Mary and Eve
I see this image posted every year around this time from Protestant brothers and sisters who I believe genuinely love the Lord and are emotionally moved by what they see. As we look at the picture, many of us are filled with emotion and awe. However, we need to keep our emotions in check and in line with the Scripture. We need to interpret all things, even art, through the lens of Scripture, for if we are not careful, we will begin to praise and be moved by and quite possibly even espouse dangerous heresies, as is the case with this painting.
In Mary and Eve, we see Eve with the fruit of her rebellion and cosmic treason in hand, still naked and not yet clothed by God, standing by Mary, who is pregnant with the Child of Promise. Eve has her eyes and hand fixated on Mary's stomach because her Lord and Savior is in that womb. She knows the Child of Promise, the one who will atone for her sins and accomplish her salvation, is within the womb of Mary. She looks to Mary’s womb with sadness and guilt for what she has done but also with eager expectation and hope for what Christ will accomplish.
Mary is seen embracing Eve, extending grace to her, as she holds her hand to Eve’s cheek and holds Eve’s hand to her stomach. She looks upon Eve with compassion. As we look at their feet, we see the serpent who deceived Eve wrapped around her ankle, and then we see Mary’s foot crushing the head of the serpent. It is in considering how Mary is depicted that this image departs from the clear teaching of Scripture and orthodoxy.
Genesis 3:15 states,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
The Bible clearly states that it will be the seed of the woman who crushes the head of the serpent. It will be the promised Christ who defeats Satan. Jesus alone, not Mary, is the head-crusher. Genesis 3:15 is the protoevangelium—the first Gospel. It is the first promise of the Gospel in the Scriptures, and the rest of the Bible from Genesis 3:15 onward is the unfolding of this mystery and promise. The Bible is the story of redemptive history, the story of salvation as it is accomplished through Jesus Christ.
The reason this picture shows Mary and not Jesus crushing the head of the serpent is because the artist is artistically representing the view that Mary is the co-redemptrix and mediatrix.
These titles that are erroneously given to Mary are the feminine forms of the offices of redeemer and mediator, which Christ himself, by himself, perfectly executes. To place Mary in these fabricated offices is to deny the sufficiency of Christ. It is to deny the efficacy of the Gospel. It is to deny the doctrine of Solus Christus.
The Mediatrix
As the mediatrix, Mary positions herself between Christ and his bride, the church. In this position, she is said to be interceding on behalf of the church to Christ.
Pope John Paul II wrote,
Mary places herself between her Son and mankind in the reality of their wants, needs and sufferings. She puts herself in the middle—that is to say, she acts as a mediatrix not as an outsider, but in her position as mother. She knows that as such she can point out to her Son the needs of mankind, and in fact, she 'has the right' to do so. Her mediation is thus in the nature of intercession…
Those who claim Mary as the mediatrix teach that since she is the mother of all mankind and the mother of God, it is necessary that all of humanity’s prayers must be funneled through her, and she will make Christ aware of man’s needs and prayers. They also espouse that as mediatrix, salvific grace is extended to man only through the meditorial intercession of Mary. This is why Mary is often referred to as the Mother of Grace or Mother of Mercy.
Pope Leo XIII wrote,
Every grace which is communicated to this world has a threefold origin: it flows from God to Christ, from Christ to the Virgin, and from the Virgin to us…Nothing comes to us except through the mediation of Mary, for such is the will of God. Thus, just as no man goes to the Father but by the Son, so likewise no one goes to Christ except through His Mother. Whosoever will not have recourse to her is trying to fly without wings . . . O Virgin Most Holy, no one abounds in the knowledge of God except through thee; no one, O Mother of God, attains salvation except through thee!
In making this claim, Mary is being deified, while Christ is being robbed of his glory, sufficiency, and position as the One mediator between God and man.
Mary, as the mediatrix, stands in opposition to the clear teaching of the Scriptures. The apostle Paul writes,
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. (1 Timothy 2:5-6)
Redeemed humanity has access to God through Christ by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit. Jesus is, as Paul says, “the one mediator between God and man.” There is no need for an additional mediator, intercessor, or dispenser of saving grace. Christ himself is in no need of a mediator to stand between himself and redeemed humanity, for he is omnipotent and sovereign.
Again, the Scriptures are clear,
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)
Notice that the author of Hebrews argues 1.) Christ is able to save to the uttermost. 2.) Christ is able to draw us near to God 3.) Christ eternally lives to make intercession for the redeemed. There is no biblical warrant whatsoever for the idea that man needs a mediator or mediatrix to stand between him and Christ. In fact, the exact opposite is true. The Bible clearly teaches that redeemed humanity needs no priestly mediator upon the earth, and we need no heavenly mediator between us and Christ. Christ is our Perfect High Priest.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
(1 John 4:13-15)
The Co-Redemptrix
As the co-redemptrix, Mary is said to have served and suffered with and alongside Christ in his redeeming work to accomplish salvation for the elect of God. For those who teach this dogma, she is the co-redeemer, and without her redeeming work, the atonement would not have been accomplished, and the converted would not be able to draw near to God.
