Forums, Book Urge Protestants to Reclaim the Mother of Jesus

by Amy Tracy, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 11/1/2006

On December 3, Paraclete Press will hold 78 forums around the country to examine the life of the Virgin Mary. The forums—being held at various locations in California, New Jersey, upstate New York, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Texas and Oregon—were created through Paraclete's network of churches and author Scot McKnight's blog, www.JesusCreed.org.

The impetus for this dialogue is the release of its new McKnight book, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus (Nov.), as well as the December debut of The Nativity Story, a major motion picture from New Line Cinema that depicts the journey of Mary and Joseph just prior the birth of Christ.

Profiling Mary—a woman sometimes known as much for dividing people of faith as being the mother of Jesus—is nothing new for Paraclete. The publishing house has offered Episcopal, Protestant, and Catholic views of her life, including Strange Heaven: The Virgin Mary as Woman, Mother, Disciple, and Advocate by Jon Sweeney (Sept.); Ponder These Things: Praying With Icons of the Virgin by Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury (Aug.), and several books written by Wayne Weible about the six teenagers that were reportedly visited by Mary in the village of Medjugorje in Bosnia-Hercegovina beginning in the summer of 1981.

"The very core of our mission is to bring about communication between faith traditions," said Carol Showalter, director of publicity. "It is so much of who we are, crossing over theological differences and getting people to listen to different views on sharply divided issues. When we heard about The Nativity Story we moved up publication of Scot McKnight's book."

"I've been asked too many times to count, why I—a Protestant—am studying Mary," said McKnight. "It's like we think she's Roman Catholic! I believe that every Protestant should make a place in their heart for Mary as a brilliant example of faith and courage."

McKnight is also interested in seeing Protestants embrace the complexity of Mary. "She is more than a woman draped in a Carolina blue robe, hands folded in prayer, and a somber, sober face," said McKnight. "Mary had her sleeves rolled up. She was looking for justice and wanting change"

The Real Mary hits stores in mid-November. For information on Paraclete's forums, contact Jenny Lynch at jennyl@paracletepress.com, or 508-255-4685, ext. 326.