[Dr. Eckleburg]

If Mary were the mother of God, then that means someone or something preceded God.

And that's absurd.

Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ who would be born of a virgin in order to fulfill prophecy and to provide Jesus' human incarnation.

It's just not that difficult. All the bells and whistles detracts from the glory that is God's alone. People who venerate, worship and/or pray to anyone other than the Trinitarian God of all creation do so at their peril.

[bonfire]

Amen.

[Frank Sheed]

If Mary were the mother of God, then that means someone or something preceded God.

And that's absurd.

Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ who would be born of a virgin in order to fulfill prophecy and to provide Jesus' human incarnation.

Jesus Christ is a Divine Person with a human nature and a Divine nature. Therefore, He is God-Man (read the references in John in which He reveals His relation to the Father speaking as a man). Since Jesus is both God and man, and since Jesus was born of a woman, Mary, His mother, is the mother of God. Doubt that if you will, but it is the literal Truth. It doesn't mean she anteceded the Divine; it is, thus, a Mystery called the Incarnation ("and the Word was made Flesh and made His dwelling among us"). This is why the Orthodox use the term "Theotokos". If you doubt that, you don't know anything about the Trinity. Your argument is pure Arianism against which St. Athanasius fought a mighty battle. Jesus was not JUST human. He was God-man.

[Frank Sheed]

http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ460.HTM

General

Whatever may be the position theologically that one may take today on the subject of Mariology, one is not able to call to one's aid 'reformed tradition' unless one does it with the greatest care . . . the Marian doctrine of the Reformers is consonant with the great tradition of the Church in all the essentials and with that of the Fathers of the first centuries in particular . . . . .

In regard to the Marian doctrine of the Reformers, we have already seen how unanimous they are in all that concerns Mary's holiness and perpetual virginity . . .

{Max Thurian (Protestant), Mary: Mother of all Christians, tr. Neville B. Cryer, NY: Herder & Herder, 1963 (orig. 1962), pp. 77, 197}

The title 'Ever Virgin' (aeiparthenos, semper virgo) arose early in Christianity . . . It was a stock phrase in the Middle Ages and continued to be used in Protestant confessional writings (Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, Andrewes; Book of Concord [1580], Schmalkaldic Articles [1537]).

{Raymond E. Brown et al, ed., Mary in the New Testament, Phil.: Fortress Press / NY: Paulist Press, 1978, p.65 (a joint Catholic-Protestant effort) }

Mary was formally separated from Protestant worship and prayer in the 16th century; in the 20th century the divorce is complete. Even the singing of the 'Magnificat' caused the Puritans to have scruples, and if they gave up the Apostles' Creed, it was not only because of the offensive adjective 'Catholic', but also because of the mention of the Virgin . . .

[But] Calvin, like Luther and Zwingli, taught the perpetual virginity of Mary. The early Reformers even applied, though with some reticence, the title Theotokos to Mary . . . Calvin called on his followers to venerate and praise her as the teacher who instructs them in her Son's commands.

{J.A. Ross MacKenzie (Protestant), in Stacpoole, Alberic, ed., Mary's Place in Christian Dialogue, Wilton, Conn.: Morehouse-Barlow, 1982, pp.35-6}

[adiaireton8]

If Mary were the mother of God, then that means someone or something preceded God. And that's absurd.

John the Baptist preceded God, since He came to prepare the way of the Lord. See, it all depends on how you take the word "precede". If by 'precede' you mean that Mary unqualifiedly pre-existed the Second Person of the Trinity, then obviously that would be false. But if by 'precede' you mean that Mary existed before Christ's incarnation, then that would be correct, not "absurd".

Mary is the mother of Jesus Christ

Right. And Jesus Christ is God. Therefore, Mary is the mother of God.

-A8

[Salvation]

**If Mary were the mother of God, then that means someone or something preceded God.**

Huh?

I am sure that non-Catholics believe the Holy Scripture from Luke:

Emphasis added by me.

Gospel
Lk 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

[trisham]

It's a Trinity. Mary is the Mother of God.

[Conservative til I die]

If Mary were the mother of God, then that means someone or something preceded God.

It's a simple logical exercise. Mary was Jesus's mother. Jesus was God the Son. Therefore it follows that Mary was the mother of God (the Son).