I’ll allow those who teach such contradictions with the Scriptures to speak for themselves. In these quotes, we will see how Mary as the co-redemptrix is applied to the church and her salvation.
No one can enter into Heaven except through Mary, as entering through a gate.
—St. Bonaventure
By the will of God nothing is conferred upon us except by means of Mary; and just as no one is able to approach the Most High Father except through His Son, so too no one approaches Christ but through Mary His Mother.—St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
The heart of Mary is the source of universal salvation: all salvation springs from Mary's heart . . . The salvation of man having taken place in the heart of Mary, all Christians must consider her, after God, as the source of their life, and as the cause and center of their happiness . . . They must always be turned towards her heart, gaze upon it unceasingly, and make it the object of their aspirations and desires. Outside the heart of Mary, there is only trouble, fear, anxiety, death, and Hell. —St. John Eudes
Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace…She gave us the Savior. She accompanied Him in the work of redemption. And as far as the cross itself, she went to Calvary with Him every step of the way. Sharing with him, the sorrows of the agony and of the death in which Jesus consummated the redemption of mankind. —Pope Pius XI
Thus the Blessed Virgin advanced in her pilgrimage of faith and faithfully persevered in her union with her Son unto the cross, where she stood in keeping with the divine plan, enduring with her only begotten Son the intensity of His suffering, associated herself with His sacrifice in her mother’s heart and lovingly consenting to the immolation of this victim which was born of her. —Vatican II
In fact, at Calvary she united herself with the sacrifice of her Son that led to the foundation of the Church; her maternal heart shared to the very depths the will of Christ "to gather into one all the dispersed children of God" (Jn. 11:52). Having suffered for the Church, Mary deserved to become the Mother of all the disciples of her Son, the Mother of their unity ...The Gospels do not tell us of an appearance of the risen Christ to Mary. Nevertheless, as she was in a special way close to the Cross of her Son, she also had to have a privileged experience of his Resurrection. In fact, Mary's role as Coredemptrix did not cease with the glorification of her Son. —Pope John Paul II
The Roman Catholic Church, under the heading “she is our Mother in the order of grace,” confesses in their catechism…
By her complete aderence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Thus she is a "preeminent and wholly unique member of the Church"; indeed, she is the "exemplary realization" (typus) of the Church.
Her role in relation to the Church and to all humanity goes still further. In a wholly singular way she cooperated by her obedience, faith, hope, and burning charity in the Savior's work of restoring supernatural life to souls. For this reason she is a mother to us in the order of grace.
"This motherhood of Mary in the order of grace continues uninterruptedly from the consent which she loyally gave at the Annunciation and which she sustained without wavering beneath the cross, until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect. Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation ....Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix.”
These quotes will suffice as they sufficiently capture what is meant by Mary being the co-redemptrix. For Protestants who hold to the doctrine of Sola Scriptura, this teaching is untenable because it is completely foreign and contradictory to the Scriptures.
Nowhere does the Bible teach, implicitly or explicitly, that Christ is in need of a co-redeemer as if his saving works were insufficient to save us. In fact, the Bible teaches the exact opposite. The Bible teaches us that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.
We allowed men to speak regarding their view of the co-redemptrix; now, let us allow God to speak regarding the sufficiency of the saving work of Christ. Let me encourage you to read and meditate upon these verses, rejoicing in the salvation that Christ has accomplished on our behalf. Also, as you read them, pay careful attention to the inspired biblical authors’ understanding that salvation is in Christ alone without any idea of a co-redemptrix.
even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mathew 20:28)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. (John 3:16-18)
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. (John 6:40)
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1-2)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” (Romans 10:9-11)
And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14)
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. (Hebrews 7:27)
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:11-12)
But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:12-14)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, (1 Peter 1:3-4)
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Peter 2:24-25)
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:5b-6)
And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.” (Revelation 5:9-10)
The Bible clearly teaches that sinners are saved by grace through faith in Christ—alone. This salvation is accomplished by the work of Christ in his sinless life, self-substitutionary sacrifice to atone for our sins, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. This salvation is not achieved by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9), nor is the work of Christ accompanied by any mediatrix or co-redemptrix.
To claim that the saving work of Christ was in need of a co-redemptrix or that the Heavenly Session of Christ is in need of a mediatrix not only contradicts the Scripture but also denies the efficacy of the Gospel. It is to attribute impotence to the omnipotent Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Lord and Savior.
Perhaps when we view this image through the lens of the Scripture, we should be emotionally moved, not because it tells the story of Christmas in essence, not because it brings to mind the sweetness of redemption, but because it distorts the truth of the gospel and the person and work of Jesus Christ. Personally, this image saddens me because it reminds me of how much theological confusion remains within the body of Christ and how willing many are to embrace the traditions of men over the clear teachings of the Scriptures.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
(Hebrews 10:19-23)
Soli Deo Gloria,
Chase