Despite its many rituals and attempts to show piety, the Catholic Church often reflects a disturbing lack of reverence for God. This is truly substantiated by claiming that Mary is the mother of God.

Using Catholic.com as a resource, we are given this explanation for the teaching: “Since Mary is Jesus’ mother, it must be concluded that she is also the Mother of God: If Mary is the mother of Jesus, and if Jesus is God, then Mary is the Mother of God. There is no way out of this logical syllogism, the valid form of which has been recognized by classical logicians since before the time of Christ.

Here the mystery of the virgin birth is reduced to a logical syllogism as if fallen man had the capacity to understand the ways of God. It’s true that Mary was the mother of Jesus; no one is arguing this Biblical fact.

“Although Mary is the Mother of God, she is not his mother in the sense that she is older than God or the source of her Son’s divinity, for she is neither. Rather, we say that she is the Mother of God in the sense that she carried in her womb a divine person—Jesus Christ, God “in the flesh” (2 John 7, cf. John 1:14)—and in the sense that she contributed the genetic matter to the human form God took in Jesus Christ.” (Catholic.com)

While I appreciate that Catholic.com admits that Mary is not older than God and that she was not the source of Christ’s divinity, it’s a giant leap to say that she contributed to the human form of Jesus. The book of Hebrews tells us, “Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, ‘SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME.’” (Chapter 10:5)

Clearly it was God, Who contributed completely to Jesus’ human form. Agreeably, Mary did carry the Divine Jesus in her womb. Even John the Baptist, when he was in Elizabeth’s womb lept when he heard Mary’s greeting (Luke 1:41).

Catholic.com quotes 17 “church fathers,” mostly from the 3rd century, as referring to Mary as the Mother of God. Oddly, the Angel Gabriel does not nor do any of the New Testament writers ever refer to her as such.

Based on the syllogism, some might say this is all just semantics. I disagree. The Jews were reluctant to even say the name of God, much less ascribe any part of His being in such a derogatory manner.

The Catholic Church has also given Mary the titles, Blessed Virgin Mary and Mary Queen of Heaven. Both the angel Gabriel and Elizabeth called Mary, “Blessed are you among women.” (Luke 1:28 & 42) Neither Gabriel nor Elizabeth were bestowing on Mary the title of Blessed. They were simply acknowledging that God had blessed her by selecting her for the given purpose of bearing the Messiah. The word “blessed” has now been modified to the title “Bless-ed.”

As to Queen of Heaven, Pope Pius XII gave this title to Mary on October 11, 1954 in an encyclical. This same encyclical announced, “Mary was chosen as Mother of Christ in order that she might become a partner in the redemption of the human race.”

So now we’re told, Mary is a “partner” in our redemption. It’s no longer Christ alone, who bore our sins and their punishment. Mary was His partner in this work. Remember, all of this is claimed without even the smallest reference to the Bible.

Mary has also been dubbed, Queen of Prophets, Queen of Apostles, Queen of Martyrs, Queen of Confessors, Queen of Virgins, and Queen of all Saints.

In Luke 1:38, Mary said, “Behold the bondservant of the Lord…” If Mary was indeed queen of all these groups and Queen of Heaven, she didn’t seem to know it. In fact, she considered herself the direct opposite by announcing she was a bondservant (slave).

From what we gather from Scripture, Mary was a humble woman who, like many of those called by God, simply believed and trusted the Word of God. For this, she is an example to all of us. No one could argue that she was not favored above the women of Israel in that day. To say more than this about Mary is an affront to the very nature of God.