Posted on 08/17/2015 6:07:35 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
It is that time of week again, where we talk about the Mary, the Mother of God. This is definitely the single most important title that Mary has. If someone gets this wrong, then they get the Divinity of our Lord wrong, and that means the whole plan of Salvation is just messed up. So let us look at this most important title.
Theotokos, God-bearer in Greek, is what the council of Ephesus declared in 431. It specifically says this “If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (for according to the flesh she gave birth to the Word of God become flesh by birth), let him be anathema.” Now just that statement alone proves the early Church believed that there was Authority given to the bishops to decide sound doctrine, Mary was a Holy Virgin her entire life, and that She bore God. However, we only have time for one today.
Now many times we will hear non-Catholics tell us that this title is nowhere found in Scripture, explicitly at least. However, they cannot themselves find a Scripture verse that says that all doctrine and dogma must be explicitly proven in Scripture. I bet they can never find that. This is a trap they set up for themselves and it is a very unfair double standard that they expect us to meet, but they do not have to. However, on top of this double standard is if we used that same standard, then the doctrine of the Trinity is thrown out, since it’s not an explicit teaching, but instead is implicit in Scripture. This double standard seems to cause more problems that it’s worth wouldn’t you say?
Here is the cold hard truth of it though, all Christians rely on some Church Tradition, as well as Scripture, to validate their doctrines, whether they admit it or not. With that being said, Scripture and Tradition can never contradict one another. The Traditions of men can contradict the Word of God, but the Traditions God left us, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, are binding upon us, as we are to hold fast to Traditions. So then, what is the real question? The real question is, Does Scripture contradict the teaching that Mary is the Mother of God, and is that doctrine found in Scripture at least implicitly?
Let us begin with Luke 1:43, where Mary visited Elizabeth. There Elizabeth exclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Because Mary was the Mother of the Lord, who is the Second part of the Holy Trinity, Mary is truly and rightfully called the Mother of God.
We also see in Isaiah 7:14 “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is interpreted God with us.” Jesus is God. He was God when He was in the womb, conceived, lived, died, buried, resurrected, in the Eucharist, and in Heaven. The Messiah, who is God, was to be born of a virgin, according to Scripture. God was born of a virgin, and it’s right there in Isaiah, who prophesied of Christ birth. That means both Old and New Testament support the Catholic Doctrine of the Mother of God.
However, this may not be enough for some non-Catholics. Some say that Elisabeth called Christ Lord, and not God, saying that Mary was only to give birth to the human child, the Lord Jesus Christ. So then the question becomes, does lord here mean divinity or just authority? Let’s look at the context.
First let us look at 1 Cor. 8:5, which states “Indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet to us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” St. Paul makes it clear that Jesus is the one True, Lord, as opposed to all the false ones, that the pagans who converted in Corinth were probably worshiping. So then, they would understand that Jesus is God. This holds true to the Jews who converted too, who would know Deut. 6:4 “Hear, therefore, o Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.”
So then that brings us back to Luke 1:43. Elizabeth calls Mary the mother of her Lord. The Mother…Mothers give birth to persons, not natures, let us remember that. Mary did not just give birth to the human nature of Christ, she gave birth to the person of Christ. Christ personhood is Divine, it is God the Son.
Then let us look at 2 Sam. 6:9 where the King, who was David says “How can the ark of the Lord come to me (being the ark of the covenant)” Then in 2 Samuel 616 we see King David leaping in the presence of the Ark, just as John the Baptist did. Then we yet again see another parallel, which says that the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite for three months (2 Sam. 6:11), and according to Luke 1:56 Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth about three months. Then, we see that the ark of the covenant carried three items, manna, the Ten Commandments, and Aaron’s rod. These are all types of things Christ are, the Bread of Life, Word made Flesh, and our true High Priest.
Even knowing all this though, there are still those who would deny that Mary is the Mother of God. So then we have to ask, who is Jesus Christ to them? If Mary is not the Mother of God, then who did she give birth to? Many would say it was an earthly human lord, not God. So then, what does that make Christ? If Mary did not give birth to God, then who did she give birth to? Was not Christ God when He was conceived?
