Posted on 01/02/2010 3:32:55 PM PST by NYer
The title "Mother of God" is offensive to some Protestant Christians because they believe that this title raises Mary to an inappropriate, even idolatrous, level -- the level of God Himself. There is also genuine confusion on the part of others -- including Catholics -- about how a finite creature (Mary) could be the "mother" of an eternal being. "Wouldn't Mary have had to exist before God in order to be His mother?", they reason.
Referring to Mary as "Mother of God," however, does not imply that she existed from all eternity (like God) or that she is the source of Jesus' divine nature. Mary was and is a human being. She is the Mother of God because she gave birth to the God-Man, Jesus, "the Word made flesh" (John 1).
The reality of Mary's divine maternity was proclaimed a dogma of the faith by the Council of Ephesus in 431, and this teaching contains two important affirmations:
1) Mary is truly a mother. Since Jesus had no human father, Mary contributed all genetic material to the formation of His human nature. As Pope John Paul II states in his encyclical Redemptoris Mater, "[Jesus] is the flesh and blood of Mary!" (see Catechism 485)
2) Mary conceived and bore the Second Person of the Trinity. Echoing the Nestorian heresy (which denied the inseparable unity of two natures of Christ in one Person), some Protestant Christians hold that Mary was the mother of Jesus' human nature only. But a mother does not give birth to a nature; she gives birth to a person. Since Jesus is a divine Person, it is logical that Mary be called the "Mother of God" (in Greek, Theotokos), even if this mystery has aspects that exceed our human understanding.
As the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1994) teaches
Called in the Gospels "the mother of Jesus," Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord." In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos). [CCC 495]
The word Theotokos also helps us to understand this teaching a little better. The word literally means "God bearer," not "God generator." To "generate" God would imply that one is His origin, but this cannot be true because God exists from all eternity. To "bear" God means to hold him in one's womb. Historic Christianity (i.e., the Catholic and Orthodox churches) believe that Mary actually bore God (in the person of Jesus Christ) in her womb. Jesus didn't "become God" when He left her womb.
To deny Mary's divine maternity is to cast doubt on the reality of Jesus' divinity. Mary's divine maternity is, then, essentially a "Christological" dogma in that it affirms the divine Personhood of Jesus. To emphasize the profound importance of this teaching, the Church has restored the ancient feast of Mary, Mother of God on January 1.
Since we have been reborn as children of God in baptism and now share in the divine life through grace, Mary has become our mother as well. By drawing near to her as our mother, we draw near to Jesus Himself, the source of our salvation. This is why devotion to Mary is so essential to the life of the Christian, and why the Church encourages us to foster a greater love for the Blessed Mother in our lives.
One final point. It is interesting to note that two of the early Protestant leaders, Martin Luther and John Calvin, taught Mary's divine maternity and even condemned those who denied this essential truth.
Is this the conspiracy that Hilary Clinton was talking about, or is this another one. :-)
Oh that’s so funny! :-)
We aim to please.
You aim too, please!
You wrote:
“Excuse me PEOPLE ... OUR ENEMY is islamist TERRORIST MURDERERS. and maybe the Westboro baptist Cult
our enemy is NOT the CATHOLICS, Protestants, or the MORMONS.”
I don’t view Protestants or Mormons as my enemies. I also do not cover over our differences and pretend they do not exist. The collectivist, group-think line that you’re pushing is not what God wants, and it isn’t what I am willing to give.
“If you wanna fight over religious grounds.. lets get to the REAL ENEMY..”
We won’t. The ‘REAL ENEMY’ as you put it speaks Arabic and doesn’t listen to reason.
“C’mon PEOPLE... I don’t want to be carrying a PRAYER RUG around with me.”
Then don’t. Just stand up for the truth ALWAYS.
I believe in evidence. I have no evidence of Mary’s state, or rather the poor poor (hearsay testimony by people who may not have known the actual facts) evidence I have is conflicting.
Normal Male geneotype is one X, one Y chromosome. Normal female geneotype is two X chromosome (and other chromosomes not involved in determining sex).
You wrote:
“This heresy is part of a campaign to elevate Mary to the status of co-redemptrix, absent any scriptural authority for so doing.”
Care to document that theory there, chief? After all the ‘campaign’ would have to be almost 1500 years old now.
Closest is the passion sequence where Jesus says “Son, behold your mother” to John.
