84. Christ's Two Births and Mary as Mother of God

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Lecture Notes

Main Topics #

The Two Births of Christ #

• Nativity belongs to the person as subject but to nature as the term/end (τέλος/terminus)
• Motion and change are diversified by their different terms or endpoints
• Christ has two natures, therefore two births terminating in different natures but the same person
• Eternal birth: from God the Father in eternity
• Temporal birth: from the Virgin Mary in time
• The distinction resolves apparent contradictions: one person, one hypostasis, yet two births

Mary as Mother of God #

• The Blessed Virgin is truly and naturally the mother of Christ
• She provided the matter (her body); the form came from the Holy Spirit
• The name “God” (when applied to Christ) stands for the person/hypostasis having both divine and human natures
• Therefore, whatever belongs to that person can be attributed according to either nature
• To deny Mary is Mother of God is heretical (condemned at Council of Ephesus)
• This conclusion follows necessarily from Scripture: Christ is true God + Mary is mother of Christ = Mary is mother of God

Objections and Resolutions #

First Objection: Does nativity belong only to nature, not person?

• Response: Nativity properly belongs to person (as subject) but is named from the nature (as term). This is why we name the change from the term: “I am warming up” (named from warmth, the term)

Second Objection: Could Christ have been born temporarily if He was eternal?

• Response: Being born is a motion from non-being to being, but this applies only according to the nature assumed (human), not the divine nature, which was eternal

Third Objection: Can one person have only one birth if there is only one person?

• Response: Birth terminology is diversified by the diversity of natures/termini, not solely by the number of persons. One subject can undergo multiple changes terminating in different natures

Fourth Objection on Motherhood: The Virgin performed no active generation; she only supplied matter. Does this suffice for motherhood?

• Response: The notion of motherhood (properly defined) applies only to living generation. An inanimate example: we do not say “the carpenter is mother of the bed.” Motherhood requires the relation of birth (nativity) in living things

Fifth Objection on Miraculous Birth: If Christ was born miraculously (not from male seed), does this prevent Mary from being his true mother?

• Response: The birth was natural on the side of the mother (she provided matter naturally) but miraculous on the side of the agent (the Holy Spirit). The same reality can be natural and miraculous simultaneously—consider heavenly bodies, whose motion is natural according to their nature but voluntary according to the angels moving them

Sixth Objection against “Mother of God” Title: Sacred Scripture never calls Mary “Mother of God,” only “Mother of Christ” or “Mother of the Boy”

• Response: Although not expressed literally in Scripture, it follows necessarily: Christ is God (1 John 5:20); Mary is mother of Christ (Matthew 1:18); therefore Mary is mother of God. Also found in the chapters of Cyril approved at the Council of Ephesus, which are reverenced as highly as the Gospels
• Reference: Romans 9:5—“from the Jews according to the flesh, Christ, who is above all, God blessed forever”

Seventh Objection: If Mary is Mother of God, would she not also be mother of the Father and Holy Spirit (since “God” applies to all three persons)?

• Response: The name “God,” though common to three persons, can stand for only one person in particular contexts. When we say “the Blessed Virgin is Mother of God,” the name “God” stands specifically for the person of the Son made flesh. Just as “Son of man” stands for the Father in context, though “man” is common

Key Arguments #

On the Unity and Plurality of Sonship #

• Objection: There are two births; nativity causes sonship; therefore there are two sonships
• Response: The unity or plurality of a relation is determined by its cause or subject, not merely by its terms
• Example: Every man has one sonship (not two) to both father and mother, because both relations arise from the same birth (one cause)
• Example: A teacher teaches many disciples by the same teaching; this does not create multiple relations of teaching
• Conclusion: Christ has one real sonship (eternal, to the Father in the eternal hypostasis) but is understood to have two sonships according to reason—one eternal and one temporal
• The temporal sonship to Mary is not a real relation in Christ but a relation of reason, similar to God being Lord: real in creatures but not real in God

On Relations: Real and Rational #

• Some relations are real on one side and rational on the other
• Example: God’s “being Lord” is understood together with the creature’s real subjection, but the relation is not real in God
• Example: My seeing you—my sight is a real relation in me to you, but you being “seen by me” is not a real relation in you
• Principle: Relations in God cannot be real, as this would add something to God’s simplicity and constitute an accident
• Application to Christ: Mary has a real relation of motherhood to Christ, but Christ’s relation to Mary (sonship) is not real in Him, though He is truly called “son of Mary”

Important Definitions #

τέλος / terminus (term, end, goal) #

• The end or limit toward which change is directed
• Motion and change are distinguished by their different termini
• In Christ’s two births: the terminus of the eternal birth is the divine nature; the terminus of the temporal birth is the human nature

Hypostasis / Person #

• That which subsists in itself, not in another
• In Christ: one hypostasis (person) with two natures (divine and human)
• Relations of generation properly belong to the hypostasis (person) as subject

secundum rationem tantum / according to reason only #

• A relation or property that exists in our way of understanding but not in the thing itself as a real accident
• Contrasts with real relations that truly inhere in the subject
• Example: Christ’s temporal sonship to Mary

