Long before medieval debates, Justin Martyr set Eve’s disobedience beside the Virgin Mary’s faith (Dialogue with Trypho 100). Irenaeus developed the comparison with memorable precision: “the knot of Eve’s disobedience was loosed by the obedience of Mary” (Against Heresies 3.22.4). Tertullian also contrasts Eve’s believing the serpent with Mary’s believing the angel (On the Flesh of Christ 17).
This is not devotion detached from Christ. The Fathers use the Mary–Eve parallel to defend the real Incarnation: the Son truly entered our history through the obedient Virgin, overturning the ruin brought by human disobedience. Orthodox honor for Mary is therefore Christ-centered and biblical—“all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48)—never the worship owed to God alone.
Primary sources
Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 100
Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.22.4
Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ 17