Roman Catholic interpreters often counter that Mary's
mediation is not to be seen on a level with mediation (see the discussion in
White, 1998:117-35). We all mediate for each other in prayer, we are told, and
that fact does not seem to militate against Christ's unique mediation (Madrid,
1996:41-50). There is indeed only one mediator at Christ's level, it is argued,
but that does not prevent us from seeing in Mary a mediator who is at once at a
lower level than Christ and who shares in a unique way in his mediation.
In response to this, two things may be said. First, it is
not the case that we are being asked to believe in a Marian mediation on par
with every other believer who prays for the church. If that were the case, then
there would be no cause for concern. On the contrary, Marian mediation is said
to be of a singular kind. She alone is Co-Redemptress with Christ (even if this
is not yet an official dogma of Rome, it is nevertheless a widely accepted
teaching; cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, Art. 969). Second, the
parallel that Paul gives us—and with which we are to view the oneness of
Christ's mediation—is the oneness of God himself. Just as there is "one
[εις] God," Paul says, so there is "one [εις] mediator"
between God and man. There is no hint of seeing the possibility of a demigod,
who is halfway between the one God and all the rest of us—the oneness of God
excludes that notion. So also, to preserve the parallel that Paul gives us, we
must conclude that there is no hint here of seeing the possibility of a demimediator
(as it were)—a sort of mediator between the one mediator and the rest of us. As
far as the text is concerned, the only mediator that exists—or is
needed—between God and man is Christ. (Eric D. Svendsen, "Who is My
Mother? The Role and Status of the Mother of Jesus in the New Testament and
Roman Catholicism [PhD Dissertation; Potchefstroom University and Greenwich
School of Theology, November 2001], 260-61)
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