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Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Virgin Mary: Unveiling the Mother of the Messiah by Brant Pitre
camebrew's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
This book beautifully explained the derivation of the belief of Mary as the new Eve, Ark of the Covenant, Rachael, and Queen Mother of Israel. Seeing her sorrow at the foot of the cross in light of Rachael’s sorrow to the point of death in childbirth is beautiful. The intercession of the Queen Mothers of Israel to their sons on behalf of pleading Israelites and the prayers of Rachael from the bosom of God in Jeremiah point to the power of Mary’s intercession to her Son and our Lord Jesus Christ. I personally am not convinced from this book (or any other material I have read so far) of the dogmatic belief in the dispassionate conception, the bodily ascension of Mary, or that she was born without original sin. That’s where I’m at currently but this book made some very convincing points and offered many perspectives on where Mariological dogmas come from.
readingthroughthelists's review
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.0
Since my Marian consecration in December, I have since been engaged in an informal study of Mary, with Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary as the third volume out of four in my journey.
The book is certainly approachable, with a light style that is clearly meant to be engaging and to set the skeptical reader at ease. I certainly learned things from it, and even that which was not new helped build on what I had read in Theotokos, a catechesis on Mary by Pope St. John Paul II.
But personally, I prefer something a bit more scholarly and hard-hitting (something more like Theotokos), with more references to church history and the church fathers and less italics and exclamation marks. However, I suspect this volume might make a good resource for Protestants skeptical of Mary (which seems to be Pitre’s intended audience), or else Catholics just starting to understand Mary’s role in salvation history.
The book is certainly approachable, with a light style that is clearly meant to be engaging and to set the skeptical reader at ease. I certainly learned things from it, and even that which was not new helped build on what I had read in Theotokos, a catechesis on Mary by Pope St. John Paul II.
But personally, I prefer something a bit more scholarly and hard-hitting (something more like Theotokos), with more references to church history and the church fathers and less italics and exclamation marks. However, I suspect this volume might make a good resource for Protestants skeptical of Mary (which seems to be Pitre’s intended audience), or else Catholics just starting to understand Mary’s role in salvation history.
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