THE REAL MARY

review by

Larry Shallenberger

THE REAL MARY: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus

by Scot McKnight

(Paraclete Press)

Reader Appeal: Adults / Theology Buffs

Genre: Spirituality / Theology

Scot McKnight, a New Testament Scholar at North Park University, has the welcome gift of packaging sound Biblical scholarship into conversational and readable language. He’s the author of several popular books, most notably The Jesus Creed. McKnight is at it again with his 2006 release The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus.

According to McKnight, the biblical Mary has been ignored in most Evangelical circles largely because of the long-term tensions between Protestants and Catholics; and Mary’s role has been the source of theological division between these two branches of Christianity. McKnight contends that this cold war is over and that it high time for Mary’s story to be finally told in evangelical circles.

The Real Mary examines the life of the young, feisty woman who found herself caught up at the epicenter of God’s redemptive efforts. McKnight makes a case that Mary was not only submissive before God, but that she was an intelligent, subversive, long-suffering, and deeply spiritual woman whose very life reeled under the weight of being mother to the Son of God.

One of the strengths of McKnight’s approach is that he offers the readers an insight into the gradual and growing awareness that Mary had about who Jesus was. Mary’s song in Luke 2 reveals that Mary understood that Jesus would be a revolutionary who would topple world kingdoms. However by the time Mary arrived at the temple after Jesus' birth, she encountered Simeon who prophesies that her son would not only wear a crown but also carry a cross - and that Mary herself would be pierced with grief. McKnight traces Mary’s efforts to follow her son’s earthly career right up to his crucifixion. 

Despite the possibly controversial subject, The Real Mary is a gentle read. McKnight offers sound scholarship without saddling down the reader with technical language. He gives an overview of the historic conflict over Mary, but then offers a way to move forward with our understanding of Mary.

Overall, I found The Real Mary to be a readable book that provides the church with a model of faith and devotion. Perhaps more significantly, we are given an example a strong female leader in Christian history. Dan Brown in his novels Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code accused the established church of devaluing women. To some extent his criticism is fair, but The Real Mary reminds us that the Bible contains patriarchs and matriarchs. Embracing the historic Mary might be part of the tonic that allows us to correct past chauvinism in the church and to again become relevant to a world exploring feminine expressions of spirituality.

FAMILYFANS RATING:  A

 --LS