The idea
Pitre anchors his method in two witnesses from opposite sides of the Reformation. Joseph Ratzinger: 'The image of Mary in the New Testament is woven entirely of Old Testament threads.' The Baptist theologian Timothy George: evangelicals 'have much to learn from reading Mary against the background of Old Testament foreshadowings,' without which 'we are left with not only a reductionist view of Mary, but also of Christ.' Then the charge: virtually every book that rejects Mary's sinlessness, perpetual virginity or assumption as unscriptural 'would invariably ignore the Old Testament' — and while scholars agree Jesus can be understood only from within first-century Judaism, 'when it comes to Mary, the same rule does not seem to apply.'
Key verses
- Genesis 3:15 — the first Old Testament thread — the Woman and her seed.
- Isaiah 7:14 — the virgin who bears Immanuel — the thread Matthew picks up first.
The connection
| Old Testament root | New Testament fulfilment | |
|---|---|---|
| Old Testament types read in their Jewish setting | → | The New Testament's Mary, woven from those threads |
The Old Testament is not background colour but the source of the New Testament's picture of Mary. A reading of Mary that skips it will miss most of what the evangelists and the Fathers were saying about her.
Sources
- Benedict XVI — as Joseph Ratzinger (p 16) · read
- Modern scholars Pitre cites — Timothy George (p 16)