Mormon Mary
Elder James E. Talmage has written: "That Child born of Mary was begotten of Elohim, the Eternal Father, not in violation of natural law but in accordance with a higher manifestation thereof; and the offspring from that association of supreme sanctity, celestial Sireship, and pure though mortal maternity, was of right to be called the 'Son of the Highest'" (Talmage, 81). Doctrines and Covenants Encyclopedia, Hoyt W. Brewster, 1996.
Something about Mary
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune
12/01/2006
Mormons will drag Mary out of the
shadows of their faith again this season and plop her into the annual
Nativity scene. They'll gush about her beauty in the various crèches they've
been collecting from Mexico, Poland and Nigeria. They'll read about her on
Christmas Eve as the family gathers around the fire before bed.
During December, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
celebrate the "fairest of all virgins" who they believe was chosen before this
life to be the Messiah's mother. They herald her acceptance of that role and
willingness to sacrifice herself and her reputation for the good of the world.
To these believers, Mary is both noble and human, glorified but real. In some
essential ways, she is just like them.
For most of the year, though, Mary is largely tucked away - respected for
her submissiveness, admired for her faithfulness, but largely invisible. She
does not adorn their chapel walls, nor stare down from stained-glass windows.
She is not part of their weekly worship or routinely mentioned in prayers.
And she barely merits a mention in LDS books.
True to the Faith, a recent compendium of Mormon teachings, moves
from "marriage" to "Melchizedek Priesthood" without a line about Mary. Ditto for
Preach My Gospel, the handbook of doctrine used by LDS missionaries
worldwide, even in the section on Jesus' earthly ministry. She's nowhere to be
found in Mormonism for Dummies, either.
"There is next to nothing official about Mary from the modern LDS
perspective, so we wanted to err on the side of caution rather than offering our
own speculations that may not have been doctrinal," says Jana Riess, Dummies
co-author with Christopher Bigelow. "When it does offer teaching about Mary, the
church tends to emphasize her role in the fulfillment of prophecy, and
particularly her being of the Davidic line."
It could be that LDS leaders are uncomfortable with powerful female figures,
as its ecclesiastical authority is limited to men. Or it could be an attempt to
distance the church from more traditional brands of Christianity, especially
Catholicism.
After all, the LDS Church was founded in 19th-century America just as Roman
Catholicism was codifying its enlarged views of Mary. In 1854, Pope Pius IX
declared as dogma the "immaculate conception," the notion that Mary was born
free of original sin that plagues all humanity.
Mormons reject that idea as well as others. To them, she is not a mediator
with Jesus. And she was not a perpetual virgin, but the mother of a growing
brood.
They do, however, believe she was a virgin when she conceived Jesus in her
womb. The Book of Mormon, which Latter-day Saints believe was written some 600
years before Jesus' birth, predicts the Messiah will be born in Jerusalem of a
"precious and chosen vessel." She would be "the most beautiful and fair above
all other virgins," the LDS scripture says.
But Mormons also believe that God has a body and that Jesus was his literal
son. Early LDS leaders including Brigham Young speculated that Jesus was created
in much the same way as every other child - in the marriage bed. But only one
partner was human.
"When Mary was in [God's] presence and he overshadowed her, he performed a
sacred and holy function, with divine tenderness, love and respect," writes LDS
author Bruce E. Dana, in Mary, Mother of Jesus. "He did not degrade or
debase himself or Mary."
Mary was probably "the greatest female spirit born on this Earth," Dana
says. "She had to be equal in spiritual stature to her son to be worthy to be
his mother. Her unique role was to provide for him and care for him. But how do
you care and provide needs for a god?"
Martha Moench, a former Sunday school teacher in her Salt Lake City LDS
congregation, is amazed by Mary's emotional and spiritual strength.
"The one thing I think is really important to remember is her age. We know
she was no more than 16 and maybe as young as 13," says Moench. "In the age we
live in, we probably would not give a lot of credibility to the thoughts and
actions of a teenage girl in that situation. It makes [Mary's] story more
believable for me."
What informed everything about Mary was her willingness to accept a
seemingly irrational assignment and buck the social order in the process.
"She was a believer and God knew that," Moench says. "Angels bowed down to
her."
This courageous mother should be a role model for today's Mormon women, says
Lisa Smith, who teaches a class on women in the scriptures at the LDS Institute
of Religion adjacent to the University of Utah campus.
"She's pure and obedient. She knows her life is going to be difficult yet
she willingly takes it on," Smith says. And like Deborah and Elizabeth, Mary
foretells the future, "under the influence of the [Holy] Spirit."
Mary is "like us," she says, "a common woman having a religious experience."