The

Mother of
God
 The Mother of God: A Pagan Origin for the Christian Doctrine of the Divine
Maternity?

Theotókos has a pagan origin

Mêter theíon, “mother of the
gods.”
Ephesus a city formerly
known as the center of the
cult to the goddess Artemis
Feminists: Mary as a goddess
Mary is also a revelation of
the “female” traits of God
Mary is the Mother of God
and not the Divine Mother
 The Mother of God: A Pagan Origin for the Christian Doctrine
of the Divine Maternity?

the origin of the divine maternity of Mary

comes from Divine Revelation itself
What Marian devotion and the goddess cults
have in common is the importance of the
feminine in the religious realm
pagan expressions of religious sentiment
have been exposed to a purification
 The Mother of God: A Pagan Origin for the Christian Doctrine of the Divine
Maternity?

Christians had been

very reticent to use
the word “mêter
theou.”
The Egyptian Church
chose a less current
term, Theotókos,
The differences
between Mary and
Isis
 The Mother of God: A Pagan Origin for the Christian Doctrine of the Divine
Maternity?

The title Theotókos does

not come from Ephesus,
but from Alexandria.
A later sign of this
transformation is visible,
even in the iconography,
in the apparition of Mary
at Guadalupe
 The Mother of God:
Development in the
Theotókos was a term with Fourth Century
profound roots in the
Christian faith in Egypt
The title enters even in the
realm of Antioch
Logos-anthropos and Logos-
sarx Theodore of Mopsuestia:
we could only adore the Word
who was incarnate in Christ,
but not the man Jesus, and it
was only Jesus Christ the
man, and not the Word, who
was born of Mary
 The Mother of God: The Council of Ephesus (431)

At the end of the fourth century, the title Theotókos was

already widely diffused and was regarded as a part of
the deposit of faith, first of all in Egypt.
Nestorius preferred to speak of Mary as Christotókos
The title Theotókos was defended by Cyril of Alexandria
The Mother of God: The
Council of Ephesus (431) Nestorius and Cyril
both appealed to
Pope Celestine, who
took the part of Cyril
Jesus Christ, God and
man, is one person,
and for this reason
Mary must be
recognized as Mother
of God.
The Word is born
from Mary “according
to the flesh.”
 The Mother of God: The Council of Ephesus (431)

The creed of reunion in 433 prepared for the definition of the

Council of Chalcedon in 451, which accentuated that there are two
natures in the hypostatic union of Christ
The Council of Ephesus was renewed by the Second Council of
Constantinople in 553
“If anyone does not confess that the Emmanuel is God in truth,
and therefore not confess that the holy Virgin is the Mother of
God, let him be anathema.”
The Mother of The Council of Ephesus was
accompanied by the enthusiasm
God: The Council of the faithful
of Ephesus (431) Cyril describes Mary as “scepter
of the true faith.”
Through thee, the Trinity is
glorified; through thee, the Cross
is venerated in the whole world …
through thee, angels and
archangels rejoice, through thee,
demons are chased … through
thee, the fallen creature is raised
to heaven … through thee,
churches are founded in the
whole world, through thee,
peoples are led to conversion.
Mary is presented here as
personal instrument for the
operation of the Triune God
The Mother of God: Moreover we proclaim the
History of the Dogma
Following the Council holy Virgin to be in strict
of Ephesus truth the Mother of God.
For inasmuch as he who
was born of her was true
God, she who bore the
true God incarnate is the
true Mother of God.
the word Theotókos
expresses the whole
mystery of the work of
salvation, because it
reveals the one divine
hypostasis of the Son in
two natures.
 The Mother of God: History of the Dogma
Following the Council of Ephesus

Middle Ages: the divine maternity is most often presented in the systematic
context of the Incarnation
analogy of ordinary human birth
Motherhood is related to person, A mother gives birth to person, not nature
in Jesus Christ we find two sonships but one Son
There is a real temporal relation of the Son with his Mother only regarding
his humanity
 The Mother of God: History of the Dogma
Following the Council of Ephesus

Encyclical Lux Veritatis of Pius XI

The Church … protests against this futile and temerarious
attempt; for she has at all times acknowledged the
condemnation of Nestorius as rightly and deservedly
decreed; and has regarded the doctrine of Cyril as orthodox;
and has counted the Council of Ephesus among the
ecumenical synods, celebrated under the guidance of the
Holy Spirit, and has held it in veneration.
veneration of Mary’s dignity as virginal Mother of God
outside the Catholic Church, even among Protestants
the Blessed Virgin embraces all her erring children with
motherly love and sustains the prayer for unity with her
intercession
The Mother of God: Second Vatican Council and the Contemporary
Magisterium

the divine motherhood

of Mary is treated in the
mystery of Christ and
the Church
similarity between the
Mother of God, who as a
Virgin has born the Son
of God, and the Church
Most Holy Mary Mother
of God, to be celebrated
on January 1
The Mother of God:
Second Vatican
Council and the
“the dogma of the divine
Contemporary
Magisterium motherhood of Mary is for the
Church like a confirmation of the
dogma of the Incarnation
relation of divine motherhood
with the vocation of every woman
criticized the proposal of some
theologians (which renews the
old heresies of Arius or Nestorius)
Mary in fact constantly points to
her divine Son and she is
proposed to all believers as the
model of faith which is put into
practice
 The Mother of God: Ecumenical Aspects

The title Theotókos is not

used by the spiritual heirs
of the Antiochene
tradition
They call Mary “Mother of
the Lord” and “Mother of
Christ.” Assyrian Patriarch
Mar Dinkha IV and Pope
John Paul II signed a Joint
Christological Declaration
 The Mother of God: Ecumenical Aspects

The theologians of the

Reformation accepted the
title Theotókos because it
manifests the
Christological dogma of the
hypostatic union
the principles of the
Reformation lead to a
depreciation of Mary’s
maternal role
The Mother of God: ambiguity in Protestant
Ecumenical Aspects doctrine
Barth accepts the title
Theotókos, many other
Protestant theologians
abandon this dogmatic
attribute
in Evangelicals we find a
strong uneasiness about
the terminology
Modern Protestant
theology, in any case, is
divided on the title
Theotókos.
 The Mother of
God: Ecumenical
Aspects

In Anglicanism we find a greater acceptance of the

Marian doctrine formulated in the Ancient Church
In receiving the Council of Ephesus and the definition of
Chalcedon, Anglicans and Roman Catholics together
confess Mary as Theotókos.
 The Mother of God:
Systematic Assessment

The Title “Mother of God” is

Important for the Correct
Comprehension of the Divine
Person of Jesus Christ
 The Mother of God:
Systematic Assessment

The Holiness of Mary Prepares Her

for the Divine Maternity
Mother of Christ, Mary was prepared
according to the eternal plan of God.
The consent asked of Mary was
formed by the theological virtue of
faith, which can be compared in
some way with divine maternity
itself.
The Fathers of the Church describe
the spiritual “maternity” of any
disciple as a “conception” of the
Word
 The Mother of God:
Systematic Assessment

The holiness of Mary is a

gift of God, as is the
grace of divine
maternity.
merit of suitability
The merit of Mary
depended on her free
will, sustained by the
divine gift of grace.
 The Mother of God: Systematic Assessment

Through Her Vocation as Mother of God, Mary Takes

an Active Part in the Work of Redemption
 The Mother of God: Systematic Assessment

The Divine Motherhood Constitutes the Beginning of

Mary’s Spiritual Motherhood for the Church
 The Mother of God: Systematic Assessment

The Divine Motherhood Exalts Mary Over All Other Creatures