7th ECT Statement - "Do Whatever He Tells You: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Christian Faith and Life"

[Ryan]

Evangelicals and Catholics Together released their seventh statement this week. This time the focus is on the Virgin Mary as an example of God’s saving grace, the divinely chosen mother of our Lord and a model of discipleship.

I'm curious what those here think of the statement. In it, both Catholics and Evangelicals speak to common points agreement and of disagreement (Perpetual Virginity, Immaculate Conception, The Bodily Assumption, and Invocation of Mary).

I'll offer a few questions to get us started:
1) What were you most encouraged to see included?
2) What did you learn about Catholic/Evangelical Mariology?
3) What else should Catholics/Evangelicals know about Evangelical/Catholic Mariology?
4) Within your faith community, what is most misunderstood about Catholic or Evangelical Mariology?
5) Has any bit of your Mariology changed as a result of reading this statement?

If possible, in the spirit of the purpose of the statement, I'd like the discussion to lean more toward what we can learn from the most foreign position rather than just how "unorthodox" the foreign position is.

Please consider actually reading the short statement before posting a comment.

[Augustus]

When I was still a fundamentalist, I have to admit that I believed that the Marian doctrines were amongst the most oppressive and blasphemous beliefs of the Catholic and the E.O. Church.

Now that I am a Catholic, even though they were the doctrines that took me the longest to accept, the Marian doctrines are just fine with me. However I do have some problems with "co-redemptrix".

[Ryan]

Yes, that's why I found the ECT statement so encouraging. Mariology was the most divisive for my friends and family during our journey to Rome. But a good portion of their frustration was due to misunderstanding the Catholic position ("Mother of God", Mariolatry, etc.). This statement is helpful in clarifying the conversation between Catholics and Evangelicals.

Augustus said:

When I was still a fundamentalist, I have to admit that I believed that the Marian doctrines were amongst the most oppressive and blasphemous beliefs of the Catholic and the E.O. Church.

Now that I am a Catholic, even though they were the doctrines that took me the longest to accept, the Marian doctrines are just fine with me. However I do have some problems with "co-redemptrix".