A. Mary was conceived free of original sin (called the Immaculate Conception)

B. She never committed personal sin

C. When she died she was assumed body and soul into heaven

D. She is 100% dependent on God, and by her subordinate cooperation she plays a role in all the graces that come to us

1. Preliminary texts on the general holiness of Mary from Scripture (the following texts do not prove any Marian doctrines -- such texts will come later -- but are an introduction to her holiness in Scripture)

A. Elizabeth calls Mary "blessed among women" and calls her "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:42-43). Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit when she says both these things, and note that she extols Mary even though Christ is present in Mary's womb -- indicative of the fact that if you and I say good things about Mary we are not taking away from Christ either. (For answers to biblical objections sometimes raised to Marian devotion, see Appendix.)

B. When Simeon gives the prophecy about the pain that Christ will endure, in the same breath he mentions the pain Mary will endure (Luke 2:34-35), closely linking them.

C. The angel Gabriel calls Mary "kecharitomene" (Luke 1:28). The base of this Greek word is "charis," or "grace," which refers, in the New Testament, to the extraordinary gift God gives us for our salvation. The form of the word (vocative substantive, perfect tense) indicates a completed action with an enduring result, and indicates that this word is being used like Mary's name. The resultant meaning is that Mary is already endowed with grace enduringly, in such a way as for her to be named for the fact.

D. Mary says all generations will call her blessed (Luke 1:48).

We will now proceed to the texts that form the basis of Marian doctrines. They teach that she is "the New Eve," helping to undo the Fall of man by her human and 100% subordinate cooperation with her divine Son. The case for Mary as the New Eve has several different converging pieces of evidence, beginning with parallels between between Eve and Mary in the Gospel of Luke, then similar parallels in the Book of Revelation, and then the same parallels pointed out explicitly by the early Church Fathers. There is also supplementary evidence in the Gospel of John, and especially in the way that the texts on Mary as the Ark of the Covenant in Luke and Revelation are arranged to indicate that the New Eve texts in Luke and Revelation were clearly intentional. It will take some time to present all this material.

2. Mary depicted as the New Eve in the Gospel of Luke

Just as a virgin consented to a bad angel and led to the Fall (Genesis 3), a virgin consented to a good angel and led to the redemption (Luke 1). There is a series of parallels between Genesis 3 and Luke 1.

A. As we begin, Eve is a virgin. Mary is a virgin.

B. Eve is visited by an angel – a bad one (Genesis 3:1). Mary is visited by an angel – a good one (Luke 1:26-27).

C. The bad angel starts the conversation with Eve (Genesis 3:1). The good angel starts the conversation with Mary (Luke 1:28).

D. Eve then responds to the bad angel, by referring to her obligation to God not to eat of the tree (Genesis 3:2-3). Mary then responds to the good angel, by referring to her obligation to God to live a life of chastity (Luke 1:34). In each case, the woman states that her obligation to God seems to go against the angel's request.

E. The bad angel then argues that Eve should go against God's law (Genesis 3:4-5), and Eve accepts the bad angel's words (Genesis 3:6). The good angel then argues that the request is in keeping with God's law (Luke 1:35), and Mary accepts the angel's words (Luke 1:38).

F. Eve has thereby initiated the Fall. Mary has thereby initiated the redemption.

3. Introduction to Mary as the New Eve in the Book of Revelation

The case for Mary as the New Eve in the Book of Revelation can be made strongly from the text of the Bible alone, but it will be helpful also to look at some Bible commentaries about Eve that were in circulation among the early Christians at the time Revelation was written.

Our procedure, then, for this part of the case, will be as follows:

A. Look at the Old Testament verse that John will be referring to, in the Book of Revelation, on Mary as the New Eve

B. Examine how John uses the Old Testament verse to describe Mary in the Book of Revelation

C. Look at the ancient Bible commentaries on this Old Testament verse, to see how the Jewish people understood the verse, at the time the Book of Revelation was written

D. Look at the evidence that these Bible commentaries were indeed in circulation at the time the Book of Revelation was written

Thus, to begin:

A. Look at the Old Testament verse that John will be referring to, in the Book of Revelation, on Mary as the New Eve

I will quote a few verses before the relevant verse as well, so that we can get a feel for the context. The important verse is in italics:

Genesis 3:13
"Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this that you have done?' The woman said, 'The serpent beguiled me, and I ate.'
14
The LORD God said to the serpent, 'Because you have done this, cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life.
15
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.'"

B. Examine how John uses the Old Testament verse to describe Mary in the Book of Revelation

When the Fall occurs in Genesis 3:15, Eve is described as "the woman" whose "seed" is to fight "the serpent" - the devil. The word for "seed" there in the Greek translation of this text that the New Testament writers were familiar with is "spermatos," and this Old Testament verse is the only place in ancient literature where a woman is said to have "seed." (Only men did.) Interestingly, there is a woman at the end of the Bible, too, who is said to have "seed":

Revelation 12:17
"Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring [Greek is again "sperma," also translated as "seed"], on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. . ."

Just as Genesis 3:15 says "the woman" will fight the "serpent" as will her "seed," so does the "woman" in Revelation 12 fight the dragon (who is unequivocally called "that ancient serpent" in the same scene: vs. 9), as does the woman's "seed."

