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.
“WOW, I’m so glad that the protestant revolution came along after only one thousand six hundred years to set us straight.....whew, that was close....”
Like Christians came along, in the the power of the Holy Spirit, to set the Jews straight? You think they felt any differently than you claim to? “I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and I will harden whom I choose to harden”!
God is no respecter of persons: if He hardened them for malfeasance He could harden YOU—yes, you, as you claim the mantle of Catholicism—for your egregious mishandling of His Good News.
The Word functions as the act of existence of the human nature of Jesus Christ.
Yes. The human nature of Jesus Christ began to exist in time, in the womb of Mary.
If you deny that Jesus Christ, the man who was born of Mary and lived in Nazareth, is God, the Second Person of the Trinity, then you are not a Christian, but have invented a new religion for yourself.
Of course, the three Persons of the Trinity are not “separate.” God is one substance, not three. But the three Persons are distinct, or distinguishable.
If you hold that the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit are ABSOLUTELY one, the same, indistinguishable from one another, then you are not a Christian, but have invented a different religion.
Nobody ever said that Mary gave birth to the eternal, triune God. The title “Mother of God” NEVER NEVER NEVER signified that Mary preceded, or gave rise to, or caused, or gave birth to, the eternal triune God.
Mary conceived and gave birth to the incarnate Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity.
Since the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ, is God, and Mary conceived and gave birth to him, and because he is ONE PERSON, Mary is the mother of God.
God the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, the Word, became flesh in the womb of Mary—taking his flesh from her body. Because he is ONE PERSON, Mary became at that instant the Mother of God.
And how do you determine these?
And totally unwarranted.
There’s not a thing in your post that would indicate any validity to the accusation.
It was apparently just pulled out of thin air in an attempt to discredit you and put you on the defensive, causing you to think you need to defend yourself against false accusations.
Prots NOT stating it sure gets Catholics in a dither!
Still trying to get me to say something?
Why?
Isn't SCRIPTURE good enough for you?
14 Then therefore Jesus said to them plainly: Lazarus is dead.
The title *mother of God* EXACTLY signifies that very thing.
The Holy spirit given title *mother of Jesus*, of course, does not, but puts Mary in her proper perspective.
So; are you saying that 'god' did not exist until Mary birthed him?
Strange...
No, Lizzy said “the mother of my Lord.”
Please quit TWISTING what the SCRIPTURES (that Rome assembled) say!
In that instant, Mary became the mother of JESUS.
GOD does not have a mother, nor beginning nor end.
Saying that God has a mother makes Him a created being, elevating Mary to a position above God in many respects.
Saying that she is the mother of Jesus, does not led to the theological error or unwarranted exaltation of Mary that is the fruit of messing with God given titles.
The Holy Spirit in Scripture NEVER referred to her as *mother of God*, but rather *mother of Jesus* which is who she was.
Mary is the mother of Jesus.
Jesus is God.
Mary is the mother of God.
Own private interpretation?????
Whatever you feel like obeying?
Whatever you decide for yourself is *righteous* based on whether you like it or not?
Or how much of a hurry you are to get somewhere?
No; Rome does.
What kind of BLINDNESS convinces a person that GOD needed a MOTHER?
Who am I, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?—said Elizabeth.
“The Lord” is another name for God.
Therefore, Elizabeth asserted that Mary is the mother of God.
Oh?
Bible FACT or CCC teaching?
1 Corinthians 2:9
But as it is written: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”
AHHHhhh...
...the peanut gallery awakens!
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