Good book or articles about the four Marian Dogmas?
August 14, 2020 2:09 PM   Subscribe

Can you point me to a good book on the history and establishment of the four Marian dogmas of Immaculate Conception, Perpetual Virginity, the Assumption, and being Mother of God? (Or maybe four books?)

I've always wondered why, say, the Assumption became a dogma of the church in 1950, after floating around as an idea for centuries. I assume there are politics, goals, intentions, just plain papal preferences that went into these four concept's status as dogma, and would like to learn about all that.

But I also hate going into the rabbit hole of Catholic stuff online. I just want some historical accounts and not a bunch of read-between-the-lines ax-grinding by Trad Catholics and anti-Catholics and dubious sources and on and on.

Would love to read a book on this subject. Or a long article. Are there any that you can vouch for?
posted by kensington314 to Religion & Philosophy (4 answers total)
 
Maybe this and the source material will help?
posted by notjustthefish at 4:47 PM on August 14, 2020


Truly Our Sister has a chapter that’s an overview of the history of Mary in the Catholic Church. There are a lot of references, which would also give you possible sources. I just bought the book and haven’t read it yet, so I can’t personally vouch for it, but it looks promising.
posted by FencingGal at 5:40 PM on August 14, 2020


Oh, man, I understand your difficulty -- this specific historical topic seems entangled with debates about papal infallibility and the eternal possibility of ecumenical "reunion," which, uh, is definitely going to lead to some polarized theological debate.

Some things that might scratch the itch for what was specifically going down with Church decisions about defining (and redefining) the Marian dogmas:

William Henn, "Interpreting Marian Doctrine," Gregorianum 70:1 (1989): https://www.jstor.org/stable/23578430

Pius IX outlines the gradual progression from the establishment of the feast of the Immaculate Conception, to the later papal precisions about the object of this celebration, to the eventual prohibitions of teaching the opposite of this doctrine, to Trent's special exclusion of Mary from what it had to say about original sin and, finally, to the "singularis conspiratio" of the Catholic bishops and faithful in 1854. Toward the beginning of Munificentissimus Deus, Pius XII states that "in our time, the privilege of the corporal Assumption has without a doubt been brought into clearer light." He too adds a brief synopsis of the history of the feast celebrating this doctrine, as well as precisions offered by the magisterium and theologians over the centuries. This focus on history constitutes an ineradicable element of these two encyclicals; it is impossible to read them without being struck by it. What are we to make of such an emphasis on history?

James Heft, "Papal Infallibility and the Marian Dogmas: An Introduction," Marian Studies 33 (1982): https://ecommons.udayton.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1691&context=marian_studies

A similar consultation process preceded the definition of the Assumption in 1950. Munificentissimus Deus, the apostolic constitution which defined the dogma, appealed to the sensus fidelium as its main support for the definition... Of the 1,181 residential bishops consulted, 1,159 were in favor the definition; of the 22 opposed, only 6 questioned the revealed character of the Assumption, and the rest wondered if it was opportune...

Donal Flanagan, "A New Marian Dogma?" The Furrow 49:1 (1998): https://www.jstor.org/stable/27663566

In 1993 an initiative was launched in the United States to have the Pope define a new dogma about Mary. Since then the movement has spread across the world and in the last four years the Vatican has received over 4,000,000 signed petitions from 157 countries asking the Pope to proclaim infallibly a new dogma: that the Virgin Mary is 'Co-Rdemptrix, Mediator of all Graces and Advocate for the People of God.'

Marilyn McCord Adams, "The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary: A Thought-Experiment in Medieval Philosophical Theology," The Harvard Theological Review 103:2 (2010): https://www.jstor.org/stable/40731061

On 8 December 1854, Pius IX issued Ineffabilis Deus, in which he dogmatized the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. ...Teachers are warned against thinking otherwise in their hearts and put on notice of canonical penalties should they dare to speak, write, or otherwise publish to the contrary. In the Middle Ages, the status quaestionis was different. From Anselm forward, the immaculate conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary remained a controversial thought-experiment in philosophical theology, one in which the doctrine was floated and developed, defended and opposed, promoted and denounced, back and forth, with the verdict remaining outstanding for centuries, right down until 8 December 1854.
posted by toast the knowing at 6:10 PM on August 14, 2020 [1 favorite]


Well, I have minimized my reply after seeing toast the knowing's fantastic references.

I was only going to say search terms I used were Mariology, Theotokos, and History of Marian Dogma.

I also found this link which seemed to be a good summary of the dogmas with references to the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church) passages.

And yes, this is a fraught topic especially w/r/t reunion and papal ex cathedra pronouncements. Also I would add that C. S. Lewis in "Mere Christianity" advised Christians to be respectful of Mary because nobody likes their mother insulted.
posted by forthright at 6:22 PM on August 14, 2020


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