When we read this particular chapter of Revelation in its entirety (that is, chapter 12), we see that the "woman" here is the mother of the messiah, and thus, Mary. It will be helpful, then, to go through Revelation 12 now in its entirety, to see how the depiction there takes place. Before we do, however, an important point should be made: the "woman" in Revelation 12 gives birth in 12:5 to "a child who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron." John's readers would have recognized this immediately as a reference to the famous messianic prophecy in Psalm 2, where the messiah "will rule all nations with a rod of iron." We can now proceed to look at the chapter:

Revelation 12:1
"And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman [this woman will give birth to the messiah in vs. 5] clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
2
she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery.
3
And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. [This is the devil]
4
His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; [This is the dragon/devil, signifying the evil King Herod, who tries to kill the messiah as soon as he is born, by killing all the children under two, in the slaughter of the innocents that we read about in Matthew 2:13, 16. Note that in this scene in Matthew, Herod is described as "enraged," just as the dragon is in 12:17]
5
she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron [a reference to the messianic prophecy in Psalm 2], but her child was caught up to God and to his throne,
6
and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which to be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.
7
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,
8
but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
9
And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, [this shows that John has the serpent of the Garden of Eden in mind] who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world [again, a reference to the Fall] --he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10
And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, 'Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
11
And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
12
Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!'
13
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had borne the male child. [The devil and Mary are in enmity, just as was typologically presented in Genesis 3:15 regarding enmity between the serpent and the woman]
14
But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time.
15
The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with the flood.
16
But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river which the dragon had poured from his mouth.
17
Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring [Greek is "seed," just like the unusual usage, with a woman, in Genesis 3:15], on those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus. And he stood on the sand of the sea."

C. Look at the ancient Bible commentaries on this Old Testament verse, to see how the Jewish people understood the verse, at the time the Book of Revelation was written

The Targums were an ancient set of Aramaic commentaries on the Old Testament, and the evidence is strong that they had been written by the first century of the Christian era. The four Targums have commentary on Genesis 3:15, which is the verse relevant to this discussion, and they show that John's readers saw the verse as (1) prophetically describing a woman who would appear in the future; (2) a woman whose offspring would be followers of God's commandments; (3) this would occur when the messiah came. All three of these elements are found with the "woman" in Revelation 12, in addition to the other parallels.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan: "And I will place enmity between you and the woman, and between the offspring of your sons and the offspring of her sons. And it will happen: when the sons of the woman will observe the precepts of the Torah, they will aim to strike you on the head; and when they will forsake the precepts of the Torah, you will aim to bite them in the heel. But for them there will be a remedy; whereas for you there will be no remedy. And they will be ready to make a crushing with the heel in the days of King Messiah."

Fragmentary Targum: "And it shall be: when the sons of the woman observe the Torah and fulfill the commandments, they will aim to strike you on the head and kill you; and when the sons of the woman will forsake the precepts of the Torah and will not keep the commandments, you will aim to bite them in their heel and harm them. However there will be a remedy for the sons of the woman, but for you, O serpent, there will be no remedy. Still, behold, they will appease one another in the final end of days, in the days of the King Messiah."

Targum Neofiti: "And I will put enmities between you and the woman, and between your sons and her sons. And it will happen: when her sons keep the Law and put into practice the commandments, they will aim at you and smite you on the head and kill you; but when they forsake the commandments of the Law, you will aim at and wound him on his heel and make him ill. For her son, however, there will be a remedy, but for you, serpent, there will be no remedy. They will make peace in the future in the day of King Messiah."

[This next Targum makes no difference to the case I am presenting, but it will allow us to see all of the Targums on this issue:]

Targum Onkelos: "And enmity I will put between you and the woman, and between your son and her son. He shall be recalling what you did to him in the beginning; and you shall be observing him in the end."

D. Look at the evidence that these Bible commentaries were indeed in circulation at the time the Book of Revelation was written

Regarding the evidence as to when these Targums were written, Father William Most writes (quoting non-Catholic sources),

"Some reject the evidence of Targums, saying we do not know the date of their composition. We reply. . . Jacob Neusner, a great Jewish scholar of today, from University of South Florida, in Messiah in Context reviewed every Jewish document from after the fall of Jerusalem [this occurred in 70 A.D.] to the Babylonian Talmud inclusive (completed 500- 600 AD). Up to, but not including that Talmud, he found no interest in the Messiah. In the Talmud, interest returns, but the only major point they mention is that he was to be from the line of David. Now it is hardly conceivable that the Targum interpretations, so numerous, on so many points [regarding the prophecies of the Messiah], could have been written in a period when there was no interest in the Messiah. [Thus, the Targums had to have been written prior to 70 A.D., and so, prior to the Book of Revelation.] (On the Targums, see also: Samson Levey, The Messiah. An Aramaic Interpretation. ) Some scholars, e. g., R. Le Deaut (in: The Message of the New Testament and the Aramaic Bible (Targum)), Rome, Biblical Institute Press, 1982, pp. 4-5, put the beginning of the Targums in the occasion when Ezra read from the book [that is, also before the Christian era], and translated, giving the sense: Nehemiah 8. 8." (Rev. William Most, "Our Lady in Doctrine and Devotion," course for the Notre Dame Graduate School of Christendom College (formerly Notre Dame Institute), Arlington, VA)

4. Mary's Status as the New Eve in Revelation 12 Is Also Supported by Her Spiritual Motherhood in Antithesis to Eve's, and as Depicted in the Gospel of John

In Genesis, Eve is called "the mother of all the living" (Genesis 3:20), a name she gets after the Fall. This makes Eve mother of the fallen. Mary, in Revelation 12, has seed who are "those who keep the commandments of God and bear testimony to Jesus" (Revelation 12:17), and so Mary is mother of the redeemed. This comparison in terms of motherhood also makes sense of the otherwise puzzling scene at the end of the Gospel of John. Everything that happens in John 19:2-24 is pregnant with symbolism and fulfillment of prophecy, and so when we arrive at the verses immediately after that section, we might expect them to be symbolically charged too:

John 19:25
". . . But standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Mag'dalene.
26
When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!'
27
Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.
28
After this Jesus, knowing that all was now finished. . ." [Somehow Jesus' command about Mary and the beloved disciple meant that all was now finished, and Jesus dies.]

