Posted on 08/17/2015 6:07:35 PM PDT by NKP_Vet
It is that time of week again, where we talk about the Mary, the Mother of God. This is definitely the single most important title that Mary has. If someone gets this wrong, then they get the Divinity of our Lord wrong, and that means the whole plan of Salvation is just messed up. So let us look at this most important title.
Theotokos, God-bearer in Greek, is what the council of Ephesus declared in 431. It specifically says this “If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (for according to the flesh she gave birth to the Word of God become flesh by birth), let him be anathema.” Now just that statement alone proves the early Church believed that there was Authority given to the bishops to decide sound doctrine, Mary was a Holy Virgin her entire life, and that She bore God. However, we only have time for one today.
Now many times we will hear non-Catholics tell us that this title is nowhere found in Scripture, explicitly at least. However, they cannot themselves find a Scripture verse that says that all doctrine and dogma must be explicitly proven in Scripture. I bet they can never find that. This is a trap they set up for themselves and it is a very unfair double standard that they expect us to meet, but they do not have to. However, on top of this double standard is if we used that same standard, then the doctrine of the Trinity is thrown out, since it’s not an explicit teaching, but instead is implicit in Scripture. This double standard seems to cause more problems that it’s worth wouldn’t you say?
Here is the cold hard truth of it though, all Christians rely on some Church Tradition, as well as Scripture, to validate their doctrines, whether they admit it or not. With that being said, Scripture and Tradition can never contradict one another. The Traditions of men can contradict the Word of God, but the Traditions God left us, through Christ, in the Holy Spirit, are binding upon us, as we are to hold fast to Traditions. So then, what is the real question? The real question is, Does Scripture contradict the teaching that Mary is the Mother of God, and is that doctrine found in Scripture at least implicitly?
Let us begin with Luke 1:43, where Mary visited Elizabeth. There Elizabeth exclaimed “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Because Mary was the Mother of the Lord, who is the Second part of the Holy Trinity, Mary is truly and rightfully called the Mother of God.
We also see in Isaiah 7:14 “Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which is interpreted God with us.” Jesus is God. He was God when He was in the womb, conceived, lived, died, buried, resurrected, in the Eucharist, and in Heaven. The Messiah, who is God, was to be born of a virgin, according to Scripture. God was born of a virgin, and it’s right there in Isaiah, who prophesied of Christ birth. That means both Old and New Testament support the Catholic Doctrine of the Mother of God.
However, this may not be enough for some non-Catholics. Some say that Elisabeth called Christ Lord, and not God, saying that Mary was only to give birth to the human child, the Lord Jesus Christ. So then the question becomes, does lord here mean divinity or just authority? Let’s look at the context.
First let us look at 1 Cor. 8:5, which states “Indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet to us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.” St. Paul makes it clear that Jesus is the one True, Lord, as opposed to all the false ones, that the pagans who converted in Corinth were probably worshiping. So then, they would understand that Jesus is God. This holds true to the Jews who converted too, who would know Deut. 6:4 “Hear, therefore, o Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.”
So then that brings us back to Luke 1:43. Elizabeth calls Mary the mother of her Lord. The Mother…Mothers give birth to persons, not natures, let us remember that. Mary did not just give birth to the human nature of Christ, she gave birth to the person of Christ. Christ personhood is Divine, it is God the Son.
Then let us look at 2 Sam. 6:9 where the King, who was David says “How can the ark of the Lord come to me (being the ark of the covenant)” Then in 2 Samuel 616 we see King David leaping in the presence of the Ark, just as John the Baptist did. Then we yet again see another parallel, which says that the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite for three months (2 Sam. 6:11), and according to Luke 1:56 Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth about three months. Then, we see that the ark of the covenant carried three items, manna, the Ten Commandments, and Aaron’s rod. These are all types of things Christ are, the Bread of Life, Word made Flesh, and our true High Priest.
Even knowing all this though, there are still those who would deny that Mary is the Mother of God. So then we have to ask, who is Jesus Christ to them? If Mary is not the Mother of God, then who did she give birth to? Many would say it was an earthly human lord, not God. So then, what does that make Christ? If Mary did not give birth to God, then who did she give birth to? Was not Christ God when He was conceived?
