Mariology and its discontents

John the Confessing Evangelical continues his series on Marian devotion.

I find this pretty sensible:

There is a difference between occasionally addressing Mary in the second person as a form of “literary apostrophe” (as FDN put it in the comments to my first post), such as is found in certain hymns (see v.2), and directly addressing her, as someone who is listening to what we say, as part of our regular devotional life. Also, since the Reformation the Ave Maria and the rosary have acquired such specifically Roman Catholic connotations – and Roman Catholic doctrine and devotion in this area have become so much more extreme – that it seems next-to impossible to “reclaim” them (and is it even all that worthwhile doing so anyway?).

There is also a difference between giving an Evangelical interpretation to an existing practice (encouraging late-medieval Christians to treat the Ave Maria as “a meditation in which we recite what grace God has given her”), consistent with Luther’s conservative approach to Reformation, and reviving a questionable (and optional) practice that has all-but died out in the Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Lots of good discussion in the comments, too.