The New Eve (Latin: Nova Eva) is a devotional title for Mary, the mother of Jesus. Since the second century, numerous Eastern and Western Church fathers have expressed this doctrinal idea as an analogy to the biblical concept of the New Adam. Mary's unique and necessary participation in the economy of salvation is expressed in the doctrine, particularly her faith at the annunciation of the archangel Gabriel, which facilitates the incarnation of Jesus Christ and human redemption. [1]
The forefathers of the early church looked to Paul's Letter to the Galatians 4:4-5: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption", and related this to the woman spoken of in the Protoevangelium of Genesis 3:15: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel." The church father Irenaeus of Lyons in his Against Heresies (5.21.1), followed by several other fathers of the church, interpreted the verse as a reference to Christ. [2]
Justin Martyr was among the first to draw a parallel between Eve and Mary. This derives from his comparison of Adam and Jesus. In his Dialogue with Trypho , written sometime between 155–167, [3] he explains:
He became man by the Virgin, in order that the disobedience which proceeded from the serpent might receive its destruction in the same manner in which it derived its origin. For Eve, who was a virgin and undefiled, having conceived the word of the serpent, brought forth disobedience and death. But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God; and she replied, 'Be it unto me according to thy word." And by her has He been born, to whom we have proved so many scriptures refer, and by whom God destroys both the serpent and those angels and men who are like him; but works deliverance from death to those who repent of their wickedness and believe upon Him. [4]
Irenaeus, bishop of Lugdunum, also takes this up in Against Heresies, written about the year 182: [5]
In accordance with this design, Mary the Virgin is found obedient, saying: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to your word.' Luke 1:38 But Eve was disobedient, for she did not obey when as yet she was a virgin ... having become disobedient, was made the cause of death, both to herself and to the entire human race; so also did Mary, having a man betrothed [to her], and being nevertheless a virgin, by yielding obedience, become the cause of salvation, both to herself and the whole human race. And on this account does the law term a woman betrothed to a man, the wife of him who had betrothed her, although she was as yet a virgin; thus indicating the back-reference from Mary to Eve ... For the Lord, having been born 'the First-begotten of the dead', Revelation 1:5 and receiving into His bosom the ancient fathers, has regenerated them into the life of God, He having been made Himself the beginning of those that live, as Adam became the beginning of those who die. 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 Wherefore also Luke, commencing the genealogy with the Lord, carried it back to Adam, indicating that it was He who regenerated them into the Gospel of life, and not they Him. And thus also it was that the knot of Eve's disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary. For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the virgin Mary set free through faith. [6]
Tertullian and Origen wrote about the Eve-Mary parallel as well. Given that Justin Martyr was possibly taught by pupils of the apostles, or at least by people of the apostolic age, and that the theme seems to have been a widespread basic teaching among early Christians, it is possible that it comes from the apostolic period rather than being Justin Martyr's creation. [7]
The early Medieval period reflected an increased devotion to Mary after the Council of Ephesus which declared Mary Theotokos , which in the West was rendered "Mother of God". The rise of monasticism preserved the works of the early fathers. According to Luigi Gambero, sermons tended to follow a standard form: "... the sin of our first parents, the Eve-Mary parallel, the angel's annunciation to Mary and the incarnation of the son of God, the birth of Christ ..." [8]
In the 1854 apostolic constitution, Ineffabilis Deus , promulgating the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, Pope Pius IX referred to the opinion of the Fathers:
Hence, to demonstrate the original innocence and sanctity of the Mother of God, not only did they frequently compare her to Eve while yet a virgin, while yet innocence, while yet incorrupt, while not yet deceived by the deadly snares of the most treacherous serpent; but they have also exalted her above Eve with a wonderful variety of expressions. 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 she utterly destroyed the force and dominion of the evil one. [9]
In the 1974 Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus , Pope Paul VI saw Mary as the second Eve standing alongside and subordinated to Christ, the second Adam. As the second Eve, she is the new woman, the definitive expression of what it is to be human. In Mary we see what God intends for his people as a whole. "She is given to us as a pledge and guarantee that God's plan in Christ has already been realized in a creature." [10]
The Roman Breviary contains the Mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in which she is described as the new Eve: "Glorious are you, holy Mary, the new Eve. From you the new Adam, Christ Jesus, was born." [11]
Alongside the theogical concept of Mary as Co-Redemptrix, Eve is seen to be co-peccatrix, because it was Eve who freely gave the "instrument" of the The Fall of Man. It is Eve who gave the "forbidden fruit" to Adam, the peccator whose sin as father of the human race led to the loss of grace for the human race.
Amphilochius of Iconium says: "... O Mary, O Mary, the Maker of all things was your firstborn Son! O humanity, who became the bodily substance of the Word and for that reason became more honorable than the spiritual virtues of heaven! For Christ did not want to clothe himself in the form of archangels or in the form of the immaterial figures of the principalities, virtues, and powers; rather, through you, he clothed himself in your form, which had fallen and become like that of the brute animals ... but where now is that hostile and bewildered dragon? Where is that cursed and execrable dragon, who had claimed that this throne would be raised to the heights of heaven? [12]
Caelius Sedulius writes: Because of one man, all his descendants perished; And all are saved because of one man. Because of one woman, the deadly door opened; And life returned, because of one woman. [13]
The Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Virgin Mary was free of original sin from the moment of her conception. It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Debated by medieval theologians, it was not defined as a dogma until 1854, by Pope Pius IX in the papal bull Ineffabilis Deus. While the Immaculate Conception asserts Mary's freedom from original sin, the Council of Trent, held between 1545 and 1563, had previously affirmed her freedom from personal sin.
