Misplaced Pages

#146853

118-787: The Word of God, second Person of the Holy Trinity, became incarnate by the power of the Holy Spirit in assuming from the holy Virgin Mary a body animated by a rational soul, with which he was indissolubly united from the moment of his conception. Therefore our Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man, perfect in his divinity and perfect in his humanity, consubstantial with the Father and consubstantial with us in all things but sin. His divinity and his humanity are united in one person, without confusion or change, without division or separation. In him has been preserved

236-537: A wedding at Cana by turning water into wine. Subsequently, there are events when Mary is mentioned along with the Jesus' brothers . According to Epiphanius , Origen and Eusebius , these "brothers" would be sons of Joseph from a previous marriage. This view is still the official position of the Eastern Orthodox churches. Following Jerome , those would be actually Jesus' cousins, children of Mary's sister. This remains

354-671: A beard, a depiction largely derived from, and justified by, the near-physical, but still figurative, description of the Ancient of Days . In the Annunciation by Benvenuto di Giovanni in 1470, God the Father is portrayed in the red robe and a hat that resembles that of a Cardinal. However, even in the later part of the 15th century, the symbolic representation of the Father and the Holy Spirit as "hands and dove" continued, e.g. in Verrocchio's Baptism of Christ in 1472. In Renaissance paintings of

472-468: A cornerstone of modern Christian understandings of God—however, some Christian denominations hold nontrinitarian views about God . Christians, in common with Jews and Muslims , identify with the biblical patriarch Abraham to whom God revealed himself. It is believed that Abraham was the first to affirm monotheism (the belief in one God) and had an ideal relationship with God. The Abrahamic religions believe that God continuously interacted with

590-438: A different logical dynamic which from such attributes as infinite goodness since there are relative forms of the latter but not of the former. In Christian theology, the name of God has always held deeper significance than purely being a label, considered instead to have divine origin and be based upon divine revelation. The Bible usually uses the name of God in the singular (e.g., Exodus 20:7 or Psalms 8:1), generally using

708-559: A formal doctrine of the Trinity as such, "it does repeatedly speak of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit... in such a way as to compel a Trinitarian understanding of God". Around 200 AD, Tertullian formulated a version of the doctrine of the Trinity which clearly affirmed the divinity of Jesus. This concept was later expanded upon at the First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, and

826-470: A later definitive form was produced by the Ecumenical Council of 381 . The Trinitarian doctrine holds that God the Son, God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit are all different hypostases (Persons) of one substance, and is not traditionally held to be one of tritheism . Trinitarianism was subsequently adopted as the official theological doctrine through Nicene Christianity thereafter, and forms

944-433: A message asking for him ... And looking at those who sat in a circle around him, Jesus said, 'These are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother'." Mary is also depicted as being present in a group of women at the crucifixion standing near the disciple whom Jesus loved along with Mary of Clopas and Mary Magdalene , to which list Matthew 27:56 adds "the mother of

1062-411: A military loss which he attributed to the undue veneration of icons. The edict (which was issued without consulting the church) forbade the veneration of religious images, but did not apply to other forms of art, including the image of the emperor, or religious symbols such as the cross. Theological arguments against icons then began to appear with iconoclasts arguing that icons could not represent both

1180-601: A number of goddesses, such as Isis , or Ishtar . Titles in use vary among Anglicans , Lutherans and other Protestants , as well as Mormons , Catholics , Orthodox and other Christians . The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos ( Θεοτόκος or "God-bearer"), Aeiparthenos ( ἀειπαρθένος ) which means ever-virgin, as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, and Panagia ( Παναγία ) meaning "all-holy". Catholics use

1298-408: A number of references to the Holy Spirit, with the theme which appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:8 – "...God, the very God who gives you his Holy Spirit" – appearing throughout his epistles. In John 14:26, Jesus also refers to "the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name". By the end of the 1st century, Clement of Rome had repeatedly referred to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and linked

SECTION 10

#1732844377147

1416-476: A perceived lack of biblical support for many traditional Christian dogmas pertaining to her. The multiple forms of Marian devotions include various prayers and hymns , the celebration of several Marian feast days in liturgy , the veneration of images and relics , the construction of churches dedicated to her and pilgrimages to Marian shrines . Many Marian apparitions and miracles attributed to her intercession have been reported by believers over

1534-511: A series of intellectual attributes: knowledge-omniscience ; wisdom ; veracity and then, the moral attributes of goodness (including love, grace, mercy and patience); holiness and righteousness before dealing finally with his sovereignty . Gregory of Nyssa was one of the first theologians to argue, in opposition to Origen , that God is infinite . His main argument for the infinity of God, which can be found in Against Eunomius ,

1652-564: A similar tall full-length symbol for the Father. The Rohan Book of Hours of about 1430 also included depictions of God the Father in half-length human form, which were now becoming standard, and the Hand of God becoming rarer. At the same period other works, like the large Genesis altarpiece by the Hamburg painter Meister Bertram , continued to use the old depiction of Christ as Logos in Genesis scenes. In

