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I agree with all you are saying with the exception of exalting Mary to Mother of God status. In the OP, the graffiti (not condoning it, mind you) shows what most non-Catholics understand when they see the title given to Mary. This is not a name taken from Scripture but arrived at in the fourth century by some teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome.

My immediate reaction to hearing Mary called "Mother of God" is hold on there, God always was, how could he have been preceeded by a mother? If you look at this objectively, you may see why people object. They aren't hearing all the further explanations and are taking the title at face value.

My point is, why cause the confusion in the first place? Why seem to exalt Mary above Jesus Christ, because that is what our human experience interprets this as saying? A mother comes before a child.

BTW...I like your postname. :o)

BTW...I like your postname. :o)

Thanks! :-)

Of course I understand the reaction. It sounds so foreign to the faith as some have learned it, and seems to make Jesus' Divinity have "less status."

However, that's how great a Lord and King Jesus is, that He Himself, in union with the Father and the Holy Spirit, elevates His Mother to such a high degree:

[46] And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord,
[47] and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
[48] for he has regarded the low estate of his handmaiden.
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed;
[49] for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
Luke 1:46-49 RSV

I think that some people are afraid that honoring and loving Mary takes away from loving, honoring, and worshipping Jesus, but such is not the case. The more one honors her, the more one honors Christ. Solomon had his own mother sit at his right hand - can Jesus be any less loving and gracious to *His* mother? It is His Holy Will that we revere His mother, as the above scripture illustrates.

She always points the way to Him saying, "Do whatever He tells you," just as she said at Cana. The closer we let ourselves come to her, the closer we become with Christ, just as Christ draws us to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit. She is the easy way to the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

This is not a name taken from Scripture but arrived at in the fourth century by some teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome.

By the way, this was not just any gathering, but rather an Ecumenical Council (the world-wide Church), which was guided by the Holy Spirit. Councils do not come up with new doctrine, but rather define, i.e., come to understand more fully, Divine Revelation.

I wonder why some people have a problem with this Council, it having occurred so much earlier than the Reformation.

I’m going to try to handle this even though I’m only an catechumen in the Orthodox Church.

>>>>>>>>>My immediate reaction to hearing Mary called “Mother of God” is hold on there, God always was, how could he have been preceeded by a mother?

When God decided to condescend to his creation and take flesh, he subjected himself to the experiences of his creation, including, like every human being on earth, having a human mother. It’s takes quite a leap of logic to think that by God having a human mother implies that he is not eternal.

>>>>This is not a name taken from Scripture but arrived at in the fourth century by some teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome.

No it’s not spelled out in black and white, but it is certainly inferred.

As for this: “but arrived at in the fourth century by some teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome.”

Well, this is really a mess. It wasn’t “arrived at” but rather reiterated (they “arrived at” the conclusion that Nestorius, the Archbishop of Constantinople, was a heretic).
It wasn’t a “bunch of teachers” but Bishops within the catholic church, both east and west(it wasn’t just Rome), undertaking something called an ecumenical council, which is what is supposed to be done when there is an issue that commands significant enough attention and challenges the dogma of the faith. (And yes! It’s in the Bible. Reread the Acts of the Apostles.)

>>>>>My point is, why cause the confusion in the first place? Why seem to exalt Mary above Jesus Christ, because that is what our human experience interprets this as saying? A mother comes before a child.

Since I’m Orthodox, I do disagree with the Romans on their view of Mary (Immaculate Conception). But you’ve misstated what their view is. They do not exalt Mary over Jesus, but they do come dangerously close to putting her on equal footing with him.

"This is not a name taken from Scripture but arrived at in the fourth century by some teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome."

Where did this nonsense come from? The term Theotokos is Greek, not Latin. Its first known use was probably by Origen in the early 3rd century....He wasn't a Roman. A 3rd century Father who used the term was +Dionysius of Alexandria....Obviously not a Roman. Then in the 4th century we have +Athanasius the Great, +Gregory Nazianzus +John Chrysostomos and Blessed Augustine of Hippo....None of them from Rome. Just who were theses "teachers within the Catholic Church in Rome" who were teaching this?

You know, bb, your Protestantism isn't advanced one bit by unthinking anti-papalism.