Catholic church only got authority to ban certain writings from the Roman Empire in the 4th Century, when all the witnesses to events were dead, and the correct response to serious questions were unknown and unknowable. The Church long claimed divine authority based on the its subservience to the Whore of Babylon. Later, in modern times the Pope claimed to be inerrant in faith and morals based on his failure to defend the Papal States.
A sad corrupt organization.
An begotten, but uncreated, Son of God would have to be DIVINE always not just after His resurrection. A being cannot become divine, but must always be divine or not divine.
“This “process of selection” was authoritatively conducted by the Catholic Church and by none other.”
Based on history, I will choose to hold a differing opinion
than you here. The inspiration of God’s Word - and it’s
recognition as God’s Word - began thousands of years before
the Church.
Christ recognized this when He picked up and
read from the scrolls in the Temple.
For this reason alone, your statement that the Church selected the books alone is demonstrably false. God started
the process before the birth of Christ. Christ Himself
picked up and validated the prior selection by reading
and quoting the scriptures that were already selected.
Both happened before the Church came into existence.
“Does one need to provide a recorded statement of a son calling a parent his mother to demonstrate conclusive proof of motherhood?
No, except that you tried to provide as statement initially,
which did not call her the Mother of God, so I asked for
you to complete the task you set for yourself and find a
specific verse. I knew when I asked you to do so that your
task was impossible. I think your statement is now confirming
that realization.
As I said up-thread, protestants make too little of Mary,
catholics too much. Neither is correct.
“Let each be convinced in his own heart.”
best,
ampu
Hmm, good point. Yet both chromosomes are in fact human chromosomes, assuming one them is enough to convey the nature of man, no?
Even if Jesus somehow, had only the single x chromosome from Mary, that still makes him a member of the family, no?
If someone states a position on theological aspects, then must be ready to accept that others will disagree on theological grounds.
I find most amusing the attempt to claim scientific authority (like assertions on Jesus’ and Mary’s DNA) for theological burblings.
I find most disturbing the open display of heresy from the Protestants here.
Single chromosome humans are not viable. Some 42 chromosomes are needed to convey “Humanity” by DNA, and then only in the context of a mother’s womb. Minor errors in chromosome transmission result in Down’s syndrome, Crie du chat, or trisomy 13. There are cases where there are more chromosomes that that, again, mostly focusing on sex chromosomes X and Y that have been viable.
XX is normal female
XY is normal male
XYY is famous as the “criminal” geneotype. It was once thought that XYY was more common in the criminal population. This population tends to be tall, thin, with wider than normal hips, and higher levels of aggression. It was once a plot element of a star trek novel.
XXY has been viable, and can have offspring.
XXX has been viable. I don’t recall if it can have offspring.
Genetic abnormalities are an interesting specialty. I only read of it in (long outdated) texts pursuing a degree in psychology in the 1970s. not what I do lately.
Question: would an implanted zygote in a female make that female a mother if she carried it to term?
From some points of view, all protestantism is heresy. From Orthodox Jews, all christianity is heresy. From the point of view of wahabi muslims, anyone who disagrees with you on any point is guilty of heresy.
Science, on the other hand, lets you conduct an experiment, and check your hypothesis, limited by your situation, funding and creativity.
Your train of logic proves too much. It confirms that the Church was in fact correct in acting on “the inspiration of God’s Word” to make the right call on what books should be included and what should be left out in making this authoritative selection, we call the Bible. In short, you prove the point the Church in making this particular incorporation of books, was and is Divinely inspired. The Church is the Church established by Christ and what we call the Petrine Authority and so the query “what happened before the Church came into existence” answers itself.
After having provided you with scriptural references to Mary being properly understood as the “Mother of God” you require more in the form of a something superfluous. Such a statement is not needed and hence why seek one except for purely pedantic reasons.
A rather crude statement.
Jesus was Mary's son. He received His DNA from Mary - the Holy Spirit "overshadowed" her, and did the rest. Mary is the Mother of God by virtue of the Hypostatic Union. If one does not believe in the Hypostatic Union, then one does not believe that Jesus Christ is true God and true man. End of story.
**I don’t view Protestants or Mormons as my enemies.**
If I’m not talking about YOU.. why do YOU have to so Vigorously PROCLAIM it’s NOT YOU!???
I SAID THIS HAS BEEN DONE.. recently.
so you Ignore my posts.. please
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