Ebook: The Seat of Wisdom: An Essay on the Place of the Virgin Mary in Christian Theology

Tue MANY works of the French Oratorian Father Louis Bouyer have firmly established his reputation as one of the leading Catholic theologians of today. In THE Seat or Wisdom, a stimulating study covering the range of Marian theology, he examines the central mystery of the Incarnation and the vital role played by Mary in the divine plan as Mother of God. The author declares that the role of Mary belongs to the very essence of the Christian message, and thus accounts for all subsequent Catholic devotion to her. The elimination of Mary from her role as the Mother of God would empty that message of its complete and awesome meaning as the fulfillment of God’s promise. Much that both ‘Testaments disclose would be rendered unintelligible, as Father Bouyer points out, with regard to womanhood, sexuality, motherhood, marriage, virginity, holiness, God’s union with His Spouse the Church, divine and human love (agape and eros), sacrifice, redemption—indeed, the whole range of revealed truths. Father Bouyer’s approach can only be described as truly ecumenical: he shows how the defined dogmas of the Church relative to Mary are all grounded in Revelation and intimately connected with every part of it; how Revelation acquires depths of meaning, hitherto unsuspected, when “the Woman” is seen in her proper relation to God and man. The Seat or Wispom is the first in a trilogy planned to encompass a complete theology of creation. This volume, dealing with the role of Mary and man’s destiny in the eyes of God, is intended as a “sketch of a supernatural anthropology.” The second volume will be on “supernatural sociology,” or the Church; the third will be a “supernatural cosmology.”