Mary: A Catholic-Evangelical Debate by Dwight Longenecker and David Gustafson

In recent years there has been a spate of books which would lead some to believe that the Catholic-Protestant divide is almost negligible. Indeed, books like Mark A. Noll's Is the Reformation Over? and the Evangelicals and Catholics Together series rightly portray that relations have very much improved and that on some essential doctrines of the Christian faith there are points of agreement that are worth celebrating. But that said, while Mary: A Catholic-Evangelical Debate is certainly civil in tone and respectfully argued by both sides, it serves to highlight a huge difference that remains namely the place of Mary the mother of Jesus Christ in the Christian faith. Dwight Longenecker is a former fundamentalist evangelical who over a period of years eventually converted to the Roman Catholic Church. He does a good job of explaining Catholic dogmas concerning Mary in terms we would understand but basically confirms to the evangelical reader that Marian devotion is thinly scriptural and largely traditional. David Gustafson is also a former fundamentalist who finds himself today in a conservative liturgical Episcopal Church. He does a good job of rattling the doors on arguments about Mary's perpetual virginity, Marian apparitions, veneration, and her role as co-redemptrix. He asks some good questions and at times is ready to concede that on some points evangelicals have reacted against Mary largely because of the Protestant-Catholic divide but not because of any scriptural warrant. Ultimately, like so many other Christian polemics between the branches of the faith, it comes down to how much weight you give the authority of scripture and the historic traditions of the faith. Neither Evangelicals or Catholics are disconnected from the Holy Scripture or Tradition but it is clear in this book that when it comes to Marian theology, the weights are far from evenly distributed. While I certainly love the mother of my Lord and Christ, and I consider Catholics fellow Christians, I must confess my concern that some Marian doctrines seem more based on fancy than God's revelation.