I answered this in post #24. I told you in post #30 that I had already answered this. What I said in post #24 is:
This is the simplest of logical fallacies which is the fallacy of division. If there is one black swan in a lake and some white swans also, it would be wrong to say the swans in the lake are black.
Your argument for calling Mary the “mother of God” is the logical fallacy of division. Now, you saying the same thing over and over is not going to change that this is a logical fallacy. The sooner you realize this is a simple logical principle and not even subject to debate, the sooner you can move on to some other idea or thought which has not already been refuted.
“There is also an obvious effort to diminish Mary.”
The effort is to exalt Christ. He said that the Law and Prophets “prophecied until John” and then the kingdom of Heaven was preached. Christ said that up until that point (i.e. the new dispensation of the kingdom), no one born of women was greater than John the Baptist.
Matthew 11:11,13
“Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he...For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.”
This means, and it is without logical fallacy, that John the Baptist was greater than Mary, the mother of Christ. Since Mary was born during the dispensation of the Law and Prophets, and she was born by a woman, according to Jesus (not according to my estimation, but as a matter of fact and not opinion), John was greater than Mary. So here is the point... do we exalt John? Did he seek to be exalted? No.
John said this of himself and of Jesus:
“He (i.e. Jesus) must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30) This is what John said when his followers left him to follow Jesus.
This is the mark of greatness and true spirituality. The Bible gives us many great, godly examples to learn from which includes John, Mary, and many, many others. But Christ is without comparison. He is the One Who is to be exalted more and more, and all others decrease because the exaltation and glory all belong to Him.
Matthew 17:1-8
“Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, ‘Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.’ While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’ And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus came and touched them and said, ‘Arise, and do not be afraid.’ When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”
Peter was briefly tempted to make tents on the mountain where Jesus was transfigured. He thought of making three - one for Christ, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
But what did God say? And this rebuke was just over tents. God does not want shrines set up for these saints, no matter what great, godly examples they may be. To do so is to detract from the glory of Christ. Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, John the Apostle, Peter and Mary all have some scripture which tells us about their lives. These are written for us to learn from, not so we can make shrines to them, make images of them to bow toward and pray toward. Unlike these, ALL scripture is about Jesus. This cannot be said of any other man or woman, including Mary.
This was the mindset of John the Baptist, the apostles, the holy angels, and must have been for Mary as well because she was a godly woman. No godly man or woman or holy angel would accept anyone bowing to them because of their glory or virtue. So the Mary (and the image of her supposed likeness) that is bowed to in Catholic owned facilites around the globe is NOT the same Mary of the Bible. The statues of Jesus they bow to are not the same Jesus of the Bible but are some other Jesus (since the true Jesus, the true Son of God taught against idolatry). Now go learn what the scripture means when it says, “he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached” in 2 Corinthians 11:4.
The sooner you realize this is a simple logical principle and not even subject to debate, the sooner you can move on to some other idea or thought which has not already been refuted.
Sorry for my lack of understanding, but I simply do not follow your logic.
It is true that one cannot assert that, if one swan is black, and other swans are white, then the other swans are black. But I do not see how that negates the assertion that if Mary is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God, then Mary is the mother of God. The two assertions do not appear to be analogous.
The fallacy of division logic structure is, if A is true about B, then it is true about b1, b2, and b3.
To apply this logic to Mary as mother would be to say, if Mary is the mother of God the Son, then she is the mother of God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Just as the white swans are not black, Mary is not the mother of the Father or the Spirit. She is the mother of God the Son.
The structure for the assertion that Mary is the mother of God is the transitive property of equality. That is, if A is true about B, and B is true about C, then A is true about C.
That is to say, if Mary is the mother of Jesus, and Jesus is God, then Mary is the mother of God. To use your example, if a cygnet is the mother of a swan, and the swan is black, then the cygnet is the mother of a black swan.
I understand how A can be true about B but not true about b1, b2, and b3. But I need further understanding on how A cannot be C if A is B and B is C.
The structure for the assertion that Mary is the mother of God is the transitive property of equality. That is, if A is true about B, and B is true about C, then A is true about C.
After posting #32, I got to thinking that the above is not quite that simple. A is true about b2, that is, Mary is the mother of God the Son. B is God, b1 the Father, b2 the Son, and b3 the Spirit. So the question is, if Mary is the mother of God the Son (b2), can she truly be called the mother of God without also being the mother of the Father and the Spirit?
This is where the mystery of the Trinity comes in to play. God manifests Himself to us in different ways as He so chooses. As the Father, He has made Himself known to us as a voice from heaven, in the burning bush, in a whisper in the wind. As the Son, He has made Himself known to us in the flesh and in appearances after His resurrection. As the Spirit, He has appeared to us as a dove, tongues of fire, and as a breath. Can the Father become flesh? Can the Son appear as a dove? Can the Spirit become a burning bush? I would guess so. Is God whole and complete in each one of these manifestations? In other words, can the bush be called God? Can the living Christ be called God? Can the dove appearing above Jesus be called God. I believe so. In the same way, I believe Jesus at His birth can be called God, and Mary, as the mother of Jesus, can also be called the mother of God.