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Theotokos (Greek:Θεοτόκος)[a] is atitle ofMary, mother of Jesus, used especially inEastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations areDei Genitrix orDeipara (approximately "parent (fem) ofGod"). Common English translations areMother of God or "God-bearer" – but these both have different literal equivalents inAncient Greek:Μήτηρ Θεοῦ, andΘεοφόρος respectively.[4][5]
The title has been in use since the 3rd century, and in theLiturgy of Saint James (4th century).[6] TheCouncil of Ephesus in AD 431 decreed that Mary is theTheotokos because her sonJesus isboth God and man: one divine person from two natures (divine and human) intimately andhypostatically united.[7][8]
The title of Mother of God (Ancient Greek:Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ)[clarification needed] or Mother of Incarnate God, abbreviatedΜΡ ΘΥ (the first and last letter of main two words in Greek), is most often used inEnglish, largely due to the lack of a satisfactory equivalent of the Greekτόκος. For the same reason, the title is often left untranslated, asTheotókos, in Eastern liturgical usage of other languages.
Theotokos is also used as the term for an Easternicon, or type of icon, of the Mother with Child (typically called aMadonna in theWestern tradition), as in "theTheotokos of Vladimir" both for the original 12th-century icon and for icons that are copies or imitate its composition.
Theotokos is anadjectival compound of two Greek words Θεός "God" and τόκος "childbirth, parturition; offspring". A close paraphrase would be "[she] whose offspring is God" or "[she] who gave birth to one who was God".[9] The usual English translation is "Mother of God"; Latin usesDeipara orDei Genitrix.
TheChurch Slavonic translation isBogoroditsa (Russian/Serbian/BulgarianБогородица).[clarification needed] The full title of Mary in Slavic Orthodox tradition isПрест҃а́ѧ влⷣчица на́ша бцⷣа и҆ прⷭ҇нод҃ва мр҃і́а (Russian:Пресвятая Владычица наша Богородица и Приснодева Мария), from GreekὙπεραγία δέσποινα ἡμῶν Θεοτόκος καὶ ἀειπάρθενος Μαρία "Our Most Holy LadyTheotokos andEver-Virgin Mary". German has the translationGottesgebärerin (lit. 'bearer of God'). InArabic, there are two main terms which are widely used at the general level, first one is:Walidatu-liilahi (Arabic:وَالِدَةُ ٱلْإِلَـٰهِlit. 'Birther of God') andÙmmu-'llahi (أُمُّ ٱللهِ) orÙmmu-l'iilahi, (أُمُّ ٱلْإِلَـٰهِ),lit. 'Mother of God').
"Mother of God" is the literal translation of a distinct title in Greek,Μήτηρ τοῦ Θεοῦ (Mḗtēr toû Theoû), a term which has an established usage of its own in traditional Orthodox and Catholic theological writing, hymnography, and iconography.[10]In an abbreviated form,ΜΡ ΘΥ (Russian:М҃Р Ѳ҃Ѵ), it often is found on Eastern icons, where it is used to identify Mary. The Russian term isМатерь Божия (alsoБогома́терь).[11]
Variant forms are the compounds
These are found in patristic and liturgical texts.[12][13]
The theological dispute over the term concerned the termΘεός "God" versusΧριστός "Christ", and notτόκος (genitrix, "bearer") versusμήτηρ (mater, "mother"), and the two terms have been used as synonyms throughout Christian tradition. Both terms are known to have existed alongside one another since the early church, but it has been argued,[by whom?] including in modern times, that the term "Mother of God" is unduly suggestive of Godhead having its origin in Mary, imparting to Mary the role of aMother Goddess. But this is an exact reiteration of the objection byNestorius, resolved in the 5th century, to the effect that the term "Mother" expresses exactly the relation of Mary to theincarnate Son ascribed to Mary in Christian theology.[b][c][d][14]
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Theologically, the terms "Mother of God", "Mother of Incarnate God" (and its variants) does not mean that Mary is the source of the divine nature of Jesus, who Christians believe existed with the Father from all eternity.[15][16]
Within the Orthodox and Catholic tradition, Mother of God has not been understood, nor been intended to be understood, as referring to Mary as Mother of God from eternity — that is, as Mother of God the Father — but only with reference to the birth ofJesus, that is, theIncarnation.[clarification needed]To make it explicit, it is sometimes translatedMother of God Incarnate.[17]
TheNiceno-Constantinopolitan Creed of 381 affirmed the Christian faith on "one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Fatherbefore all worlds (æons)", that "came down from heaven, and was incarnate by theHoly Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man". Hence, the term affirms Jesus Christ's full divinity as God by referencingMary as the "Mother of [that] God". In theSyriac tradition, the creed contains an addition ofTheotokos after mentioning the incarnation, where it reads "...was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God [Syriac:ܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ,romanized: Yāldath Alāhāor Yoldath Aloho]."[citation needed][whose translation?]
