Not every Baptist takes issue with calling Mary, the blessed mother. As we read in the Magnificat: “from now on all generations will call me blessed.”
There should be no debate on this issue.
I will reiterate, to deny that Mary is the Mother of God – that she is instead merely the Mother of Christ, or “Christotokos” – is to deny the true union of the divine and human natures in Christ. In other words, to deny the orthodox doctrine of the Incarnation.
For Mary not to be mother of God, she must either: 1) Not be our Lord’s mother (as might be confessed by Docetists), or 2) Jesus is not God (as confessed by the Arians. Both heresies are contrary to Scripture.
Also, it should go without saying, to ignore the Blessed Virgin Mary makes no sense. Without her our Christology is shot. Without her our understanding of sin and grace is incomplete. Without her we cannot call ourselves part of the Body of Christ. This woman is our Mother, commended to the Church by our Lord Himself. And to ignore her is something no Christian should ever do.
In typical fashion, Baptist/evangelicals lump her together with the other saints of the New Testament. But the Blessed Mother is nothing of the sort. She is no ordinary saint. She is the saint of saints. She is the Theotokos. The Blessed Mother is the example that all Christians should emulate. Her “Yes” to the angel Gabriel is an act of faith that sets the standard for all of the Church to follow. And yet when was the last time you heard a sermon, sat through a Bible Class, or read a Baptist Protestant commend the Blessed Virgin Mary as such?
I will say it again to deny that the blessed virgin Saint Mary is the mother of God - you are on dangerous grounds.
For those who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Mary does nothing but point people to her Son - Christ Jesus.
Strange things happens when you have a moment that is largely non-confessional, anti-creedal and anti-Catholic for the sake of being anti-Catholic. It keeps marching it down the road to the point where you are denying clear biblical teachings, such as calling the blessed virgin Mary the mother of God.
Again there are many Baptist, especially in the Reformed flavors, that do not have a problem referring to the blessed virgin St. Mary as the mother of God. Fact that I am even having this conversation is disturbing.
Even Zwingli (who resurrected Nestorianism) and Calvin would even dare go as far as many modern Baptist. Both upheld calling the blessed virgin St. Mary, the mother of God and her perpetual virginity (which is covered in another post).
