The Real Mary

From Publishers Weekly "In this slim, engaging volume, McKnight (Protestant author of The Jesus Creed) makes the case that the real Mary of the Bible has been hijacked by theological controversies. He begins by noting that Mary has been seen by turns as a compliant "resting womb," a damaging stereotype of passivity, a Christmas figure and a source of "reaction formation" by Protestants, as well as the mother of Jesus.

"The real Mary is no offense to Protestants, but rather a woman for us to honor," he insists, envisioning her as an impoverished, bold, gutsy woman of faith. He also portrays her as neither goddess nor Super-saint, but as the mother of God. McKnight lends interesting cultural context to Mary's simple and courageous words, "let it be," and unpacks the Magnificat as a song of protest and revolution. He poignantly portrays Mary's gradual knowledge that her son would not be the triumphant king envisioned as Messiah, and makes a somewhat controversial case for Mary having other children. His sections on the immaculate conception and Mary as mediatrix in prayer should help debunk some Protestants' false impressions of Catholic belief. McKnight's lucid, sometimes humorous, conversational style makes this an accessible book for a wide pool of evangelical readers." Reviews "When you find the real Mary of Scripture, the Mary of the first century, you'll discover she'll be talking about Jesus and pointing us all to Jesus" writes McKnight in his engaging exploration of the most important woman in the Bible. He peels back the controversy surrounding her legacy to reveal a flesh-and-blood woman of courage, humility, and spirit.  --Today's Christian Woman

"This is an easy book to read, intended for a popular audience and well suited to reflection on what it was like to be a young mother of the Messiah in a dangerous world. By humanizing the account of the gospels, McKnight takes us beyond the encrustation of centuries of tradition to look at the flesh-and-blood person who was the mother of our Lord. Indeed, we can join with Mary in her Magnificat praising the God who saw fit to reveal himself in human flesh in the person of Messiah Jesus for the purpose of delivering the world from its sins." -- Mary Jacobs United Methodist Reporter 

Scot McKnight, a religious studies professor, was teaching years ago when he had an "aha" moment. McKnight had read the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary's hymn of praise from the Gospel of Luke. "What kind of woman would have said this?" McKnight asked his students at North Park University in Chicago.

As he listened to their answers, McKnight, an evangelical Christian, became convinced that one, most Protestants know next to nothing about Mary; and two, the popular conception of Mary as "hyper-pious, with her hands folded in prayer . . . like a nun," has little to do with the "courageous, gutsy" young woman - "the real Mary" - of the Bible.
McKnight vowed to "reclaim" Mary, a New Testament figure revered by Roman Catholics and largely overlooked by Protestants. His new book, The Real Mary: Why Evangelical Christians Can Embrace the Mother of Jesus," tries to do that. -- The Plain Dealer