Posted on 01/11/2012 7:34:56 PM PST by RnMomof7
Mary: Mother of God?
This article is prompted by an ad in the Parade Magazine titled: "Mary Mother of God: What All Mankind Should Know." The offer was made for a free pamphlet entitled "Mary Mother of Jesus" with this explanation: "A clear, insightful pamphlet explains the importance of Mary and her role as Mother of God."
This is quite a claim, to say the least! Nowhere in the Bible is Mary said to be the mother of God. I touched on this subject in a series on "Mary Co-Redeemer with Christ" printed recently.
Question: If Mary is the Mother of God, Who, may I ask, is the Father of God? Does God have a Father, and if He does, Who is His Mother?
The phrase "Mother of God" originated in the Council of Ephesus, in the year 431 AD. It occurs in the Creed of Chalcedon, which was adopted by the council in 451 AD. This was the declaration given at that time: "Born of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God according to the Manhood." The purpose of this statement originally was meant to emphasize the deity of Christ over against the teaching of the Nestorians whose teaching involved a dual-natured Jesus. Their teaching was that the person born of Mary was only a man who was then indwelt by God. The title "Mother of God" was used originally to counter this false doctrine. The doctrine now emphasizes the person of Mary rather than the deity of Jesus as God incarnate. Mary certainly did not give birth to God. In fact, Mary did not give birth to the divinity of Christ. Mary only gave birth to the humanity of Jesus. The only thing Jesus got from Mary was a body. Every Human Being has received a sinful nature from their parents with one exception: Jesus was not human. He was divine God in a flesh body. This is what Mary gave birth to. Read Hebrews 10:5 and Phil 2:5-11.
Please refer to Hebrews 10:5 where we see. "...Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me."
The body of Jesus was prepared by God. In Matthew 1:18, "she was found with child of the Holy Ghost."
The divine nature of Jesus existed from before eternity, and this cannot be said of Mary Jesus never called her "mother". He called her "woman".
This doctrine deifies Mary and humanizes Jesus. Mary is presented as stronger that Christ, more mature and more powerful that Christ. Listen to this statement by Rome: "He came to us through Mary, and we must go to Him through her." The Bible plainly states that God is the Creator of all things. It is a blasphemous attack on the eternity of God to ever teach that He has a mother. Mary had other children who were normal, physical, sinful human beings. In the case of Jesus Christ, "His human nature had no father and His divine nature had no mother."
It is probably no coincidence that this false doctrine surrounding Mary was born in Ephesus. Please read Acts 19:11-41 and see that Ephesus had a problem with goddess worship. Her name was Diana, Gk. Artemis. You will not have to study very deep to find the similarities between the goddess Diana and the Roman Catholic goddess, Mary. It should be noted that the Mary of the 1st century and the Mary of the 20th century are not the same. Mary of the 1st century was the virgin who gave birth to the Messiah. Mary of the 20th century is a goddess created by the Roman Catholic Church. A simple comparison of what the Bible teaches about Mary and what the Roman Catholic Church teaches about her will reveal two different Marys. Mary is not the "Mother of God." If she were she would be GOD! There is only one true, eternal God. He was not born of a woman. Any teaching on any subject should be backed up by the word of God. If it cannot be supported by Scriptures, it is false doctrine.
Not understanding what replacement theology is no excuse for denying it.
“You don’t take the CCC seriously?”
Of course I do, it is your many odd and goofy opinions about the teaching of the4 Church that I find laughable. BTW I note en passant that you do not mind grabbing passages of the CCC when you think (in error) that they prove your thesis, and yet when they are clear proof your rambling opinions about the Catholic belief is flat out wrong, you decline to look. Odd how that spiritual blindness thing works, eh?
“Your religion most certainly does...”
Oh look, another “church of one whose opinion matters (only to that one)” opines on what we Catholics believe!
Leaving the kindergarten picture stories behind might increase credibility.
ROTFLMAO, you want to talk about “credibility”? Oy, mine twoimy hoits.
Look ursine, you lost all credibility as you opined that church on Sunday is a man made tradition, that Christmas and Easter celebrations are pagan and that the Catholic Church teaches idolatry - so if you don’t like my graphics, too bad.
Prove it.
LOL, why? I recall clearly offering you a link to the Catechism and having you scoff at the notion. If you cannot recall that, well, so much for your memory.
Paul tells us we are in the age of grace and explained the mystery of the church. Now is the time to accept the free gift. We who are watching have an intimate relationship with The Lord Jesus Christ. We have left the world system behind.
What do you have if you remove Paul’s writings from the Bible. Does not Israel take center stage? This age of grace is about to end at any minute with the rapture of the church. God’s program will next focus on Israel, the 7 year tribulation.
hey E...U..
“No disrespect, but...”
When ever i hear someone like you say “No disrespect, but...”
I know the very next words are going to be disrespectful.
You are the poster child for the bad catechesis of the typical Catholic education.
Recall the line quoting Mary where she says: “For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.” She should have said all generations except of course for Extreme Unction’s generation.
bad, bad catechesis.