1770-669: A virgin who was chosen by God to conceive Jesus through the Holy Spirit . After giving birth to Jesus in Bethlehem , she raised him in the city of Nazareth in Galilee , and was in Jerusalem at his crucifixion and with the apostles after his ascension . Although her later life is not accounted in the Bible , Roman Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , and some Protestant traditions believe that her body

1888-512: A whole human figure. In many images, the figure of the Son supplants the Father, so a smaller portion of the person of the Father is depicted. By the 12th century depictions of God the Father had started to appear in French illuminated manuscripts , which as a less public form could often be more adventurous in their iconography, and in stained glass church windows in England. Initially the head or bust

2006-540: A wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. The title Theotokos , which means "God-bearer", was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. The direct equivalents of title in Latin are Deipara and Dei Genitrix , although the phrase is more often loosely translated into Latin as Mater Dei ("Mother of God"), with similar patterns for other languages used in

2124-602: Is Life of the Virgin , attributed to the 7th-century saint Maximus the Confessor , which portrays her as a key element of the early Christian Church after the death of Jesus. Christian Marian perspectives include a great deal of diversity. While some Christians such as Catholics and Eastern Orthodox have well established Marian traditions, Protestants at large pay scant attention to Mariological themes. Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutherans venerate

2242-665: Is a common figure of speech in Arabic ) as per a Hadith from the Islamic prophet Muhammad explaining Mary was indeed named after Miriam. The canonical Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are the primary sources of historical information about Mary. They are almost contemporary sources, as the synoptic Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles are generally considered dating from around AD 66–90, while

2360-416: Is a difference between the usage of the term "blessed" as pertaining to Mary and its usage as pertaining to a beatified person. "Blessed" as a Marian title refers to her exalted state as being the greatest among the saints; for a person who has been declared beatified, on the other hand, "blessed" simply indicates that they may be venerated despite not being canonized . Catholic teachings make clear that Mary

2478-516: Is also called "Tahira" , meaning "one who has been purified" and representing her status as one of two humans in creation to not be touched by Satan at any point, the other being Jesus. In the Quran , she is described both as "the daughter of Imran" and "the sister of Aaron", alluding to Miriam from the Hebrew Bible . However, the title of "the sister of Aaron" is confirmed to be metaphorical (which

SECTION 20

#1732844377147

2596-614: Is an important figure of Christianity , venerated under various titles such as virgin or queen , many of them mentioned in the Litany of Loreto . The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox , Catholic , Anglican , and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, as mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God . The Church of the East historically regarded her as Christotokos , a term still used in Assyrian Church of

2714-628: Is in the epistle to the Galatians , which was written before the gospels . She is referred to as "a woman" and is not named: "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law" (Galatians 4:4). Mary is mentioned several times in the canonical Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles: In the Book of Revelation , also part of the New Testament , the " woman clothed with

2832-497: Is no formal distinction in the Confession, Reformed authors have interpreted in it a specifically Reformed distinction between incommunicable and communicable attributes; the former being those which have no unqualified analogy in created things (e.g., simplicity and eternity), the latter being those which have some analogy in some created things such as humans (e.g., wisdom and goodness). The relationship between these two classes

2950-786: Is not considered divine and prayers to her are not answered by her, but rather by God through her intercession. The four Catholic dogmas regarding Mary are: her status as Theotokos , or Mother of God; her perpetual virginity; the Immaculate Conception; and her bodily Assumption into Heaven. The Blessed Virgin Mary , the mother of Jesus has a more central role in Roman Catholic teachings and beliefs than in any other major Christian group. Not only do Roman Catholics have more theological doctrines and teachings that relate to Mary, but they have more feasts, prayers, devotional and venerative practices than any other group. The Catechism of

3068-497: Is not of the substance of the created universe. Traditionally, some theologians such as Louis Berkhof distinguish between the incommunicable and communicable attributes of God. The former are those attributes which have no unqualified analogy in created things (e.g., simplicity and eternity), in other words, attributes that belong to God alone. The latter attributes are those which have some analogy in created things, especially humans (e.g., wisdom and goodness). Thus, following

3186-492: Is often referred to by the honorific title "Sayyidatuna" , meaning "Our Lady"; this title is in parallel to "Sayyiduna" ("Our Lord"), used for the prophets. A related term of endearment is "Siddiqah" , meaning "she who confirms the truth" and "she who believes sincerely completely". Another title for Mary is "Qānitah" , which signifies both constant submission to God and absorption in prayer and invocation in Islam. She

3304-608: Is often symbolized using a man wearing a papal dress and a papal crown, supporting the dead Christ in his arms. They are depicted as floating in heaven with angels who carry the instruments of the Passion . Representations of God the Father and the Trinity were attacked both by Protestants and within Catholicism, by the Jansenist and Baianist movements as well as more orthodox theologians. As with other attacks on Catholic imagery, this had

3422-458: Is one God, Paul's statement (which is likely based on pre-Pauline confessions) includes a number of other significant elements: he distinguishes Christian belief from the Jewish background of the time by referring to Jesus and the Father almost in the same breath, and by conferring on Jesus the title of divine honor "Lord", as well as calling him Christ. In the Book of Acts (Acts 17:24–27), during