The status of Mary asTheotokos was a topic of theological dispute in the 4th and 5th centuries and was the subject of the decree of theCouncil of Ephesus of 431 to the effect that, in opposition to those who denied Mary the titleTheotokos ("the one who gives birth to God") but called herChristotokos ("the one who gives birth to Christ"), Mary isTheotokos because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human.[7][8] This decree created theNestorian Schism.Cyril of Alexandria wrote, "I am amazed that there are some who are entirely in doubt as to whether the holy Virgin should be calledTheotokos or not. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is the holy Virgin who gave [Him] birth, not [Theotokos]?" (Epistle 1, to the monks of Egypt;PG 77:13B).[full citation needed] But the argument ofNestorius was that divine and human natures of Christ were distinct, and while Mary is evidently theChristotokos (bearer of Christ), it could be misleading to describe her solely as the "bearer of God" without referencing the humanity. At issue is the interpretation of theIncarnation, and the nature of thehypostatic union of Christ's human and divine natures between Christ'sconception andbirth.
Within the Orthodox doctrinal teaching on theeconomy of salvation, Mary's identity, role, and status asTheotokos is acknowledged as indispensable. For this reason, it is formally defined as officialdogma. The only otherMariological teaching so defined is that of her virginity. Both of these teachings have a bearing on the identity of Jesus Christ. By contrast, certain otherMarian beliefs which do not bear directly on the doctrine concerning the person of Jesus (for example, hersinlessness, the circumstances surrounding herconception andbirth, herPresentation in the Temple, her continuingvirginity following the birth of Jesus, and herdeath), which are taught and believed by the Orthodox Church[which?] (being expressed in the Church's liturgy and patristic writings), are not formally defined by the Church.[citation needed]
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The term and similar titles were certainly in use before the 4th century.Ephrem the Syrian used it in 318,[18]Alexander I of Alexandria in 321,[19]Athanasius of Alexandria in 330,[20]Gregory the Theologian in 370,John Chrysostom[failed verification] in 400, andAugustine all usedTheotokos.[21]
Origen (d. 254) is often cited as the earliest author to useTheotokos for Mary (Socrates,Ecclesiastical History 7.32 (PG 67, 812 B) citing Origen'sCommentary on Romans),[full citation needed] but the surviving texts do not contain it. It is also claimed that the term was used c. 250 byDionysius of Alexandria, in an epistle toPaul of Samosata,[22] but the epistle is a forgery of the 6th century.[23]
The oldest preserved extant hymn dedicated to the Virgin Mary,Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν (English:Beneath thy Compassion,Latin:Sub tuum praesidium,) has been continually prayed and sung for at least sixteen centuries, in the originalKoine Greek vocative, asΘΕΟΤΟΚΕ.[24] The oldest record of this hymn is a papyrus found in Egypt, mostly dated to after 450,[25] but according to a suggestion by Henri de Villiers possibly older, dating to the mid-3rd century.[22]
John Cassian (360–435) stated:
Since then you said that God was born of Mary, how can you deny that Mary was the mother of God? Since you said that God came, how can you deny that He is God who has come?[26]
And so you say, O heretic, whoever you may be, who deny that God was born of the Virgin, that Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ought not to be calledTheotokos, i.e., Mother of God, but Christotocos, i.e., only the Mother of Christ, not of God. For no one, you say, brings forth what is anterior in time. And of this utterly foolish argument whereby you think that the birth of God can be understood by carnal minds, and fancy that the mystery of His Majesty can be accounted for by human reasoning, we will, if God permits, say something later on. In the meanwhile we will now prove by Divine testimonies that Christ is God, and that Mary is the Mother of God. Hear then how the angel of God speaks to the Shepherds of the birth of God. There is born, he says, to you this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 In order that you may not take Christ for a mere man, he adds the name of Lord and Saviour, on purpose that you may have no doubt that He whom you acknowledge as Saviour is God, and that (as the office of saving belongs only to Divine power) you may not question that He is of Divine power, in whom you have learned that the power to save resides.[27]
