Mother of God: A History of the Virgin Mary

Starting from the context in which there is an increasing emphasis on ecclesial revitalisation and churchplanting, the analytical model of the Australian National Church Life Survey (NCLS) research is introduced and described in its background and characteristics. The model shows particular interest in a specific church profile which is created based on local church surveys. The article describes the profile, examines the theological concepts and argues for in-depth empirical research in a Dutch context concerning the use of the profile.     

Portrait of Our Lady: Mary, Piero, and the Great Mother Archetype

Mary the God-bearer is explored symbolically from the perspective of the archetype of the Great Mother as described by Carl Jung and Erich Neumann. Drawing from primordial and collective origins, the dark and the chthonic as well as the light and spiritual aspects of the archetype are considered as represented in the work of fifteenth century Italian painter Piero della Francesca. Piero's images of Mary incorporate body as well as spirit, power as well as vulnerability, death, as well as life and rebirth. The feminine presence of the Great Mother archetype creates a powerful dynamic on an unconscious level in both men and women that culminates in radical transformation.     

Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Mary Wollstonecraft on the imagination

The article compares Rousseau’s and Wollstonecraft’s views on the imagination. It is argued that though Wollstonecraft was evidently influenced by Rousseau, there are significant differences between their views. These differences are grounded in their different views on the faculty of reason and its relation to the passions. Whereas Rousseau characterizes reason as a derivative faculty, grounded in the more primary faculty of perfectibility, Wollstonecraft perceives reason as the faculty defining human nature. It is argued that contrary to what is often assumed, Wollstonecraft’s conception of the imagination is not primarily characterized by its Romantic features, but rather by the close affinity she posits between reason and the imagination. This close affinity has several consequences. One consequence is that she is less worried than Rousseau about the imagination wandering without external constrains, because she believes in reason’s ability to guide the imagination by choosing its objects. Ultimately the difference between Rousseau’s and Wollstonecraft’s views on the imagination helps us understand why she was a passionate philosopher of the Enlightenment while he was one of its first, perceptive and most articulate critics.     

Divine Mother, Blessed Mother: Hindu Goddesses and the Virgin Mary

Book reviewed:
Divine Mother, Blessed Mother: Hindu Goddesses and the Virgin Mary by Francis Xavier Clooney (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2005) xiv + 264 pp. Reviewed by Michelle Voss Roberts Graduate Division of Religion Emory University 687 Cather Court Stone Mountain, GA 30088 USA     

Mary and the Vocation of Philosophers

Pope John Paul II, in Fides et ratio #108, states that there is a deep harmony between the vocation of true philosophy and the Blessed Virgin Mary. This intriguing claim, so different from the usual link of Mary with faith, is developed in this article. Drawing analogical implications from selected events in Mary's life, two questions will be asked: How do philosophers "philosophize in Mary?;" and how could this way of philosophizing help us today to renew the vocation to be a philosopher? The following authors are considered: Thomas Aquinas, Edith Stein, Jacques and Raïssa Maritain, Bernard Lonergan, Josef Ratzinger, Mary Daly, Robert Sokolowski, Norris Clarke, Søren Kierkegaard, Karol Wojtyla, John Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir, Judy Chicago, and John Henry Newman.     

A Rose Blooms in the Winter: The Tradition of the Hortus Conclusus and its Significance as a Devotional Emblem

The hortus conclusus, or the “garden enclosed,” is a motif of biblical origin that images the Virgin Mary as a cloistered garden. Gaining popularity in the early medieval period, the Marian hortus conclusus remained the property of the Catholic church after the Reformation. There it briefly thrived, reaching its apogee in the early modern period as the eponymous subject of Henry Hawkins’ emblem book, Partheneia Sacra. The Virgin in (and as) the garden still lives a half‐life today, continuing to appear without our recognizing it in medieval and Renaissance artwork, in hymns, in the names of flowers, and in prayers. Where it is known, the Marian hortus conclusus is usually perceived as a Catholic object of adoration, but its enduring nature suggests that it holds promise as a catholic subject of devotion as well.     

Education With Mind,Heart, and Soul: An Interview With Mary Finn Maples

Dr. Mary Finn Maples is a historic figure in the counseling field. She has been president of the American Counseling Association and president of the Association for Spiritual, Ethical, and Religious Values in Counseling (ASERVIC). She was one of ASERVIC's earliest members, dating back to when it was known as the National Catholic Guidance Conference. Dr. Maples has had an extensive career, and this article highlights some areas of her career, particularly pertaining to her time and commitment to ASERVIC and religious or spiritual issues in counseling. This interview focuses on her career, philosophy, and dedication to the field.     