3540-584: Is salvation". After Mary continued in the " blood of her purifying " another 33 days, for a total of 40 days, she brought her burnt offering and sin offering to the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 2:22), so the priest could make atonement for her. They also presented Jesus – "As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord" (Luke 2:23; Exodus 13:2; 23:12–15; 22:29; 34:19–20; Numbers 3:13; 18:15). After

3658-473: Is such that the incommunicable attributes qualify all the communicable attributes, thus, God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth, following the classic definition of God in the Westminster Shorter Catechism . Thus, Article 1 is said to begin by enumerating the incommunicable attributes, but from 'almighty' to 'good' enumerates

Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East - Misplaced Pages Continue

3776-680: Is that God's goodness is limitless, and as God's goodness is essential , God is also limitless. Many early Christians believed that a number of verses within the Bible, were meant to apply not only to God, but to all attempts aiming to depict God. However, early Christian art, such as that of the Dura Europos church , displays the Hand of God , a theological symbol representing the right hand of God, and Christ himself, along with many saints, are depicted. The Dura Europos synagogue nearby has numerous instances of

3894-501: Is that insofar as God the Father or the Spirit did not become man, visible and tangible images and portrait icons would be inaccurate, and that what was true for the whole Trinity before Christ remains true for the Father and the Spirit, but not for the Word. John of Damascus wrote: If we attempt to make an image of the invisible God, this would be sinful indeed. It is impossible to portray one who

4012-404: Is the eternal , supreme being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God , which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material universe) and immanent (involved in the material universe). Christians believe in a singular God that exists in a Trinity , which consists of three Persons: God the Father , God

4130-577: Is without body: invisible, uncircumscribed and without form. Around 790, Charlemagne ordered a set of four books that became known as the Libri Carolini ("Charles' books") to refute what his court understood to be the iconodule decrees of the Byzantine Second Council of Nicaea regarding sacred images. Although not well known during the Middle Ages, these books describe the key elements of

4248-569: The Magnificat . Mary's participation in the processes of salvation and redemption has also been emphasized in the Catholic tradition, but they are not doctrines. Pope John Paul II 's 1987 encyclical Redemptoris Mater began with the sentence: "The Mother of the Redeemer has a precise place in the plan of salvation." In the 20th century, both popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI emphasized

4366-495: The Apostle Paul 's statement in 1 Corinthians 8:5–6, written c.  AD 53–54 , about twenty years after the crucifixion of Jesus , and 12–21 years before the earliest of the canonical gospels was written: ...for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. Apart from asserting that there

4484-486: The Areopagus sermon given by Paul, he further characterizes the early Christian understanding: The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth Paul also reflects on the relationship between God and Christians: ...that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us for in him we live. The Pauline epistles also include

4602-756: The Hebrew Bible aloud, Jews replace the Tetragrammaton with the title Adonai , translated as Kyrios in the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament. Jah (or Yah ) is an abbreviation of Jahweh/Yahweh/Jehovah. It is often used by Christians in the interjection " Hallelujah ", meaning "Praise Jah", which is used to give God glory. In the New Testament, Theos and Pater ( πατήρ , "father" in Greek ) are additional words used to reference God. Respect for

4720-677: The Latin Church . However, this same phrase in Greek ( Μήτηρ Θεοῦ ), in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ , is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons . The Council stated that the Church Fathers "did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God". Some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title "Queen Mother" has been given to Mary, as she

4838-590: The Pauline epistles and the early Christian creeds , which proclaimed one God and the divinity of Jesus . Although some early sects of Christianity, such as the Jewish-Christian Ebionites , protested against the deification of Jesus, the concept of Jesus being one with God was accepted by the majority of Gentile Christians . This formed one aspect of the split of early Christianity and Judaism , as Gentile Christian views of God began to diverge from

Common Christological Declaration Between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East - Misplaced Pages Continue

4956-570: The Roman Emperor Augustus required that Joseph return to his hometown of Bethlehem to register for a Roman census . While he was there with Mary, she gave birth to Jesus; but because there was no place for them in the inn, she used a manger as a cradle. It is not told how old Mary was at the time of the Nativity, but attempts have been made to infer it from the age of a typical Jewish mother of that time. Mary Joan Winn Leith represents

5074-555: The Tribe of Levi . Some of those who believe that the relationship with Elizabeth was on the maternal side, believe that Mary, like Joseph, was of the royal Davidic line and so of the Tribe of Judah , and that the genealogy of Jesus presented in Luke 3 from Nathan , is in fact the genealogy of Mary, while the genealogy from Solomon given in Matthew 1 is that of Joseph. (Aaron's wife Elisheba

5192-489: The gospel of John would date from AD 90–110. They provide limited information about Mary, as they primarily focus on the teaching of Jesus and on his apostles . The historical reliability of the Gospels and historical reliability of the Acts of the Apostles are subject to debate, as it was common practice in early Christian writings to mix historical facts with legendary stories. The earliest New Testament account of Mary

5310-506: The 13th century, Thomas Aquinas focused on a shorter list of just eight attributes, namely simplicity , perfection , goodness , incomprehensibility , omnipresence , immutability , eternity and oneness . Other formulations include the 1251 list of the Fourth Lateran Council , which was then adopted at Vatican I in 1870 and the Westminster Shorter Catechism in the 17th century. Two attributes of God that place him above