Mary as mother of this "beloved disciple" in John 19:27 matches her being mother of all beloved disciples in Revelation 12:17. Mary's spiritual motherhood of good believers is described in two different books by the same author: John, which lends further support to the intentionality of the depiction of her spiritual motherhood of Christians, assuming such additional evidence is even necessary.

5. Other Interpetations of Revelation 12

There are some who hold that the woman in Revelation 12 does not represent Mary at all, but exclusively the Christian Church, or the Nation of Israel. For example, they point out that the sun, moon, and twelve stars that she wears in Revelation 12:1 are probably an allusion to Genesis 37:9-10, where Joseph has a dream of the budding Nation of Israel as a sun, moon, and eleven stars, which represents his father, mother, and eleven brothers – and with himself included you get twelve. They also point to a symbolic parallel in that the "woman" in Revelation 12 flies away from the dragon on "eagle's wings" (12:14), just as the Israelites escaped the Egyptians "on eagle's wings" (Exodus 19:1, 4). While these parallels are indeed there as another interesting level of the text, the case for the woman as these other entitites also has certain problems.


For example, the expression "sun, moon, and stars," which is used as a parallel, appears throughout the Bible, and never anywhere else refers to the Nation of Israel (Deuteronomy 4:19; Psalm 136:8-9; 148:3; Matthew 24:29; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:25; 1 Corinthians 15:41; Joel 2:10; 3:15; Ezekiel 32:7; Jeremiah 31:35; Isaiah 13:10; Ecclesiastes 12:2; Revelation 6:12-13; 8:12). Indeed, in the last twelve of these citations, the Biblical writer is discussing the apocalypse in some way, which suggests that references to sun, moon, and stars are simply a norm when discussing the apocalypse, like the Book of Revelation does. Moreover, the Bible is filled with references to eagle's wings that do not refer to the Nation of Israel (Isaiah 40:31; Proverbs 23:5; Jeremiah 48:40; Lamentations 4:19; Ezekiel 17:3, 7; Daniel 7:4), as is the extra-biblical literature of the time (e.g., Book of Enoch 90:1-4; 96:2; Apocalypse of Moses 33:1-3)).


I am not denying that the "woman" in Revelation 12 is identified with the good, new Nation of Israel and the Christian Church, given the twelve stars in her crown (twelve refers to the twelve apostles and the twelve tribes of Israel throughout the Book of Revelation), but this makes perfect sense if Mary is the mother of all Christians. To be mother of all Christians is to be mother of the new Nation of Israel and the new Church.

6. Further Evidence for the Woman in Revelation 12 as Mary, Based on the Prophets Peter and Paul

Just prior to the appearance of the "woman" in Revelation 12, two male figures appear in the Book of Revelation who are also unnamed and do mighty things, and who nevertheless represent actual historical Christians from the first century A.D. That is to say, Peter and Paul appear just before Mary does in the Book of Revelation. This is an important point that merits dwelling upon for a moment: context is necessary for determining the symbolic intent of a writer, and if you are writing an apocalyptic narrative, and you have just given clear references to actual historical personages who were famous among the early Christians, and your style has been not to name them because you know your readers will pick up on who they are, then, when you do the same thing only six verses later with a "woman" called the mother of the messiah, your whole mode of proceeding shows that you again intend a particular historical individual: Mary.


There are many things to clear up, however, in order to present this part of the argument. Given that Revelation 11 uses symbols that represent the evil Roman empire, which executes Peter and Paul, it will be necessary to establish that John intends to symbolize the Roman empire throughout the Book of Revelation. In doing this, in turn, we run into the problem of the sad and easily refuted controversialist position that the depictions of evil Rome, in the Book of Revelation, somehow designate the Catholic Church. Both of these issues should be addressed, if we are to understand the context of Mary's appearance in Revelation 12 (and not get lost within longstanding incorrect readings of the Book of Revelation), and so I will use the following approach:

A. Do a preliminary read-through of some of the relevant verses in Revelation 11, to see how Peter and Paul get depicted as preaching against pagan Rome, which martyrs them


B. Establish historically that Peter and Paul were indeed martyred in Rome, and that this weighed heavily in the minds of John's audience when he wrote the Book of Revelation


C. Show that much of the Book of Revelation is about the evils of pagan Rome and its martyring of Christians


D. Show that the New Testament teaches that the Christian Church in Rome was good and just (this is to counter the sad controversialist position that the references to evil Rome in the Book of Revelation somehow designate the Catholic Church)


E. Go through the complete text of Revelation 11

The result of analyzing this material will be strong support for the position that the real historical individual Mary was intended in Revelation 12. It will take some time to present the whole case.
To begin, then:


A. Do a preliminary read-through of some of the relevant verses in Revelation 11, to see how Peter and Paul get depicted as preaching against pagan Rome, which martyrs them


Revelation 11:3-10
"And I will grant my two witnesses power to prophesy. . . if any one would harm them, thus he is doomed to be killed [death was the fate of those who killed Peter and Paul, such as Caesar Nero.] . . And when they have finished their testimony [Peter and Paul preached for a full life-span], the beast [Nero, as we will see from extensive biblical evidence] that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them. . . [the two witnesses'] Lord was crucified. For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, [the death of Peter and Paul was a spectacle of this magnitude] and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth [Peter and Paul's preaching had caused trouble to the Roman empire]."


