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Mary: Mother of God?
What Does the Bible say? ^ | 01/11/2012 | Bro. Lev Humphries,

Posted on 01/11/2012 7:34:56 PM PST by RnMomof7

Mary: Mother of God?

This article is prompted by an ad in the Parade Magazine titled: "Mary Mother of God: What All Mankind Should Know." The offer was made for a free pamphlet entitled "Mary Mother of Jesus" with this explanation: "A clear, insightful pamphlet explains the importance of Mary and her role as Mother of God."

This is quite a claim, to say the least! Nowhere in the Bible is Mary said to be the mother of God. I touched on this subject in a series on "Mary Co-Redeemer with Christ" printed recently.

Question: If Mary is the Mother of God, Who, may I ask, is the Father of God? Does God have a Father, and if He does, Who is His Mother?

The phrase "Mother of God" originated in the Council of Ephesus, in the year 431 AD. It occurs in the Creed of Chalcedon, which was adopted by the council in 451 AD. This was the declaration given at that time: "Born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God according to the Manhood." The purpose of this statement originally was meant to emphasize the deity of Christ over against the teaching of the Nestorians whose teaching involved a dual-natured Jesus. Their teaching was that the person born of Mary was only a man who was then indwelt by God. The title "Mother of God" was used originally to counter this false doctrine. The doctrine now emphasizes the person of Mary rather than the deity of Jesus as God incarnate. Mary certainly did not give birth to God. In fact, Mary did not give birth to the divinity of Christ. Mary only gave birth to the humanity of Jesus. The only thing Jesus got from Mary was a body. Every Human Being has received a sinful nature from their parents with one exception: Jesus was not human. He was divine God in a flesh body. This is what Mary gave birth to. Read Hebrews 10:5 and Phil 2:5-11.

Please refer to Hebrews 10:5 where we see. "...Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me."

The body of Jesus was prepared by God. In Matthew 1:18, "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."

The divine nature of Jesus existed from before eternity, and this cannot be said of Mary Jesus never called her "mother". He called her "woman".

This doctrine deifies Mary and humanizes Jesus. Mary is presented as stronger that Christ, more mature and more powerful that Christ. Listen to this statement by Rome: "He came to us through Mary, and we must go to Him through her." The Bible plainly states that God is the Creator of all things. It is a blasphemous attack on the eternity of God to ever teach that He has a mother. Mary had other children who were normal, physical, sinful human beings. In the case of Jesus Christ, "His human nature had no father and His divine nature had no mother."

It is probably no coincidence that this false doctrine surrounding Mary was born in Ephesus. Please read Acts 19:11-41 and see that Ephesus had a problem with goddess worship. Her name was Diana, Gk. Artemis. You will not have to study very deep to find the similarities between the goddess Diana and the Roman Catholic goddess, Mary. It should be noted that the Mary of the 1st century and the Mary of the 20th century are not the same. Mary of the 1st century was the virgin who gave birth to the Messiah. Mary of the 20th century is a goddess created by the Roman Catholic Church. A simple comparison of what the Bible teaches about Mary and what the Roman Catholic Church teaches about her will reveal two different Marys. Mary is not the "Mother of God." If she were she would be GOD! There is only one true, eternal God. He was not born of a woman. Any teaching on any subject should be backed up by the word of God. If it cannot be supported by Scriptures, it is false doctrine.


TOPICS: Apologetics; Evangelical Christian; General Discusssion; Theology
KEYWORDS: blessedvirginmary; calvinismisdead; divinity; humanity; ignoranceisbliss; mariolatry; mary; motherofgod; nestorianheresy; nestorians; perpetualvirginity; theotokos
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To: presently no screen name

My Church> The Roman Catholic Church teaches> Matthew 7: 15> ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.’ + 1Peter 2:1> ‘Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander.’

What church do you attend? How many are people are in your church? Why is there such darkness? We are all obligated to shine the light of Truth on everything.


1,241 posted on 01/14/2012 11:36:17 AM PST by gghd
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To: Jvette
Yes, the woman is Mary, and also the Church.

Gen 3:16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.

Well if you say so...Guess that's how we know Mary had more children...But you don't believe that either, do you???

But I'd be interested to know just what in that verse you can equate to Mary...

1,242 posted on 01/14/2012 11:40:44 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: gghd; presently no screen name
What church do you attend? How many are people are in your church? Why is there such darkness? We are all obligated to shine the light of Truth on everything.

A few hundred million...Matter of fact, there are more of us in the U.S. than there are of you...

The largest Christian Nation on Earth which is one of the few that has freedom of religion is loaded with Protestants...Kinda looks like ours is the church that the gates of hell will not prevail against...

1,243 posted on 01/14/2012 11:48:13 AM PST by Iscool (You mess with me, you mess with the WHOLE trailerpark...)
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To: CynicalBear

****So you would say just the human body died? Thus there was a separation of some sort?****

As Jesus was both God and man, when He died, God did indeed suffer or taste death, but did not cease to exist.

