Theotokos

[dedicated]

Theotokos is a greek word meaning the mother of god. It is one of the many ways we catholics adress Immaculate Mary. I am curious though. What do others outside of Catholicism think about the Virgin Mary?

 

[mmmcounts]

Theotokos is a greek word meaning the mother of god. It is one of the many ways we catholics adress Immaculate Mary. I am curious though. What do others outside of Catholicism think about the Virgin Mary?

There are a few non-Catholics who will deny that she's the Mother of God, but they'll usually stop doing that once they understand the nature of the doctrine and the Christological implications. If non-Catholic Christians know what they're talking about, they won't deny this doctrine.

There are some other Catholic doctrines, however (couple of them are dogmas or potential dogmas) that depend on apocryphal material (not deuterocanonical by anyone's standard, but straight up apocryphal) that, as a general rule, are rejected by non-Catholics. Both the material from the apocryphal sources and the actual doctrines, on grounds of contradicting Scripture.

It's around Christmas time, so it's probably worth talking about Christmas songs, too. Really popular Catholic songs about Mary tend to focus more on praiseworthy attributes of Mary. Queen of Heaven, Ave Maria, Do What He Tells You, Queen of Apostles, Ave Maria, etc. There are some non-Catholic songs that center on Mary, too, and they're a little different. They can be and are performed by Catholics and enjoyed by Catholics, but they're a bit different from the Catholic-produced songs. From the Catholic perspective, God's unique blessing and use for Mary has more of an eternal ongoing aspect. There's more about her that's picked out for imitation. There's a tendency to elevate her to the extent that a phrase like "God's use for her" seems dishonoring to some. For non-Catholics, the unique blessing doesn't go beyond Mary's life, we tend to believe she sinned, lost her virginity, and died, and the extent to which we talk about her around Christmas tends to have more to do with pointing to Jesus than pointing to Mary. In the process of mentioning Mary, she's seen as someone who's more on our level and more identifiable. Catholics tend to see her as overly mature for a teenager, the mother of all Christians (an extension of the Theotokos idea that we don't usually choose to take), and someone whose example we can hope to aspire to but never attain.

This is a less well-known Christmas song, but it gives you a good idea of what goes through non-Catholics' minds when Mary comes up at Christmas.
It's by Flyleaf, a Christian band that isn't on a Christian label. It's called "Christmas Song." Easy to find on YouTube; not so easy to find at the iTunes store.

The lyrics- parts in bold are distinctively non-Catholic in their emphasis:

A frightened virgin teenage girl
Receives a message that defies the laws of this world
All she can do is weep and nod
She's to bring into this world the Son of God

God's angels sound their trumpets
And blow their horns non-Catholics know who they're doing it for- Jesus, not Mary
Tonight the long awaited savior is to be born
The goodness bound by Satan it has been torn
With this baby's precious brow ready for thorns

A star appears fufilling ancient prophecy
There's an ounce of fear as wise men follow faithfully
The Virgin Mary brings forth the human savior
And this future king sleeps soundly in the manger
Soundly in the manger

God's angels sound their trumpets
And blow their horns
Tonight the long awaited savior is to be born
The goodness bound by Satan it has been torn
With this baby's precious brow ready for thorns

Tonight He is born so one day He can die
To heal hearts that are torn and live the perfect life
So He can hang upon a cross and we can take His life
So we can live as sinners
And He can pay the price
Tonight He is born so one day he can die
But He will rise again

God's angels sound their trumpets
And blow their horns
Tonight the long awaited savior is to be born
The goodness bound by Satan it has been torn
With this baby's precious brow ready for thorns

 

[Thesavorofpan]

Theotokos is a greek word meaning the mother of god. It is one of the many ways we catholics adress Immaculate Mary. I am curious though. What do others outside of Catholicism think about the Virgin Mary?

I don't like the idea of holding a human as high as God, even if said human gave birth to the Messiah.

 

[Lucian]

Theotokos is a greek word meaning the mother of god. It is one of the many ways we catholics adress Immaculate Mary. I am curious though. What do others outside of Catholicism think about the Virgin Mary?

I guess this is not a surprise, but she's like other saints. Not someone who is prayed to, the Queen of Heaven, our mother, or immaculate. She is the virgin who gave birth to Jesus.

Theotokos depends on how one views the term, though it is an unnecessary title, just like the term anthropotokos. Christotokos might be the best one if one wants to use such a title.