Theotokos θεοτοκος
Among the four Marian dogmas, such as Mary Mother of God, Mary ever Virgin, The Immaculate Conception of Mary and The Assumption of our Lady, the dogma of Mary Mother of God was decreed at the early stages of the history of the Church. Mary, Mother of God, known in Greek as Theotokos, is both explanatory and reflective on the very physical and metaphysical nature of her. The first council of Nicaea in 325, defined the divinity of Jesus Christ. In order to explain the divinity of Jesus, at the face of a heresy, the Church had to stress the divine motherhood of Mary. During the council of Ephesus in 431, the Church solemnly proclaimed the definition of Theotokos θεοτοκος. The advocates of Docetism (that Christ's body was not human but either a phantasm or of real but celestial substance, and that therefore his sufferings were only apparent), Gnosticism (Gnostic doctrine taught that the world was created and ruled by a lesser divinity, the demiurge, and that Christ was an emissary of the remote supreme divine being, esoteric knowledge (gnosis) of whom enabled the redemption of the human spirit), and Manichaeism (a dualistic religious system with Christian, Gnostic, and non Christian elements, founded in Persia in the 3rd century by Manes (c.216–c.276) and based on a supposed primeval conflict between light and darkness. It was widespread in the Roman Empire and in Asia, and survived in eastern Turkestan (Xinjiang) until the 13th century), believed that anything that deals with the matter and body is ambiguous and therefore the birth of Jesus cannot be attributed to a woman who was naturally of a flesh. Hence they believed, for example the Docetist, that Jesus was born through a virgin, not of a virgin, and in a womb, not of a womb.
Thus, there was a tremendous need to explain that Jesus was born of a Virgin and He is a fruit of Mary’s womb. Already in the writings referred to Hippolytus around 215 A.D., it is found that the catechumens were asked if they believed in Jesus who was born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. The School of Alexandria played a vital role in promulgating the dogma of Theotokos. Long before the Council of Ephesus, around 320 A.D., the Bishop of Alexandria denouncing the Arian (the main heresy denying the divinity of Christ, originating with the Alexandrian priest Arius (c.250–c.336). Arianism maintained that the son of God was created by the Father and was therefore neither coeternal nor consubstantial with the Father) controversy strongly promotes the term Theotokos according to which the divine maternity of Mary is central to Christological truths. But, on the other hand, the school of Antioch was reluctant to adopt the term Theotokos and eventually it caused the Nestorian heresy (the Christian doctrine that there were two separate persons, one human and one divine, in the incarnate Christ). Nestorius as the Patriarch of Constantinople preached against addressing Mary as Theotokos. Instead he proposed Mary to be addressed as Christotokos Χριστoκος (Mother of Christ). Cyril of Alexandria opposed the Nestorian position and proposed Theotokos as falling in line with the tradition of the Fathers of the Church. In 431 A.D., the Council of Ephesus proclaimed that Jesus was the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and Mary was the Mother of God. The same Council also condemned Nestorius through the Letter of Anathemas and when the decrees were promulgated the faithful on the streets of Ephesus shouted Hagia Maria Theotokos (Holy Mary Mother of God). The promulgation of Thotokos paid the way for an upsurge in the Marian devotion both in the East and the West. Marian feasts were initiated and various Marian icons were promoted. Churches were built in honour of Mary the Mother of God.
Time to time there were attempts to rehabilitate the Nestorian position. But the Church continues to affirm and reaffirm the solemn profession of the Council of Ephesus. While commemorating the 1500 years of the Council of Ephesus in 1931, Pope Pius XI indicated the validity of the promulgation of the decree of the Council of Ephesus. Pope Francis invites the whole Catholic Church to remain faithful to the council of Ephesus and to the spirit of Ephesians who, during the council, used to gather at the gates of the basilica where the bishops were meeting and shouting, “Mother of God!”
Heresies do not affect the image Mary,
rather help the Church
to promote her devotion,
to understand more profoundly of her,
to love her deeply,
to study her nature solidly
and to be loyal to her always.
In and through her it is Jesus who is glorified. Amen.
Deacon Bede Sujaharan omi,
Thodarpaham,
Jaffna
31,12,2016.
