INTERVIEW: Ann Loades.

Ann Loades, one of the most important contributors to contemporary feminist Marian theology, talks about shifting theological perspectives on Mary and a newly published collection of her essays entitled Grace Is Not Faceless …

How important do you think Mary is as a female figurehead in the Christian faith?

 

Many Christians would now agree that Mary’s role in the upbringing of Jesus of Nazareth is too important to be overlooked. So in thinking of her we are constantly reminded about questions of parenthood and family.

 

There are surprisingly few mentions of Mary in the New Testament, some say it shows the attitudes to women in ancient Judaism, what do you actually think the reason is for this?

 

Despite women being supposedly subordinate to men in the Hebrew Scriptures, women are actually splendidly prominent -e.g. to begin with, Sarah, Rebekah, Hannah, Ruth, Esther-and in any case Jewish identity depends on one’s mother-hardly a trivial matter! And given that the Gospels are short and focus on Jesus it is surprising how much there is in gives attention to Mary, such as in Luke’s Gospel at the Nativity and in John’s with Mary near the crucified Jesus, followed by Mary in Acts present at Ascension and Pentecost.

 

What happened to Mary at the Reformation?

 

Because Mary had such an august place in medieval Christianity, the Protestant Reformers thought that the centrality of Christ for salvation was threatened. Although Luther tried to keep an important place for Mary, on the whole she did disappear from view, but on the plus side there developed a more positive view of marriage and the role of women.    

 

Has a re-evaluation of Mary occurred in the twentieth century and beyond as a result of ecumenical dialogue?

 

The answer is a decided ‘Yes’. The less dogmatic stance of Orthodoxy encouraged the Protestant churches to show more interest in Mary. And after Vatican II this was true of Roman Catholicism, as  with Pope Paul VI’s declaration of Mary as ‘Mother of the church’.

 

How central is Mary in Art to the development of western culture and its attitude to women?

 

So far as the history of Art is concerned, the common contrast between Mary as ‘unattainable virgin’ and Mary Magdalene as ‘seductive sinner’ is an absurd exaggeration, but it does not mean that all developments were positive, though some were. Just to mention one, representations of Mary as reading at the Annunciation did encourage rights to literacy among women. 

 

 

Grace Is Not Faceless: Reflections on Mary by Ann Loades (with editor, Stephen Burns) is out now in paperback and available as an eBook.

 

Ann Loades is Emerita Professor of Divinity at Durham University, and Honorary Professor at the University of St. Andrew’s. She was the first woman (and only second ever person) to be awarded a CBE for ‘services to theology’, the first female President of the Society for the Study of Theology, the first woman to be given a personal chair at Durham, and the first woman to take a seat in the Chapter of Durham Cathedral. Her publications include Searching for Lost Coins, Feminist Theology: A Reader, Feminist Theology: Voices from the Past, and The Truth-Seeking Heart.

 

Stephen Burns who has collated, edited and introduced this volume, is Professor of Liturgical and Practical Theology at Pilgrim Theological College, University of Divinity in Melbourne, and International Research Consultant at The Queen’s Foundation for Ecumenical Theological Education in Birmingham. He co-edited the Festschrift for Ann Loades, Exchanges of Grace.