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Michael Pollock wrote:

Hi guys,

I am a 54-year-old male with a Christian background who lives in the United States.

I have two questions:

  1. Why do you call Mary mother of God knowing that God doesn't have a mother?
  2. How could Mary be of the tribe of Judah when we know that she was related to her Levite cousin, Elizabeth?

Thanks.

Michael

  { Why do you call Mary, mother of God, when God has no mother and how could she be Judaean? }

Eric replied:

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your questions.

You said:

  1. Why do you call Mary mother of God knowing that God doesn't have a mother?

Because Jesus is God, and Mary is his mother. It's that simple. It doesn't mean that Mary
pre-existed the Father or the Holy Spirit (or even God, the Word). It simply means that she gave birth to Christ who was true God and true Man.

The term Mother of God is a marvelous term that concisely and effectively expresses many essential truths about Christ. It says far more about Christ than it says about Mary.

For example, if you said Jesus is God, that's really rather ambiguous.

  • Do you mean that Jesus acquired Godhood sometime during his life, or that he had it from the beginning?
  • Do you mean that he was God who appeared to be man, or was he a man somehow united to God?

All of these questions are made clear when you refer to Mary the Mother of God, because it implies that Jesus was God from the beginning, that Jesus was truly man and truly God, and a host of other things. It's like an entire creed in a single title.

It's the largest three-word, (two in Greek and Latin), Creed in the whole history of Christendom.

Here is a good article with some additional information on the topic:

You said:

  1. How could Mary be of the tribe of Judah when we know that she was related to her Levite cousin Elizabeth?

I am not sure why you are claiming that Mary was of the tribe of Judah.

Jesus is of the tribe of Judah because Joseph was of the tribe of Judah. (Matthew 1:3,16; Mark 3:23,33) We don't have a genealogy for Mary.

Eric Ewanco

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