Fast Fact  - Mother of God

 

Defense of Mary as Mother of God

 

     

    The title of Mother of God pertains more to who and what Jesus is rather than the Blessed Virgin Mary. What Jesus is (that is Jesus’ natures) is true God and true man. Who Jesus is (that is His person) is God, namely the Second Person of the Trinity. The answer to the question, "WHO did Mary give birth to?" is God since He is a divine person. The title Mother of God is given to Mary to show that she gave birth to a divine person, the Father’s only begotten. To deny Mary this title would posit two persons within Jesus, Mary would have given birth to a human person. He either was also a divine person (which would mean that there are two persons in Jesus) or that the human person became a divine person later in life (which would be an aberrant form of the heresy of Adoptionism or perhaps even Arianism). The following verse demonstrate that Mary gave birth to a divine person.

    (The hyperlinks will open an online NAS bible to the chapter referenced)

  • Scripture

    • Major Texts

    Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 - 4 "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel." "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which translated means, ‘God with us.’" – The son Mary will bear is "God with us." Therefore, Mary is the Mother of God.

    Luke 1:43 - "And how has it happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" – Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth cries out that Mary is (Greek) "the mother of the Lord of me." The title "Lord" is a title given to God. Indeed, Paul says, "…no one can say, "Jesus is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 12:3).

    Minor Texts

    Titus 1:3-4 – "…but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior; to Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior." (Compare: Luke 2:11)

  • History / Tradition

    • "After this, we receive the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead, of which Jesus Christ our Lord became the first-fruits; Who bore a Body, in truth, not in semblance, derived from Mary the mother of God in the fullness of time sojourning among the race, for the remission of sins: who was crucified and died, yet for all this suffered no diminution of His Godhead." (Alexander of Alexandria, Epistle to Alexander, 12 written in AD 324).

    "Many, my beloved, are the true testimonies concerning Christ. The Father bears witness from heaven of His Son: the Holy Ghost bears witness, descending bodily in likeness of a dove: the Archangel Gabriel bears witness, bringing good tidings to Mary: the Virgin Mother of God bears witness: the blessed place of the manger bears witness." (Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures, 10,19 written ca AD 350).

    "And the Angel on his appearance, himself confesses that he has been sent by his Lord; as Gabriel confessed in the case of Zacharias, and also in the case of Mary, bearer of God." (Athanasius, Orations III, 14 written in AD 362).

    "Just as, in the age of Mary the mother of God, he who had reigned from Adam to her time found, when he came to her and dashed his forces against the fruit of her virginity as against a rock, that he was shattered to pieces upon her, so in every soul which passes through this life in the flesh under the protection of virginity, the strength of death is in a manner broken and annulled, for he does not find the places upon which he may fix his sting" (Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, 14 written in AD 370).

    "Let, then, the life of Mary be as it were virginity itself, set forth in a likeness, from which, as from a mirror, the appearance of chastity and the form of virtue is reflected. From this you may take your pattern of life, showing, as an example, the clear rules of virtue: what you have to correct, to effect, and to hold fast. The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God?" (Ambrose, Virginity, II:6 written in AD 378).

  • Summary

    • Mother is mother of God because WHO she gave birth to was and is God.(CCC 509, 2677). It should be made clear that the title does not mean that Mary "originated" God or that she is the origin of Christ’s divine nature. People don’t give birth to natures; they give birth to persons. The absurdity of Mary somehow being the origin of Christ’s divinity is so obvious that there is no real danger of confusion by an informed and honest inquirer.

    (CCC 1252, 1250)

     

     

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