5428-725: The 14th century the Naples Bible carried a depiction of God the Father in the Burning bush . By the early 15th century, the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry has a considerable number of symbols, including an elderly but tall and elegant full-length figure walking in the Garden of Eden , which show a considerable diversity of apparent ages and dress. The "Gates of Paradise" of the Florence Baptistry by Lorenzo Ghiberti , begun in 1425 use

5546-445: The 15th century there was a brief fashion for depicting all three persons of the Trinity as similar or identical figures with the usual appearance of Christ . In an early Venetian school Coronation of the Virgin by Giovanni d'Alemagna and Antonio Vivarini , (c. 1443) The Father is depicted using the symbol consistently used by other artists later, namely a patriarch, with benign, yet powerful countenance and with long white hair and

5664-541: The 3rd century. The period from the late 2nd century to the beginning of the 4th century (approximately 180–313) is generally called the "epoch of the Great Church " and also the Ante-Nicene Period , and witnessed significant theological development, and the consolidation and formalization of a number of Christian teachings. From the 2nd century onward, western creeds started with an affirmation of belief in "God

5782-626: The Bible (e.g., the Lord's Prayer , stating that the Father is in Heaven ), others based on theological reasoning. The " Kingdom of God " is a prominent phrase in the Synoptic Gospels , and while there is near unanimous agreement among scholars that it represents a key element of the teachings of Jesus , there is little scholarly agreement on its exact interpretation. Although the New Testament does not have

5900-675: The Catholic Church states: "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship." For centuries, Catholics have performed acts of consecration and entrustment to Mary at personal, societal and regional levels. These acts may be directed to the Virgin herself, to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and to the Immaculate Conception . In Catholic teachings, consecration to Mary does not diminish or substitute

6018-404: The Catholic theological position on sacred images. To the Western Church , images were just objects made by craftsmen, to be utilized for stimulating the senses of the faithful, and to be respected for the sake of the subject represented, not in themselves. The Council of Constantinople (869) (considered ecumenical by the Western Church, but not the Eastern Church ) reaffirmed the decisions of

SECTION 50

#1732844377147

6136-407: The Church' and 'truth about man. ' " There is significant diversity in the Marian doctrines attributed to her primarily by the Catholic Church. The key Marian doctrines held primarily in Catholicism can be briefly outlined as follows: The acceptance of these Marian doctrines by Roman Catholics and other Christians can be summarized as follows: The title "Mother of God" ( Theotokos ) for Mary

6254-430: The East liturgy. Other Protestant views on Mary vary, with some holding her to have lesser status. She has the highest position in Islam among all women and is mentioned numerous times in the Quran , including in a chapter named after her . She is also revered in the Baháʼí Faith and the Druze Faith . The synoptic Gospels name Mary as the mother of Jesus. The gospels of Matthew and Luke describe Mary as

6372-414: The East, overcoming the issue of the lack of words of Institution in the Anaphora of Addai and Mari . Both churches consider the meeting when this declaration was signed as "a basic step on the way towards the full communion [being] restored" between them. Mary the mother of Jesus Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth , the wife of Joseph and the mother of Jesus . She

6490-666: The Father (Almighty)" and the primary reference of this phrase was to "God in his capacity as Father and creator of the universe". This did not exclude either the fact the "eternal father of the universe was also the Father of Jesus the Christ" or that he had even "vouchsafed to adopt [the believer] as his son by grace". Eastern creeds (those known to have come from a later date) began with an affirmation of faith in "one God" and almost always expanded this by adding "the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible" or words to that effect. Augustine of Hippo , Thomas Aquinas , and other Christian theologians have described God with

6608-400: The Father could be symbolized. Prior to the 10th century, no attempt was made to use a human figure to symbolize God the Father in Western art . Yet, Western art eventually required some way to illustrate the presence of the Father, so through successive representations a set of artistic styles for symbolizing the Father using a man gradually emerged around the 10th century. A rationale for

6726-508: The Father is in Heaven, while other attributes are derived from theological reasoning. In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes for God in his An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith (Book 1, chapter 8). These eighteen attributes were divided into four groups based on time (such as being everlasting), space (such as being boundless), matter or quality and the list continues to be influential to date, partially appearing in some form in various modern formulations. In

6844-408: The Father may hold a globe or book (to symbolize God's knowledge and as a reference to how knowledge is deemed divine). He is behind and above Christ on the Cross in the Throne of Mercy iconography. A dove, the symbol of the Holy Spirit may hover above. Various people from different classes of society, e.g. kings, popes or martyrs may be present in the picture. In a Trinitarian pietà , God the Father

6962-403: The Father to creation in 1 Clement 19.2, stating: "let us look steadfastly to the Father and creator of the universe". By the middle of the 2nd century, in Against Heresies , Irenaeus had emphasized (in Book 4, chapter 5) that the Creator is the "one and only God" and the "maker of heaven and earth". These preceded the formal presentation of the concept of Trinity by Tertullian early in

