in the first centuries of the Christian era there exists a "feminine motif" in Christianity that Engelsman identifies as "Mariology"--focused on "Mary's position as the mother of Jesus"
she is given the title Theotokos, or Mother of God (at the Council of Ephesus, 431 CE)
some "patristic fathers" consider her a "co-redemptrix" (122)
(Irenaeus, for instance, clearly states "that the human race is saved by both Mary and Christ" (Engelman's summation, 132))
Engelsman takes some interest in the fact that "Mary never becomes subject to Joseph in any way, either before or after Christ's death. Neither is she under the control of her father or any other man" (129)
"This unusual picture of a young virgin free of parental or connubial control makes Mary quite unique" (129)