B. Establish historically that Peter and Paul were indeed martyred in Rome, and that this weighed heavily in the minds of John's audience when he wrote the Book of Revelation


In the writings of the early Church Fathers, the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul recur often, since these two men were so central in the original Church, and because of the awesome spectacle of the corrupt Roman empire martyring them both at the same time. There is too much evidence of Peter and Paul's martyrdom in Rome to present it all here, but as examples.


In Clement's letter from Rome to the Corinthians in 96 A.D. (perhaps the earliest piece of Christian writing we have outside the New Testament), he refers in (5) to the righteous supports of the Church "Peter and Paul," who have been martyred "among us," that is, among the Romans, which is what "among us" also means at (4).


"Bishop Dionysius of Corinth, in his letter to the Roman Church in the time of Pope Soter (165-74), says: "You have therefore by your urgent exhortation bound close together the sowing of Peter and Paul at Rome and Corinth. For both planted the seed of the Gospel also in Corinth, and together instructed us, just as they likewise taught in the same place in Italy and at the same time suffered martyrdom" (In Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", II, xxviii).


Tertullian, early third century, De Praescriptione", xxxv: "If thou art near Italy, thou hast Rome where authority is ever within reach. How fortunate is this Church for which the Apostles have poured out their whole teaching with their blood, where Peter has emulated the Passion of the Lord, where Paul was crowned with the death of John" In "Scorpiace", xv, Tertullian refers to Peter's crucifixion: "The budding faith Nero first made bloody in Rome. There Peter was girded by another, since he was bound to the cross. . ." and against Marcion he appeals to the testimony of the Roman Christians, "to whom Peter and Paul have bequeathed the Gospel sealed with their blood" (Adv. Marc., IV, v).


The Roman, Caius, who lived in Rome in the time of Pope Zephyrinus (198-217), wrote in his "Dialogue with Proclus" (in Eusebius, "Hist. Eccl.", II, xxviii) directed against the Montanists: "But I can show the trophies of the Apostles. If you care to go to the Vatican or to the road to Ostia, thou shalt find the trophies of those who have founded this Church" Eusebius also refers to "the inscription of the names of Peter and Paul, which have been preserved to the present day on the burial-places there" (i.e. at Rome).


The apocryphal Acts of St. Peter and the Acts of Sts. Peter and Paul likewise belong to the series of testimonies of the death of the two Apostles in Rome." (the foregoing material, with the introductions, is from Kirsch, "St. Peter, Prince of the Apostles," Catholic Enyclopedia 1913, and can be checked in any Protestant translation of the Church Fathers).


For more on Peter and Paul founding the Church at Rome, see,

Ignatius of Antioch (Letter to the Romans 4:3 [A.D. 110]); Irenaeus of Lyons (Against Heresies, 3, 1:1; 3:3:2; 3:3:3 [A.D. 189]).; Clement of Alexandria (Sketches [A.D. 200], in a fragment from Eusebius, History of the Church, 6, 14:1); Tertullian (Demurrer Against the Heretics 36 [A.D. 200]); Lactantius ( The Deaths of the Persecutors 2:5 [A.D. 318]); Cyril of Jerusalem (Catechetical Lectures 6:14 [A.D. 350]); Epiphanius of Salamis (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 27:6 [A.D. 375]); Pope Damasus I (Decree of Damasus 3 [A.D. 382]).

Thus, toward the close of the first century, John sits down to write the Book of Revelation. The martyrdom of Peter and Paul a few decades earlier is often thought of and remembered. John starts writing an apocalyptic work that will refer repeatedly to the martyrdoms of early Christians at the hands of the Roman empire (e.g., Revelation 2:10; 6:11; 11:8; 16:6; 17:6; 18:24). John even writes the Book of Revelation itself from a Roman penal colony designated for Christians: the island of Patmos, because the Romans are persecuting him, too (Revelation 1:9). John thought the martyrdom of Peter important enough to be one of the last things depicted in the Gospel of John (21:18-19). Thus, it would be hard to imagine how John could not have a reference to the martyrdoms of Peter and Paul, at the hands of Rome, in such a work as the Book of Revelation, and Revelation 11 is the only possible place.

C. Show that much of the Book of Revelation is about the evils of pagan Rome and its martyring of Christians


This step is important for understanding the symbols in Revelation 11, where Peter and Paul preach against pagan Rome, and are martyred by it.


The word "Babylon" occurs often in the Book of Revelation. As is well-known, "Babylon" in the early Christian community was a code-word for "Rome" (In 1 Peter 5:13, Peter says that he is writing from "Babylon," a verse regarding which Eusebius, probably relying on an earlier source, says "Babylon" represented Rome ("Hist. Eccl.", II, xv; III, xl; VI, xiv); "Babylon" is also used for Rome in extra-biblical literature of the time: Sibylline Oracles (5:159f; also vs. 143); the Apocalypse of Baruch (2:1); and 4 Esdras (3:1); and the word "Babylon" fits with Rome all six times it is used in the Book of Revelation: 14:8; 16:19; 17:5; 18:2, 10, 21), given the fact that the real Babylon of the time was an unimportant backwater, while the Babylon in the Book of Revelation is depicted as a great metropolis with worldwide power and vast trade (as well as utmost depravity and the peresecution of Christians, like pagan Rome). Early Christians needed a code word to avoid Roman reprisals against them, just as they had special symbols in the catacombs under Rome that only they knew the meaning of.


