Christ vs. Mary? Mary in Catholicism I Prof. Christopher Malloy

The Thomistic Institute

Christianity, Society & Culture, Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Philosophy, Religion & Spirituality, Thomism, Catholicism

4.8 • 729 Ratings

🗓️ 15 August 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

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Summary

Prof. Christopher Malloy defends the Catholic understanding of Mary’s role in salvation history, refuting common objections and demonstrating how her divine maternity, perpetual virginity, and immaculate grace magnify rather than diminish the glory of Christ.

This lecture was given on April 6th, 2025, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events.

About the Speaker:

Christopher J. Malloy is married to Flory with whom he has seven children. He earned his B.A. in Theology (second major in Philosophy) from the University of Notre Dame in 1992. He earned his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology (minor in Philosophy) from The Catholic University of America in 2001. Since then he has taught at The University of Dallas, where he currently serves as Professor and Chair of Theology. He has published three books: Engrafted into Christ: A Critique of the Joint Declaration [on Justification], Aquinas on Beatific Charity and the Problem of Love, and False Mercy: Recent Heresies Distorting Catholic Truth. He has published numerous blind peer-reviewed articles for journals such as The Thomist, Nova et Vetera, Freiburger Zeitschrift für Philosophie und Theologie, Josephinum, Angelicum, etc. He loves academia, especially publishing and teaching systematic theology, but he has always been fired up to give popular presentations highlighting the intelligibility and beauty of the Catholic faith, since that was the reason he got into Theology in the first place.

Keywords: Abraham, Bernard of Clairvaux, Divine Maternity, Immaculate Conception, Incarnation, John Calvin, Marian Doctrine, Martin Chemnitz, Mother of God, Participation in God

Transcript

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0:00.0	As of July 1st, 2025, applications are open for the Thomistic Institute's Rome Study Abroad program for spring
0:07.6	26. Emmerse yourself in the Catholic intellectual tradition and experience profound opportunities
0:14.2	for spiritual formation in the heart of the church. Applications close August 15th. Learn more and apply at www.comstic Institute.org
0:24.4	forward slash Rome. Welcome to the Tomistic Institute podcast. Our mission is to promote the Catholic
0:33.8	intellectual tradition in the university, the church, and the wider public square.
0:38.4	The lectures on this podcast are organized by university students at Timistic Institute
0:42.9	chapters around the world. To learn more and to attend these events, visit us at
0:47.8	to mystic institute.org.
0:50.6	Why is Mary, the mother of Jesus, so important in Catholicism?
0:55.1	Shouldn't we instead just go straight to Christ?
0:58.3	The question why Mary could be a skeptical question, or it could be a genuinely interested question.
1:04.7	If we ask it, with theological desire to know, we're like Maximilian Colby, who asked, who are you, O Immaculata?
1:15.0	This is a question that thirst for truth. Hello, Father. This is thirst for truth,
1:23.6	and indeed for communion with a human person redeemed by Christ.
1:31.3	Mary herself asked the genuinely interested question when the angel Gabriel startled her at the Annunciation,
1:35.0	with the announcement that she will conceive and give birth to one who will be called
1:38.6	Son of the Most High.
1:40.8	She then asked, how shall this be, since I have no husband?
1:45.9	Notice that she did not doubt the angelic salutation, she believed, as her cousin Elizabeth later revealed,
1:52.0	though she committed to a life of virginity, she will, against all the laws of fecundity,
1:58.6	according to this promise, become pregnant.
2:01.1	It would have been inconceivable to the Jews that a virgin would give birth,
	...

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