Sunday, September 17, 2017

Epiphanius' warning against excessive veneration of Mary

In 4:6-7 of Book 79, "Against Collyridians" in his Panarion, Epiphanius of Salamis wrote the following, with special reference to Jesus’ words to Mary in John 2:4:

Yes, of course Mary's body was holy, but she was not God. Yes, the Virgin was indeed a virgin and honored as such, but she was not given us to worship; she worships Him who, though born of her flesh, has come from heaven, from the bosom of the Father. And the Gospel therefore protects us by telling us so on the occasion when the Lord himself said, "Woman, what is between me and thee? Mine hour is not yet come." <For> to make sure that no one would suppose, because of the words, "What is between me and thee?" that the holy Virgin is anything more [than a woman], he called her "Woman" as if by prophecy, because of the schisms and sects that were to appear on earth. Otherwise some might stumble into the nonsense of the sect from excessive awe of the saint. (The Panarion of Epiphanius of Salamis, Books II and III. De Fide [2d ed.; trans. Frank Williams; Leiden: E.J. Brill, 2013], 640-41)


 Epiphanius' Mariology, when read in its textual and historical contexts, are not consistent with the much later developments one finds within Roman Catholicism. For more, see Epiphanius on the End of Mary's Life which shows that, contrary to Catholic apologists such as Tim Staples, he did not hold to the bodily assumption of Mary.

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