If ever woman had reason to sing, "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my
Saviour," it was Mary, the Virgin Mother of Christ. God recognized her
as a helper in restoring man from the ruins of sin. To her the angel
spake, saying, "Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with
thee. Blessed art thou among women." And in pondering in her heart the
strange coincidences, she exclaimed, "God hath regarded the low estate
of his handmaiden; for behold from henceforth all generations shall
call me blessed."
From these words it is evident that Mary appreciated the honor
conferred upon her by her Creator and rightful Ruler. It is a singular
fact, that Eve, betrayed by Satan, betrayed the race. Mary held
steadfast to God and to truth; and yet Satan has the second time taken
woman and used her as an ally, and so has brought an influence to bear
upon the minds of men which has led millions astray, and covers vast
portions of the world with the gloom of a moral night. Mary, the
"Mother of Jesus," is made to take the place of "Christ, the Son of
God," and is declared to be the Mother of God. In this land we can
form no conception of the extent to which this worship of Mary is
carried in Roman Catholic countries. To the Italians Mary is God, and
worship is simply the adoration of the Virgin. Viewing Romanism in the
light of the Bible, this is its crowning sin; viewing it as a system
combined to seduce and enslave, this is its masterpiece. To understand
how it is so, let us think how deep in man's nature is placed the
feeling of the need of a being like unto himself, to mediate between
him and God. The Bible completely meets this want in the God-man. But
Popery blots out the God-man as mediator, and in his stead presents us
with Mary, who is to the devotee the "one living and true God;" for,
though the Father and Son are known, they are accessible only through
Mary, and they stand so far behind and beyond her, that to the
Romanist they are vague, shadowy, and unknown. Mary is the first name
to be lisped in childhood, the last to be uttered by the quivering
lips before they are closed in death. Around the neck of the infant is
suspended a small image of the Virgin; when the babe seeks the breast
it must kiss the image, and thus literally does it draw in the
adoration of Mary with its mother's milk. "Were the New Testament to
be written at this hour, Rome would blot out the name of Christ and
substitute that of Mary. Take a proof: The church close by the Vatican
has upon its marble pediment, graven in large letters, 'Let us come to
the throne of the Virgin Mary, that we may find grace to help us in
our time of need.' The Roman sees Heb. iv. 16 quoted, but cannot
verify it if he would, seeing the Bible is forbidden to him." Pius
IX., at the foot of the column of the Immaculate Conception, erected
to perpetuate the fact that he was permitted to decree the dogma, has
Moses, David, Isaiah, and Jeremiah casting crowns before the Virgin,
saying, "Thou art worthy; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to
God by thy blood." When it was announced that the French occupation of
Rome should cease, the Pope published a decree calling on all Rome
to go with him to the feet of Mary, if haply by cries and tears they
might prevail with her to avert from the throne of God's vicar the
dangers that threaten it; and in that act the Pope led the way.[A]
[Footnote A: Minister _versus_ Priest, page 7.]
For this worship of the Virgin Mary there is a reason. Satan could
not successfully lead astray so many millions of people, despite a
preached gospel and a printed Bible, unless there was some truth lying
at the root of this ineradicable Virgin worship. This root we shall
discover when we recall woman's position prior to the advent of
Christ, the place she was called upon to fill in the scheme of
redemption, and the influences set in motion by the life of Christ
upon the earth.
1. _Let us notice woman's position previous to the advent_. Before
Christ came, woman was regarded as inferior to man. She had lost
her equality. She was excluded from general intercourse, and her
confinement to her own home and apartments, without education,
without social recognition, left her without strength of character,
self-reliance, or resources with herself. "Woman's safety in society
lies in two elements: her own virtue and intelligence, and the
consequent respect for her which such a character inspires. Where
these two things are found, she may participate in general society,
mingling freely with men as their equals, and regarded, it may be,
even as their superiors. Here, it may be worthy of note, that no such
estimate or honor is ever put upon woman except when Christianity has
given her this elevation."
Before Christ appeared, the qualities honored as divine were
peculiarly the virtues of the man--courage, wisdom, truth, strength.
Womanly virtues were regarded as puerile and contemptible, and woman
herself was little better than a slave.