7080-401: The Father, it suggested that icons of Christ were preferred over Old Testament shadows and figures. The beginning of the 8th century witnessed the suppression and destruction of religious icons as the Byzantine iconoclasm (literally, "image struggle" or "war on icons") began. Emperor Leo III (717–741) suppressed the use of icons by imperial edict of the Byzantine Empire, presumably due to

7198-427: The Father. Even supporters of the use of icons in the 8th century, such as John of Damascus , drew a distinction between images of God the Father and those of Christ. In his treatise On the Divine Images , John of Damascus wrote: "In former times, God who is without form or body, could never be depicted. But now when God is seen in the flesh conversing with men, I make an image of the God whom I see". The implication

SECTION 60

#1732844377147

7316-470: The Gospels of Matthew and Luke consider Jesus' conception not the result of intercourse, and assert that Mary had "no relations with man" before Jesus' birth. This alludes to the belief that Mary conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and not through intercourse with Joseph or anyone else. The doctrines of the Assumption or Dormition of Mary relate to her death and bodily assumption to heaven. Roman Catholic Church has dogmatically defined

7434-405: The Hand of God symbol throughout its extensive decorative scheme, and is the only ancient synagogue with an extant decorative scheme. Dating to the mid-3rd century, the symbol was likely adopted into Early Christian art from Jewish art . The Hand of God was common in Late Antique art in both the East and West, and remained the main way of symbolizing the actions or approval of God the Father in

7552-455: The Hearts of Jesus and Mary ). Major Marian devotions include: Seven Sorrows of Mary , Rosary and scapular , Miraculous Medal and Reparations to Mary . The months of May and October are traditionally "Marian months" for Roman Catholics; the daily rosary is encouraged in October and in May Marian devotions take place in many regions. Popes have issued a number of Marian encyclicals and Apostolic Letters to encourage devotions to and

7670-420: The Latin term ipsum esse , a phrase that translates roughly to "being itself". God's aseity makes the Christian God not "a being" but rather "being itself", and can be explained by phrases such as "that which is with no reliance on anything external for its being" or "the necessary condition for anything to exist at all". As time passed, theologians and philosophers developed more precise understandings of

7788-467: The Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word." Joseph planned to quietly divorce her, but was told her conception was by the Holy Spirit in a dream by "an angel of the Lord"; the angel told him to not hesitate to take her as his wife, which Joseph did, thereby formally completing the wedding rites. Since the angel Gabriel had told Mary that Elizabeth—having previously been barren—was then miraculously pregnant, Mary hurried to see Elizabeth, who

7906-401: The Marian focus of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) suggested a redirection of the whole church towards the program of Pope John Paul II in order to ensure an authentic approach to Christology via a return to the "whole truth about Mary," writing: "It is necessary to go back to Mary if we want to return to that 'truth about Jesus Christ,' 'truth about

8024-408: The New Testament. In Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that the Holy Spirit impregnated her, thereby conceiving her first-born son Jesus miraculously , without sexual relations with her betrothed Joseph, "until her son [Jesus] was born". The word "until" has inspired considerable analysis on whether Joseph and Mary produced siblings after

8142-407: The Second Council of Nicaea and helped stamp out any remaining coals of iconoclasm. Specifically, its third canon required the image of Christ to have veneration equal with that of a Gospel book: We decree that the sacred image of our Lord Jesus Christ, the liberator and Savior of all people, must be venerated with the same honor as is given the book of the holy Gospels. For as through the language of

8260-449: The Son , and God the Holy Spirit . Christian teachings on the transcendence, immanence, and involvement of God in the world and his love for humanity exclude the belief that God is of the same substance as the created universe (rejection of pantheism ) but accept that God the Son assumed hypostatically united human nature, thus becoming man in a unique event known as "the Incarnation ". Early Christian views of God were expressed in

8378-525: The Virgin Mary. This veneration especially takes the form of prayer for intercession with her Son, Jesus Christ. Additionally, it includes composing poems and songs in Mary's honor, painting icons or carving statues of her, and conferring titles on Mary that reflect her position among the saints. In the Catholic Church, Mary is accorded the title "Blessed" ( beata , μακάρια , makaria ) in recognition of her assumption to Heaven and her capacity to intercede on behalf of those who pray to her. There

8496-635: The West until the end of the Romanesque period . In art depicting specific Biblical scenes, such as the Baptism of Jesus , where a specific representation of God the Father was indicated, the Hand of God was used increasingly from the Carolingian period until the end of the Romanesque . The use of religious images in general continued to increase up to the end of the 7th century, to the point that in 695, upon assuming

8614-618: The adoration of the Trinity, God may be depicted in two ways, either with emphasis on The Father, or the three elements of the Trinity. The most usual depiction of the Trinity in Renaissance art depicts God the Father using an old man, usually with a long beard and patriarchal in appearance, sometimes with a triangular halo (as a reference to the Trinity), or with a papal crown , specially in Northern Renaissance painting. In these depictions,

8732-405: The betrothal, after which the bride legally belonged to the bridegroom, though she did not live with him till about a year later, when the marriage was celebrated. The angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiah by conceiving him through the Holy Spirit, and, after initially expressing incredulity at the announcement, she responded, "I am the handmaid of

