Posted on 12/04/2006 7:52:47 PM PST by Pyro7480
Thank you for answering the question.
Obviously, I would have a lot to say about the concept of anathema. But, that wasn't the point of the inquiry. I wanted to hear from a G.O. what it meant.
Again, thank you for the answer.
Mary is the Mother of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God. But Mary was not before Jesus. Mary was part of God's incarnation in that her womb bore the Son of God. But, God is eternally preexistant - therefore, to say Mary is the Mother of God throws unnecessary confusion into the matter. Mary is not Divine. She did not contribute to the Son's divinity. She contributed to His humanity in that He became a man and passed through her womb and birth canal in the normal human way.
"Obviously, I would have a lot to say about the concept of anathema. But, that wasn't the point of the inquiry."
I don't doubt you would! :) As a matter of curiosity, what role if any do the dogmatic pronouncements of The Church in the 7 Ecumenical Councils play in your faith?
"Again, thank you for the answer."
You are very welcome!
So the Protestant view is that any womb would have done just fine?
My faith is non-creedal; though I don't think the very earliest of creeds that came out (Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed) etc., would find too much objection (might need qualifying as far as definition of what 'catholic' means etc.,). But we have no formal creed that every church in the denomination adheres to. We do have a statement of faith that the vast majority of churches in the denomination believe in; but it isn't really a creed. Churches are governed at a local level only.
Funny, my 10-year old has no problem with the concept that Mary bore Jesus into the world. That the Son and the Father are one, therefore she was actually God's mother here on earth.
Theotokos is often translated as God-Bearer.
Thanks.
"might need qualifying as far as definition of what 'catholic' means etc.,"
In the canons and dogmatic declarations of the Ecumenical Councils, it means "universal"; it doesn't mean Roman Catholic which is a term which arose sometime after the Great Schism.
But is it a true statement?
I'm interested in church structures, and appreciate your post. If you have a link to your statement of faith, I'd appreciate it.
Also, I can't tell exactly from post, what is it exactly that makes every church part of the same denomination?
thanks..
"But, God is eternally preexistant - therefore, to say Mary is the Mother of God throws unnecessary confusion into the matter. "
B, why do you say that calling her the Theotokos throws in any kind of confusion, unnecessary or otherwise? Are you suggesting that she gave birth to the human person of Christ and not the divine?
"Mary is not Divine"
The Church has never, ever taught that.
Which in English, seems to be the translation that sounds better.
Why?
" That the Son and the Father are one, therefore she was actually God's mother here on earth."
Following your logic God died on the cross?
I can't speak for "all" Protestants but that is my view.
Mary was a mother. But our Lord Jesus existed far before Mary came on the scene. So was she technically the "Mother" of God. No. Not in the sense you mean it.
Denying that Mary is the mother of God is not only *more* confusing, it is heresy, for it entails one of three heresies: either (1) the person to whom she gave birth was not divine or (2) she did not give birth to a person but to a nature, or (3) that she didn't give birth. All three are heretical. The first is either the heresy of Arianism or Nestorianism. The second heresy is Nestorianism. And the third heresy is Docetism.
-A8
Thanks. In what sense do you mean it? Or, i.e., what does "technically" mean in your reply?
If God didn't die on the cross, then that was a mere man on that cross, and you are still dead in your sins. The heretic Nestorius denied that God died on the cross, because he denied the hypostatic *union* of the two natures.
-A8
Then God is mortal and not eternal. That is your position?
God is both mortal and immortal, eternal and temporal.
-A8
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