Irenaeus was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by combating heterodox or Gnostic interpretations of Scripture as heresy and defining proto-orthodoxy. Originating from Smyrna, he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp, who in turn was said to have heard John the Evangelist, and thus was the last-known living connection with the Apostles.
Justin, known posthumously as Justin Martyr, also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Polycarp was a Christian bishop of Smyrna. According to the Martyrdom of Polycarp, he died a martyr, bound and burned at the stake, then stabbed when the fire failed to consume his body. Polycarp is regarded as a saint and Church Father in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodox Churches, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism.
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is a central figure of Christianity, venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen, many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Church of the East, Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God. Other Protestant views on Mary vary, with some holding her to have lesser status.
The Ophites, also called Ophians, were a Christian Gnostic sect depicted by Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) in a lost work, the Syntagma ("arrangement").
The doctrine of the serpent seed, also known as the dual-seed or the two-seedline doctrine, is a controversial and fringe Christian religious belief which explains the biblical account of the fall of man by stating that the Serpent mated with Eve in the Garden of Eden, and the offspring of their union was Cain. This event resulted in the creation of two races of people: the wicked descendants of the Serpent who were destined for damnation, and the righteous descendants of Adam who were destined to have eternal life. The doctrine frames human history as a conflict between these two races in which the descendants of Adam will eventually triumph over the descendants of the Serpent.
Catholic Mariology is Mariology in Catholic theology. According to the Immaculate Conception taught by the Catholic Church, she was conceived and born without sin, hence Mary is seen as having a singular dignity above the saints, receiving a higher level of veneration than all angelic spirits and blessed souls in heaven. Catholic Mariology thus studies not only her life but also the veneration of her in daily life, prayer, hymns, art, music, and architecture in modern and ancient Christianity throughout the ages.
A Christophany is an appearance or non-physical manifestation of Christ. Traditionally the term refers to visions of Christ after his ascension, such as the bright light of the conversion of Paul the Apostle.
In Christian theology, the doctrine of incarnation teaches that the pre-existent divine person of Jesus Christ, God the Son, the second person of the Trinity, and the eternally begotten Logos, took upon human nature and "was made flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos. The doctrine of the incarnation then entails that Jesus was at the same time both fully God and fully human.
In Christianity, the Logos is a name or title of Jesus Christ, seen as the pre-existent second person of the Trinity. In the Douay–Rheims, King James, New International, and other versions of the Bible, the first verse of the Gospel of John reads:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Ineffabilis Deus is an apostolic constitution by Pope Pius IX. It defines the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The document was promulgated on December 8, 1854, the date of the annual Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, and followed from a positive response to the encyclical Ubi primum.
The Woman of the Apocalypse is a figure–often considered to be a reference to the Virgin Mary in Catholic theology–described in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation.
Against Heresies, sometimes referred to by its Latin title Adversus Haereses, is a work of Christian theology written in Greek about the year 180 by Irenaeus, the bishop of Lugdunum.
Mary, the mother of Jesus in Christianity, is known by many different titles, epithets, invocations, and several names associated with places.
Fulgens corona is an encyclical by Pope Pius XII, given at St. Peter's, Rome, on 8 September 1953, the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in the fifteenth year of his Pontificate. The encyclical proclaims a Marian year for 1954, to commemorate the centenary of the definition of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary.
Throughout history, Catholic Mariology has been influenced by a number of saints who have attested to the central role of Mary in God's plan of salvation. The analysis of Early Church Fathers continues to be reflected in modern encyclicals. Irenaeus vigorously defended the title of "Theotokos" or Mother of God. The views of Anthony of Padua, Robert Bellarmine and others supported the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary, which was declared a dogma in 1850.
Ad diem illum laetissimum is an encyclical of Pope Pius X on the Immaculate Conception, dated 2 February 1904, in the first year of his Pontificate. It is issued in commemoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The first reason for Pius to write the encyclical was his desire to restore of all things in Christ, which he had defined as his motto in his first encyclical letter. It explains the Mariology of Pius X.
Seed of the woman or offspring of the woman is a phrase from the Book of Genesis: as a result of the serpent's temptation of Eve, which resulted in the fall of man, God announces that he will put an enmity between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. In Christianity, this verse is known as the protoevangelium, and is interpreted as a prophecy of the coming of Jesus. In Judaism, the "seed of the woman" is taken as a collective reference to humankind in general.
The recapitulation theory of the atonement is a doctrine in Christian theology related to the meaning and effect of the death of Jesus Christ.
Justin Martyr (1885). . In Roberts, Alexander; Donaldson, James (eds.). Ante-Nicene Christian Library. Vol. II. Translated by Reith, George. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark..
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