Basil of Caesarea (330-378) stated:
According to the blameless faith of the Christians which we have obtained from God, I confess and agree that I believe in one God the Father Almighty; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost; I adore and worship one God, the Three. I confess to the œconomy of the Son in the flesh, and that the holy Mary, who gave birth to Him according to the flesh, was Mother of God.[28]
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) stated:
An Angel speaks to Zacharias; fertility is given to the barren; the priest comes forth dumb from the place of incense; John bursts forth into speech while yet confined within his mother's womb; an Angel blesses Mary and promises that she, a virgin, shall be the mother of the Son of God.[29]
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The use ofTheotokos was formally affirmed at theThird Ecumenical Council held atEphesus in 431. It proclaimed that Mary truly became the Mother of God by the human conception of the Son of God in her womb:
Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh.[30]
The competing view, advocated byPatriarchNestorius of Constantinople, was that Mary should be calledChristotokos, meaning "Birth-giver of Christ," to restrict her role to the mother of Christ's humanity only and not his divine nature.
Nestorius' opponents, led byCyril of Alexandria, alleged that this view, in conjunction with Nestorius's two-nature Christology, leads to two persons in Christ, which results in an incomplete incarnation and, by extension, incomplete salvation for mankind. The council accepted Cyril's reasoning and his one-nature Christology, affirmed the titleTheotokos for Mary, andanathematizedNestorianism asheresy.
In letters to Nestorius which were afterwards included among the council documents, Cyril explained his doctrine. He noted that "the holy fathers... have ventured to call the holy VirginTheotokos, not as though the nature of theWord or his divinity received the beginning of their existence from the holy Virgin, but because from her was born his holy body, rationally endowed with a soul, with which the Word was united according to thehypostasis, and is said to have been begotten according to the flesh" (Cyril's second letter to Nestorius).
Explaining his rejection of Nestorius' preferred title for Mary (Christotokos), Cyril wrote:
Confessing the Word to be united with the flesh according to the hypostasis, we worship one Son and Lord, Jesus Christ. We do not divide him into parts and separate man and God as though they were united with each other [only] through a unity of dignity and authority... nor do we name separately Christ the Word from God, and in similar fashion, separately, another Christ from the woman, but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own flesh... But we do not say that the Word from God dwelt as in an ordinary human born of the holy virgin... we understand that, when he became flesh, not in the same way as he is said to dwell among the saints do we distinguish the manner of the indwelling; but he was united by nature and not turned into flesh... There is, then, one Christ and Son and Lord, not with the sort of conjunction that a human being might have with God as in a unity of dignity or authority; for equality of honor does not unite natures. For Peter and John were equal to each other in honor, both of them being apostles and holy disciples, but the two were not one. Nor do we understand the manner of conjunction to be one of juxtaposition, for this is insufficient in regard to natural union.... Rather we reject the term 'conjunction' as being inadequate to express the union... [T]he holy virgin gave birth in the flesh to God united with the flesh according to hypostasis, for that reason we call herTheotokos... If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is, in truth, God, and therefore that the holy virgin isTheotokos (for she bore in a fleshly manner the Word from God become flesh), let him be anathema. (Cyril's third letter to Nestorius)[clarify][citation needed]
Following the decision of theCouncil of Ephesus to anathematize the two-nature formula and its adherents such asIbas of Edessa, the followers of Nestorius (but not Nestorius himself) moved eastwards within the borders of the Sassanid Empire. There they spread their ideology, and eventually, their later student,Barsauma of Nisibis, is often credited with the official establishment of theChurch of the East in 424. Other influential figures includeNarsai,Babai the Great, andBabai of Seleucia-Ctesiphon The church accepts the teachings of Nestorius's mentor,Theodore of Mopsuestia, as official doctrine.[31] Whether the Church of the East is truly "Nestorian" is a subject of debate, and modern research suggests that theChurch of the East in China did not teach a doctrine of two distinct natures of Christ.[32]