Further evidence for various symbols in Revelation as the pagan city of Rome:

(a) The "***** of Babylon" (Revelation 17:5, 9) is referred to as being seated on "seven mountains" (a Greek word that can also be translated "hills"), just as Rome has always been called "the city of the seven hills." John even introduces this verse by saying "This calls for a mind with wisdom" to make sure we look for the reference.

(b) John writes the Book of Revelation from Patmos, a Roman penal colony for persecuted Christians: "I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (Revelation 1:9).

(c) John probably wrote Revelation near the end of the reign of Roman emperor Domitian (81-96 A.D.), who persecuted Christians ruthlessly, and in full memory of the brutal persecution by Nero in the 60's A.D.

(d) Revelation 2:8-10 refers to accusations from Jews in Smyrna that brought about Roman persecution of Christians, who John says are in "tribulation," will be "thrown into prison," "tested," and must be "faithful unto death."

(e) Regarding the famous number of the beast, 666, the text tells us that it is an actual person: "This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six" (Revelation 13:8). Each of the letters in the Greek and Hebrew alphabet has a numerical value, and many historical figures can fit with 666. The solution, however, is probabaly Caesar Nero (who launched a fierce persecution of the Christians). This is likely not only because the Greek form of his name in Hebrew letters adds up to 666, but because the Latin form adds up to 616, which is the number that appears instead of 666 in some of the extant manuscripts of the Book of Revelation. Note that in both this verse (13:8) and 17:5, the text is introduced with the formulation "This calls for a mind with wisdom," and in both cases, the symbolization of the Roman empire fits.

(f) Indeed, the whole section of Revelation chapter 13, where the 666 appears, fits with Nero and the Roman empire. In 13:1, the "beast" has blasphemous names on each of its heads, just as the persecuting Roman emperors demanded to be called by the blasphemous titles of "our Lord and God" and "Jupiter" and so on.

(g) In Revelation 13:2, we read that "the dragon" (who is the devil, as we saw in Revelation 12) is the one who has given the beast "his power and his throne and great authority," which is to say Nero and the other Roman emperors are bolstered by Satan.

(h) In Revelation 13:3, 12, 14 the "beast" is referred to as having a wound in his head and being slain, but coming back with power. Nero's death occurred from a self-inflicted stab-wound to the throat, and there was a popular legend that he would come back to life and rule again.

(i) In 13:3, "The whole earth follows the beast with wonder," and this refers to Nero's ruling the whole earth through the Roman empire.

(j) In 13:4, the "beast" is "worshipped," and seen as invincible ("Who can fight against it?") like the Roman emperor was.

(k) In 13:5-6 the beast has a mouth "uttering haughty and blasphemous words" again like Nero and others (such as Domitian) who called themselves gods.

(l) In 13:7, the beast is "allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and tongue and nation" which matches the Roman empire.

(m) In Revelation 13:14, 15, all the people are told to "worship the image of the beast" just as statues of the Roman emperor were to be worshipped, and those who did not do so (like the Christians) were martyred.

(n) As we saw, Revelation chapter 17 specifically referred to Baylon as having seven mountains/hills, like the city of Rome. The other verses in this section are consistent with the interpretation: Revelation 17:2 refers to the pagan kings who worshipped the Roman emperor; in vs. 3 we find the "blasphemous names" again; in vs. 4 we find the harlot of Babylon decked in purple and scarlet (the royal colors); in vs. 6 she is "drunk with the blood of saints and martyrs of Jesus," like the Roman empire; in vs. 18 we see that the harlot is "the great city which has dominion over kings of the earth," pagan Rome.

D. Show that the New Testament teaches that the Christian Church in Rome was good and just (this is to counter the sad controversialist position that the references to evil Rome in the Book of Revelation somehow designate the Catholic Church)

The writers of the New Testament and the early Church Fathers drew the clearest possible distinction between the Christians in Rome, and the pagan leaders of the Roman empire. We already saw how much the Church Fathers respected the Roman Church. The first epistle of the New Testament begins in the following way:

