Woman, Behold Thy Son!: A Brief Introduction to Eisegetical Mariology

By Onyekwelu Paulinus Anaedu

The role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the mystery of salvation history is a topic that has undergone a significant amount of exploration in biblical scholarshipmost often with ostensibly exegetical approaches, rarely acknowledging scholars underlying biases.

Woman, Behold Thy Son! adopts a contrasting eisegetical approach, openly holding a predilection and bias in favor of the Roman Catholic Churchs magisterial teachings on Mary, treated and interpreted from the authors peculiar and idiosyncratic perspective. He considers his own journey of faithan effort to deal with his doubts and seek understanding for what he believes in and for what the Roman Catholic Church defines and proposes for belief.

This study reflects on the role of Mary in salvation history, examining the dogmas about her and pondering the effects of her importance throughout the Catholic faith.

In this little but powerful book is contained very profound and significant exploration of the essential mysteries of life, logic, sanctity, faith, knowledge, hope and searching insight on Marian esteem, all of which is expressed with rare economy and wit. Woman, Behold Thy Son! is a must-read for all who dare to seek enlightenment, well within reasonfull of meaning.
Dr. Ogochukwu Promise

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 27, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532022227

Onyekwelu Paulinus Anaedu

Onyekwelu Paulinus Anaedu is a priest of the Catholic diocese of Awka, Nigeria. He currently resides and works in the diocese of Linz, Austria. He holds a master’s degree in intercultural studies (MIS) and a doctorate in biblical theology, both from the University of Salzburg, Austria. His other published works include God’s Name Is not Jehovah (1998), The Roman Catholic Priesthood: An Experience (2006), and The Da Vinci Myth of the Sacred Feminine (2007).

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Copyright © 2017 Onyekwelu Paulinus Anaedu.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the Holy Bible, King James Version (Authorized Version). First published in 1611. Quoted from the KJV Classic Reference Bible, Copyright © 1983 by The Zondervan Corporation.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. [Biblica].

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ISBN: 978-1-5320-2223-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-2222-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017908309

iUniverse rev. date: 10/26/2017

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1 What is Theological Reasoning?

Chapter 2 What are the Gospels?

Chapter 3 Woman, Behold thy Son!

Chapter 4 Son, Behold thy Mother!

Chapter 5 Coming to Terms with Marian Dogmas

Chapter 6 On the Immaculate Conception

Appendix

Selected Bibliography for Further Reading

In memory of a dear friend, the late Innocent Enemuo, without whom these thoughts might not have been conceived and in commemoration of the centenary of the Fatima Apparitions (13th May – 13th October 1917).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T he thoughts in this little book might not have seen the light of day had I not been invited to give a Lenten talk by a very good friend of mine, Mr Innocent Enemuo, of blessed memory. Hence, to him, I dedicate this work.

I would also like to thank some of my friends and colleagues who took time to read this work through and gave some constructive criticisms, namely Mr Emmanuel Ozoemena, who reads my thought patterns like a book; Rev Fathers Moses Chukwujekwu and Lawrence Nwankwo, whose constructive criticisms always expose the rawness of my ideas; Rev Fr Martin Añusi, whose encyclopaedic supplementary remarks always supply the missing links in my thoughts; and Pater Bernhard Eckerstofer, an Austrian Benedictine monk, whose command of the English language is as good as his native German that he read my manuscript and made his corrections and suggestions in English. Not to be forgotten is Rev Fr Joe Ben Onyia, with whom I share many reflections. I would also like to thank the quintessentially gifted Ogochukwu Promise who keeps prodding and cajoling me until an idea has been given birth in the form of another book. To you all, I remain grateful for the special bond and friendship we share. However, I must admit, despite their beautiful inputs and suggestions, the mistakes are mine.

Finally, I thank the Lord from whom all good ideas originate. To Him be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen!

Fada Anaedu Onyekwelu Paulinus

31 Aug 2016 (Feast of St Paulinus of Trier)

INTRODUCTION

I t is customary to hold talks or retreats during the Lenten period in many dioceses in Nigeria. In the year 2000, shortly before I left my last place of assignment as an associate pastor at St Anthony Catholic Church, Gbaja-Surulere, in the Archdiocese of Lagos, a very good friend of mine, the late Innocent Enemuo, invited me to deliver such a Lenten talk at the newly erected outstation church in Gbagada. The outstation was, at that time, still a wooden church (pako, as such buildings are generally referred to in the indigenous Yoruba language).

I forgot about this invitation, probably because of the distractions involved in packing out of and packing into a new parish, in addition to having my first experience as a pastor or parish priest. By the time this friend called me to remind me about the talk several months later, the talk was supposed to be given within the coming week. If he had been able to get another person to take up the lecture, I would have been happy not to deliver it! Being as handicapped as I was, I then asked him to send me the topic via text message, which I received instantly: Woman, behold thy son!

Having barely a few days to read up anything on the topic and reflect on what to talk about or even write anything down, I decided to focus on the audience as I tried to figure out what meaning I could make out of this topic. The audience was definitely not a scholarly one because Gbagada was not among the highbrow areas of Lagos.

That day, however, turned out to be one of the most memorable days in my priestly life. The response I received from the audience as I was talking was extraordinary, and the amount of confidence and conviction oozing from me actually surprised me, so much so that I decided afterwards to put the talk into writing. As such, the piece you are about to read is not actually meant to be a scholarly work. Rather, it is the fruit of this spontaneous talk delivered to a group of lay Catholic faithful during the Lenten period of the year 2001. The core of this piece was written down shortly afterwards. Thanks to my then very meticulous secretary, Miss Edith Orjiakor, who, out of her own initiative, typed my handwritten scripts and saved them on a diskette (flash drives were not yet in use in Nigeria at that time).

Round and about 2007 or 2008, as I began getting bored with my dissertation, I remembered this manuscript and decided to call it up again. I made a few adjustments and saved it again. However, as I needed a write-up to commemorate my twentieth anniversary in the priesthood in August 2015, I decided to go through the manuscript again, nearly fifteen years after first writing it down. To my surprise, I found I could still proudly hold onto the non-scholarly views I held more than a decade and half ago, even after having finished doctoral studies in biblical theology. Hence, the core of this write-up is not that of a biblical scholar, but that of a pastor who was neither a trained biblical exegete nor an expert in major biblical themes. I was at that time merely an enthusiastic priest interested in biblical discussions and themes. Consequently, I do not want to claim to give a biblical expert’s interpretation of the passages I wish to consider here as they relate to the Blessed Virgin Mary