What role does Mary, the Mother of Jesus, play in the Christian story and in our journey to God?

From the very beginning, the Christian community recognized her pivotal role in the divine scheme of salvation. We see this in the biblical texts, the prayers of the earliest Christian communities, the writings of the first Christian thought-leaders, the doctrines of the undivided Church and the unchanging devotions of Christendom.

Today, however, some Christians hold that Marian doctrines and devotions are unbiblical, superstitious and idolatrous.

In this work, we consider what Christians affirm about Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and why. In our exploration, we also address the concerns and criticisms of the anti-Marian Christians. Here we draw attention to five sets of facts relating to the role of Mary:

The testimony of the New Testament which explicitly teaches the major truths about Mary.

The proclamation of the first Christians who bore witness to these truths.

The faith of the first millennium Christian community which considered these truths to be essential to Christianity.

The affirmation of the architects of the Protestant Reformation, who expounded the main truths about the person of Mary, and of modern Protestant commentators who have re-discovered the biblical Mary.

The Mother of Jesus seen as the Mother of all Christians as taught by Scripture and recognized as such throughout Christian history - and the immediate relevance of this reality to all of us today.

Collectively, these data-sets testify to the truth of the historic Christian consensus on the Mother of Jesus.

This work is intended for Christians of any background and non-Christians.