My New Year Thought for Sunday: Mary, the Theotokos

Theotokos is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations, Dei Genetrix or Deipara, are translated as "Mother of God" or "God-bearer".

The Council of Ephesus decreed in 431 that Mary is the Theotokos because her son Jesus is both God and man: one divine person with two natures (divine and human) intimately and hypostatically united.

-- Wikipedia, "Theotokos"

"Hypostatically united," threw me for a loop, so I did what any self-respecting man would do, I stopped for directions - I looked it up. Don't bother, it didn't help. I knew it was time to stop looking when I was directed to a legal (as in law school) definition of the word. When lawyers get involved you're better off using good sense because the legalese will give you a headache.  It is like trying to figure out how artists ever thought Mary and Jesus should be depicted with ivory white skin.  Hello!  They're in the desert 24/7/365!  Skin cancer!  Not sure they made SPF 100 from rendered lamb fat back in year zero.  Lily white desert dwellers, however, does play to our acceptance of whatever we're fed, but with "hypostatically united" even I have to throw the penalty flag, on whoever penned the phrase, for being a smug showoff.  One would think authors writing for the masses would consider writing at a second grade level, as some government agencies require of anything going public, so the majority of our dumb ass society can understand what is being written to educate them.

I tried to clarify my own confusion by reading this excerpt from "A Historical-Theological Comparison on the Reception of the Extra-Calvinisticum in the Theology of Karl Barth and Francois Turrettini," a research paper authored by Rafael N. Bello of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  It seemed to help, a bit, but my head still hurts:

"Historically, natures are associated with capacities, faculties, will etc.  However, the acting subject that makes the choosing is the person.  Therefore the extra makes one sense of the hypostatic union when it states that the Son acts in and through a divine and human natures...  Crisp speaks of the divine person owning the human and divine natures.  Therefore one can say John Doe is fully human, but also merely human, because his person can only act in and through his one human nature.  John Doe has only one nature to act through.  The person of the Son, however, is fully human and not merely human.  He is fully human insofar as he has a complete human nature, but is not merely human, because his person can act in and through the human and divine natures."

I take "hypostatically united" to mean, in this case, philosophically united as opposed to being physically united. It is not a part of him, yet it is. He is united to His "human" nature because he is human. He is united to his "divine" nature because God willed it to be so for a purpose. This is a nature Jesus accepted on faith and proved with actions.  It is a part of His nature we must also take on faith, just like I have the utmost faith I have totally mucked up this explanation, but I also have faith that you will get the gist of it.  As with most things spiritual and religious in nature, this all seems to revolve around faith.

I wear a Madonna medallion around my neck. I am not a Mariologist (I'm not even certain "Mariologist" is a word) but I do accept her as my "lady." She is the most blessed of women, the chosen of God, and the mother of the Christ Child.  I take all of this, and the virgin birth of her child, on faith.  And taking this on faith opens up my favorite question, "Why?"  I have faith because man is nothing without hope.  We have the capability to endure so very much, if we have hope.  Without hope everything else is lost to us.  Is not an atheist with hope simply a deist in denial?

When I first entered into military intelligence we studied survival, interrogation, torture, resistance, and the experiences of prisoners of war during the Vietnam conflict.  It was interesting to read how much of their survival depended on the hope and faith that we would not forget them.  It is a hope and faith the American military man will be hard pressed to regain after our country turned its back on the American personnel in Benghazi, but I digress. 

Councils, theologians, and scholars debate Mary's nature, her titles, and whether she holds a position worthy of worship.  Go to Mexico and visit a Catholic church.  Mexican's are all about leaving offerings to the saints.  Go into the church and see which painting or statue is suffocating with offerings and I'll bet you find it's the Virgin of Guadalupe.  I was so moved by my visit to the church in Manzanillo, I constructed a large shrine dedicated to the Virgin.  Even this shrine was visited and littered with offerings by those faithful to her.

As we approach the first day of 2017, we find our country rife with disenchantment, violence, and anger.  These are the flames of a society burning its own house to the ground.  These are the flames being fanned white hot by divisive political parties, a media creating their own news through questionable journalistic practices, a corrupt Supreme Court, and a people too ignorant to care or notice while they follow the rest of the lemmings off the cliff of hopelessness.

This Sunday marks, not only the beginning of our New Year, but also the celebration of the Theotokos; Mary, the mother of Jesus, the mother of God on earth. It is appropriate that we celebrate her with the New Year, as she represents the birth of new hope. Each New Year's Eve we say goodbye to the past and welcome in a new year full of hope.  Let us take seize this first day of the new year and pledge to each other that we will ignore the evil in our midst, ignore media spin based on questionable facts, and demand our legal system follow the rule of law and not the direction of the days winds.  Most of all, let us pledge an end to the ignorance which has seemingly infected all of society and makes us follow hate mongers who stand aside at the last minute and push us off that cliff of hopelessness, those hate mongers who make their fortune off the hopelessness and hate they, themselves, create.  Let us make this New Year's Day a new beginning of hope and tolerance, of education and equality, of security and life.

Have the happiest, and safest, of New Years and God continue to bless us all, Mary, the Mother of God, our families and friends, these United States of America, and all peaceful, loving people around the world!

Editor's Note 

(re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card) 

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch, it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either opinion any more right or wrong than the other. An opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form opinions of their own, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider another viewpoint. 

It is my fervent hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions and then engaging in peaceful, constructive, discussion in an arena of mutual respect concerning the opinions put forth. After over twenty years with military intelligence, I have come to believe engaging each other in this manner and in this arena is the way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience, and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 23 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to the intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As the weapon for his war on intolerance he chose the pen, in the guise of the Congregation's official, online, blog, "The Path," of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's own personal, spiritual, path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He currently resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteers as lead chaplain at a regional medical center.