Mary - The New Eve

[StColette]

Mary - The New Eve

[b]Second Eve foretold[/b]

Gen. 3:14-15

[i]14 Then the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this, you shall be banned from all the animals and from all the wild creatures; On your belly shall you crawl, and dirt shall you eat all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will strike at your head, while you strike at his heel." [/i]

Here we see that after the obedience of Eve, God foretells that some day Satan shall be crushed by the offspring of a woman. The woman spoke of in Gen 3:15 is Mary and the offspring who will crush Satan is Christ. Gen. 3:15 shows us that a woman will bare a child who will redeem the world for Adam and Eve's disobedience.

Here is St. Irenaeus of Lyons explanation of Gen 3:15:

'As thou canst perceive in Genesis that God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed...". For from that time, He who should be born of a woman, [namely] from the Virgin, after the likeness of Adam, was preached as keeping watch for the head of the serpent' (Against Heresies, 4:XXI:1).

Pope Pius IX contrasts Eve and Mary :

"Eve listened to the serpent with lamentable consequences; she fell from original innocence and became his slave. The most blessed Virgin, on the contrary, ever increased her original gift, and not only never lent an ear to the serpent, but by divinely given power, utterly destroyed the force and dominion of the evil one." (ibid.)

St.Cyril of Jerusalem (315-386)

"Since through Eve, a virgin, came death, it behoved, that through a Virgin, or rather from a Virgin, should life appear; that, as the Serpent had deceived the one, so to the other Gabriel might bring good tidings." -Cat. xii. 15.
St. Ephrem Syrus (he died 378)

"Through Eve, the beautiful and desirable glory of men was extinguished; but it has revived through Mary." -Opp. Syr. ii. p.318.

"In the beginning, by the sin of our first parents, death passed upon all men; today, through Mary we are translated from death unto life. In the beginning, the serpent filled the ears of Eve, and the poison spread thence over the whole body; today, Mary from her ears received the champion of eternal happiness: what, therefore, was an instrument of death, was an instrument of life also."
-iii. p.607

An objection to Gen 3:15 referring to Mary goes as follows:

The Woman of Genesis 3:15 is Eve, not Mary.

How could the woman in 3:15 not refer to Mary, for it foretells that the offspring of the woman will crush the head of Satan. We all know that the offspring who shall crush the head of Satan is Jesus Christ, and the woman who bore Jesus Christ was Mary.

[b]Mother of All [/b]

Genesis 3:20 20

[i]20 The man called his wife Eve, because she became the mother of all the living. [/i]

John 19:26-27

[i]26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, 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 into his home. [/i]

Revelation 12:17

[i]17 Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus. [/i]

Eve was known as the mother of all living things, and Mary is known as the Spiritual Mother of all living things. Mary's motherhood is evident in John 19:26-27 at the Crucifixion of her Son. Christ's last thoughts were of His mother. So before He died upon the cross He gave His mother unto St. John, the beloved disciple, who is a representive of the entire Christian body. Knowing this not only did Christ give Mary unto St John but also unto each one of us, and in return we were given unto her. And thus she became the Spiritual Mother of all living things.

In respone to Rev. 12:17, the chapter of Rev. 12 is considered to both be about Mary and about the Church. As Rev. 12:17 clearly states, Satan goes to wage war with her "offspring". Her being the Virgin Mary and the "offspring" being those that keep God's commandments and bear witness to Jesus. Those "offspring" are the members of the body of Christ, and the woman in Rev. 12:17 is their mother, just as Mary is their Spiritual Mother.

An objection occurs from some non-Catholics and it goes as follows:

"The Woman of Revelations 12:1 the Church, not Mary. "

Like I stated in my paragraph, Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation is both referring to the Church and to Mary.

Some of the verses refer to the mother of the son who is to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And according to Scripture this "son" is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, and His mother is Mary. Also this "son" in Revelation Ch 12 is taken up to God and to his throne this is a reference to the Ascension of Christ into Heaven. Because of the great graces that Mary received it is believed that she could be seen in the mannor of being "clothed with the sun ...".

[b]Second Adam, there must be a Second Eve[/b]

1Cor 15:45.

[i]45 So, too, it is written, "The first man, Adam, became a living being," the last Adam a life-giving spirit. [/i]

God's plan began with a man and a woman, Adam and Eve, and when the Second Adam came there had to have been a Second Eve in keeping with God's plan. This Second Eve was Mary. Ever since the fall of man, women have been the barers of life, by bringing children into the world. Eve began this by bringing her sons into the world. Mary with her obedient "yes" brought Christ, the Second Adam, into the world, thus making her the Second Eve. Through Mary's exceptance of God's plan for her, she was the instrumental cause of salvation of the human race.
This distinction is reflected in the saying of the Church fathers: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."

St Irenaeus says, she 'being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race (Adv. Haer. III, 22, 4)" (ibid.).

Saint Augustine 396 A.D.:

"Our Lord Jesus Christ, however, who came to liberate mankind, in which both males and females are destined to salvation, was not averse to males, for He took the form of a male, nor to females, for of a female He was born. Besides, there is a great mystery here: that just as death comes to us through a woman, Life is born to us through a woman; that the devil, defeated, would be tormented by each nature, feminine and masculine, since he had taken delight in the defection of both."

This objection has been answered in the above paragraph and quotes.