Lutheran tradition retained the title of "Mother of God" (German:Mutter Gottes,Gottesmutter), a term already embraced byMartin Luther;[33] and officially confessed in theFormula of Concord (1577),[34] accepted by theLutheran World Federation.[35]
Whilst Calvin believed that Mary was theologically speaking rightly qualified as "the mother of God",he rejected common use of this as a title, saying, "I cannot think such language either right, or becoming, or suitable. ... To call the Virgin Mary the mother of God can only serve to confirm the ignorant in their superstitions."[36]
In 1994, PopeJohn Paul II and Patriarch of theAssyrian Church of the EastMar Dinkha IV signed anecumenical declaration, mutually recognizing the legitimacy of the titles "Mother of God" and "Mother of Christ." The declaration reiterates the Christological formulations of the Council of Chalcedon as a theological expression of the faith shared by both Churches, at the same time respecting the preference of each Church in using these titles in their liturgical life and piety.[37]
Theotokos is often used inhymns to Mary in theEastern Orthodox,Eastern Catholic andOriental Orthodox churches. The most common isAxion Estin (It is truly meet), which is used in nearly every service.
Other examples includeSub tuum praesidium, theHail Mary in its Eastern form, andAll creation rejoices, which replacesAxion Estin at theDivine Liturgy on the Sundays ofGreat Lent.Bogurodzica is a medievalPolish hymn, possibly composed byAdalbert of Prague (d. 997).
TheSolemnity of Mary, Mother of God is a Roman Catholic feast day introduced in 1969, based on older traditions associating 1 January with the motherhood of Mary.[e][38][f][39]
One of the two earliest known depictions of the Virgin Mary is found in theCatacomb of Priscilla (3rd century) showing the adoration of the Magi. Recent conservation work at the Catacombs of Priscilla revealed that what had been identified for decades as the earliest image of the Virgin and Child was actually a traditional funerary image of a Roman matron; the pointing figure with her, formerly identified as a prophet, was shown to have had its arm position adjusted and the star he was supposedly pointing to was painted in at a later date.[40] The putative[editorializing] Annunciation scene at Priscilla is also now recognized as a Roman matron with accompanying figure and not the Virgin Mary.[citation needed] Recently another third-century image of the Virgin Mary was identified at the eastern Syrian site of Dura Europos in the baptistry room of the earliest known Christian Church. The scene shows the Annunciation to the Virgin.[41]
The tradition ofMarian veneration was greatly expanded only with the affirmation of her status asTheotokos in 431.[citation needed] Themosaics inSanta Maria Maggiore in Rome, dating from 432 to 40, just after the council, does not yet show her with ahalo. Theiconographic tradition of theTheotokos orMadonna (Our Lady), showing the Virgin enthroned carrying the infant Christ, is established by the following century, as attested by a very small number of surviving icons, including one atSaint Catherine's Monastery inSinai, andSalus Populi Romani, a 5th or 6th-century Byzantine icon preserved in Rome. This type of depiction, with subtly changing differences of emphasis, has remained the mainstay of depictions of Mary to the present day. The roughly half-dozen varied icons of the Virgin and Child in Rome from the 6th to 8th centuries form the majority of the representations surviving from this period, as most early Byzantine icons were destroyed in theByzantine Iconoclasm of the 8th and 9th century,[42] notable exceptions being the 7th-centuryBlachernitissa andAgiosoritissa.
The iconographic tradition is well developed by theearly medieval period. The tradition ofLuke the Evangelist being thefirst to have painted Mary is established by the 8th century.[43]
An early icon of the Virgin as queen is in the church ofSanta Maria in Trastevere in Rome, datable to 705-707 by the kneeling figure ofPope John VII, a notable promoter of the cult of the Virgin, to whom the infant Christ reaches his hand.
The earliest surviving image in a Westernilluminated manuscript of theMadonna and Child comes from theBook of Kells of about 800 (there is a similar carved image on the lid ofSt Cuthbert's coffin of 698).Theoldest Russian icons were imports from Byzantium, beginning in the 11th century.
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