How to read biblical mariology?

How to Read Biblical Mariology: Method and Interpretive Categories

Here, we learn together how to read Mariologically the Sacred Scriptures and the “Marian verses.”Only in recent decades have we seen rigorous studies in *Biblical Mariology* that allow us to rediscover the pearls contained in the verses. Of utmost importance is the connection between fact and meaning, as it is not a documentary describing facts but a theological text. Interest in events and history is not excluded by the evangelists but is not the predominant element. This distinction is very important when considering Biblical Mariology: the journey towards the formation of the Sacred Scriptures’ texts about Mary presents a mediation between the text and the ecclesiastic tradition that precedes it. We can now speak with certainty of a liturgical tradition that later finds confirmation in Sacred Scripture.Other elements to consider when reading the ‘Marian’ verses include their influences from the ancient Jewish Scriptures present or absent in the Old Testament and contemporary literature from Israel, illuminated by Easter and the cradle of the Child of Bethlehem. In fact, a very important point is that Jesus’ childhood anticipates, more than His resurrection, the glory of the Cross and the rejection of the Son of Man by those who were the Chosen People.These parallels are so significant that they open us to understanding the relationship of the Marian verses with the entire culture of Israel, with all the novelty of the Incarnation and the Cross, and condense the Gospels. This relationship between the narratives of childhood and the rest of the Gospel is a source that still surprises us today. This study of harmony and continuity between the Marian verses should delve into the language, style, literary peculiarities, and thematic aspects of the evangelical chapters.Another very important element in understanding the Marian verses is the relationship between Tradition and composition. We cannot ignore composition, but neither can we ignore the interpretive tradition of that composition, for new things and old things intertwine in this treasure (Mt 13:52).The Hebrew element of the liturgical tradition of the synagogue and rabbinic literature has been the subject of careful attention by biblical mariology. Indeed, the folk and fanciful view of the Marian verses in recent centuries has degenerated into a theological neglect that has now turned into oblivion. Even though they inspired artistic expressions that are still masterpieces of humanity, their theological value in contemporary Christian theology has been uprooted to the point of being considered ‘optional’.As a contribution to understanding how the composition of the text was constructed, I wish to present what ‘the influence of Targumic and Midrashic literature on the Marian verses’ means.Targum: This means Tradition. In the Talmud, it refers to biblical texts in Aramaic language. Thus, we have the Targum of Daniel or Ezra. Later, the term Targum came to be understood as the translation of the Bible into Aramaic. In these translations, we find encoded the deep meanings of words and even expressions targumim that later entered making part of the New Testament.Midrash: This term signifies a narrative, exegesis. Derived from the Hebrew word *drš*, meaning to seek, inquire, demand, question, its generic origin conveys the meaning of *seeking God* in worship, law, and prayer. Thus, *midrash* is the fruit of such inquiry. *Darash* and *midrash* denote, respectively, a method of interpreting Holy Scripture and the outcome of such interpretation. This method transcends the literal, simple, and obvious sense of the text, delving into its deepest aspects. With the aid of rules, this vital sense-seeking is to be put into practice and adapted to the ever-new demands of the community. *Midrash* takes its starting point from Holy Scripture, is present within the Bible, was practiced in rabbinic schools and synagogues known to Jesus and Mary, and was transmitted orally, forming collections of *midrashim* that are fundamentally continuous commentaries on Holy Scripture, or comments on Saturday readings and festival readings, *midrashim homiletic*.These were the common forms in which Mary and Jesus were instructed in Hebrew. However, when the text we comment on cannot be illuminated by law and prophets, but is a person-event, a new mode of reading Scripture opens up. The dead and risen Christ is the starting and ending point of all re-reading and updating of Holy Scriptures. The absolute, having left the Law at the service of which reflections developed, now becomes Christ, who concludes the Torah (law) with his interpretations. This means that, despite our attempts to consider the scriptural context and modes of reading and interpretation of the time, we cannot stand still as a given, for before the Marian verses we are thrown into the sea of originality.We can say that all Marian verses, though not numerous, are present in the dominant points of the New Testament: Incarnation, Paschal Mystery, and Pentecost. The verses must be interpreted and read in the light of their immediate and remote meaning, for the gradual presence of Mary in Sacred Scripture is a wellspring that does not form part of the typical testimony of apostolic preaching. But in Jesus’ public and active life, in his effort for salvation, Mary is present alongside the Son and the disciples, joining in the convergences, memories, and traditions of the witnesses to Christ’s preaching and resurrection. So we can say that Jesus, in Scripture, reveals who his Mother is.The attentive reader will now recognize that reading Marian verses requires listening simultaneously to the voice of the sacred text and that of the living Tradition that precedes and extends it.To deepen Biblical Mariology, consult John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater, a model of biblical and theological reading about Mary in the history of salvation.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and Post-Graduate Mariology.