Edward Sri - Rethinking Mary in the New Testament: What the Bible Tells Us about the Mother of the Messiah

What a book! Dr. Sri has the remarkable gift of being able to combine profound theological scholarship with easy-to-understand expositions. Rethinking Mary in the New Testament is a perfect example of this. It will satisfy the rigorous academic who seeks theological precision, as well as the non-academic who wants to know more about Mary in Scripture. All who read this book will rediscover the wonder of Our Lady!

Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC
Author of Champions of the Rosary:
The History and Heroes of a Spiritual Weapon

A careful scholar with a pastors heart, Edward Sri has written an amazing introduction to Blessed Mother as she appears in Sacred Scripture! Converts to Catholicism, interested Protestants, and cradle Catholics who love the Blessed Mother will want to get this book to better understand the deeper meanings of the Marian passages of the New Testament.

Dr. John Bergsma
Professor of Theology, Franciscan University of Steubenville

An understanding of Mary can transform your spiritual life, yet many people have misconceptions about this critical figure in salvation history. Edward Sri has given us a guide that is as informative as it is easy to read, and its sure to help many people rethink the role of Mary in the Bible, as well as in their own lives.

Jennifer Fulwiler
Radio host and author of One Beautiful Dream

Dr. Sri has produced a deeply scholarly, trustworthy, thorough, and wonderfully readable gift for all who truly wish to understand Marys role in salvation history. How I wish I had this book on my journey to the Church! Every bishop, priest, seminarian, and lay faithful should devour a copy!

Mother Miriam of the Lamb of God, OSB
Host of the Heart to Heart podcast

This is Sris best book so farand that means it is an extraordinary book indeed. A book like this could only be authored by someone with a mastery of contemporary biblical scholarship who also happens to be a lifelong scholar of Mariology. This rare conjunction describes Edward Sri. Easy to read, serious, and scholarly, this book delivers on its promises. Here we meet the Mary whom the evangelists aimed to reveal to us.

Dr. Matthew Levering
James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary

Rethinking Mary in the New Testament is the synthesis of years of study and teaching, useful for both academic and popular audiences. Sri seesand showsthat Marys role in the Gospel is central, not peripheral, because our Lord wanted it that way.

Dr. Scott Hahn
Author of The Lambs Supper

In this work, Sri brings his remarkable knowledge of Mary in Scripture to bear on one of the most pressing needs in the Church today: an up-to-date and thoroughly exegetical analysis of every key New Testament passage regarding Mary. This book is a major achievement, and a must-read for anyone interested in what the Bible really teaches about the Mother of Jesus.

Dr. Brant Pitre
Author of Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist

When trying to understand who Mary is, Scripture can often leave us thirsting for more. In Rethinking Mary in the New Testament , Edward Sri has done a remarkable thing by taking the scant biblical details about Mary and unpacking them in a way that makes her come alive. For anyone who wants to get to know Mary deeply, this is a wonderful place to start.

Dr. Carrie Gress
Author of The Marian Option

By Edward Sri

Ignatius Press Augustine Institute

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Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from
Revised Standard Version of the Bible
Second Catholic Edition (Ignatius Edition)
Copyright 2006 National Council of the Churches
of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Excerpts from the English translation of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church , Second Edition,
1994, 1997, 2000 by Libreria Editrice Vaticana
United States Catholic Conference, Washington, D.C.
All rights reserved.

Cover art: Madonna
by Giovanni Battista Salvi, Il Sassoferrato (Italian, 16091685)
Restored Traditions. Used by permission.

Cover Design: Lisa Marie Patterson

2018 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco,
and the Augustine Institute, Greenwood Village, CO
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-9997592-9-5 (PB)
ISBN: 978-1-64229-057-8 (EB)

Library of Congress Control Number 2018936338
Printed in Canada

To Mary

Chapter 1 Marys Life before the Annunciation
(Luke 1:26-27)

Chapter 2 Rejoice!: Mary as Daughter Zion
(Luke 1:28)

Chapter 3 Full of Grace
(Luke 1:28)

Chapter 4 The Mother of the Messiah
(Luke 1:28-33)

Chapter 5 The Mystery of Marys Question
(Luke 1:34)

Chapter 6 Marys Fiat
(Luke 1:35-38)

Chapter 7 The VisitationWhy the Haste?
(Luke 1:39)

Chapter 8 The Queen Mother
(Luke 1:40-43)

Chapter 9 Ark of the Covenant
(Luke 1:39-56)

Chapter 10 Magnificat
(Luke 1:46-56)

Chapter 11 Mary at the Nativity: Keep and Ponder
(Luke 2:1-20)

Chapter 12 Mary at the Presentation
(Luke 2:21-24)

Chapter 13 Mary and the Return of Glory
(Luke 2:25-33)

Chapter 14 Pierced by a Sword
(Luke 2:33-35)

Chapter 15 Finding Her Son in the Temple
(Luke 2:41-52)

Chapter 16 Mary at Cana
(John 2:1-3)

Chapter 17 The Woman, the Hour, and the Wine
(John 2:4)

Chapter 18 Do Whatever He Tells You
(John 2:5-11)

Chapter 19 At the Foot of the Cross
(John 19:25-27)

Chapter 20 Behold, Your Mother
(John 19:25-27)

Chapter 21 Decoding the Woman of the Apocalypse
(Revelation 12:1-17)

Chapter 22 Crowned in Glory
(Revelation 12:1-17)

Chapter 23 Mary in Other New Testament Passages
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, Acts, Paul)

Appendix What Kind of Annunciation?
(Luke 1:28-38)

AER - American Ecclesiastical Review

CBQ - Catholic Biblical Quarterly

CCC - Catechism of the Catholic Church

CSEL - Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum

EphMar - Ephemerides Mariologicae

EstMar - Estudios Marianos

JBL - Journal of Biblical Literature

JSNTSup - Journal for the Study of the New Testament
Supplement Series

LXX - The Septuagint

MNT - Mary in the New Testament

PG - Patrologia Graeca

PL- Patrologia Latina

1QH - Qumran Scroll on Thanksgiving Hymns

1QS - Qumran Scroll on Community Rule

VTSup - Vetus Testamentum Supplements

At first glance, the New Testament picture of Mary seems surprisingly limited. She appears only in a few accounts, and apart from some of the scenes narrating Christs infancy, she is more of a background figure, just one member in a large supporting cast. Other characters such as John the Baptist, Peter, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees emerge more prominently in Christs public ministry than the mother of Jesus does. So when one compares the number of New Testament references to Mary with the amount of Marian doctrine and devotion that has developed over the centuries, the contrast is striking. One can understand why those approaching the Scriptures from outside the Catholic Tradition might wonder why the Catholic Church gives so much attention to Mary.

But lets start with one common point on which biblical scholars of various faith traditions tend to agree. In recent decades, Protestant, Catholic, and Orthodox Scripture commentators have increasingly recognized at least this about Mary: that she appears in the New Testament as a faithful disciple, a woman permeated by the Word of God. She is the first in the new covenant era who receives Gods Word with joy and acts upon it (Lk 1:38). She is blessed because she has believed (Lk 1:44-45). She ponders the events of her Sons life in her heart (Lk 2:19, 51) and encourages others to carry out his instructions (Jn 2:5). She remains with her Son at the Cross when other disciples run away (Jn 19:25) and lives with the community of disciples in prayer in the days leading up to the descent of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:14). From the Annunciation to Pentecost, she stands in the New Testament as a model disciple.