8850-459: The biblical accounts, although it is held by Catholics that she is again portrayed as the heavenly woman in the Book of Revelation . Her death is not recorded in the scriptures, but Orthodox tradition, tolerated also by Catholics, has her first dying a natural death, known as the Dormition of Mary , and then, soon after, her body itself also being assumed (taken bodily) into Heaven . Belief in

8968-794: The birth of Jesus or not. Among her many other names and titles are the Blessed Virgin Mary (often abbreviated to "BVM" after the Latin Beata Maria Virgo ), Saint Mary (occasionally), the Mother of God (primarily in Western Christianity ), the Theotokos (primarily in Eastern Christianity ), Our Lady (Medieval Italian : Madonna ), and Queen of Heaven ( Regina caeli ; see also here ). The title " queen of heaven " had previously been used as an epithet for

9086-423: The centuries. She has been a traditional subject in arts , notably in Byzantine art , medieval art and Renaissance art . Mary's name in the original manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name מרים , transliterated as Maryam or Mariam . The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία , a shortened form of the name Μαριάμ . Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in

9204-542: The classic definition of God in the Presbyterian Westminster Shorter Catechism , God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. That is, God possesses the communicable attributes to in an incommunicable manner. For example, he is wise, but infinite in his wisdom. Some such as Donald Macleod hold that all the suggested classifications are artificial and without basis. Although there

9322-477: The communicable attributes. There is a general agreement among theologians that it would be a mistake to conceive of the essence of God existing by itself and independently of the attributes or of the attributes being an additional characteristic of the Divine Being. They are essential qualities which exist permanently in his very Being and are co-existent with it. Any alteration in them would imply an alteration in

9440-736: The corporeal assumption of Mary is a dogma of the Catholic Church , in the Latin and Eastern Catholic Churches alike, and is believed as well by the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Oriental Orthodox Church , and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglican movement . According to the apocryphal Gospel of James , Mary was the daughter of Joachim and Anne . Before Mary's conception, Anne had been barren and

9558-487: The descendants of Abraham over millennia; both Christians and Jews believe that this covenant is recorded in the Hebrew Bible , which most Christian denominations consider to be (and refer to as) the Old Testament . In the traditional interpretations of Christianity, God is always referred to with masculine grammatical articles only. Early Christian views of God (before the gospels were written) are reflected in

9676-410: The difference of the natures of divinity and humanity, with all their properties, faculties and operations. But far from constituting "one and another", the divinity and humanity are united in the person of the same and unique Son of God and Lord Jesus Christ, who is the object of a single adoration. Christ therefore is not an "ordinary man" whom God adopted in order to reside in him and inspire him, as in

9794-443: The divine and the human natures of Jesus at the same time. In this atmosphere, no public depictions of God the Father were even attempted and such depictions only began to appear two centuries later. The Second Council of Nicaea in 787 effectively ended the first period of Byzantine iconoclasm and restored the honouring of icons and holy images in general. However, this did not immediately translate into large scale depictions of God

9912-822: The doctrine of the Assumption, which was done in 1950 by Pope Pius XII in Munificentissimus Deus . Whether Mary died or not is not defined dogmatically, however, although a reference to the death of Mary is made in Munificentissimus Deus . In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Assumption of the Virgin Mary is believed, and celebrated with her Dormition , where they believe she died. God in Christianity In Christianity , God

10030-434: The effect both of reducing church support for the less central depictions, and strengthening it for the core ones. In the Catholic Church , the pressure to restrain religious imagery resulted in the highly influential decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563. The Council of Trent decrees confirmed the traditional Catholic doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them

10148-475: The entire system of "divine truth" revealed to the faithful "that believe in his name" or "walk in the name of the Lord our God" In Revelation 3:12, those who bear the name of God are "destined for Heaven". John 17:6 presents the teachings of Jesus as the manifestation of the name of God to his disciples. John 12:27 presents the sacrifice of Jesus the Lamb of God , and the ensuing salvation delivered through it as

10266-612: The essential being of God. Hick suggests that when listing the attributes of God, the starting point should be his self-existence ("aseity") which implies his eternal and unconditioned nature. Hick goes on to consider the following additional attributes: Creator being the source of all that composes his creation ( "creatio ex nihilo" ) and the sustainer of what he has brought into being; personal ; loving, good ; and holy . Berkhof also starts with self-existence but moves on to immutability ; infinity , which implies perfection eternity and omnipresence ; unity . He then analyses

10384-460: The glorification of the name of God, with the voice from Heaven confirming Jesus' petition ("Father, glorify thy name") by saying: "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again", referring to the Baptism and crucifixion of Jesus . The theological underpinnings of the attributes and nature of God have been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity. In the 2nd century, Irenaeus addressed

10502-410: The issue and expounded on some attributes; for example, Book IV, chapter 19 of Against Heresies states: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things". Irenaeus based his attributes on three sources: Scripture, prevailing mysticism and popular piety. Today, some of the attributes associated with God continue to be based on statements in the Bible, such as the Lord's Prayer , which states that

10620-546: The legitimacy and rightness of these expressions of the same faith and we both respect the preference of each Church in her liturgical life and piety. The declaration went on to create a mixed committee for further theological dialogue between the two (now sister) churches. In 2001 this committee drew up guidelines for mutual admission to the eucharist between the Chaldean Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of

