Anonymous Asks (398)

“Is Mary the mother of God?”

There is a kind of childish logical syllogism drawn by some in which the budding theologian goes from the true statements “Mary was the mother of Jesus” and “Jesus is God” to “Mary is the mother of God”. The final claim is simply untrue, not to mention blasphemous, depending on what those who say it or write it intend by it. The error is a decent example of the informal fallacy we call false equivalence, which involves consciously or unconsciously substituting one term for another in a syllogism where the terms are not precisely identical. Asparagus is a vegetable. That does not make it the only type of vegetable in existence.

Think of it this way: if Jesus is God, does that mean God is Jesus?

On Holy Ground

I always want to be exceedingly cautious in any discussion of the nature of God — or, for that matter, the God-man, Jesus Christ — not to say more than scripture says. That is where so many wannabe theologians get into serious trouble. The human mind is simply incapable of processing certain things about God, especially in relation to his simultaneous unity and triunity. I have yet to find anything better than limited, helpful analogies to describe that divine relationship. It is beyond human understanding.

We are on holy ground here, so we want to take off our spiritual sandals and be very careful where we put our feet. We want to use both the terms “Jesus” and “God” in ways that are fundamentally scriptural.

Scripturally Defining ‘Jesus’

The scripture uses the name Jesus to locate the eternal Son in time and space. Prior to his incarnation, we might refer to him as “the Son” or “the Word” or even “the angel of the Lord”, but calling him Jesus prior to his birth would not be biblical. He became incarnate as a man in a particular location and at a specific moment. He remains Jesus today. “But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.” “This [same] Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” That claim is a matter of inspired record.

Scripturally Defining ‘God’

The scripture uses the words god or God [most frequently 'ĕlōhîm (Hebrew) or theos (Greek)] in several different ways, often designating a plurality of being rather than a single individual. This is evident in the very first verse of the Bible. The word 'ĕlōhîm is a plural noun. The plurality is reflected in English right in the same chapter. In verse 26 of Genesis 1, God says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Moreover, scripture uses the word 'ĕlōhîm to describe created beings of great power and authority (“I said, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you’ ”) as well as the Most High God who made heaven and earth. God and god can be either categories or pluralities rather than individuals. That is the proper biblical usage.

Logic Fail 101

It is theologically and biblically correct to say that Jesus is both god and God. It is manifestly not accurate to say that God is Jesus. The latter is Logic Fail 101. At his baptism, while Jesus came up from the Jordan, the Holy Spirit descended to rest on him and the Father expressed his pleasure in the Son from heaven. All are God, but all are not God incarnate. In scriptural usage God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit or all three together (most usages of 'ĕlōhîm in Genesis and beyond), depending on the context in which you find him or them. Though the triune God is certainly a unity in ways beyond our understanding (Jesus could say, “I and the Father are one” and “He who has seen me has seen the Father”), Mary did not give birth to either the Father or the Holy Spirit. Mary, by all accounts, gave birth to the incarnate Son.

So, no, we cannot go logically from “Mary was the mother of Jesus” and “Jesus is God” to “Mary is the mother of God”. Jesus and the Father are equal in the language of scripture, but they are not identical. The statement “Mary is the mother of God” is therefore at best a logical fallacy.