Monday, December 31, 2018

Mary is the Mother of God

  I can hear your collective groans.  "That would mean she's God's origin"!  Nope.  Put down your torches and pitchforks.  Think about this logically.  Jesus is God.  (John 20:28, Phil 2:6, John 1:1-14, amongst others).  Mary is his mother. (Luke 1:31).  Therefore, since Jesus is God, and Mary is his mother, Mary is the Mother of God. See how easy that is?
I bring this up because I know a priest that doesn't care for this phrase.  I think it's not precise enough, but it's completely accurate. I agree with him that Theotokos (God-bearer) is a better description, but I think he's making the same mistake Nestorius did with the term "Theotokos".  God does have a mother, as God choose to be born as a boy to a humble Jewish woman.  God was brought up a good Jewish boy, by a good Jewish mother, and died a very painful death.  If God died (which orthodox theologians agree to), then what in the world is wrong with saying Mary is the Mother of God?  Okay, I'll end right here, through the prayers of the Mother of God, O Saviour, save us.

Saturday, December 1, 2018

Is Jesus a Zombie?

  No.  Let's clear up a few misconceptions: zombie does not mean "one that is dead but is still alive", what we might call "undead".  Zombie has to do with the voodoo religion and mind control, what you're thinking of is a ghoul.  So, is Jesus a ghoul?  Nope.  So, why am I talking about Jesus's death and resurrection at the beginning of advent?  Because I can.  So, we know from the Bible that Jesus came back from the dead, and that half a thousand people say the risen Christ (1 Corinthians 15:5).  We also know, that, since Jesus was born and grew (Luke 2), so we know that he was truly human, and John 1 tells us he was truly God.  So, did Jesus die?  This is another question that we must ask before we answer why Jesus is not a ghoul.  Indeed, he did. (Mark 15:37)  So, why is Jesus not a ghoul?  Well, let me ask you this, do ghouls have intellect?  No.  Jesus, having an intellect, wouldn't be a ghoul, much less a "zombie".  I would argue those claiming that Jesus is a "zombie" are more of one than Jesus will ever be.