Mother and child. A psychobiographical portrait of Mary Cassatt

The noted American impressionist, Mary Cassatt is remembered for her intimate portrayal of women, children, and the mother-child relationship. In this paper I have attempted to highlight some of the psychological forces impinging upon the artist, feeling that the artist's work is highly overdetermined. Mention was made of some of the difficulties that a psychobiographical study engenders. Nevertheless, it is hoped that such a study leads to enhanced understanding and appreciation of the artist, her work, and her rich inner world. An examination of the artist's life indicates that difficulties in the family of origin impinged upon her and deeply influenced her work. The loss of several siblings during critical developmental subphases may have produced intense survival guilt in Mary, motivating her to "recreate" her siblings on canvas and to devote her life to care of survivors. Lack of confirmation of Mary's talents by her father may have hindered her development, propelling the child toward a profoundly libidinalized and enmeshed relationship with the mother. Mary's intense relationship with her mother may have led the artist to develop particular stylistic nuances in her productions, contributed to her inability to become a wife and mother herself, and led to frequent episodes of depression. A case was made that Mary suffered from narcissistic disturbance, never completing the recognition of herself as a person outside of the orbit of her mother. Finally, the role of Edgar Degas in the artist's life was described. He seems to have played a major role in the evolution of Mary's style as well as being an important influence in her making a partial separation from her mother in adulthood. In spite of Mary's deep personal suffering, she was able to epitomize in her paintings the most tender and nurturant of relationships. By painting the mother-child theme, she sublimated her own wishes to become a mother as creator of art. Within her family system, she appropriated the position of mother; as the artist, she became the interpreter of this experience. By developing her talent, she communicated her wish to be a mother, and expressed the need to find, if only on canvas, a more truly empathic mother. In essence, her work allowed her to conceive of a life different from the one external reality imposed upon her. It also served as an indispensable adaptive function, allowing the artist to communicate with others, achieve recognition, and play.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)     

From religious icon to ‘our mother from heaven’: The appropriation of the Virgin Mary by Catholic women in Quito

In this article I look at the cult of the Virgin Mary in terms of its practices and its meanings. I did fieldwork in Quito, Ecuador, where I interviewed more than 20 women, aged between 30 and 50, who belong to Catholic groups or are active members of the parish. I found out that these women strongly identify with the Virgin Mary; they view her as a protector and a mother. Furthermore, the Virgin is not regarded as an afflicted figure or victim, but instead as a brave and empowered woman. The image they have of the Virgin contrasts with the Church's views that emphasise her obedience and sexual purity. Thus, I argue that the Virgin has become the property of these Catholic women and an icon of resistance of male-imposed Catholic rules.     

Hidden Subjects: Rereading Eve and Mary

Abstract

Eve and Mary are two archetypes that persist within our culture at its most profound level despite world views imposed by Enlightenment and post-Enlightenment thought. Since these figures are impossible to expel from our imaginations, revisiting them in the light of contemporary ideas of identity and gender might prove to be a useful means of understanding their cultural impact. In this article extracts from the work of Hélène Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva are discussed which feature our two archetypes, framing them through the lens of gender critique. Their work clearly illuminates the status of these figures within our realities, and drawing on their observations, suggestions are made as to how we might re-figure both Eve and Mary as the true subjects of the foundation narratives they inhabit.     

Freedom and idealism in Mary Whiton Calkins

This paper explores Calkins’ absolute idealism and its ramifications for libertarian free will. Calkins’ metaphysics is a version of absolute idealism, according to which the absolute is a person who has everything else as either a part or an aspect. Three different arguments for the conclusion that Calkins’ metaphysics is incompatible with libertarian freewill are formulated and critically assessed. Finally, I assess the extent to which these arguments are independent of each other.     

Introduction

Abstract

The introduction to the special issue situates the five following essays in the context of historical and contemporary theological reflection on maternality. It addresses the fraught connection between sexuality and maternality in the Christian theological imagination and argues that the maternal body has often functioned as a bridge between the opposed arenas of Word and flesh, God and humanity, and eternity and time. The introduction concludes by using the figure of the Virgin Mary as a lens to consider the theological themes of birth, grief, the incarnation, sacrifice, and Eucharist. Mary’s body, site of the incarnation, allows connection, mediation, contiguity, and congress to occur. As such, it also functions as a bridge between theology and sexuality.     

Mary, the Reformation and some Scots!In Memory of John Macquarrie (1919–2007)

Since Vatican II great progress has been made towards an ecumenical understanding and appreciation of our Blessed Lady, even as there has been a certain development in Catholic understanding. This essay looks briefly at Reformation mariologies, those of Luther, Calvin and Zwingli before moving on to consider three Scots: John Knox, Edwin Muir and John Macquarrie. Arguably, John Macquarrie has shown one of the most careful retrievals of Marian theology, not least in his  Principles of Christian Theology  and  Mary for All Christians.  His final mariological sounding took him back to his Celtic roots, and is summarized here. John Macquarrie died in 2007, and this essay is dedicated to his memory.     

Mother, Father, and Self: Sources of Young Adults' God Concepts

Following developmental attachment theory, we predicted a path in which nurturing parents affect young adults' self-concepts and self-esteem, which in turn predicts the image of a nurturing God. To ascertain how images of parents and images of self predict God images, 132 young adults aged 18–22 (M = 19) completed the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and a six-item measure of God's perceived involvement in their lives (religiosity scale). In a follow-up interview, they rated their parents, God, and selves on scales of closeness, nurturing, power, and punishing/judging. For men, mothers were responsible, more than fathers, for creating a climate for sons' self-esteem through nurturance and discipline, which in turn contributed to seeing God as nurturing, feeling close to God, and being more religious. For women, mothers and fathers created a model of nurturance and power, which contributed to seeing God as nurturing and powerful. Punishing/judging parents directly affected punishing/judging God images in these young adults. Men perceived God to be more punishing/judging than did women, while women perceived God to be more nurturing. Even in adulthood, parents, especially mothers, continue to exert influences on young adults' faith and images of God.