2. _Notice the place woman filled in the scheme of redemption_. It is
admitted by those who recognize the Word of God as authority, that
the Atonement required the sacrifice of one whose nature represents
equally the dignity of the Law-maker and the humanity of the
transgressor. In him Deity and humanity must be united: Deity, that
he may give value to the offering; humanity, that he may obey the
positive precepts and endure the penal sanction of the law human
nature has violated. It was therefore essential that the prophecy
of Isaiah, uttered six hundred years before the advent, should be
fulfilled, viz., "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bring forth a
son, and they shall call his name Immanuel--God with us." This work
had been accomplished, and Mary was honored with the privilege of
taking the words of Eve, "I have gotten a man with Jehovah," and
making it no longer a prophecy, but a fact. So we sing,--
"Thou wast born of woman; them didst come,
O, Holiest! to this world of sin and gloom,
Not in thy dread omnipotent array;
And not by thunder strewed
Was thy tempestuous road,--
Nor indignation burned before thee on thy way;
But thou, a soft and naked child,
Thy mother undefiled,
In the rude manger laid to rest,
From off her virgin breast."
Then, for the first time, the mother resumed her place. When the
wise men came into the house they saw the young child, with Mary his
mother, and fell down and worshipped him; and when they had opened
their treasures they presented unto him gifts, gold, and frankincense,
and myrrh. The old Eastern custom, which placed the child before the
mother, was now understood. God guarded against making Mary first, and
at the same time provided for her a place. When God appeared to Joseph
in a dream, he did not say, Take the mother and child, but the "young
child and his mother, and flee into Egypt." This brings us naturally
to consider--
3. _The influences set in motion by the life of Christ upon the
earth_. First, let us review the history of Christ's personal
relations to Mary. Up to twelve years of age, his home was in
Nazareth; and Luke declares (second chapter, fortieth verse), "The
child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the
grace of God was upon him. And when he was twelve years old, his
parents went up to Jerusalem, after the custom of the feast. And when
they had fulfilled the days, as they returned the child Jesus tarried
behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. For
three days he was away from them. When they found him he was in the
temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and
asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his
understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed:
and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?
Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."
It is noticeable that Luke mentions Joseph before he mentions the
mother; and when Mary speaks, she ignores the miraculous conception,
and calls him the son of Joseph. But Jesus _does not forget_ his
origin, nor does he recognize Joseph as father, but says, How is
it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's
business? And they understood not the saying he spake unto them. And
he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto
them; but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. "And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."--Luke
ii. 42.
Again, at Cana of Galilee, there was a marriage, and the mother of
Jesus was there. Eighteen years have passed since we last saw him in
the temple, when Mary ignored his miraculous conception, and when
Jesus rebuked her, by asserting his Sonship and by claiming God as
Father. At Cana both Jesus and his disciples are invited to the
wedding. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto
him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, what have I to
do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come." Plainly, and in the most
emphatic manner, Christ refuses to recognize Mary as intercessor or
director. A third instance is still more marked. Jesus is talking
to an immense multitude, and is making a hand-to-hand fight with
Pharisees and Scribes. "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his
mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him."
Evidently Mary had no idea of the character or the mission of the Man
Christ Jesus, but feeling that he was popular, she was glad to exhibit
her relationship in a public manner, and so through the throng sent in
word, saying, "Tell Jesus his mother and his brethren stand without,
desiring to speak with him." But he answered, and said unto him that
told him, "Who is my mother? and who are my brethren?" It is not
difficult to picture the God-man shaking off the trammels of the
flesh and rising to the height of his great work. What a contrast
is presented between the second and the first Adam! The first Adam
yielded without remonstrance to Eve, who had worshipped the creature
rather than the Creator, and thus paved the way for the introduction
of idolatry; while the second Adam--the Lord of Glory--withstood the
influences of Mary, rebuked her intermeddling and dictation, and stood
forth to his work in the declaration as he Stretched out his hand
towards his disciples, and said, "Behold my mother and my brethren.
For whosoever shall do the will of my Father who is in heaven, the
same is MY BROTHER, AND SISTER, AND MOTHER."
Again, while Christ was conversing with his disciples, a certain woman
of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, "Blessed is
the womb that bore thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked." Thus
suddenly flamed up this passion for Mariolatry. It was instantly
rebuked by the words, "Yea, rather, blessed are they that hear the
Word of God and keep it." Thus he tore the crown from the brow of Mary
woven by the irreligious, and intimated that, as Mary was greater than
Eve, because of her identification with Himself, so whosoever should
believe in Christ, and serve him, should be the equal of Mary. The
purpose of God in forming Eve, should be realized in the womanly
character resulting from a reception of the truth as it is in Jesus,
and by doing the will of God on the earth.
Thus he severed the tie binding him to family, and proclaimed himself
the Son of Man, and the Son of God, the Brother of the Faithful. From
this declaration came the brotherhood and sisterhood of the church
of Christ, so that no matter what be the rank or position of the
worldling redeemed by the blood of Christ, he becomes an equal
shareholder in love, and is recognized as a partaker in the fellowship
of the church.