10738-464: The love of God, but enhances it, for all consecration is ultimately made to God. Following the growth of Marian devotions in the 16th century, Catholic saints wrote books such as Glories of Mary and True Devotion to Mary that emphasized Marian veneration and taught that "the path to Jesus is through Mary". Marian devotions are at times linked to Christocentric devotions (such as the Alliance of

10856-538: The name of God is one of the Ten Commandments , which is viewed not only as an avoidance of the improper use of the name of God, but also a commandment to exalt it, through both pious deeds and praise. This is reflected in the first petition in the Lord's Prayer addressed to God the Father : "Hallowed be thy Name". In the theology of the Early Church Fathers , the name of God was seen as representative of

10974-399: The nature of God and began to produce systematic lists of his attributes. These varied in detail, but traditionally the attributes fell into two groups: those based on negation (that God is impassible) and those positively based on eminence (that God is infinitely good). Ian Ramsey suggested that there are three groups, and that some attributes, such as simplicity and perfection , have

11092-602: The official Roman Catholic position. For Helvidius , those would be full siblings of Jesus, born to Mary and Joseph after the firstborn Jesus. This has been the most common Protestant position. The hagiography of Mary and the Holy Family can be contrasted with other material in the Gospels. These references include an incident which can be interpreted as Jesus rejecting his family in the New Testament: "And his mother and his brothers arrived, and standing outside, they sent in

11210-668: The prophecies of Simeon and the prophetess Anna in Luke 2:25–38, the family "returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth". According to the gospel of Matthew , magi coming from Eastern regions arrived at Bethlehem where Jesus and his family were living, and worshiped him. Joseph was then warned in a dream that King Herod wanted to murder the infant, and the family fled by night to Egypt and stayed there for some time. After Herod's death in 4 BC, they returned to Nazareth in Galilee, rather than Bethlehem, because Herod's son Archelaus

11328-407: The righteous ones and the prophets. But the same God the Word, begotten of his Father before all worlds without beginning according to his divinity, was born of a mother without a father in the last times according to his humanity. They went on to explain each other's formulations of titles for Mary the mother of Jesus , the key to the dispute at the First Council of Ephesus about Nestorianism and

11446-405: The sister of Mary, mother of Jesus. According to the early 2nd century historian Hegesippus , Mary of Clopas was likely Mary's sister-in-law, understanding Clopas (Cleophas) to have been Joseph's brother. According to the writer of Luke, Mary was a relative of Elizabeth , wife of the priest Zechariah of the priestly division of Abijah , who was herself part of the lineage of Aaron and so of

11564-577: The sons of Zebedee", presumably the Salome mentioned in Mark 15:40. In Acts 1:12–26, especially verse 14, Mary is the only one other than the eleven apostles to be mentioned by name who abode in the upper room , when they returned from Mount Olivet . Her presence with the apostles during the Pentecost is not explicit, although it has been held as a fact by Christian tradition. From this time, she disappears from

11682-440: The sun " (Revelation 12:1, 12:5–6) is sometimes identified as Mary. The New Testament tells little of Mary's early history. The Gospel of Matthew does give a genealogy for Jesus by his father's paternal line, only identifying Mary as the wife of Joseph. John 19:25 states that Mary had a sister; semantically it is unclear if this sister is the same as Mary of Clopas , or if she is left unnamed. Jerome identifies Mary of Clopas as

11800-419: The terms in a very general sense rather than referring to any special designation of God. However, general references to the name of God may branch to other special forms which express his multifaceted attributes. The Old Testament reveals YHWH (often vocalized with vowels as "Yahweh" or "Jehovah") as the personal name of God, along with certain titles including El Elyon and El Shaddai . When reading

11918-453: The throne, Byzantine emperor Justinian II put an image of Christ on the obverse side of his gold coins, resulting in a rift which ended the use of Byzantine coin types in the Islamic world. However, the increase in religious imagery did not include depictions of God the Father. For instance, while the eighty second canon of the Council of Trullo in 692 did not specifically condemn images of

12036-532: The title Theotokos : The humanity to which the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth always was that of the Son of God himself. That is the reason why the Assyrian Church of the East is praying [to] the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of Christ our God and Saviour". In the light of this same faith the Catholic tradition addresses the Virgin Mary as "the Mother of God" and also as "the Mother of Christ". They then recognised each other's formulations as being valid: We both recognize

12154-473: The traditional Jewish teachings of the time. The theology of the attributes and nature of God has been discussed since the earliest days of Christianity, with Irenaeus writing in the 2nd century: "His greatness lacks nothing, but contains all things". In the 8th century, John of Damascus listed eighteen attributes which remain widely accepted. As time passed, Christian theologians developed systematic lists of these attributes, some based on statements in

12272-405: The use of a human figure is the belief that God created the soul of Man in the image of his own (thus allowing humanity to transcend the other animals). It appears that when early artists designed to represent God the Father, fear and awe restrained them from a usage of the whole human figure. Typically only a small part would be used as the image, usually the hand, or sometimes the face, but rarely

