[Campion]

As originally expressed in the Greek, Theotokos can also mean "Bearer of God" (as in she bore a child), which doesn't have quite the same implications in English as "Mother of God".

Okay, I'll bite. What implications does "Mother of God" have that "God-bearer" (in the sense of bearing a child) doesn't?

[redgolum]

Well, as expressed earlier in the thread, Mother of God tends to make people think that the Son, 2nd person of the trinity, did not exist before His conception.

I went round and round with a guy a few months ago who was convinced that the Son did not exist before the Incarnation (there is a name for that particular heresy, but I can't think of it now). He used the term "Mother of God" as proof of it.

Bearer of God means much the same thing, but in English it is easier to understand that the Son did not begin existence at conception. The author of the book made a much better presentation about it than I just did :(