Saints LightHow Can Mary Be the Mother of God?
Mary is Mother of God because the child she bore is one person, the eternal Son of God made man.
What this lesson teaches
- Mary is Mother of God because her Son is one divine person, God the Son made man.
- She did not give Jesus his divinity; she gave him his human nature.
- The Council of Ephesus in 431 defended the title Theotokos against Nestorius.
- The title protects the truth that God himself became man and died for us.
Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites
- CCC 466
- CCC 495
- CCC 509
- CCC 2677
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
Scripture read in this lesson: Luke 1:43; Galatians 4:4; John 1:14.
A sample question from this lesson
What does the title Mother of God mean?
- Mary existed before God
- Mary is the mother of the whole Trinity
- Mary gave Jesus his divine nature
- Mary is mother of Jesus, who is one person and truly God
Show the answer
Mary is mother of Jesus, who is one person and truly God. The lesson explains that a mother is mother of a person, and Mary's Son is the divine Son made man (CCC 495, 509).
The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.
Words to know
- Theotokos
- Greek for 'God bearer': the title of Mary as Mother of God.
- Dogma
- A truth the Church solemnly teaches as revealed by God, to be believed by all the faithful.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
Read the full lesson in the app
"How Can Mary Be the Mother of God?" is lesson 2 of Mary and the Saints. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.
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Related lessons
- What Did the Great Councils Settle? (Church History)
- Who Is Jesus? True God and True Man (Start Here, free)
- who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary (The Creed, free)