12390-499: The veneration of the Virgin Mary. Catholics place high emphasis on Mary's roles as protector and intercessor and the Catechism refers to Mary as "honored with the title 'Mother of God', to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs". Key Marian prayers include: Ave Maria , Alma Redemptoris Mater , Sub tuum praesidium , Ave maris stella , Regina caeli , Ave Regina caelorum and

12508-649: The view that Jewish girls typically married soon after the onset of puberty, while according to Amram Tropper, Jewish females generally married later in Palestine and the Western Diaspora than in Babylonia. Some scholars hold the view that among them it typically happened between their mid and late teen years or late teens and early twenties. After eight days, the boy was circumcised according to Jewish law and named " Jesus " ( ישוע , Yeshu'a ), which means " Yahweh

12626-528: The words contained in this book all can reach salvation, so, due to the action which these images exercise by their colors, all wise and simple alike, can derive profit from them. Images of God the Father were not directly addressed in Constantinople in 869. A list of permitted icons was enumerated at this Council, but symbols of God the Father were not among them. However, the general acceptance of icons and holy images began to create an atmosphere in which God

12744-468: The world, yet acknowledge his involvement in the world, are transcendence and immanence . Transcendence means that God is eternal and infinite, not controlled by the created world and beyond human events. Immanence means that God is involved in the world, and Christian teachings have long acknowledged his attention to human affairs. However, unlike pantheistic religions, in Christianity, God's being

12862-538: Was 12–14 years old. Her age during her pregnancy has varied up to 17 in apocryphal sources. In a large part, apocryphal texts are historically unreliable. According to ancient Jewish custom, Mary technically could have been betrothed at about 12, but some scholars hold the view that in Judea it typically happened later. Hyppolitus of Thebes says that Mary lived for 11 years after the death of her son Jesus, dying in 41 AD. The earliest extant biographical writing on Mary

12980-530: Was an almost universally held belief among Christians from the 2nd until the 19th century. It is included in the two most widely used Christian creeds , which state that Jesus "was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary" (the Nicene Creed , in what is now its familiar form) and the Apostles' Creed . The Gospel of Matthew describes Mary as a virgin who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, The authors of

13098-548: Was confirmed by the First Council of Ephesus , held at the Church of Mary in 431. The Council decreed that Mary is the Mother of God because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. This doctrine is widely accepted by Christians in general, and the term "Mother of God" had already been used within the oldest known prayer to Mary, the Sub tuum praesidium , which dates to around 250 AD. The Virgin birth of Jesus

13216-515: Was far advanced in years. Mary was given to service as a consecrated virgin in the Temple in Jerusalem when she was three years old. This was in spite of the patent impossibility of its premise that a girl could be kept in the Temple of Jerusalem along with some companions. Some unproven apocryphal accounts, such as the apocryphal Gospel of James 8:2, state that at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary

13334-410: Was living with her husband Zechariah in "the hill country..., [in] a city of Juda". Mary arrived at the house and greeted Elizabeth who called Mary "the mother of my Lord", and Mary spoke the words of praise that later became known as the Magnificat from her first word in the Latin version. After about three months, Mary returned to her own house. According to the gospel of Luke , a decree of

13452-464: Was of the tribe of Judah, so all their descendants are from both Levi and Judah.) Mary resided in "her own house" in Nazareth in Galilee , possibly with her parents, and during her betrothal—the first stage of a Jewish marriage . Jewish girls were considered marriageable at the age of twelve years and six months, though the actual age of the bride varied with circumstances. The marriage was preceded by

13570-732: Was raised into heaven at the end of her earthly life, which is known in Western Christianity as the Assumption of Mary and in Eastern Christianity as the Dormition of the Mother of God . Mary has been venerated since early Christianity , and is often considered to be the holiest and greatest saint . There is a certain diversity in the Mariology and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas , namely her Immaculate Conception and her bodily Assumption into heaven. Many Protestants hold less exalted views of Mary's role, often based on

13688-623: Was the mother of Jesus, sometimes referred to as the "King of Kings" due to his ancestral descent from King David . This is also based on the Hebrew tradition of the "Queen-Mother", the Gebirah or "Great Lady". Other titles have arisen from reported miracles , special appeals, or occasions for calling on Mary. In Islam , Mary is known as Maryam ( Arabic : مريم , romanized :  Maryam ), mother of Isa ( عيسى بن مريم , ʿĪsā ibn Maryām , lit.   ' Jesus, son of Mary ' ). She

13806-502: Was the ruler of Judaea. Mary is involved in the only event in Jesus' adolescent life that is recorded in the New Testament. At the age of 12, Jesus, having become separated from his parents on their return journey from the Passover celebration in Jerusalem, was found in the Temple among the religious teachers. Mary was present when, at her suggestion, Jesus worked his first miracle during

13924-598: Was usually shown in some form of frame of clouds in the top of the picture space, where the Hand of God had formerly appeared; the Baptism of Christ on the famous baptismal font in Liège of Rainer of Huy is an example from 1118 (a Hand of God is used in another scene). Gradually the amount of the human symbol shown can increase to a half-length figure, then a full-length, usually enthroned, as in Giotto 's fresco of c. 1305 in Padua . In

#146853