Queen of Heaven: A Socratic Dialogue

Happy Feast of the Queenship of Mary!

Have you ever been asked why on earth it is Catholics refer to Mary as “Queen”?

If so, you might find this short dialogue helpful: Read my other dialogues here.

Sam: Why do you call Mary a queen?

Justin: Because she is the mother of Jesus who, we believe, is a king, the king of the universe.

Sam: Well I believe Jesus is the one true king also but I don’t believe Mary is a queen.

Justin: Why not?

Sam: Well, for starters, she wasn’t married to Jesus! For obvious reasons.

Justin: Sure, 1. Jesus was celibate, and 2. Mary was his mother. But what you seem to be implying is that a queen is necessarily the wife of a king, yes?

Sam: Well, yes.

Justin: This is how we understand it in the west, but in the ancient near east, this wasn’t the case. The queen was always the mother of the king. One of the reasons for this was that those in the ancient near east practiced polygamy. Solomon, for example, had 700 wives and 300 concubines! (1 Kings 11:3) 700 queens? Can you say, “cat fight”?

Sam: Didn’t think of that. Good point. But show me all this in Scripture.

Justin: Do you have a Bible? Compare 1 Kings 1:15-16 where Bathsheba is the wife of King David to the very next chapter, 1 Kings 2:19 . . . Read it aloud.

Sam: Okay, 1 Kings 2:19 says, “So Bathshe′ba went to the king into his chamber (now the king was very old, and Ab′ishag the Shu′nammite was ministering to the king). Bathshe′ba bowed and did obeisance.”

Justin: Now turn to the next chapter where her son, Solomon, is king and she is now queen. Verse nineteen.

Sam: Okay, “So Bathshe′ba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adoni′jah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right.”

Justin: Interesting, huh? This was always the case in the Davidic monarchy.

Sam: Alright, well that was with the Davidic monarchy, why think it continues with Jesus.

Justin: Because Jesus is the new David! The angel said to Mary, “He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David.” So if the queen is the mother of the king, and Jesus is the true and rightful king, is it crazy for me to think of his Mother as a queen?”

Sam: I guess not, but you pray to her, right? I find that weird.

Justin: Well now we’re talking about the intercession of the saints, and that’s a different thing. I think there is good Biblical support for this, but I have to get going. Perhaps we can talk about it next time.

Sam: Sounds good. Bye.