If someone says Mary only gave birth to the person of Christ one of two errors, or both could happen, and that is the Denial of the divinity of Christ, and that one would have to say Christ is two distinct persons, and that he is not One. Both were considered heresy in the Early Church. Christ is one Person, with two natures, Divine and Human, which go together and are not separate of one another. If one denies that, the ultimately they are speaking about a different Christ, and St. Paul warns us about that problem, and to not to give heed to them (2 Cor. 11:4).
So then, some say that Mary is the mother of the Trinity if we take it that far, however, this is not true. Mary gave birth to the 2nd part of the Trinity, the 2nd Person, who is still God just not the Trinity. However, we must never forget that each Person in the Trinity shares the same Divine Nature and is fully God.
One thing some still point out is that Christ is eternal, so for Mary to be the Mother of God she would have to be God. However the Church does not say Mary is the source of the Divine Nature of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To better understand this let’s look at humanity. Parents give birth to a person, however they are not the author of life, and certainly did not give the child it’s soul. Thus is true with Mary, she did not give Christ His Divine Nature, though she was the Mother of more than just the human form of Christ, because she gave birth to a person, who was God.
Jesus Christ is God, the Second Person of the Trinity.
Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ.
Thus, Mary is the mother of God, the Second Person of the Trinity.
Mary is asleep in her tomb; wherever that may be.
She does NOT hear you; nor speak FOR you.
If you have any evidence to dispute these facts; please present it to the jury.
Bishop Sheen speculated that the Marian apparitions at Fatima would have something to with the conversion of Mohammedans, since the Mohammedans hold Mary in high esteem.
Great video of an old talk by Bishop Sheen.
He needed a mother to nurse him, to hold him, to feed him, to change his diaper, etc.
What kind of person could fail to understand that a baby, a toddler, a child needs a mother?
If you deny that Mary, an unknown Jewish girl until an ANGEL visited her, added MORE than FLESH to the Second part of the Trinity (which pre-existed her by ETERNITY), then you are a CATHOLIC, and have accepted a different gospel.
Every time you say your MANTRA: Hail Mary; Mother of GOD...
...you'll be thinking of me...
I suggest you check the Greek on that.
Speklatin’ shor is fun; ain’t it!
The angel said to Mary that she was “full of grace.”
You know. Without sin.
Of course, what does the angel Gabriel know?
Oh. When people refer to “the Lord,” who are they talking about?
What kind of Christian could fail to understand that a GOD does not need a mother?
Jesus could have gotten His 'flesh' the same way ADAM did: dust.
He could have been like Melchizedek ...
In Heb. 7:3, Melchizedek is depicted as being "Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life"
Cling to her dead, lifeless breast; the paps that once gave suck.
As A PROT; I'll pass on the offering.
"On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
No Catholic has ever said that Mary is the origin of the eternal God.
Mary became the mother of Jesus Christ at the moment of his conception, in her womb.
Because Jesus Christ is God, Mary is called the Mother of God.
No one has ever said that Mary is in some way the origin or source of the eternal God or any one of the persons of the Trinity.
Saying that “I reject the notion that Mary is the Mother of God because Mary did not pre-exist God” is like saying, “I reject the notion that the earth is round because fire engines are red.”
Mary did not, of course, pre-exist God. Mary became the Mother of God at the moment she became the mother of Jesus, which occurred when she conceived him in her womb.
Rome states. Tain't so.
Sinless folks do NOT need a Savior.
Check the Greek.
We're talking FACTS here; not specklatin' on what other folks talk about.
Of course, God CAN do anything. He COULD have come into the world without a mother.
But he DIDN’T.
The Law prescribed that a sin offering be made.
Therefore, a sinless person would OBEY THE LAW.
You constantly refer to deceased people as unequivocally “dead.”
How can you call yourself a Christian when you hold, with atheists, that deceased people no longer exist?
I didn’t mean people in Cleveland. I meant people in the gospels.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.