At the cross we find Mary standing with others. When Jesus therefore
saw his mother and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith
unto his mother, "Woman, behold thy son." Then saith he to the
disciple, "Behold thy mother." And from that hour the disciple took
her unto his own house. Once more she appeal's as worshipper, and not
as the worshipped. Her name is mentioned, with others, in Acts i. 14,
as being with the disciples in the Pentecostal chamber waiting for the
descent of the Holy Spirit.
From this scriptural testimony, it is apparent that the Saviour, by
his conduct towards his mother, shielded the church from the curse of
Mariolatry. Had he yielded in one instance, reasons for supporting the
claims of Romanism had been furnished. Mary was only a woman. She was
honored of God just as far as she served God, and when she turned
aside she was no more than any other person. Her perceptions of
Christ's work were not as distinct or comprehensive as were those of
Mary the sister of Lazarus, or of Mary Magdalene. In this Mary was not
peculiar. Very frequently women associated with great workers fail to
appreciate the character of the work committed to them to do. To the
world a worker may seem to be a wonder. To the one most intimately
associated with him he is a very ordinary individual. It is said a man
is never a hero to his servant. Is it not almost as true of his wife?
A living great man is ordinary in so many things in his daily life,
that the wife forgets his greatness. The wife of John Milton saw but a
blind man in the bard, dwelling upon his immortal thought and evolving
his world-renowned poem. As the eagle stirs up her nest, compelling
her broodlings to exert themselves, so God sometimes suffers a good
man to link his fortunes with a woman who is ill-mated with him in
every way. In the light of the fact that Jesus found little or
no appreciation in the society of Mary, and sought the home-joys
elsewhere, woman ought to learn a lesson. Is it not possible that you
mistake your mission, and strike the rock of stumbling in your home,
rather than avoid it by ignoring that which is grand and admirable in
the life of him with whom you are associated? Doubtless in a busy man,
now full of joy, and now morose; now engrossed by a thought or scheme
to such an extent that he forgets himself and his family, and now idle
and listless as a boy,--it may be hard, yet it is none the less a duty
for woman to love him for what he is, and to see to it that he be
ministered unto in his efforts. O, how dear to the heart of a working
man--no matter whether he toil with brain or hand--who feels that his
wife understands him, defends and protects him, and keeps the home
bright with love, though tempests may sweep across the path that leads
him into the world! There is a lesson here which belongs to men.
Mary's lack of appreciation did not turn Jesus from his work. It
permitted his true character to appear to better advantage. It tore
down the scaffolding of Mariolatry, and permitted the God-man to
stand forth in his grand proportions. "Wist ye not I must be about
my Father's business?" said Jesus. Many men make trouble at home an
excuse for going to the bad. It is not an excuse. The design of home
trouble may be to send a man to Jesus; to make the tendrils of love
twine about the heavenly rather than the earthly. It surely is not to
induce a man to twine his affections about the devilish and earthly.
It is not manly thus to do.
_Man moves in three circles_. The first is that of Self; the second
that of Family; the third that of Country. A man who properly performs
duties that pertain to himself, we shall not call noble. By neglecting
family he becomes less than a man. By performing them never so well
he comes not to merit applause. Distinctive nobleness begins with the
third class. It is when he rises above self and family, when he looks
abroad on the family of mankind, that he takes the altitude which in
a man is distinctively great; when he feels no longer the little
necessities which compel, or the little pleasures which allure, and
yet is able to contemplate men as a great brotherhood of immortals,
with a gaze analogous to Him in whose image he is made; when he can
look on the world through the light of eternity, and is willing to
suffer all things, and to endure all things, that by him and through
him blessings may reach others,--then it is he does that which it is
the high privilege of man on this earth to do, and becomes a power to
which under God humanity owes all it has achieved in time. "I serve"
is the law of the living forces of mankind. Each man and woman has
a place. If they fill it, they furnish a channel along which God's
beneficent purposes find their way to a lost world. If they do not
fill it, they are set aside, and the verdict of the world is, Served
them right.
It if surprising that, after Mary had been rebuked at Cana of Galilee,
that she should have presumed to have interrupted Jesus in the
presence of the multitude. It is instructive that Christ taught us
that the tie binding us to God and to humanity, is the most sacred
of all; for while it made the God-man a brother to us, it makes us
co-workers with God in carrying forward the enterprises with which men
are identified on the earth. When a man is true to self, to humanity,
and to God, and so girds himself with the strength arising from
confidence, he deserves the support, if not the admiration, of those
with whom he is associated. It was unworthy of Mary to ignore the
Divine origin of Jesus, and call Joseph his father before the elders.