Lurking’
There was no such thing in Judaism as "temple virgins", in fact, that was something the pagan religions did. Secondly, Mary was "betrothed" to Joseph. The custom was:
The first major step in a Jewish marriage was betrothal.1 Betrothal involved the establishment of a marriage covenant. By Jesus' time it was usual for such a covenant to be established as the result of the prospective bridegroom taking the initiative.2 The prospective bridegroom would travel from his father's house to the home of the prospective bride. There he would negotiate with the father of the young woman to determine the price (mohar) that he must pay to purchase his bride.3 Once the bridegroom paid the purchase price, the marriage covenant was thereby established, and the young man and woman were regarded to be husband and wife.4 From that moment on the bride was declared to be consecrated or sanctified, set apart exclusively for her bridegroom.5 As a symbol of the covenant relationship that had been established, the groom and bride would drink from a cup of wine over which a betrothal benediction had been pronounced.6
After the marriage covenant had been established, the groom would leave the home of the bride and return to his father's house. There he would remain separate from his bride for a period of twelve months.7 This period of separation afforded the bride time to gather her trousseau and to prepare for married life.8 The groom occupied himself with the preparation of living accommodations in his father's house to which he could bring his bride. (http://www.biblestudymanuals.net/jewish_marriage_customs.htm
But this, dear Stonehouse, does not answer my question concerning Mary's presumed "sinlessness" from birth and the question of her "free will" choice to bear the Messiah. Your comment stated if Mary had said no we would not have a Savior. I hope you can see that God's will is done and, though we not understand it all, it includes the freedom we have to accept or reject the grace of God.
God’s Grace is retroactive - God’s time is mystical and not linear as ours is. Remember that Abraham, Moses, Noah, etc., were saved after their deaths.
Of course, God's grace covers all sin - both before the time of Jesus here on earth as well as yet to come. That is why we can say with assurance that by the grace of God we are redeemed from the curse of sin. Jesus' blood paid for all sin and, when we through faith receive him as Savior, our sins will not be counted against us. He has washed us as white as snow. "And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more."(Hebrews 10:17) I am not sure what you mean by "Abraham, Moses, Noah, etc., were saved after their deaths". They certainly went to a place called Paradise AKA Abraham's Bosom before Jesus' resurrection when he "lead captivity captive" into Heaven. Is that what you meant?
My opinions?
Just as the Old Testament is full of foreshadows of the New Testament (typology), Catholics believe the Bible is clear that the New Jerusalem of the Book of Revelation is not the historic city of Jerusalem. We do not believe that present day Israel is the same spiritual entity as the historic Israel before the time of Christ. After the crucifixion, the curtain of the Jewish sanctuary was torn in two (Mk 15:37-39, Lk 23:44-46, Mt 27:51) which was God tearing his cloths. At that point, a transfer of authority happened and we believe that the fledgling Church became the New Israel. [http://www.davidmacd.com/catholic/why_did_the_catholic_church_move_to_rome_from_jerusalem.htm]
What church do you go to? Does it have a Web page?
The Catholic Church says, Mary is a creature like us & she is NOT Divine.
My Church warns against wolves in sheep’s clothing. What Church do you go to? I’d like to read what your church has to say about the Virgin Mary. What is your church’s name & what is the Web site?
Luke 11:27-28 27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Nay rather, (Greek Menounge: nay surely, nay rather) blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
The words spoken to Mary were no different then were spoken to Jael in Judges. In fact, Jael was called blessed above women. Mary was called blessed among women.
Luke 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
Judges 5:24 Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be,
Those words were also spoken of Noah, Moses, and David.
“My opinions?”
Yep. Your odd opinions. Once you started babbling about the pagan nature of common Christian celebrations like Easter, Christmas and Church on Sunday you reduced yourself to a laughingstock. That you find some splinter, some oddity that you grab and waive around, out of context and in obvious ignorance of anything resembling Christian scholarship entitles you to your own good opinion, nothing more. You are nothing more than a single and rather pathetic voice screaming about demons that only you can see. I will keep you in my prayers, but to take your opinions seriously? Nope, sorry, not gonna happen.
I am by no means a dispensationalist, but I will brook no disparagement of Paul. He is one of God’s greatest gifts to the world.
It’s a shame you didn’t even recognize the teaching of the church you claim.
Paul is how we know about the mystery of the church?
Amen! And, as long as we are open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, He will speak through us to reach hearts for Christ. The disciples certainly faced much worse than verbal smears and insults. Their very lives were at stake. What we experience here is hardly comparable but we should always endeavour to “speak the truth in love”. God always honors His word and Jesus said, “if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.” John 12:26
My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For He has regarded the low estate of His handmaiden,
For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm:
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
and exalted those of low degree.
He has filled the hungry with good things;
and the rich He has sent empty away.
He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy;
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His posterity forever.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen
Magníficat ánima mea Dóminum,
et exsultávit spíritus meus
in Deo salvatóre meo,
quia respéxit humilitátem
ancíllæ suæ.
Ecce enim ex hoc beátam
me dicent omnes generatiónes,
quia fecit mihi magna,
qui potens est,
et sanctum nomen eius,
et misericórdia eius in progénies
et progénies timéntibus eum.
Fecit poténtiam in bráchio suo,
dispérsit supérbos mente cordis sui;
depósuit poténtes de sede
et exaltávit húmiles.
Esuriéntes implévit bonis
et dívites dimísit inánes.
Suscépit Ísrael púerum suum,
recordátus misericórdiæ,
sicut locútus est ad patres nostros,
Ábraham et sémini eius in sæcula.
Glória Patri et Fílio
et Spirítui Sancto.
Sicut erat in princípio,
et nunc et semper,
et in sæcula sæculórum.
Amen.
She became the Mother of God, in which work so many and such great good things are bestowed on her as pass man’s understanding. For on this there follows all honor, all blessedness, and her unique place in the whole of mankind, among which she has no equal, namely, that she had a child by the Father in heaven, and such a Child . . . Hence men have crowded all her glory into a single word, calling her the Mother of God . . . None can say of her nor announce to her greater things, even though he had as many tongues as the earth possesses flowers and blades of grass: the sky, stars; and the sea, grains of sand. It needs to be pondered in the heart what it means to be the Mother of God.
(Commentary on the Magnificat, 1521; in Luther’s Works, Pelikan et al, vol. 21, 326)
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