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I have been asking friends at work this question. The didn't know the answer but though it was a good one. What does the reference "Mary mother of god" mean? Mary was the mother of Christ. I would like to know this answer if possible to explain.
Answer to Question 532 As Christians we believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, thus he is both God and man, perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, very God and very man, consisting of a reasonable soul and [human] body, consubstantial with the Father as touching His Godhead, and consubstantial with us as touching His manhood. He therefore has two natures – the divine and human, but he only has one hypostasis, in other words he is only one person. If we call Mary the mother of Christ it is like denying that Jesus is God. By giving her the title Mother of God we confess that we believe that the child she gave birth to was the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, the Son of God, who became man to save us.
The Fourth Ecumenical Council [The Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D.] formulated the Christological dogma concerning the two natures in one hypostasis. The dogma reads as follows: Following the holy Fathers we teach with one voice that the Son [of God] and our Lord Jesus Christ is to be confessed as one and the same [Person], that He is perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, very God and very man, of a reasonable soul and [human] body consisting, consubstantial with the Father as touching His Godhead, and consubstantial with us as touching His manhood; made in all things like unto us, sin only excepted; begotten of the Father before the worlds according to His Godhead, but in these last days for us men and for our salvation born [into the world] of the Virgin Mary, the Mother of God according to His manhood. This one and the same Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son [of God] must be confessed to be in two natures, unconfusedly, immutably, indivisibly, inseparably [united], and that without the distinction of natures being taken away by such union, but rather the peculiar property of each nature being preserved and being united in one Person and subsistence, not separated or divided into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, our Lord Jesus Christ, as the Prophets of old time have spoken concerning Him, and as the Lord Christ hath taught us, and as the Creed of the Fathers hath delivered to us.
Same member thank you for your reply. Although still confused. I think it will take a little reading on my part.
Reply It all comes down to whether you believe Jesus is God or just a man. If you believe that he is God then Mary's title of Mother of God is justified. But if you believe that he was just a man then in truth you are not even a Christian because believing that Jesus Christ is God is the foundation of the Christian faith and salvation. Any Christian faith that does not accept that Jesus is God incarnate is in vain.
Another member All my life I was taught that Jesus was the son of God. So are we to believe that Jesus is God and not his son! I’m confused
Reply We are now getting into deep theology. What does the Son of God mean? We should not understand it as a human father and son relationship. The Son was not created by the Father, he has always existed with the Father. We say that God is the Holy Trinity Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This does not mean that there are three gods; there is but one God, one God in three persons or hypostases. One God who is discerned in three persons and in each person, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are wholly and entirely God and not part of the one Godhead. The Father is totally God. The Son is totally God. The Holy Spirit is totally God. A monad according to His unique and indivisible essence and a trinity according to His hypostases which are distinguished one from another, but inseparably united and indivisible, and the three possessing one essence, one will, and one energy. The Three Persons of the Holy trinity have the same opinion, make the same decision, and put forth the same energy and action.
The concept of One God in Three Persons has always been the most difficult to understand because man can only explain what he hears, sees and understands by other things in his life. What man knows about God is only what God Himself has revealed to him. Maybe I should not try to explain the Trinitarian dogma but rather let the Gospel of St. John explain it better. He begins by telling us that in the beginning was the Word. The Word is another name for the Son of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1: 1-3). What he is saying is that in the beginning was the Son of God, and the Son of God was with God the Father and the Son of God was God. The same was in the beginning with God the Father. All things were made by him, in other words the whole universe and the spiritual heavens were created by the Son of God, and without him nothing was made. In another place in the gospel Jesus says: “I and my Father are one” (John 10: 30).
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