It is "gotcha" when someone tosses heresy charges at someone just because they're specific regarding the relationship of the Son to Mary.
I have no problem with "Mary the Mother of God" provided the person is honest about meaning the Incarnate, 2d Person of the Trinity.
They demonstrate their honesty by assuming the best about someone who calls Mary the mother of Jesus. It makes no sense to assume a person doesn't believe in the Trinity and to immediately begin throwing the word "heresy" around.
In those cases, it makes as much sense to assume that the accuser does not believe that the Father is divine.
Dear xzins,
"I have no problem with 'Mary the Mother of God' provided the person is honest about meaning the Incarnate, 2d Person of the Trinity."
That's nice. I'm glad that you can agree to this unanimous teaching of the Whole, Universal and Ancient Church.
"They demonstrate their honesty by assuming the best about someone who calls Mary the mother of Jesus. It makes no sense to assume a person doesn't believe in the Trinity and to immediately begin throwing the word 'heresy' around."
I don't completely agree.
Calling Mary the Mother of Jesus, and then refraining from calling her the Mother of God reminds Apostolic Christians of heretics from long ago. We remember a little bit of our history. We remember that the heresies that resulted from this failure were painful and difficult to eradicate. We remember that these were some of the worst heresies with which the Church had to deal. Some of us actually remember that it is from these heresies that the horror of Islam actually arose.
The failure to identify Mary as the Mother of God helped produce a flawed and defective Christology that helped produce Islam.
For us Apostolic Christians, this is a serious business.
These things are in our mind when we hear, "Mary is the Mother of Jesus," and then don't hear, "Mary is the Mother of God."
"In those cases, it makes as much sense to assume that the accuser does not believe that the Father is divine."
For us, in that that was never in question, that doesn't make as much sense.
The connections we make are conditioned by what we know, learn, and remember.
For devout Catholics and Orthodox, it is difficult for us to hear certain phrases and not think certain things.
And it isn't unreasonable.
sitetest