Nativity / Birth (κατὰ φύσιν) #

• Properly belongs to living things (not inanimate objects)
• The generation of a living thing from which motherhood and sonship relations arise
• In Christ: two nativities, hence the designation of two births

Examples & Illustrations #

Warming Up (from the Cold) #

• When coming in from the cold, one becomes warm
• Named from the term of the change (warmth), not from the agent
• Illustrates how nativity is named from the nature (term), not from the person (agent)

The Eternal and Temporal Masses #

• In traditional liturgy, the first Mass of the Nativity series (middle of the night) has the Gospel of John, celebrating the eternal birth from the Father
• Later Masses celebrate the temporal birth from Mary
• Illustrates the Church’s understanding of two distinct births (lex orandi, lex credendi—the law of prayer establishes the law of belief)

Teacher and Multiple Students #

• A teacher who teaches the same subject to multiple students has one teaching relation, not multiple
• The students are not said to have different sonships or different relations to the teacher
• Similar to how Christ’s one sonship can relate to multiple persons (Father and Mother) without multiplying the relation itself

The Measure and the Measured #

• A measure (like a standard foot) is really related to things it measures
• The things measured are really related to the measure, but the measure is not changed or really affected by them
• Illustration of how God’s relations cannot be real: creatures truly depend on God (real relation in creatures) but God is not affected by creatures (no real relation in God)

The Soul and Body in Generation #

• Augustine’s example (cited via Damascene): The universal soul gives life to seeds without being compounded with the generated things
• When the soul joins the body in the womb, it unites to matter; together they make one man from two substances
• The soul is “born” from the womb but not as if it was nothing before; it existed in itself
• Application: Analogously, the Son of God is born temporally as man, united to human nature, making one person from two natures, but the Son was not made to begin existence (lest divinity appear temporal)

The Wooden Table #

• Wooden matter is natural, but a table is artificial (not natural) because things are judged by form more than matter
• Similarly, Christ’s conception is miraculous (simpliciter) because judged by its form/agent (Holy Spirit), not its matter (Virgin’s body)

Notable Quotes #

“Nature signifies as that by which something is, right? By person signifies as what has to be subsisting. It has to be not another, right? In itself.”

“It has been said, nature is compared to birth as the term or end, right? To the motion or change, huh? For motion is diversified by the diversity of terms or ends or limits.”

“It is heretical to deny that the blessed virgin is the mother of God.”

“The birth of Christ is natural on the side of the matter but miraculous on the side of the agent.”

“Christ is said to be born twice, who once is born in eternity and once in time. Why? Because eternity and time much more differ than two times.”

“The unity of a relation or its plurality is not to be noted according to the terms. But according to the cause or the subject, right?”

“Nevertheless, he is said, relatively, a son to his mother by the relation which is with the relation of eternity to Christ, huh? Just as God is said to be Lord by the relation which is understood together with the real relation by which the creature is subject to God.”

Questions Addressed #

Does nativity belong to nature or to person? #

• Answer: To the person as subject, but to the nature as the term/end
• This allows for one person to have two births (terminating in two natures) without absurdity

Should Christ be attributed a temporal birth in addition to His eternal birth? #

• Answer: Yes—both are necessary
• The eternal birth terminates in the divine nature; the temporal terminates in the human nature
• One subject (hypostasis), two changes, two termini—hence two births

Is the Blessed Virgin truly the mother of Christ? #

• Answer: Yes, truly and naturally
• She provided the matter (from her pure blood); the form was from the Holy Spirit
• Motherhood is properly defined in living generation; Mary gave birth to a living being (the person of Christ)

Should the Blessed Virgin be called the Mother of God? #

• Answer: Yes, definitively and necessarily
• Scripture teaches Christ is true God and Mary is mother of Christ; therefore Mary is mother of God
• Denial of this is heretical (Council of Ephesus)
• The name “God” stands for the person of the Son, and Mary gave birth to that person

Does Christ have one sonship or two? #

• Answer: One real sonship (the eternal sonship to the Father in the eternal hypostasis)
• Two sonships according to reason (one eternal, one temporal)
• The temporal sonship to Mary is a relation of reason, not a real relation in Christ
• Because unity/plurality of relations depends on cause and subject, not on terms
• Though Mary has a real relation to Christ, Christ’s relation to her is understood (not real in Him) but truly attributed

Why can Christ be said to be born twice if eternity and time are radically different? #

• Answer: Because both eternity and time are “measures of duration” (dimensiones durationis)
• Just as one can be said to run twice in two different times, one can be born twice in eternity and in time
• Though eternity and time differ much more than two times, the principle of denomination is the same

Was the Virgin’s conception natural or miraculous? #

• Answer: Natural on the side of matter (the Virgin’s body operated naturally); miraculous on the side of form/agent (the Holy Spirit, not male seed)
• The same generation can be natural and miraculous simultaneously, judged according to different aspects
• The same thing can be natural according to the nature of the matter and voluntary according to the agent moving it (example: heavenly bodies)