The Seat of Wisdom: An essay on the place of the Virgin Mary in Christian Theology

by Louis Bouyer

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 1965

About the author

Rev. Louis Bouyer (1913-2004) was a member of the French Oratory and one of the most respected and versatile Catholic scholars and theologians of the twentieth century.

A friend of Hans Urs von Balthasar, Joseph Ratzinger, and J.R.R. Tolkien, and a co-founder of the international review Communio, Bouyer was a former Lutheran minister who entered the Catholic Church in 1939.

He became a leading figure in the Catholic biblical and liturgical movements of the twentieth century, was an influence on the Second Vatican Council, and became well known for his excellent books on history of Christian spirituality. In addition to his many writings, Bouyer lectured widely across Europe and America.

Woman in the Church (with an epilogue by Balthasar and an essay by C.S. Lewis), was one of the first three books published by Ignatius Press, in 1979. Other Ignatius Press books by Bouyer include The Word Church and Sacraments in Protestantism and Catholicism, Women Mystics, and the introduction to John Henry Newman: Prayers Verses Devotions (Bouyer wrote a biography of Newman).

He was chosen by the Pope to be part of a team to initiate the International Theological Commission in 1969.

Reviews

[Sarah (Gutierrez) Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic exploration of the place of Mary in Christian anthropology, starting with the insight that Mary, moreso than Christ, is the figure that shows forth what it is to be redeemed humanity; Christ is God entering human nature to raise it up, Mary is the first instance and first exemplar of humanity so lifted up. Bouyer explores the Scriptural symbolic significance for our idea of human nature renewed, that the first instance of it is virgin and mother, naturally continuous with the historical covenant made with the Jewish people as that world's best fruit, and yet also the product of a special and unmerited intervention in her immaculate conception, and somehow especially associated with the divine Wisdom governing creation. I don't think this book has been appreciated as it should be, possibly because it runs counter to our prevailing currently non-ascetic mood about sex, and possibly also because Bouyer himself does not seem to have much to say about how all of this shapes Christian life. But for anyone with the patience to sit with a text that does not immediately tell you what to do with any of it, meditating upon this investigation into the meaning of Mary's life and role in salvation history will be immensely fruitful.