She thought to raise herself by lowering him. He would not be lowered.
By his mother and by the world he knew that he had a right to be
recognized as the Son of God. This tendency to belittle greatness
lives yet. Men are seldom known until they die. We praise the dead and
ignore the living, as a rule. There is too little respect shown to men
occupying positions of public trust. There is too little respect shown
in the household. The father and mother are not honored in the home as
they deserve to be, and in the state the same principle rules. "Thou
shall not speak evil of the ruler of thy people," is an apostolic
precept, and the command, "Honor thy father and thy mother," was
repeatedly reiterated by Christ.
It is a significant fact, that Eve was led astray by Satan in the
same direction that was Mary. Mariolatry is only the outgrowth of the
seedling that lay dormant in Mary's heart, and is indigenous. It is
not natural for us to be contented with being used as an instrument
for glorifying God. We desire to be honored, as something more than an
instrument. In fact, it is true, that all are, no matter what their
powers or capacities, instrumentalities employed of God for distinct
purposes. Against this power we revolt and are thrust aside. The
_really_ great delight to recognize this truth, and their prayer is,
"Use me for thy glory" and for the world's advantage.
Another truth incidentally appears, and furnishes the root of
Mariolatry. We come to appear to the world what we really are. Mary
was tempted to place herself above Christ, and so we are not surprised
that those who have turned against Christ should join the tempter in
placing Mary above her Son. The refutation is the life of Christ,
who died for man, and the life of Mary, who never forgot herself in
thinking of others. The triumph of Mary was won by submission. Had she
revolted against Christ, she had lost all. In the First Epistle of
Paul to the Corinthians, the apostle speaks of the glory of the women
as of a thing distinct from the glory of the men. They are the two
opposite poles of the sphere of humanity. "Their provinces are not
the same, but different. The qualities which are beautiful when
predominant in one are not beautiful when predominant in the other.
That which is the glory of the one is not the glory of the other." The
glory of true womanhood is a combination of various qualities, many
of which were illustrated by the life of Mary. She was considerate of
others. She was submissive. As has been said, "In the very outset of
the Bible, submission is revealed as her peculiar lot and destiny.
If you were merely to look at the words as they stand declaring the
results of the fall, you would be inclined to call that vocation of
obedience a curse but in the spirit of Christ it is transformed, like
labor, into a blessing." The origin or root of Mariolatry has been
accounted for in the following manner: "In all Christian ages the
especial glory ascribed to the Virgin Mother is purity of heart
and life. Gradually in the history of the Christian church, the
recognition of this became idolatry. The works of early Christian
art commonly exhibit the progress of this perversion. They show how
Mariolatry grew up. The first pictures of the early Christians simply
represent the woman. By and by we find outlines of the mother and the
child. In an after age, the Son is seen sitting on a throne, with the
mother crowned, but sitting, as yet, below him. In an age still later,
the crowned mother is on a level with the Son. Later still, the mother
is on a throne above the Son. And, lastly, a Romish artist represents
the Eternal Son, in wrath, about to destroy the earth, and the Virgin
Intercessor interposing, pleading by significant attitudes her
maternal rights, and redeeming the world from his vengeance. Such was,
in fact, the progress of virgin worship."
First, the woman reverenced for the Son's sake, then the woman
reverenced above the Son and adored. This is the history. To account
for it, various theories have been advocated. One, assuming it as
a principle that no error has ever spread widely that was not the
exaggeration or perversion of a truth, finds in the influence exerted
by Christ the germ out of which Mariolatry springs. But surely nothing
could be farther from what Christ taught. By word, by look, and by
action, Christ opposed the debasing and degrading thought. Mariolatry,
like idolatry, is the outgrowth of the religion of nature. The carnal
heart is at enmity with God. It prefers to worship something besides
God, and so in the old dispensation it found its idol in the hero.
As the heathen counted for divine the legislative wisdom of the
man,--manly strength, manly truth, manly justice, manly courage,
Hercules with his club, Jupiter with his thunderbolt, so Baal,
representing the primeval power of nature, became the object of
idolatrous worship. After Christ, partly because of the new spirit
which pervaded the world, and largely because the carnal heart, ruled
by Satan, is glad of any pretext to neglect Christ, Mary, the mother,
became preferable to Christ the Son. Salvation depends upon faith in
Christ. Whosoever believeth in the Son hath everlasting life. For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. This
being true, a belief in Mary as an intercessor is as sinful in God's
sight, and is as directly opposed to a faith in Christ, as was a
belief in Baal or Jupiter. By whatever means Satan induces men to
reject Christ, he ruins them, and destroys their hope of salvation.
