Funny, last time I checked, Jesus IS God.
Correct, and by which logic Elizabeth was the grandmother of God and so forth back to Eve. But the problem is that which "mother of" most naturally conveys, which is that of ontological oneness. "Mother of Jesus" provides distinction, since Christ is Divinity who created Mary but who became flesh thru His creation.
Christ was also a son of David, yet since he called Christ his Lord, the Divine Christ asked, If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? (Matthew 22:45)
Christ was not denying David as being a progenitor of the Messiah, but makes the distinction btwn ontological oneness with the Divine Christ by asking, "If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?" Likewise the sense in which Christ is called the Son of Mary demands qualification, which "Mother of God" actually works against, inferring Divinity has a progenitor, or at least God owes something to Mary as being His mother (indeed, some teach this).
As Christ came thru Israel who also birthed other sons, and Christ is God, then God could be said to be a child of Israel. But one must reverence the Holy Spirit's use of titles when it comes to deity, and even when He states that Christ came of Israel He is careful to provide the Divinely exalting qualifier, "of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever." (Rm. 9:5)
Now if Catholics typically added such a qualifier, that Mary is the mother of God as concerning the flesh (as she provided none of His Divine nature, but which provided her), who is over all, God blessed for ever," then it would be more tolerable. But even the somewhat more tolerable Theotokos, (God-bearer) is basically often shunned in preference to the misleading "Mother of God" which is seen in paganism and cults (Mormonism), not Scripture, nor consistent with its shunning of misleading titles regarding deity.
And part of the problem with "Mother of God" is that it is part of a hyper-exaltation which goes far far beyond anything the Holy Spirit ever says about any created being, and renders the Mary of Catholicism to be a type of demigoddess who is made to largely parallel Christ.
For in the seeming Catholic quest to almost deify Mary, it is taught by Catholics*,
as Christ was sinless, so Mary was;
as the Lord remained a virgin, so Mary;
as Christ was called the Son of God, indicating ontological oneness, so Mary is called the Mother of God (which easily infers the same, and is not the language of Scripture);
as the emphasis is upon Christ as the Creator through whom God (the Father) made all things, including Mary, so it is emphasized that uniquely “to her, Jesus owes His Precious Blood,” shed for the salvation of mankind, (the logic behind which can lead back to Eve);
as Catholics (adding error to error) believe Christ gave His "real" flesh and blood to be eaten, so it is emphasized that Mary gave Him this, being fashioned out of Mary's pure blood and even being “kneaded with the admixture of her virginal milk,” so that she can say, "Come and eat my bread, drink the wine I have prepared" (Prov. 9:5);
as Scripture declares that Christ suffered for our sins, so Mary is said to have done so also;
as Christ saves us from the condemnation and death resulting from the fault of Adam, so it is taught that man was condemned through the fault of Eve, the root of death, but that we are saved through the merits of Mary; who was the source of life for everyone.
as the Lord was bodily ascended into Heaven, so Mary also was;
as Christ is given all power in heaven and in earth, so Mary is “surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven.”
as Christ is the King of the saints and over all kings, (Rv. 15:3; 17:14; 19:16) so Mary is made Queen of Heaven and the greatest saint, and that “Next to God, she deserves the highest praise;”
as the Father made Christ Lord over all things, so Mary is enthroned (all other believers have to wait for their crowns) and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things;
as Christ is the express image of God, and highly exalted above all under the Father, having the primary position among all creation, so Mary is declared to be the greatest saint of all, and the first of all creatures, and as having a certain affinity with the Father, with a pre-eminent resemblance which she bears to the Father;
as Christ ever liveth to make intercession for the saints, so is Mary said to do so;
as all things come from the Father through the Son, so Mary is made to be the dispenser of all grace;
as Christ is given all power on Heaven and on earth, Mary is said to have (showing some restraint) “almost unlimited power;”
as no man comes to the Father but through the Son, so it is taught that no one can come to the Son except through Mary in Heaven;
and as the Lord called souls to come to Him to be given life and salvation, so (in misappropriation of the words of Scripture) it is said of Mary, “He that shall find me shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord;” “that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is His will, that we obtain everything through Mary.”
And as Christ is given many titles of honor, so Mary also is, except that she is honored by Catholics with more titles than they give to the Lord Himself!