Romans 1:7
"To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8
First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.
9
For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers,
10
asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you.
11
For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you,
12
that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine."
E. Go through the complete text of Revelation 11
Peter and Paul do not appear until verse 3 below, but I will quote verses 1 and 2 as well, in order to convey context.
Revelation 11:1
"Then I was given a measuring rod like a staff, and I was told: 'Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship there,
2
but do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months.
3
And I will grant my two witnesses [Peter and Paul; all the nouns used to describe these witnesses are masculine, so they are men] power to prophesy for one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.'
4
These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands [that is, these two prophets, cf. Zechariah 4:2-3; 14 for the two olive trees with the oil lamps, olive trees that John sees as Old Testament types for the two prophets, Peter and Paul, just as Eve is a type for Mary] which stand before the Lord of the earth.
5
And if any one would harm them, fire pours out from their mouth and consumes their foes [Peter and Paul's ability to preach is expressed in dramatic, apocalyptic imagery. Moreover, Peter was able to make verbal judgments against foes, and his words immediately preceded their miraculous death at the hand of God (Acts 5:3-11). This authority put "the whole church" in awe (ibid).]; if any one would harm them, thus he [such as Nero] is doomed to be killed.
6
They have power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they desire [Peter and Paul perform signs and wonders, and the New Testament says they did in their ministry].
7
And when they have finished their testimony [Peter and Paul preached for a full life-span], the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will make war upon them and conquer them and kill them [Peter and Paul are martyred in Rome by "the beast" Nero],
8
and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city which is allegorically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. [Some have held that "the great city" here is not pagan Rome but Jerusalem, given that the text says that it is "where their Lord was crucified." All the evidence, however, indicates otherwise. Note first that John specifically says that he is speaking "allegorically" of the city here, and note that the "Lord" was indeed allegorically crucified in pagan Rome, given that it was the Romans who crucified Him, a Roman centurion who stabbed him with a spear after death, under the Roman leader Pontius Pilate. (It would be hard for John not to refer to pagan Rome's involvement in the crucifixion of Christ, somehow, in the Book of Revelation, and yet he had to refrain some mentioning "Rome" specifically.) Note second that in every other case where we read the "great city" (or where "the great" is applied to a city) it fits far better in the Book of Revelation with pagan Rome than Jerusalem, which was much smaller. Note third -- and this is closely related -- common sense would suggest that if a Mediterranean person of the first century A.D. used the expression "the great city," he would mean what was by far the great city of the day: the pagan city of Rome. Note fourth that the next verse (9 below) refers to the dwellers in the great city as "men from peoples and tribes and tongues and nations," and as we saw in our analysis of Revelation 13:7 this expression refers to the peoples of Rome. Finally, we have here a text that indicates Peter and Paul are under discussion, since it says "their Lord" was "crucified."]
9
For three days and a half men from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nations gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, [the death of Peter and Paul was a spectacle of this magnitude]
10
and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth [Peter and Paul's preaching had caused trouble to the Roman empire].
11
But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them.
12
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, 'Come up hither!' And in the sight of their foes they went up to heaven in a cloud.
13
And at that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven."
Then, only six verses after this, the mother of the messiah appears (12:1). Like Peter and Paul, Mary is not directly named, but described in dramatic, apocalyptic imagery.

7. The Symbolic Representation of Mary as the Ark of the Covenant, which, Interestingly, Is Another Argument for Mary as the New Eve

There is a symbolic system in the New Testament, which works along a Luke-John axis regarding Mary. That is, Mary is depicted as the New Eve in Luke 1:26-38, and then immediately afterward, she gets symbolically depicted as the Ark of the Covenant (Luke 1:39-45), as we will see. In the Book of Revelation, Mary is depicted as the New Eve (Revelation 12:1-6, 13-17), and in the very same scene, she is strongly linked to the Ark of the Covenant (Revelation 11:19), as we will see. So if the interpretation of Mary as the Ark is correct, it would be strange to call it a coincidence that in the same author, Luke, we find Mary/Ark references next to Mary/New Eve references, and then in the same author, John, we find a strong Mary/Ark reference right next to Mary/New Eve references. The mutually reinforcing power of the symbolic system extends between two New Testament authors, regarding their correspondence to each other as far as their depiction of the Virgin Mary, and as far as the location of their material internally.


The case for Mary as the Ark of the Covenant is as follows:

(a) The chapter and verse divisions of the Bible were not added until the Middle Ages (this much is indisputable) and these divisions have a psychological effect on how we read the Bible. Revelation 11:19 should flow directly into Revelation 12:1, to read,

"Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail. And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. . ."

In this translation (I have used the RSV here and throughout), we miss some of the parallelism between the woman and the Ark. Not only do both appear in "heaven" (Greek is "ouranos" in each case), but the very word for their "appearing" is the same: Greek is "optanomai." This latter word only appears three other times in the Book of Revelation. In one of those three places, it is only a couple verses later (Revelation 12:3), when the Devil "appears" ("optanomai") in heaven ("ouranos"), and we know that the woman has a relationship with the Devil given that they are at war in the scene that follows (Revelation 12:13-17). The natural assumption, then, would be that the woman has some type of relationship with the Ark as well.

(b) The symbolism makes sense. Jesus is the Word of God (e.g., John 1:1; 1:14), carried in Mary's womb, just as the Word of God (the ten commandments) were carried in the Ark of the Covenant.

(c) Mary is linked to the Ark of the Covenant by a comparison of Luke 1 where the pregnant Mary goes to visit Elizabeth, and 2 Samuel 6, where David brings the Ark of the Covenant to the house of Obedeedom. When the Ark arrives to David, he says, "How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?" (2 Samuel 6:9) and when Mary arrives to Elizabeth, she says, "And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43). Mary then remains with Elizabeth "three months" (Luke 1:56) while the Ark stays with Obdedeedom "three months" (2 Samuel 6:11). When the Holy Ghost overshadows Mary to impregnate her, the Greek word used there (episkiazo) is uncommon in the Bible, and in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Luke was familiar with it is the same Greek word used for how the presence of the Lord (the shechna) overshadows the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 40:34-35).

Moreover, the whole scene of Mary's visit to Elizabeth begins by saying that she arises to go to a city of Judah (Luke 1:39), which is what the scene of David's taking the Ark of the Covenant to Obedeedom says as it begins (2 Samuel 6:2).

There are additions that are sometimes made to the case that are minor but worth mentioning in passing (Mary is greeted with a shout (Luke 1:42), as is the Ark (2 Samuel 6:15), Mary's arrival to Elizabeth's household brings blessings to it (Luke 1:41, 44), and the Ark's arrival to Obedeedom's household brings blessings to it (2 Samuel 6:11)).
The Luke-John axis of the New Eve and Ark of the Covenant means that the same authors in the same places conveyed the same message through two thematic constructs, both of which fit with Mary.