Satan induced Eve to reject God, to believe in him, and to serve him.
There is no evidence that Mary would have consented to occupy the
place to which an idolatrous world has raised her, but Satan cares not
for that, so that "he may work with all power, and signs, and lying
wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
perish."
The peril arising from the perversion's of biblical truth is
illustrated by the history of the diaconate as well as by the history
of the motherhood of Jesus. The influences set in motion by the life
of Christ deserve to be carefully pondered. Perverted, they have
helped on error. Used and employed as Christ designed them, they are
subservient of the highest interests of society. Truly has it been
said, The life and the cross of Christ shed a splendor from heaven
upon a new and till then unheard of order of heroism--that which may
be called the feminine order--meekness, endurance, long-suffering, the
passive strength of martyrdom. For Christianity does not say, "Honor
to the wise," but, "Blessed are the meek." Not "Glory to the strong,"
but "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." Not the
Lord is a man of war; Jehovah is his name, but God is love. In Christ,
not intellect, but love, is glorified. In Christ is magnified, not
force of will, but the glory of a Divine humility. He was obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore God hath also
exalted Him. Therefore it was, that from that time forward, woman
assumed a new place in the world. It is not to mere civilization, but
to the spirit of life in Christ, that woman owes all she has and all
she has yet to gain. In Christ, manly and womanly characteristics were
united, and were in equipoise. He was not the Son of the Man, but the
Son of Man. It was not manhood, but humanity, that was made divine
in him. Humanity has its two sides: one side in the strength and
intellect of manhood; the other in the tenderness and faith and
submission of womanhood; man and woman, the two halves of one thought,
make up human nature. In Christ, not one alone, but both were
glorified. Strength and Grace, Wisdom and Love, Courage and
Purity,--Divine Manliness, Divine Womanliness. In all noble
characters, the two are blended; in Him--the noblest--blended into
one entire and perfect humanity. The spirit which pervades the world
because of Christ's coming, and of the influence exerted by his
Gospel, opens to woman a faith which has been growing clearer and
brighter for eighteen centuries. By this we do not affirm or imply
that the coming of Christ restored woman to the equality she enjoyed
in the morning of creation, or that his coming removed the curse then
pronounced upon her. If Christ's coming removed a part of the curse,
then it must have removed all, which we know is false; woman still has
sorrow in child-bearing, and man earns his daily bread by the sweat
of his brow. Christ's coming removed the disabilities from woman. He
turned the attention of the world to feminine characteristics, and
shed over them the halo of a divine light. He brought the woman up
as he lowered the glory hitherto attached to characteristics
distinctively manly. Where Christ is loved, the gladiator and
prize-fighter are despised, and a meek and quiet spirit is honored.
The heart is the seat of power more than the intellect. Blessed are
the pure in heart, rather than the great in intellect. Pureness rather
than strength is the ideal of the human heart, since Christ was slain.
While, then, it is true that the worship of Mary is idolatry, and that
the worship given to her is so much taken from Christ, we must not
forget that the only glory of the Virgin was the glory of true
womanhood. "The glory of true womanhood consists in being herself; not
in striving to be something else. It is the false paradox and heresy
of this present age to claim for her as a glory, the right to leave
her sphere. Her glory lies in her sphere, and God has given her a
sphere distinct; as in the Epistle to the Church of Corinth, when, in
that wise chapter, St. Paul rendered unto womanhood the things which
were woman's, and unto manhood the things which were man's."
Mary's glory was not immaculate origin, nor immaculate life, nor
exaltation to Divine honors. She has none of these things. Hers was
the glory of simple womanhood. The glory of being true to the nature
assigned her by her Maker, the glory of Motherhood; the glory of a
meek and quiet spirit, which is, in the sight of God, of great price.
For all women there is something nobler than to be recognized as the
queen of heaven. Let woman be content to be what God made her, to fill
the sphere God appointed for her, in unselfishness, and humbleness,
and purity, rejoicing in God her Saviour, content that He had regarded
the lowliness of His handmaiden, and rejoicing that God has honored
the characteristics regarded as feminine, which she possesses, and
which she may use for the glory of God and the good of the race.
Now, as in the olden time, it is her privilege to minister unto the
necessities of Jesus, by cheerfully contributing of her substance
to the support of His cause, and by lavishing her love, upon those
qualities of the head and heart, which in Christ appeared in perfected
beauty, and are to-day the charm of life, the power of religion, and
the glory of Christianity.