Helvidius

What does Calvin's commentary on Matthew 12:46-50 and its parallels suggest concerning a Reformed Marian piety?Firstly, it re-affirms Augustine's declaration:Calvin's restatement of this understanding leaves little room for mistaking its inspiration:This was to be repeated by Jewel in controversy with Harding: "to be the child of God it is a great deal greater grace than to be the mother of God".So, we begin here - the Reformed critique of the medieval Latin cultus was a retrieval of an Augustinian view obscured by that cultus. It was an act of, a recognition that late medieval Latin Marian piety had lost Augustine's emphasis:As Calvin puts it:However, precisely because the Reformed critique was Augustinian means that it was also committed to a reverence for the Mother of the Lord. Secondly, then, we note the titles given by Calvin in this short passage of his commentary to Mary:Such titles are witnesses to her sanctity. This is similarly found in the BCP's consistent use of the title Blessed Virgin Mary.Thirdly, we see Calvin challenging even those Fathers who appear to diminish this sanctity:Finally, Calvin adopts a reverential approach to the traditional belief in Mary's perpetual virginity. This is indicated by how he describes the Gospel reference to "thy mother and thy brethren":It may be true - as some have argued - that Calvin was agnostic on this matter, but here he repeats the traditional reading of the Gospel text. To this we might add his critique of Helvidius , the 4th century writer who challenged the belief:This certainly appears to be more than mere agnosticism. Calvin is displaying a reverence for the traditional teaching and its reading of Scripture. This was to be repeated by Hooker:V.45.2.While BCP and Articles avoid the title 'ever-virgin' (probably out of a Reformed concern not to exalt virginity over the married state), they never refer to Mary apart from the title 'Virgin' - preserving, in Hooker's phrase, "the honour of the blessed virgin".So, how can we summarise what Calvin's commentary on this passage means means for a Reformed Marian piety? It is robustly Augustinian in its Christocentric emphasis, reverences Mary with titles recognising her sanctity, affirms and commends that sanctity, and refuses Helvidius' attack on the belief in her perpetual virginity.It is, in other words, a Marian piety that is both Catholic and Reformed. It is a Marian piety embodied in the Book of Common Prayer, with its Augustinian reserve evident in a refusal to countenance Marian devotions which obscure the Christological centre and its Augustinian reverence seen in the consistent use of the title Blessed Virgin Mary, the confession of her significance in the mystery of the Incarnation, the observance of her feast days, and the daily praying of her Magnificat. And it is a Marian piety notably absent from contemporary evangelical, including evangelical Anglican, theology and practice.