According to orthodox Christian doctrine, Mary, who was immaculately conceived (as celebrated December 8), came to birth (celebrated precisely 9 months later, i.e., today) without the stain of original sin. As Butler puts it:

Mary was brought forth into the world, not like other children of Adam, infected with the loathsome contagion of sin, but pure, holy, beautiful, and glorious, adorned with all the most precious graces which became her who was chosen to be the Mother of God.

Now, in my blog post of August 15 (one that received a great deal of feedback), I discussed Mary’s designation in orthodox Catholicism as the “Mother of God.” Yet, as Butler is quick to point out:

It is clear this is not to be understood as if she could be in any sense mother of the Divinity, the very thought whereof would imply contradiction and blasphemy . . . .

What?! It is orthodoxy to say that Mary was the Mother of God, but blasphemy to say that she was in any sense Mother of the Divinity?

This theological needle-threading is an attempt to simultaneously assert ALL of these various beliefs:

• Mary, a human, gave birth to Jesus.
• Jesus was “fully human, fully divine.”
• Mary therefore gave birth to a human being who was, simultaneously, fully divine.
• Mary was the mother of this fully human, fully divine person.
• This fully human, fully divine person is part of the Trinity (aka Godhead, aka Divinity), the so-called Second Person of that Trinity.
• Mary, having been the mother of this God-person (the Second Person of the Trinity) can rightfully be designated “Mother of God.”
• Yet because there was never a time when Divinity (the Godhead, the Trinity) did not exist and because there was a time that Mary was born (celebrated today), Mary could not possibly have given birth to Divinity, as such. This would be a logical contradiction.
• And any assertion that Mary gave birth to Divinity would mean that she existed before Divinity, thus making her, for lack of a better term, a Goddess… or even THE Goddess. This would be blasphemy.

Does all of this mean that we are perhaps in the realm of distinctions without differences? Actually, no. I find that the best way to approach mysteries is the way that Agatha Christie had her famed Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, so do. Poirot would frequently suggest that one needed to look at the effects of a murder for the key to understanding it (and thereby discovering the murderer’s identity). And although I’m not talking murder at the moment, I am calling suggesting this approach.

So what are the effects of having Mary be the Mother of God but in no sense the Mother of Divinity?

1. Christianity, which insists upon tracing its roots through Judaism to Abraham, continues as a Goddess-free religion. Mary may be honored and revered, but never regarded as part of Divinity. Mary may be assumed into heaven. Mary may be prayed to, with supplicants seeking her influence as a spotlessly holy woman and Mother of God, to find mercy for ourselves (“pray for us sinners now, and at the hour of our death”) but she is not to be worshipped in her own right.
2. Christianity maintains its claim to being monotheistic. After all, if Mary had given birth to a god who never existed before Mary was impregnated (think Hercules–the product of sexual intercourse between a god and a human woman), she would have given birth to a second god, separate from the impregnator!

Thus, if what you want is a religion called Christianity that worships Jesus of Nazareth as divine, that is goddess-free, AND that is monotheistic, then every bit of these theological gymnastics are necessary!

What remains for us then is to ask if this actually is what we want. And that means looking at these questions with great sincerity:

1. Does one want a religion that is connected to Jesus of Nazareth?
   1. Subquestion: Does this desire dictate that Jesus be (uniquely) divine?
   2. Subquestion: Why have a religion connected to Jesus of Nazareth if he is not (uniquely) divine?
2. Does one want a religion that is goddess-free? Why?
3. Does one want a religion that is monotheistic? Why?

For some readers, the answers are clear: I don’t want any religion. For others, the answers are clear: I don’t want any religion connected to Jesus of Nazareth. But for anyone else–how do you respond to these queries? That is, beyond parroting circular answers reminiscent of catechetical training?