How Do We Know that Mary is the Mother of God? (Special Podcast Highlight)

Patrick Madrid looks into this classic Catholic-Protestant debate over whether Mary is really the Mother of God. And spoiler alert: she totally is. Let’s get into it:

 

The Twitter Wars: Catholic vs. Protestant

 

Patrick caught wind of a Catholic account on X/Twitter duking it out with Protestants about Mary. The claim? Mary isn’t the Mother of God because God existed before her. But that argument? It misses the point by a mile.

 

Theotokos: Fancy Greek Word, Big Meaning

 

Here’s the deal: the term Theotokos (from way back in the Council of Ephesus, 431 A.D.) literally means "God-bearer." It’s not just some poetic title. It means Mary bore Jesus, who is fully God and fully man, in her womb. Not "God’s incubator," not "divine rental space": she’s his MOM. That’s the whole point.

 

But How Can Mary Be God’s Mom?

 

Here’s where some people get stuck:

 

Protestant argument: “Mary’s a creature! She can’t be the Mother of God because God existed before her.”

 

Catholic truth: Mary didn’t give Jesus his divine nature (obviously: she’s not divine herself). But she did give birth to a person, and that person is Jesus Christ, who is fully God. So, she’s the Mother of God, not because she created God, but because God entered the world through her. 

 

Nestorius and His Bad Ideas

 

Back in the day, this guy Nestorius stirred up confusion by claiming Jesus was basically two separate persons: one human, one divine. Wrong. Jesus is one divine person with both a human nature and a divine nature. The Church, through St. Cyril and others, shut down Nestorius’s ideas at the Council of Ephesus, making it super clear: the baby Mary gave birth to was God himself.

 

"You Don’t Give Birth to a Nature."

 

Patrick made it clear. You give birth to a person, not a nature. Like, when your mom had you, she didn’t birth your "human nature": she gave birth to you. Same with Mary. She didn’t just give birth to Jesus’ human side; she gave birth to Jesus, the person, who happens to be God.

 

Why Does It Matter?

 

This isn’t just theological nitpicking. If you get Mary wrong, you probably get Jesus wrong. Getting Jesus wrong messes with the whole incarnation, salvation, and everything else. That’s why the Church keeps hammering this home: every generation needs to hear it.

 

Council of Ephesus: Let’s Get Serious

 

The council declared: If you don’t confess that Mary is the Mother of God (because she bore God-made-flesh), you’re in heresy. Why? Because denying Mary’s role messes with the whole reality of Jesus being God and man in one person.

 

So yeah, Mary is the Mother of God. Not because she’s part of the Trinity or existed before God, but because the child she bore is God in the flesh. Case closed.