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To: boatbums; NYer
Jesus Christ was Almighty God incarnate (in the flesh) he was fully God and fully human.

This is what's known as the Hypostatic Union. It is the perfect union of the Divine and human natures in the one Person of Jesus Christ. This, and ONLY this, is what is meant by the phrase "true God and true man," or as you said, "fully God and fully man."

If the Divine and human natures were not so completely unified in the Person of Christ, He would either be a half God/half man, or at least not fully God.

If you've ever read Shakespeare, and run across the phrase "Odds Bodkins," here is a recognition of the Hypostatic Union, which means literally "God's Body."

But this is Biblical:

[41] And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit
[42] and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!
[43] And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
Luke 1:41-43 RSV
And another:

[14] And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth; we have beheld his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father.
John 1:14

When the Apostle Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God," did the "my Lord" part only address the human "side" of Jesus, and the "my God" part only address the Divine "side?"

Mary, the Blessed Virgin, derives her identity as the Mother of God by virtue of the Hypostatic Union. This High Priest we have is truly like us in all things except sin. He isn't just God in a human body, or any variation thereof that would make Him less than Who He is.

17 posted on 01/02/2010 4:35:00 PM PST by Lauren BaRecall (Happy New Year!)
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To: Lauren BaRecall
I agree with all you are saying with the exception of exalting Mary to Mother of God status. In the OP, the graffiti (not condoning it, mind you) shows what most non-Catholics understand when they see the title given to Mary. This is not a name taken from Scripture but arrived at in the fourth century by some teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome.

My immediate reaction to hearing Mary called "Mother of God" is hold on there, God always was, how could he have been preceeded by a mother? If you look at this objectively, you may see why people object. They aren't hearing all the further explanations and are taking the title at face value.

My point is, why cause the confusion in the first place? Why seem to exalt Mary above Jesus Christ, because that is what our human experience interprets this as saying? A mother comes before a child.

BTW...I like your postname. :o)

18 posted on 01/02/2010 4:49:18 PM PST by boatbums (Pro-woman, pro-child, pro-life!)
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