A biblioteca on line Questia é uma fonte de pesquisa importante. Custa alguns dólares anuais e fornece verdadeiros itinerarios de investigação, dos livros clássicos aos artigos jornalisticos, acadêmicos etc. No caso abaiso, é bom consultar, sobretudo em época de comemoração da Reforma, o que diz o livro sobre os elos entre Lutero e seus pares, e a Virgem. RR

 https://www.questia.com/library/103533864/reforming-mary-changing-images-of-the-virgin-mary

 books » Book details, Reforming Mary: Changing Images of the Virgin ...

No cover image

Reforming Mary: Changing Images of the Virgin Mary in Lutheran Sermons of the Sixteenth Century

By Beth Kreitzer

Read

Save to active project

Synopsis

Catholics and Protestants have, since the earliest days of the Reformation, held markedly different views about the Virgin Mary. In Reforming Mary Beth Kreitzer examines the development of Lutheran views on this subject as expressed in 16th-century Lutheran published sermons, starting with the earliest of Luther's own Reformation sermons. She shows that from the beginning Lutherans rejected much of the theology and piety that surrounded Mary in Catholicism, especially her status as heavenly queen and intercessor with Christ. They affirmed those orthodox teachings about Mary that related to Christ (the Virgin's role as Theotokos, the virgin birth) and by extension Mary's purity, or perpetual virginity. As time went on Lutheran preachers showed less interest in Mary as a topic and by the later part of the century showed an increasingly harsh and critical view of her. These later sermons reveal a new willingness, in opposition to received tradition, to impute sin to Mary. Kreitzer attributes this changed attitude to the increasing distance of Lutherans from their Catholic roots, the logical results of theological changes in the Reformation, and a perception of an increased threat of re-catholicization. Finally, she shows, Mary was pressed into service by preachers who endeavored to instruct the laity in both what to believe and how to live, making a causal connection between being a good Christian and being a good citizen of society. In this context, Mary was used as a role model and was often promoted as an exemplar for females in ways that served to constrain and domesticate women, placing them more firmly under male authority. But despite the attempts by preachers to domesticate and mold her, Kreitzer argues, the Lutheran Mary remains a complex and paradoxical figure.

Excerpt

The first five chapters of this study treat the most important Marian holidays that survived in the Lutheran church, along with several other gospel texts in which Mary is a central figure. the remaining texts in which she appears are treated in this chapter. in the Christmas story from Luke 2, Mary played a vital role in the events that took place, but Jesus as the promised Messiah is usually the focus of Christmas sermons. Certain elements significant for this day are important for Mariology, especially her role as the Theotokos, the Godbearer. Her importance as the guarantor of Christ's humanity is underscored in these sermons. She plays a more minor role in the remaining texts concerning Jesus' infancy. the sermons on Jesus' circumcision (New Year's Day) rarely mention her, and in both Epiphany and Innocents sermons she appears only infrequently. in the story of Jesus' passion, Mary is mentioned as standing at the foot of the cross and plays a small role in the drama there. the significance of Mary at the cross, so important for late medieval devotion, is minimized in Lutheran sermons, and the growing devotion to Mary as coredemptrix is ignored. Finally, the three important holidays celebrating Mary's conception, birth, and assumption, lacking scriptural evidence and support, are quickly phased out of the Lutheran calendar. Sermons on these days appear only in the earliest postils.

The Christmas Story
In the traditional text for the Christmas holiday, Luke 2:1–20, Mary's centrality for the Christian faith is underscored: she is the mother of . . .