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.
Like was stated in the article. The Mary of the Bible is not the Mary worshiped by Catholics
Catholics don’t worship Mary
So, which is it? When Mary gave birth to Jesus was He only human or was he Human and God?
So your ‘cannon’ includes the utterances of the gnostic Clement?
That's a perfect way to put it. Thank you.
Thanks, that is a sensible view to take if one is made uncomfortable with the term Mother of God, because to them it implies Mary has precedence over the Godhead. It is a sensible middle ground that does not come even close to suggesting Christ was not fully human and fully divine.
He and I agree.. Mary contributed nothing to the divinity of Christ.. Mary contributed the humanity to Jesus
Amen
He's right, CB. Read the Bible. In the beginning was the Word...
As I understand it, there are no Biblical references to the “mystery” of the Trinity, and most especially no mention of it by Jesus in the Gospels. It was a “doctrine” invented centuries later.
The two are not separate. Jesus is one Person and it is He who Our Lady gave birth to.
Sounds more like you're wrong. There is nothing in Scripture that says that being full of grace equates to sinlessness.
...blessed art thou among women...kind of places her above other women wouldn't you say???
No, because the angel said among women, not above women.
Nice change in scripture there. Let’s look at what it really says.
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
Notice it’s the woman’s seed that bruises the head of the serpent, not the woman. Throw that CC version of scripture in the trash and get a correct one. When you begin your premise on a falsehood the rest falls apart quickly.
>>Luke narrates the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she is to conceive a son and remain a virgin.<<
Show us where it says she will remain a virgin.
>>Luke also narrates Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth (pregnant with John the Baptist). It is Elizabeth who first calls Mary “the mother of God (Lord)”.<<
Lord denotes “master” not God. She was not saying “mother of God” She was saying mother of her “master” or “teacher”.
Jesus even says Mary is NOT more blessed
Luke 11:27-28 27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Nay rather, (Greek Menounge: nay surely, nay rather) blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
“Catholics don’t worship Mary”
who are Catholics to tell the non-Catholics what Catholics believe???
i suspect many of these non-Catholics are Jehovah Witnesses, but will never cop to it.
I'm asking about the birth of Jesus. You keep referencing the conception. To whom did Mary give birth? The human Jesus or the divine Jesus?
Mary gave Jesus a body which died and was buried. Nothing Mary gave Jesus survived.
These heretical beliefs RC's hold to are barriers to understanding The Gospel and believing it.
You tell me. Did He have a sin nature or not?
You are confusing yourself!
Christ’s Godness was never born; it is eternal. You’re trying to get something eternal to be born, and that is fallacy.
The only thing that was born was his blood attachment to those he would save, and that was how the price was paid for all of us, including his mother, and his half-brothers and half sisters.
Eastern Orthodox does also and has been pointed out in other threads the Reformers understood that the title Mother of God was an affirmation that Jesus is indeed God.
“Jesus' teaching on the separation of the sheep from the goats is based on the works that were done during their lives, not just on their acceptance of Christ as Savior. In fact, this teaching even demonstrates that those who are ultimately saved do not necessarily have to know Christ.” [http://www.scripturecatholic.com/salvation.html#salvation-I]
So I'm learning. It's been a real eye opening experience.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.