Mary was a holy, virtuous instrument of God, but of whom Scripture says relatively little, while holy fear ought to restrain ascribing positions, honor, glory and powers to a mortal that God has not revealed as given to them, and or are only revealed as being possessed by God Himself. But like as the Israelites made an instrument of God an object of worship, (Num. 21:8,9; 2Kg. 18:4) Catholics have magnified Mary far beyond what is written and warranted and even allowed, based on what is in Scripture.
For it Never recorded a women who never sinned, and was a perpetual virgin despite being married (contrary to the normal description of marriage, as in leaving and sexually cleaving) and who would be bodily assumed to Heaven and exalted (officially or with implicit sanction) as
• an almost almighty demigoddess to whom "Jesus owes His Precious Blood" to,
• whose [Mary] merits we are saved by,
• who "had to suffer, as He did, all the consequences of sin,"
• and was bodily assumed into Heaven, which is a fact (unsubstantiated in Scripture or even early Tradition) because the Roman church says it is, and "was elevated to a certain affinity with the Heavenly Father,"
• and whose power now "is all but unlimited,"
• for indeed she "seems to have the same power as God,"
• "surpassing in power all the angels and saints in Heaven,"
• so that "the Holy Spirit acts only by the Most Blessed Virgin, his Spouse."
• and that “sometimes salvation is quicker if we remember Mary's name then if we invoked the name of the Lord Jesus,"
• for indeed saints have "but one advocate," and that is Mary, who "alone art truly loving and solicitous for our salvation,"
• Moreover, "there is no grace which Mary cannot dispose of as her own, which is not given to her for this purpose,"
• and who has "authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven,"
• including "assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels,"
• whom the good angels "unceasingly call out to," greeting her "countless times each day with 'Hail, Mary,' while prostrating themselves before her, begging her as a favour to honour them with one of her requests,"
• and who (obviously) cannot "be honored to excess,"
• and who is (obviously) the glory of Catholic people, whose "honor and dignity surpass the whole of creation." Sources and more.
“Mary was a holy, virtuous instrument of God, but of whom Scripture says relatively little, while holy fear ought to restrain ascribing positions, honor, glory and powers to a mortal that God has not revealed as given to them, and or are only revealed as being possessed by God Himself. But like as the Israelites made an instrument of God an object of worship, (Num. 21:8,9; 2Kg. 18:4) Catholics have magnified Mary far beyond what is written and warranted and even allowed, based on what is in Scripture. “
+1
Excellent!
Bookmarked.
Nicely done.
BTW, thank you for the thorough post.
Ummm, nope. Elizabeth was Mary's cousin, not her mother.
Mary's mother is St. Anne (here's a link to an NON-Catholic site with information of Mary's mother, since the Catholic bashers on this thread continually insist that "the Catholics" made up this stuff, when in reality ALL of Christendom proclaimed it early on in Christianity: http://orthodoxwiki.org/Joachim_and_Anna )
The only "logic" on this thread from people objecting to the basic Christian doctrine that Jesus was God when he was in Mary's womb are making bizarrely illogical arguments with "logic" that would conclude:
President Obama's mother must be "greater" than the President, and he must have gotten his presidency from her, since she's accepted as the President's mother (and not merely "Barack Obama's mother").
A fireman's mother must have existed "before there were firemen", since she's recognized as the mother of one.
Angie Jolie must have "created" her Cambodian son that she adopted, she since is universally accepted as his mother.
In short, none of the "logic" objecting to the use of the term "Mother of God" is used in the real world for any motherhood. Contining to make up straw man arguments whose "logic" falls apart in when applied to any other situation isn't helping their cause.
Wrong again. Mormonism does not use the title "Mother of God" at all, and the Mormon belief about Mary is FAR closer to Protestantism than Catholicism. (see http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/sep/08/mormons-mary-christians )
Mormons and Protestants agree that Mary is not special, sinned like everyone, should NOT be venerated and is just an ordinary women chosen to be the vessel to bring Jesus into the world. This Mormon/Protestant teaching (which came about in the 1600s for protestants and the 1800s for Mormons) is very far removed from early Christianity, which never taught that.
The main difference between Mormon and Protestant theology on Mary is that Mormons make the bizzaro claim that God the Father had sex with the Virgin Mary and impregnated her with Jesus (similar to Greek mythology on Hercules). Protestants, on the other hand, pretty much accept the traditional account of a miraculous pregnancy and virgin birth. I guess they think God the Father played Eeny-meeny-miny-moe and picked out some random woman for this extraordinary task.