[b]New Eve would be called Daughter of Zion[/b]

Zephaniah 3:14-17

[i]14 Shout for joy, O daughter Zion! sing joyfully, O Israel! Be glad and exult with all your heart, O daughter Jerusalem!
15 The LORD has removed the judgment against you, he has turned away your enemies; The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst, you have no further misfortune to fear.
16 On that day, it shall be said to Jerusalem: Fear not, O Zion, be not discouraged!
17 The LORD, your God, is in your midst, a mighty savior; He will rejoice over you with gladness, and renew you in his love, He will sing joyfully because of you, [/i]

Luke 1:28, 30-33

[i]28 And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you."
30 Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." [/i]

In the Old Testament the New Eve is foreshadowed as the Daughter of Zion as evident in Zephaniah 3:14-17. Mary personifies the description of the daughter of Zion. Just as Zephaniah 3:16 says "Fear not" so also does the Angel Gabriel tell Mary "Do not be afraid". Zephaniah foretells that a mighty savior will be in their midst at that given time. In Luke 1:31-32, the Angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will give birth to the Son of God, the savior of all humanity and He will come into our midst just as Zephaniah 3:17 says.

[b]Mary the Antitype of Eve[/b]

Gen 3:4-7

[i]4 But the serpent said to the woman: "You certainly will not die!
5 No, God knows well that the moment you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods who know what is good and what is bad."
6 The woman saw that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and desirable for gaining wisdom. So she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.
7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves. [/i]

Luke 1:38

[i]38 Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.[/i]

Mary is considered the antitype of Eve, for example the verses above show Eve and Mary's differences concerning obedience. Eve disobeyed God and listened to the serpent, Satan who is a fallen angel, and by listening to the serpent rather than listening to God's command Eve disobeyed God and was the cause for the fall of mankind. Mary, on the other hand, obeyed God in every possible way. She believed the message that the angel of God brought to her.

Justin Martyr A.D. 155

"'that He became Man by the Virgin so that the course which was taken by disobedience in the beginning through the agency of the serpent, might be also the very course by which it would be put down. For Eve, a virgin and undefiled, conceived the word of the serpent, and bore disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy when the angel Gabriel announced to her the glad tidings that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her and the powers of the Most High would overshadow her, for which reason the Holy One being born of her would be called the Son of God. And she replied: 'Be it done unto me according to thy word.'"

Irenaeus A.D. 190

"Consequently, then, Mary the Virgin is found to be obedient, saying: "Behold, O Lord, your handmaid; be it done to me according to your word." Eve, however, was disobedient; and when yet a virgin, she did not obey.... having become disobedient, was made the cause of death for herself and for the whole human race; so also Mary, betrothed to a man but nevertheless still a virgin, being obedient, was made the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.... Thus, the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. What the virgin Eve had bound in unbelief, the Virgin Mary loosed through faith."

"As Eve by the speech of an Angel was seduced, so as to flee God, transgressing His word, so also Mary received the good tidings by means of the Angel's speech, so as to bear God within her, being obedient to His word. And, though the one had disobeyed God, yet the other was drawn to obey God; that of the virgin Eve the Virgin Mary might become the advocate. And, as by a virgin the human race had been bound to death, by a virgin it is saved, the balance being preserved, a virgin's disobedience by a virgin's obedience." -Ibid. v.19.

St. Peter Chrysologus (400~450)

"Blessed art thou among women; for among women, on whose womb Eve, who was cursed, brought punishment, Mary, being blest, rejoices, is honoured, and is looked up to. And woman now is truly made through grace the Mother of the living, who had been by nature the mother of the dying.... Heaven feels awe of God, Angels tremble at Him, the creature sustains Him not, nature sufficeth not; and yet one maiden so takes, receives, entertains Him, as a guest within her breast, that, for the very hire of her home, and as the price of her womb, she asks, she obtains peace for the earth, glory for the heavens, salvation for the lost, life for the dead, a heavenly parentage for the earthly, the union of God Himself with human flesh." -Serm. 140.

Tertullian A.D. 210

"...it was while Eve was still a virgin that the word of the devil crept in to erect an edifice of death. Likewise, though a Virgin, the Word of God was introduced to set up a structure of life. Thus, what had been laid waste in ruin by this sex, was by the same sex re-established in salvation. Eve had believed the serpent; Mary believed Gabriel. That which the one destroyed by believing, the other, by believing, set straight."

With the sufficient evidence provided it is impossible to ignore that Mary should bear the title of the New Eve. She has been held to that title since the earliest of times and she will be continuously held to that title within the Catholic Church. For she is the New Eve who was the instrumental cause for the salvation of mankind. She untied the knot that was tied by Eve's disobedience and she is the Spiritual Mother to all Christians.

God Bless,
Jennie Catherine

Dedicated to Our Lady, for her Birthday even though it's a little late

also dedicated to my lil pm sis, Laura, who is doing a wonderful job in this board

[franciscanheart]

Wonderful Jennie!! Excellent!!


I really enjoyed this one. I've never heard of Mary being the new Eve. I really learned a lot!! How awesome!!

and.... thank you ("who is doing a wonderful job on this board")


MARY WOOT
Good one!!


God bless,
Laura

[StColette]

lol Thanks Laura

[phatcatholic]

props

[StColette]

lol Thanks