Theotokos

View
Edit

The Virgin Mary, Theotokos, and Christ, true God and true man. The mystery of Incarnation according to Cyril of Alexandria

Eirini ARTEMI

Published in Mulier aut Femina. Idealism or reality of women in the Middle Ages

Keywords: Christ, Christotokos, Cyril of Alexandria, Nestorius, Theotokos, Virgin Mary.

The 5th century controversy of Bishop Nestorius of Constantinople and Bishop Cyril of Alexandria centred on the Person of Jesus Christ: To what extent is Jesus human? To what extent divine? And to what extent and how are His humanity and divinity united? Christ has two natures. Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine. If Jesus was only human, Cyril urged, and God was elsewhere, the Incarnation, the Word became flesh (human indeed), would be meaningless. On the other hand Nestorius refused that Jesus is a God too, when he questioned the use of Τheotokos (Θεοτόκος) in the veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus. This led to a greater dispute about his Christology, specifically, his conception of the unity of the divine and human natures of Christ. In this controversy Cyril of Alexandria became his most outspoken opponent. Cyril underlined that Christ is human and God at the same time. He has two natures in the unity of person (Hypostasis). Cyril emphasized the unity of Christ and his divinity, he held that Christ “was at once God and man,” and without “any mixture or blending.” In this way he preserved the distinction between the two natures which became so important in the definition of Chalcedon. Cyril urged that Jesus Christ is at once God and man, and he is “in the likeness of men” since even though he is God he is “in the fashion of a man”. He is God in an appearance like ours, and the Lord in the form of a slave.

The person of Holy Virgin Mary in Christianity and in Qu’ran (Koran)

Eirini ARTEMI

Published in

Keywords: Christianity, Qu’ran, Theotokos, Virgin Mary.

The Holy Virgin Mary or Theotokos is a very significant person for Christians. She is the mother of the enfleshed (sesarkomenos) Son of God. Theotokos thus refers to the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine nature, this being made possible by the cooperation of Virgin Mary. Theotokos is not only the mother of God, but the mother of every Christian. The Christians and mainly Orthodoxs and Roman Catholics think that the Virgin is a very significant part of their religion, of their life. Christians do not “worship” the Virgin Mary. They “venerate” her and show her great honor. She has the all-merciful power of driving away from us, at her sign, the sub-celestial spirits of evil–those ever-vigilant and ardent sowers of enmity and malice among men. She is the highest of all creatures, the Mediatrix for the whole race of mankind. Strive to train everyone in the spirit of humility, for she was humbler that any mortal, and only looks lovingly upon the humble. The Quran, the holy book for Muslims honor holy Virgin Mary too. Muslims think that Virgin Mary is the mother of Prophet Christ. For them, Christ is not God. The Archbishop of Albania Anastasios who was teaching about the religion of Muslims supports that Muslims honour Holy Virgin more than some Christian Confessions of Protestants and some “christian” heresies as Jehovah witness. Also, it is indicative of this honorary position, which in the Quran the name of Mary is found in 33 out of 114 chapters (sura). The 33 chapter is devoted to Mary. Of course in this paper, we will examine the texts of the Holy Scriptures for the Theotokos, and the texts of Quran for Her.