Just as when we die, we do not cease to exist, our souls are still alive.

But, God was united to the humanity of Jesus forever at the moment of His conception. That is why when Jesus was resurrected, it was the same body in which He was Incarnated.


1,244 posted on 01/14/2012 11:49:49 AM PST by Jvette
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To: Iscool

What is the name of your church? Is it listed on Wikipedia? Does it have an Internet website? There are listing of Church sizes on the Internet. What I have found:> the Roman Catholic Church is the largest Church in the USA.

Please, Please, Please = (Anybody ever listen to old James Brown records?) What is the name of your church?

My Church teaches: Matthew 7: 15> ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.’ What is the name of your church. Why is there so much darkness. We should all want to shine the light of Truth on everything.


1,245 posted on 01/14/2012 11:59:00 AM PST by gghd
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To: gghd
The Roman Catholic Church teaches> Matthew 7: 15> ‘Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.’ + 1Peter 2:1> ‘Rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, insincerity, envy, and all slander.’

That's a case where the pot is calling the kettle black. RUN FROM IT!
1,246 posted on 01/14/2012 11:59:40 AM PST by presently no screen name
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To: metmom
Thanks for the ping. Here are some of my thoughts:

While I think that in order to be chosen by God Mary would have been a woman of real holiness and sincerity, yet this does not necessarily make her more holy than many other woman.

Mary was indeed blessed above all woman, that being due to whom she was to bring forth. Yet just as God brought forth his pure written word through holy but not sinless men, so it is not necessary that the vessel that brought forth Christ must be sinless either. Using that rationale it could be reasoned that the vessel that brought forth Mary herself must be sinless. And yet Christ's lineage includes manifest sinners, as was the "fathers of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen." (Romans 9:5)

Mary was also "highly favored," which Rome chose to translate as "full of grace" (DRB), but which is the same word (charitoō) used to describe believers in Ephesians 1:6.

Greater aspects of Mary's exaltation are that as Christ was sinless, so is Mary said to be; Christ bodily rose from the dead, and so it is said of Mary; Christ ever lives to make intercession for the saints, (Heb. 7:25), and is able to hear an an infinite multitude of supplicants at any given time, and so this is attribute it to Mary.

In defense of this Catholics will argue from silence, that Scripture does not disallow such being attributed to a believer, and that Scripture records some being bodily assumed. However, Scripture also manifests that exceptions among notable people are made evident, from the number of fingers a man has to being sinless. Thus Christ's is said to be sinless at least three times.

Scripture warns against thinking "of men above that which is written" (1Corinthians 4:6), and all in all the preoccupation with exalting Mary in Catholicism has turned a simple, humble, God-fearing holy and honorable woman into a demigodess, with Divine powers and almost unlimited power whose requests for as commands to God, which in type is more pagan than scriptural.

While not all of the supererogation involved in attributions to Mary is official doctrine, it has its implicit assent seem in the lack of censure to even its most extreme expressions, and extreme exaltation even by popes, who themselves can be seen to think of themselves above that which is written.

1,247 posted on 01/14/2012 12:03:12 PM PST by daniel1212 (Our sinful deeds condemn us, but Christ's death and resurrection gains salvation. Repent +Believe)
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To: presently no screen name

What is the name of your church? How many people are in your church? Why is there so much darkness? We are all told to shine the light of Truth on the darkness in this world.

My Church, The Catholic Church, warns us about wolves in sheep’s clothing as it is from the Bible.

What is the name of your church? Please tell us!


1,248 posted on 01/14/2012 12:08:03 PM PST by gghd
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To: CynicalBear

***Jesus also called him Satan in that same conversation.***

Yes, Jesus did say to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan”.

Peter, not wanting Jesus to die, tries to deny what must happen. Just as Satan would like us all to do, deny Jesus, deny the Incarnation and deny our redemption from the cross.

It actually is a very telling incident.

We enter the gates of heaven through the Truth of Jesus.

Conversely, we enter the gate of hell through the lies of Satan.

What does Jesus say? “I will give you the keys of the kingdom and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.”

And what happens next? Peter is immediately attacked by Satan and Jesus just as immediately steps in with the truth and further teachings about giving up one’s life for the truth.

Peter was indeed human, with a fully human nature that could fail, but the human Peter, united with the Holy Spirit was a totally different creature.

Just as we see in Jesus the union of the human with the divine, we see this union in Scriptures, written by humans under the inspiration and guidance of God, and the Church, led by humans under the inspiration and guidance of God.


1,249 posted on 01/14/2012 12:10:11 PM PST by Jvette
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To: Iscool
A few hundred million...ours is the church that the gates of hell will not prevail against...

