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To: kosta50; Forest Keeper; Blogger; blue-duncan; P-Marlowe

To say "Mary gave birth to Jesus" is not to deny His divinity.

That's pure, unadulterated silliness.

It makes the bible guilty of nestorianism.

People are just playing "gotcha" with the imprecision of the general word "God" in a trinitarian system.

It's not helpful at all. There is nothing wrong with specificity in one's writing.


1,777 posted on 12/18/2006 6:09:28 AM PST by xzins (Retired Army Chaplain and proud of it! Supporting our troops means praying for them to WIN!)
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To: xzins; Forest Keeper; Blogger; blue-duncan; P-Marlowe
That's pure, unadulterated silliness

Pure and unadultereted silliness is denying that Mary carried and gave birth to God the Word.

Your semantic acrobatics deny Jesus' divinity. That's all.

1,778 posted on 12/18/2006 6:19:34 AM PST by kosta50 (Eastern Orthodoxy is pure Christianity)
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To: xzins

Dear xzins,

One may certainly say that Mary is the Mother of Jesus. One may also certainly say that Mary is the Mother of the Christ.

However, if one says that Mary is the Mother of Jesus, the Mother of the Christ, but then specifically says she is NOT the Mother of God, then one is denying His Divinity.

If Jesus is God and Mary is His Mother, then she is the Mother of God. Jesus is a single individual, not two. He HAS two natures, but IS one person. Mary is mother of a person, not a nature. The person of whom she is mother is Jesus.

Conversely, if one says that Mary is the Mother of God, one does not necessarily say that she is the Mother of God the Father or God the Holy Spirit. She is only Mother of God the Son.

However, the Church states simply that she is the Mother of God.

This isn't "playing gotcha." This is actually a matter of precision in the use of language, and was critically important in refuting the heresies of Arianism and Nestorianism. Various heresies wished to deny that Jesus was fully God, or wished to separate Jesus the man from Jesus Who is God. By qualifying "God" in Mary, Mother of God, these folks intended to make Jesus [at least a] little less than Who He is.

Thus, the formulation agreed-to by the ancient Church Council, and reiterated unanimously and perenially by the Whole Church was arrived at with great care, to drive home central points of Christology, unambiguously, without wiggle room. The precise language used was very, very important. At least, this was believed nearly universally by the Fathers and the Ecumenical Councils.

But what did they know, right?


sitetest



1,794 posted on 12/18/2006 6:47:47 AM PST by sitetest (If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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