[metmom]

Just as the Trinity is a mystery we accept on faith and cannot explain in human terms, the same is true of the simultaneity of Christ being both God and Man, and Mary’s role as mother of that same Christ.

Then why not call her the more accurate term of *Mother of Christ*?

If people are going to have issues with who Christ is, that's their problem and the church is responsible for correcting any misconceptions amongst its membership.

[Kenny Bunk]

Then why not call her the more accurate term of *Mother of Christ*?

Aha! A true diplomat has spoken ... a Christian diplomat.

Blessèd are the Peacemakers, Ma! At a time when the Muslims would like to makes us all martyrs, it would be better to find agreement than to look for sectarian hot spots.

While the many catholic sects (Roman, Coptic, various Orthodox, Ethiopian, Syrian, Armenian, Anglican etc) are based on the Bible AND Tradition, they are the roots from which Protestant sects sprang to base their beliefs strictly on the Bible and in particular the Gospels. In other words, ALL Christians were catholics of some sort once. Nothing to be ashamed of, is it? And no reason to despise catholic practice and belief. Just as there can be no Christian reason to despise the Jews, who were the people of Christ and Mary.

[D-fendr]

Then why not call her the more accurate term of *Mother of Christ*?

Because it's not more accurate, but less. :)

Just as 'messiah' comes from the Hebrew for anointed and doesn't mean divine; Christ comes from the Greek word 'Christos', also means anointed and doesn't mean divine.

David for example was anointed; if we spoke greek we could say his mother was the Mother of Christ. And, I've heard many a minister claim his anointing by God. If they were Greek speakers they would be saying Christos.

So the "Mother of Christ" doesn't say fully what orthodox Christians believe Jesus really is.

[lastchance]

There is nothing wrong with calling Mary the Mother of Christ the problem arose when Nestorious used it to promote his belief that Jesus is two distinct persons. The title Mother of God arose in answer to that heresy.

If it is not used to deny that Christ is one person fully divine and fully human the title is quite appropriate and not heterodox.

[boatbums]

I really don't understand the almost hysterical responses every time Mary is discussed in any way OTHER than the way the Catholic Church has deemed truth. Most, when you get past the initial panic, will readily agree that, of course, Mary is not the mother of GOD, God, like she came before Him or is on the same level as Him or part of the "hypostatic" union of the Trinity. They will also accept that the Son of God has existed from eternity, that he always was, that he is the "I am", so that he had no birth in the sense of a beginning. That the Son of God became flesh, made man, God incarnate, is a major tenet of the Christian faith and no one here who is a Christian will deny that truth.

So, we agree that Mary was blessed among women and was chosen by God to bear the Son of God in his human form. I think we can even agree on that. Mary, also, is to be honored and is an example of the kind of trust and faith we should all endeavor to exemplify. She is a model of how Christians should behave - to never doubt God but to move forward in reliance that He keeps His promises. We love her as a sister in Christ, for she will be among us all as part of the Bride of Christ, the Church, His Body.

We can look at the writings of Luther, who recounted his early, Catholic, impressions of Mary as:

St. Bernard, who was a pious man otherwise, also said: ‘Behold how Christ chides, censures, and condemns the Pharisees so harshly throughout the Gospel, whereas the Virgin Mary is always kind and gentle and never utters an unfriendly word.’ From this he inferred: ‘Christ is given to scolding and punishing, but Mary has nothing but sweetness and love.’ Therefore Christ was generally feared; we fled from Him and took refuge with the saints, calling upon Mary and others to deliver us from our distress. We regarded them all as holier than Christ. Christ was only the executioner, while the saints were our mediators. (Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, 22: 377)

He also recollected, “Christ in His mercy was hidden from my eyes. I wanted to become justified before God through the merits of the saints. This gave rise to the petition for the intercession of the saints. On a portrait St. Bernard, too, is portrayed adoring the Virgin Mary as she directs her Son, Christ, to the breasts that suckled Oh, how many kisses we bestowed on Mary”![14] Luther concluded though, that even in St Bernard’s incessant praise of Mary as she directs the sinner toward Christ, Bernard left out Christ completely: “Bernard filled a whole sermon with praise of the Virgin Mary and in so doing forgot to mention what happened [the incarnation of Christ]; so highly did he… esteem Mary.” [15] Thus, young Luther partook in Mariolatry, but the mature Luther looking back saw only the excesses of medieval devotion and teaching on Mary. He saw that she had been adorned with attributes that only belonged to Christ. http://tquid.sharpens.org/luther_mary1.htm#_edn54

That is the danger I see for some - not all, of course - who stop making Jesus the center of their worship and faith, and they take their eyes off of him, sometimes not ever coming to the knowledge of the truth of the grace of God but fearing Him as a little child fears "Dad" and flees to "Mommy". I see that, in the goal of finessing the explanation of the Deity of Jesus Christ, the "Fathers" went too far and that is why today there is, IMHO, this ever-increasing interest and deference towards Mary that has overshadowed the glory that belongs to Christ, alone.

[G Larry]

Because then you contribute to the error of pretending Christ is not God, which sum and substance of the Mystery of the Trinity.

[The_Reader_David]

“Mother of Christ” (or rather in Greek, Christotokos) was the title Nestorius (and before him Theodore of Mopsuestia) preferred. The problem with it can be seen on this thread: folks who (like Nestorius) object to Mary being titled Theotokos end up separating Christ’s divinity and humanity in some way which does not reflect the reality of the Son’s Incarnation, if not the way Nestorius did, then in some way even further from the truth.

The person whom Mary bore is fully God. She did not give birth to Jesus’s humanity only, but to the Divine Logos who in His conception according to the flesh has assumed our nature entirely (excepting sin). The title Theotokos safeguards the correct understanding of this mystery. It is not about Mary, but about Jesus.