If someone says Mary only gave birth to the person of Christ one of two errors, or both could happen, and that is the Denial of the divinity of Christ, and that one would have to say Christ is two distinct persons, and that he is not One. Both were considered heresy in the Early Church. Christ is one Person, with two natures, Divine and Human, which go together and are not separate of one another. If one denies that, the ultimately they are speaking about a different Christ, and St. Paul warns us about that problem, and to not to give heed to them (2 Cor. 11:4).
So then, some say that Mary is the mother of the Trinity if we take it that far, however, this is not true. Mary gave birth to the 2nd part of the Trinity, the 2nd Person, who is still God just not the Trinity. However, we must never forget that each Person in the Trinity shares the same Divine Nature and is fully God.
One thing some still point out is that Christ is eternal, so for Mary to be the Mother of God she would have to be God. However the Church does not say Mary is the source of the Divine Nature of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. To better understand this let’s look at humanity. Parents give birth to a person, however they are not the author of life, and certainly did not give the child it’s soul. Thus is true with Mary, she did not give Christ His Divine Nature, though she was the Mother of more than just the human form of Christ, because she gave birth to a person, who was God.
There is no baptism into a denomonation, only into Christ. It is an interesting question whether a person baptized while believing a false Gospel has a legitimate baptism. I don’t see how that holds up. In the NT, every Christian baptism was of those who professed the true faith (though some professed it insincerely). In no case is there an example of a NT baptism into Christ of anyone professing a false Gospel, nor of anyone too young or too incompetent to profess faith in Christ.
Logically then, if someone was raised to trust in their own righteousness, or in the merits of some human system, and they later come to realize they were misled, and choose at that time to be baptized into Christ, that would be their first legitimate baptism, as the purveyors of a false Gospel have no authority to administer baptism anyway.
Bottom line, God will keep track of the technicalities. Our main job is to always look to Him in faith, and not ourselves. After all, that is the testimony of baptism, that we have died to the law of sin and death, and been raised into newness of resurrection life in Christ, all because of Him.
Peace,
SR
You’ll have to ask Moses...
You and the rest that say that the Beast of Rome is God’s Pilgrim Church on Earth will have your day in front of the Lord; too.
Poor thing!
I hoped it's learned the TRUTH by now!
Or for someone who was baptized without their consent or knowledge or ability to believe.
Well, you post to me on threads and send to me little digs via freep mail, so run along, this is an open forum.
No; the argument is about CONTROL!!!
 'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.'
'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.' 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all.' |
Go back to yer pigeons; cause no one is gonna play THIS game with you.
You might even amuse yourself by reading the entire post to which I pinged you ...
We'll pardon your bombast, bluster, braggitry and boasting if you ask us to.
Bullheaded and stubborn are a bit closer...
Neither; Why are you making it personal again ?
Your link was formed in the form of a question, not a confessing statement. The phrase "God the Son" is absent from your personal blog. Now, you have answered the question as to whether Jesus is "God the Son" with a denial of sorts, " Yet you can search the entire Bible from which that conclusion is taught and you will not find the phrase Jesus is God the Son or "God the Son" or even Jesus is God. Thus according to your demand for this explicit statement it must be questionable that the Holy Spirit believes Jesus is God the Son, or even that Jesus is God."
Thank you for expressing what you believe.
I have never included you in a ping list. Please remove me from your ping list. I sent you exactly ONE FREEP mail telling you that another member was still banned, that is not a "little dig."
So I am again asking you politely to remove me from your ping list.
Of course, you constantly equivocate in your use of “dead.”
You seem not to believe in life after death.
The real question is: Do people cease to exist at the time of their physical death?
Lol ... logic foreign to you?
Gotcha Then the question is what does mother mean?
Of course, you constantly equivocate in your use of “dead.”
Then therefore ELSIE said to y'all plainly: Mary is dead.
“Mother” means a way to control the narrative.
I fail to understand why it’s seems to be SO hard for any of our FR Catholics to ADMIT that the phrase “Mother of GOD” is NOT found in the bible.
Sorry if that's what you have been waiting for allow me to state the phrase 'Mother of God' is not in the bible. But I think if stating that phrase would be the subject of any disbelief, we would have included that phrase in the bible.
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