8. The Very Early Church Fathers Saw Mary as the New Eve

Interestingly, when we turn to the early Church Fathers on this issue, they are surprisingly repetitive about the fact that Mary is the New Eve. Regarding the first Church Father I will quote – St. Irenaeus, who was the pupil of St. Polycarp – a little background material on him will be useful first. The following is from the Catholic Encyclopedia on "St. Polycarp," by F.J. Bacchus, and it is a commonplace of early Christian history:

"Just as St. John's long life lengthened out the Apostolic Age, so did the four score and six years of Polycarp extend the sub-Apostolic Age, during which it was possible to learn by word of mouth what the Apostles taught from those who had been their hearers. In Rome the Apostolic Age ended about A.D. 67 with the martyrdom of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the sub-Apostolic Age about a quarter of a century later when St. Clement, 'who had seen the blessed Apostles,' died. In Asia the Apostolic Age lingered on till St. John died about A.D. 100; and the sub-Apostolic Age till 155, when St. Polycarp was martyred. Of Polycarp, [Irenaeus] says, 'he was not only taught by the Apostles, and lived in familiar intercourse with many that had seen Christ, but also received his appointment in Asia from the Apostles as Bishop in the Church of Smyrna.' [Irenaeus] then goes on to speak of his own personal acquaintance with Polycarp, his martyrdom, and his visit to Rome, where he converted many heretics."

St. Irenaeus, then, is close to the Apostolic Age. The title of his book is Against Heresies, and he is concerned with following what has been passed down from the apostles (cf. 3:3:2; 3:3:4; 3:4:1; 4:26:2; 4:33:8).

St. Irenaeus
Against Heresies (written ca. 180 A.D.)
Book 3, Chapter XXII

"4. In accordance with this design, Mary the Virgin is found obedient, saying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." But Eve was disobedient; for she did not obey when as yet she was a virgin. . . [and] having become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race; so also did Mary, having a man betrothed [to her], and being nevertheless a virgin, by yielding obedience, become the cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race. . . And thus also it was that the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith."

Irenaeus is Christocentric, and none of this theology is to put Mary on the same level as Christ, who is God Himself. Nevertheless, despite Mary's mere humanity, she cooperated in the redemption in an utterly unique way (Paul cooperates with it too in Colossians 1:24), to undo what had been done by the first woman.


Against Heresies
Book 5: Chapter XIX

"1. That the Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation which is supported by Himself, and was making a recapitulation of that disobedience which had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience which was [exhibited by Himself when He hung] upon a tree, [the effects] also of that deception being done away with, by which that virgin Eve, who was already espoused to a man, was unhappily misled,-was happily announced, through means of the truth [spoken] by the angel to the Virgin Mary, who was [also espoused] to a man. For just as the former was led astray by the word of an angel, so that she fled from God when she had transgressed His word; so did the latter, by an angelic communication, receive the glad tidings that she should sustain (portaret) God, being obedient to His word. And if the former did disobey God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. For in the same way the sin of the first created man (protoplasti) receives amendment by the correction of the First-begotten, and the coming of the serpent is conquered by the harmlessness of the dove, those bonds being unloosed by which we had been fast bound to death."

The following Church Father, Justin Martyr, wrote this next passage over 30 years earlier even than Irenaeus, and Justin also knew Polycarp, the disciple of the Apostle John.


Justin Martyr
Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (written ca. 155 A.D.)
Section 100:

". . .He became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God; and she replied, `Be it unto me according to thy word.'"

Tertullian
On the Flesh of Christ (written 220 A.D.)
CHAP, XVII

". . . But that I may lose no opportunity of supporting my argument from the name of Adam, why is Christ called Adam by the apostle [cf. Romans 5:11-21; 1 Corinthians 15:21-22; 45-49], unless it be that, as man, He was of that earthly origin? And even reason here maintains the same conclusion, because it was by just the contrary operation that God recovered His own image and likeness, of which He had been robbed by the devil. For it was while Eve was yet a virgin, that the ensnaring word had crept into her ear which was to build the edifice of death. Into a virgin's soul, in like manner, must be introduced that Word of God which was to raise the fabric of life; so that what had been reduced to ruin by this sex, might by the selfsame sex be recovered to salvation. As Eve had believed the serpent, so Mary believed the angel . The delinquency which the one occasioned by believing, the other by believing effaced. . ."

In another writing, Tertullian is discussing whether a virgin should be called a "woman," and his mind goes back again to a comparison between Mary and Eve:


On the Veiling of Virgins


CHAP. VI.--THE PARALLEL CASE OF MARY CONSIDERED.

"Let us now see whether the apostle withal observes the norm of this name in accordance with Genesis, attributing it to the sex; calling the virgin Mary a woman, just as Genesis (does) Eve."

The following quotation from a Church Father may date to 123-4 or 129 A.D, if by Quadratus, but it has been said to depend on Irenaeus and Hippolytus, which would put it after 200 A.D. It has also been dated to 150 A.D. The scholars of the translation of the Church Fathers at Wheaton, who place the letter at 130 A.D., write, "More weight is to be attached to those passages in which the writer speaks of Christianity as still being a new thing in the world. Expressions to this effect occur in several places (chap. i., ii., ix.), and seem to imply that the author lived very little, if at all, after the apostolic age."


On the other hand, these same scholars, and others, are uncertain that the eleventh and twelfth chapters (and what you are about to read is Chapter XII) were part of the original document. At any rate, the latest date for them is the third century.