That's it! All my brothers and sisters go there. We are all getting together soon to attend a wedding. The invitation has been sent but the date is not known yet but just be ready. I'll see you then, nonetheless, and we are told to come as we are.
1,250 posted on 01/14/2012 12:12:15 PM PST by presently no screen name
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To: RnMomof7

Is it ok for Catholics to make statues of their deceased relatives who died as believers, kneel down before them and ask for their blessings?


1,251 posted on 01/14/2012 12:15:19 PM PST by Tramonto (Draft Palin)
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To: gghd

Newbie, your ‘voice’ is very familiar.


1,252 posted on 01/14/2012 12:21:35 PM PST by presently no screen name
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To: RnMomof7; gghd; All
Do Catholics consider this prayer to Mary to be idolatry? Can you pray this to any deceased believer, such as your own grandmother?

Prayer Commending Oneself to Mary

O holy Mary, my Mistress, into thy blessed trust and special blessing, into the bosom of thy tender mercy, this day, every day of my life and at the hour of my death, I commend my soul and body; to thee I entrust all my hopes and consolations, all my trials and miseries, my life and the end of my life, that through thy most holy intercession and thy merits, all my actions may be ordered and disposed according to thy will and that of thy divine Son. Amen.

btw gghd, this isn't what evangelicals typically say to each other in the "prayer chain".

1,253 posted on 01/14/2012 12:23:50 PM PST by Tramonto (Draft Palin)
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To: CynicalBear

no comparison.

Islam is a false religion and a political/national ideology which does not trace its beginning to Jesus, nor does it even recognize Him as God.

It is just more heresy, albeit a vicious one, but heresies have abounded from the beginning and as is evident in this thread, heresies are still around.

The main difference in Islamists and other heretics, is that the Islamists have power which they wield to control their members.


1,254 posted on 01/14/2012 12:28:53 PM PST by Jvette
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To: Tramonto

Luke 11:

27 While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”

How can a Catholic read this and not understand that the devotion to and worship of Mary is contrary to Jesus’ own teachings. You can either follow Rome or Christ.

1,255 posted on 01/14/2012 12:31:24 PM PST by Tramonto (Draft Palin)
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To: Iscool

Mary is the mother of Christians, just as Jesus said from the cross and it was in sorrow caused by the death of her Son that the Church was born.

The Holy Spirit, God, is her spouse and her entire life was given over to Him.


1,256 posted on 01/14/2012 12:33:03 PM PST by Jvette
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To: CynicalBear

No, I don’t follow Replacement Theology and neither does the Church.

The promises to Israel are still the same promises, but we are now partakers of those promises in that Jesus fulfilled them and opened the gates to all, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Jesus is the New and Everlasting Covenant, exactly as He said.


1,257 posted on 01/14/2012 12:38:14 PM PST by Jvette
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To: Jvette
>>Islam is a false religion and a political/national ideology which does not trace its beginning to Jesus, nor does it even recognize Him as God.<<

You mean that length of time doesn’t necessarily mean anything after all? Are you saying there are other criteria to take into consideration? Maybe like sticking with what scripture teaches and not listening to the “tales of men”?

1,258 posted on 01/14/2012 12:42:54 PM PST by CynicalBear
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To: Jvette; caww
>>Mary is the mother of Christians<<

Scripture reference please.

1,259 posted on 01/14/2012 12:45:05 PM PST by CynicalBear
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To: CynicalBear

LOl, good try.

The length of time is just that, the amount of time that has passed since the start of the Church. That in and of itself is not what matters, other than there has been that many years.

***Maybe like sticking with what scripture teaches and not listening to the “tales of men”?****

LOL, nice try again.

This is where you get lost and why protestantism cannot make the same claims that the Church can make and why it is not the True Church, but an offshoot of it.

Scripture supports Catholic teaching, All of it. Rejecting the teachings because one interprets Scripture differently does not negate Catholic teaching, it merely shows why the authority Jesus gave her is so needed.

During this conversation, as I have been presented different questions and challenges, I have researched what Scripture says, in context and then what the different understandings of it are from others.

People are all over the map on so many things. One trying to read and understand Scripture for the first time would be just overwhelmed with the disparity among all the “churches” out there.

St. John Henry Newman wrote an essay on the “Development of Doctrine” and it was that which brought him home to the Church; for what he found was that going back through all the centuries and generations of the Church, doctrine was not changed, though it had been “fleshed” out over time.

The length of time is only important in regards to the Church, because no matter how much protestants reject the doctrines of Catholicism, history shows that they are the odd men out, not the Catholics.

Protestants are the ones who have created new doctrine out of whole cloth. Doctrines that no one believed, lo those many years ago, or doctrines that were declared heretical, lo those many years ago.

It is why protestants hate the history of the Church, they have no place in it.


1,260 posted on 01/14/2012 12:56:26 PM PST by Jvette
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