Mary: "A model for us all"

Evangelicals and Catholics Together are currently engaged in discussion about what they can agree to say about Mary, the mother of Jesus. First Things is publishing online over the next few days the preliminary papers that have been prepared for the discussion, and the first is by J.I. Packer. Early on, he makes his own position clear:

I do not believe in Mary’s immaculate conception, nor her perpetual virginity, nor her assumption, nor the appropriateness of prayer to her. As an Anglican, I have been drilled in the liturgical use of Mary’s song, the Magnificat, and have long taught that we should notice how she celebrates God as her Savior and should think of her as head of the line of sinners, saved by the atoning death and resurrection of her own son.

Packer's contribution deals with the New Testament passages that refer to Mary. He concludes "Thus, then, Luke and John present mother Mary to us as Jesus’ disciple: a model for us all." [the article]

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