Is Mary the mother of God?

[b4jesustoday]

Is Mary the mother of God?

 

[tampasteve]

Yes, she is the Theotokos, the Dei Genitrix, the mother of God.

 

[solid_core]

No, God has no mother. He is without beginning.

 

[tampasteve]

Cyril of Alexandria put it this way:
Confessing the Word to be united with the flesh according to the hypostasis, we worship one Son and Lord, Jesus Christ. We do not divide him into parts and separate man and God as though they were united with each other [only] through a unity of dignity and authority... nor do we name separately Christ the Word from God, and in similar fashion, separately, another Christ from the woman, but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own flesh... But we do not say that the Word from God dwelt as in an ordinary human born of the holy virgin... we understand that, when he became flesh, not in the same way as he is said to dwell among the saints do we distinguish the manner of the indwelling; but he was united by nature and not turned into flesh... There is, then, one Christ and Son and Lord, not with the sort of conjunction that a human being might have with God as in a unity of dignity or authority; for equality of honor does not unite natures. For Peter and John were equal to each other in honor, both of them being apostles and holy disciples, but the two were not one. Nor do we understand the manner of conjunction to be one of juxtaposition, for this is insufficient in regard to natural union.... Rather we reject the term 'conjunction' as being inadequate to express the union... [T]he holy virgin gave birth in the flesh to God united with the flesh according to hypostasis, for that reason we call her Theotokos... If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is, in truth, God, and therefore that the holy virgin is Theotokos (for she bore in a fleshly manner the Word from God become flesh), let him be anathema.

 

[FenderTL5]

Yes.
Any other answer denies the Divinity of Christ as described in the opening of John's Gospel.
If Christ is the Logos, the Word, and the Word was/is God then Mary is Theotokos.

 

[Maria Billingsley]

Is Mary the mother of God?

Depends on if you think Mary existed before God. If your answer is no , then it is best to state Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Be blessed.

 

[plain jayne]

Mary was the biological mother of Jesus in his earthly form as a man.

Mary gave physical birth to a physical Jesus. Mary did NOT give birth to the Godhead - not God the Father nor the Holy Spirit.

To say that Mary is the mother of God, then you must mean she is the mother is his Spirit, too.

But the Holy Spirit is the one that overshadowed Mary and made her body miraculous inhabitable for Jesus, the baby.

How could Mary give birth to the Holy Spirit who enabled her to give birth. Where is the logic in that? Besides the Bible does not call her the mother of God nor the mother of the Holy Spirit.

God has no mother. To call Mary the mother of God implies that she was here before God and is superior to God.

 

[solid_core]

Cyril of Alexandria put it this way: If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is, in truth, God, and therefore that the holy virgin is Theotokos (for she bore in a fleshly manner the Word from God become flesh), let him be anathema.

Cyril of Alexandria just broke the rules of this forum:

Statement of Purpose - Statement of Purpose for the Mariology & Hagiography forum

 

[Victor in Christ]

Yes, she is the Theotokos, the Dei Genitrix, the mother of God.

i'm saddened. So the supreme creator of the the universe God has a mother? it was once taught Mary (Jesus's mother) is God's bride, so now its changed. God is spirit he has no Father, no mother, no wife, no bride, he's infinite and eternal. Please, for the love of your creator, stay away from such teachings.

Sons and daughters of God (Saints) are Christ's bride and he is our Bridegroom, who he desires to unite with when he comes and redeems us, transforms us for his new heavens and earth he promised.

God bless.

 

[tampasteve]

i'm saddened. So God has a mother? it was taught Mary was God's bride, now its changed. God is spirit he has no Father, no mother, no wife, no bride, he's infinite and eternal. Please, for the love of your creator, stay away from such teachings.

God bless.

Thank you for your opinions and concern. However, I think that I will stick with the learned teachings of the Early Church Fathers, the Ecumenical Councils, and Martin Luther over the opinions here.

 

[solid_core]

Thank you for your opinions and concern. However, I think that I will stick with the learned teachings of the Early Church Fathers, the Ecumenical Councils, and Martin Luther over the opinions here.

Logical Fallacies: Appeal to Authority

 

[Victor in Christ]

Thank you for your opinions and concern. However, I think that I will stick with the learned teachings of the Early Church Fathers, the Ecumenical Councils, and Martin Luther over the opinions here.

'Church' dogma and man-made tradition can mess you up. Martin Luther struggled for decades to get away from the bondage of 'law' and church 'legalism'. A plague that infected the early church and its still present.

 

[tampasteve]

Logical Fallacies: Appeal to Authority

From that article:

Not every reliance upon the testimony of authority figures is fallacious. We often rely upon such testimony, and we can do so for very good reason. Their talent, training and experience put them in a position to evaluate and report on evidence not readily available to everyone else. But we must keep in mind that for such an appeal to be justified, certain standards must be met:

• 1. The authority is an expert in the area of knowledge under consideration.
• 2. The statement of the authority concerns his or her area of mastery.
• 3. There is agreement among experts in the area of knowledge under consideration.

The authorities I mentioned would meet the criteria above.

 

[b4jesustoday]

She is the mother of Jesus Christ!
He is God and she is His mother, so she is the mother of God, the mother of His whole person, mother does not imply source, the mother of His humanity only is a condemned heresy, Lk 1:43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

 

[tampasteve]

'Church' dogma and man-made tradition can mess you up. Martin Luther struggled for decades to get away from the bondage of 'law' and church 'legalism'. A plague that infected the early church and its still present.

I respectfully disagree.

 

[solid_core]

From that article:

Not every reliance upon the testimony of authority figures is fallacious. We often rely upon such testimony, and we can do so for very good reason. Their talent, training and experience put them in a position to evaluate and report on evidence not readily available to everyone else. But we must keep in mind that for such an appeal to be justified, certain standards must be met:

• 1. The authority is an expert in the area of knowledge under consideration.
• 2. The statement of the authority concerns his or her area of mastery.
• 3. There is agreement among experts in the area of knowledge under consideration.

The authorities I mentioned would meet the criteria above.

Except of the point number 3. There is no agreement between theologians. Its just a selection that fits your view.

 

[tampasteve]

Except of the point number 3. There is no agreement between theologians.

There largely was agreement for the first 1500 years of Christianity and still is among Eastern and Oriental Christians, Catholics, Lutherans, etc. The Christians that do not agree are in the minority, hence agreement of the majority of theologians across Christianity from before the EFC to now.

 

[b4jesustoday]

Victor you believe dogma you just don’t know it! Dogma or de fide “thee faith” is found 31 times in the New Testament!
Dogma is a concise statement of faith!

Example: there is only one God!
That’s dogma

 

[solid_core]

There largely was agreement for the fist 1500 years of Christianity and still is among Eastern and Oriental Christians, Catholics, Lutherans, etc. The Christians that do not agree are in the minority, hence agreement of the majority of theologians across Christianity from the EFC to now.

There was not. The ones who disagreed with mainstream Christianity were killed, persecuted, "anathematized" or silenced. Their writings burnt, their followers dispersed - by military force, not by a theology.

 

[tampasteve]

There was not. The ones who disagreed were killed or silenced.

That is sadly true.

But we also have to trust that the Holy Spirit led the church councils, the early church leaders, and still leads today. If we do not at least believe that the Holy Spirit shepherded the early church to orthodoxy then there are many, many heterodox and heretical beliefs that would make us question the very foundations of the beliefs we hold as Truth.