On December 25, the Christian world will be commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. This is the first piece of what is known as the "Christ event," the other two pieces being His death and His resurrection. In a very strict sense, we cannot separate these one from another.
The incarnation of Jesus ( God becoming human) has raised a number of issues, and even controversies in the Christian Church. The controversies have focused on the issues of Jesus's relationship to God, the nature of Jesus, and the role of Mary, Jesus's mother.
I would like to invite the readers, regardless of what branch of Christianity you are affiliated with, or what particular brand of theology you subscribe to, to think about the role of Marianism, which is the veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mother. For the purposes of this essay, I will make a distinction between Mariolatry, which is the worship of Mary, on the one hand, and Marianism, which is venerating and holding in high esteem, the mother of Jesus.
There are two particular issues which I would like us to focus on this essay. They are as follows:
1. Our Catholic and Orthodox sisters and brothers refer to Mary as the "Mother of God," or in more specific terms, the "God-bearer." This concept of God-bearer is known in the Greek language as the "Theotokos." Protestant Christianity has always had some problems with this concept because they cannot conceive of God having a mother, who for all effects and purposes would herself be God, because She gave birth to someone that did not always exist. Furthermore, Protestants remember that in the Scriptures, the prophets denounced the pagan worship of the "Queen of Heaven," and since in Roman Catholic theology, Mary is considered the Queen of Heaven, Protestants believe that this is a continuation of pagan worship incorporated into, and syncretized with the Christian faith.
So the question before us is whether it is or isn't correct to refer to Mary as the "Mother of God?"
The Catholics and Orthodox Christians would say an absolute "yes" to it being correct. The Protestant Christians, on the other hand, would give a resounding "no" to that for the reason already mentioned above, and also, because nowhere in Scripture (according to them), is Mary referred to as the "Mother of God." The closest that Protestants will come to that concept is to affirm that Mary was the mother of the human part of Jesus, but not of His divine nature, because that is something that always existed, even prior to the creation of humankind.
But wait a minute. Can we really resort to the gimmick of referring to Mary as the mother of the human part of Jesus and not the divine part? This writer thinks that it would be incorrect to resort to this gimmick. Why do I say that? I say that for the simple reason that according to Scripture, God was incarnated in human form and we cannot separate the human from the divine. The Gospel according to John, the letters of John at the end of the New Testament, and Paul's letter to Timothy all speak about God taking on a human body. The writer of the letter to Hebrews mentioned that in this body Jesus was tempted in every point "as we are." The writer of John's letters declared that anyone that denied that Jesus had come in the flesh was to be considered accursed and denounced.
The Christian traditions of the first four centuries depict an incarnated God, and never allowed for the separation of the two natures in Jesus. The Council of Nicea in 325 and the Council of Chalecdon in 451 both affirmed the doctrine of the God-man and declared heretical any one who promoted a teaching that was hereto contrary.
I, as a Protestant minister and theologian, respectfully submit, then, that it is proper on the basis of both Scripture and tradition to refer to Mary as the "Theotokos" (God-bearer). I furthermore, respectfully submit that it is a violation of both Scripture and tradition to deny this on the ground that she gave birth only to Jesus's human part. Mary gave birth to the God-man, who alone is to be worshipped and given honor and glory. Amen!
2. Can we venerate Mary? Again, our Catholic and Orthodox sisters and brothers will give a resounding "yes," while our Protestant sisters and brothers will say "absolutely not!" The major problem here is two-fold:
a. Many Catholic and Orthodox sisters and brothers get so emotionally caught up in the veneration of Mary that they fall into border-line idolatry.
b. Many Protestants do not know how to distinguish between venerating and worshiping. They fail to acknowledge their own inconsistencies. For example, they refer to their pastors and other ministers as "Reverend," forgetting that in a strict sense, reverence belongs only to God.
The problem that we face here is that Catholic and Orthodox Christians come close to deifying Mary, i.e. making her a God. Protestants, on the other hand, come close to debasing her, overlooking her as the mother of our Lord, when in Scripture, she herself is quoted as saying "All generations shall call me blessed."
In closing, I invite you to help us resolve this conundrum. How would you as a follower of Jesus resolve and address this complex issue? Help us please.
Grace and peace,
Dr. Juan A. Ayala-Carmona
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