AW: [SEELANGS] Coredemptrix

[Valentino, Russell]

Yes, Mary is not *the* deity, which is part of the historical problem for believers in claiming that she can be a co-redeemer of some sort. Raising her to the level of the deity veers into heresy, which is what the phrase in Daniel's draft text sounds like. "An important holy figure," or "venerated figure," or something similar would express enough, it seems to me, without the potential heretical undertones.

Russell Valentino

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list [mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Olga Meerson
Sent: Monday, September 06, 2010 9:30 PM
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] AW: [SEELANGS] Coredemptrix

Mary is NOT a deity, at least not for Orthodox or roman Catholic believers. Daniel, if you write such a thing, it is like claiming that Russians' reverence for Pushkin proves they [ we believe he is a god. A nice metaphor but not true literally. Not all veneration is deifying. Certainly not the veneration of the Mother of God in the eyes of those who venerate Her. Isn't it logical that they should be consulted on what they believe? If you write that She is "an important deity" for the Orthodox, be prepared for the whole publication you are contributing to to be compromised by such a statement. perhaps there is other compromising evidence in your book but I hope not so. It is amazing how the same people who uphold fairly high standards for their own fields of scholarship say all kinds of nonsense about religion and theology! There are things to know about theological matters, and if you don't know them, it is prudent not to talk about them--if only to uphold your own intellec!
 tu!
al reputation.
Respectfully,
o.m.

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