THE EPISTLE OF MATHETES TO DIOGNETUS


CHAPTER XII -- THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE TO TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

". . . Let your heart be your wisdom; and let your life be true knowledge inwardly received. Bearing this tree and displaying its fruit, thou shalt always gather in those things which are desired by God, which the Serpent cannot reach, and to which deception does not approach; nor is Eve then corrupted, but is trusted as a virgin; and salvation is manifested, and the Apostles are filled with understanding, and the Passover of the Lord advances, and the choirs are gathered together, and are arranged in proper order, and the Word rejoices in teaching the saints,--by whom the Father is glorified: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

This is probably a reference to Mary, for three different reasons. (1) In writings of the Church Fathers, the word "virgin" in the singular almost always refers to Mary; (2) the writer says "nor is Eve then corrupted," when, of course, Eve was corrupted, and only the New Eve was not; (3) such an interpretation would match the chronological and logical flow of the passage, given that the writer goes from discussing the Garden of Eden, to the New Eve (Mary), to salvation being manifested (the birth of Christ), to apostles being filled with understanding, to Christ's Passover, to His being glorified. The first step (Eden to New Eve) makes sense in terms of association; the rest of the steps (manifestation of salvation, filling apostles with understanding, Lord's Passover, and Christ's glorification) are chronological steps.

9. How We Get the Marian Doctrines

Because Mary is the New Eve undoing original sin, she could not have original sin herself. Nonetheless, Jesus is the redeemer of all, including her. For centuries theologians debated when Mary was redeemed. Christ established the Magisterium to resolve theological questions when the mind of the Church has come to a deep enough understanding of the matter. Mary was redeemed by Christ at the instant of her conception, and this was possible because even though Jesus' redemption occurred at a certain point in history through His humanity, it occurred beyond time in His divinity. Jesus is "the same today, yesterday, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8), God's work has been "finished from the foundation of the world" (Hebrews 4:3), Jesus is "the lamb slain before the foundation of the world" (Revelation 13:8), and Jesus has had His "glory from the Father since the foundation of the world" (John 17:24).


Mary's freedom from original sin would be neutralized if Mary actually had a Fall herself and committed personal sin. If she committed the slightest sin she could not be like Eve was in the original sinless state at the beginning of Genesis. In order for Mary's role as the New Eve to remain intact, she could not have committed any sin at all.


Because decay after death is a consequence of original sin (Genesis 3:19), Mary's body could not have decayed. At the end of her life, God lifted or "assumed" Mary into heaven. The Immaculate Conception (freedom from original sin) leads naturally into the Assumption (freedom from the effects of original sin).


By her cooperation in the redemption as the New Eve, Mary's obedience is involved in all the graces that come to us. In this process, she is 100% dependent on God.

Answering Biblical Objections to Marian Devotion


The main text that people are troubled by is surely Luke 11:27-28,


Luke 11:27
"As [Jesus] said this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!'
28
But he said, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'"


In Luke 11:28 there is a Greek particle there "menoun" that can mean "rather" but also "Indeed, moreover." The following is from "The Truth about Mary" by Robert J. Payesko, an essay located at www.mariology.com

"The Protestant theologian Margaret E. Thrall gives one way of translating Luke 11:28 in her Greek Particles in the New Testament with particular attention to "rather" [menoun]: "What you have said is true as far as it goes. But the blessedness of Mary does not consist simply in the fact of her relationship towards myself, but (menoun) in the fact that she shares in the blessedness of those who hear the word of God and keep it, and it is in this that true blessedness lies." 17 [Taken from, "Greek Particles of the New Testament" Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962, p.35."] Similarly M. Galizzi notes "that the adversative 'rather' is not fully exact, because the Greek participle 'does not have adversative shadings' and is better translated 'even more', that is: 'even more blessed are they who hear.'"18 [Taken from, Stefano Manelli, All Generations Shall Call Me Blessed, p.322.]

In fact, "menoun" appears three other times in the New Testament, and in two of those cases it has the meaning of "Indeed, moreover." (Romans 10:18; Phillipians 3:8; as opposed to Romans 9:20). Since it is clear that Jesus cannot be correcting the proposition that Mary is blessed -- because that would be a contradiction with Scripture, where Mary is called "blessed" by the angel Gabriel who was sent by God (Luke 1:28), and "blessed among women" by Elizabeth who is filled with the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:42; cf. 1:45; 1:48) -- the usage of "menoun" as "Indeed, moreover" is by far the more likely.

Just for the sake of argument, however, even if this were not the correct translation, and an adversative aspect of "menoun" were intended, it would have to be applying to something other than the proposition that Mary is blessed, given the fact that she is called "blessed" elsewhere in the Gospel of Luke (that is, by an angel and by a person filled with the Holy Spirit), and the Gospel of Luke cannot be contradicting itself. If menoun were to mean "Rather" here, Jesus would have to be correcting more generally what truth the woman in the crowd chose to express. To give an example, it is as if you and I are shopping for a car and I say "This car is a excellent color," and you say, "Rather, it has an excellent engine." In such a case you are not denying that the car is an excellent color. Your use of "rather" means, "Rather, color is not the important thing at the moment, but the engine." Such would be the case here with Jesus, if "menoun" meant "Rather": that is, Jesus would be saying, "Rather, Mary's physical relationship to me is not the important thing at the moment, but that people do my will." In such a case, Jesus still would not be denying Mary's blessedness, not even her blessedness at the purely physical level of being the mother of God, but He would be saying that doing God's will is more important than this. Catholics believe that such indeed is Mary's holiness: not simply her physical relationship to Jesus but that she did the will of God.