both readings are held; the Articles are silent. Articles of Religion
Reformed / Presbyterian: Calvin held it and thought the contrary reading careless, but the Reformed confessions do not require it. Institutes; Harmony of the Evangelists on Mat 1:25
Baptist: Generally not held; the brothers of Matthew 13:55 are read as later children of Mary and Joseph.
Pentecostal: Generally not held, on the same reading.

Traditions not listed have no position recorded here. That is a gap in what we have written down, not a statement that they are silent.

Should Mary be called the Mother of God?

Broad agreement

Common ground. All traditions confess that Jesus is truly God and truly man, and that Mary is truly his mother. The dispute over the title has always been about how to guard that, not about whether it is so.

The title was affirmed at Ephesus in 431 to say something about Christ rather than about Mary: that the one she bore is one person, God and man. Most traditions accept it on those terms even where they rarely use the word.

Roman Catholic: Mary is Mother of God, a title safeguarding the unity of Christ's person. Council of Ephesus, 431
Eastern Orthodox: Theotokos is the central Marian title, used constantly in the liturgy and defended as a statement about the Incarnation. Council of Ephesus, 431
Lutheran: Accepted. The Formula of Concord uses the title and calls Mary "the most blessed virgin". Formula of Concord, Solid Declaration VIII
Anglican: Accepted as a christological statement; the term is not prominent in ordinary usage. Articles of Religion II
Reformed / Presbyterian: Accepted in the same christological sense; Calvin defends the substance while cautioning against devotional use. Institutes II.xiv
Baptist: Rarely used. The underlying confession -- that Jesus is God incarnate, born of Mary -- is affirmed. Second London Confession VIII
Church of the East: Historically preferred "Christotokos" or "Mother of Christ", fearing that "Mother of God" confused the natures. Modern common declarations with Rome have set that dispute aside as one of terms. Common Christological Declaration, 1994
Oriental Orthodox: Affirmed; the title is common to the Alexandrian tradition and was never in dispute here. Council of Ephesus, 431

Traditions not listed have no position recorded here. That is a gap in what we have written down, not a statement that they are silent.

Veneration

Roman Catholic: Venerated — Blessed Virgin Mary Feast: 1 January; 15 August
Honoured above the saints, with a veneration distinguished in kind from the worship due to God.
Eastern Orthodox: Venerated — Theotokos, Panagia Feast: 15 August (Dormition)
Named in every liturgy; the most honoured of all the saints.
Anglican: Commemorated — The Blessed Virgin Mary Feast: 15 August
Commemorated in the calendar; invocation rejected by Article XXII.
Lutheran: Honoured, not invoked — The Blessed Virgin
Honoured and called blessed; not invoked.
Reformed / Presbyterian: Not venerated
Called blessed; no veneration or invocation.
Baptist: Not venerated
Honoured as a faithful example; no veneration.

Named in

Passages are linked from the tagged text; the summary and any positions above are written by hand and cited.