The
person of Holy Virgin Mary in Christianity and in Qu'ran
(Koran)
Dr
Eirini Artemi
Phd
& MA of Theology, Post- Doc in Philosophy
Bas
of Theology and Classical Philology
Hellenic
Open University
Abstract
Holy Virgin Mary or Theotokos for the Christians is a very
significant person for Christians. She is the mother of the enfleshed
(sesarkomenos) Son of God. Theotokos thus refers to the Incarnation, when the Second Person of the
Holy Trinity took on human nature in addition to his pre-existing divine
nature, this being made possible through the cooperation of Holy Virgin Mary. Theotokos is not only the mother of God, but the mother of every
Christian. The Christians and mainly Orthodoxs and Roman Catholics think that
the Holy Virgin is a very significant part of their religion, of their life. Christians do not "worship" the Virgin Mary.
They "venerate" her and show her great honor. She has the
all-merciful power of driving away from us, at her sign, the sub-celestial
spirits of evil–those ever-vigilant and ardent sowers of enmity and malice
among men. She is the highest of all creatures, the Mediatrix for the whole
race of mankind. Strive to train everyone in the spirit of humility, for she
was more humble that any mortal, and only looks lovingly upon the humble.
The Quran, the holy book for Muslims honor holy Virgin Mary too. Muslims think that Virgin Mary is the mother of Prophet Christ. For them, Christ is not God. The Archbishop of Albania Anastasios who was teaching about the religion of Muslims supports that Muslims honour Holy Virgin more than some Christian Confessions of Protestants and some "christian" heresies as Jehovah witness. Also, it is indicative of this honorary position, which in the Quran the name of Mary is found in 33 out of 114 chapters (sura). The 3 chapter is devoted to Mary.
Of course in this paper, we will examine the texts' of the Holy
Scriptures for the Theotokos, Holy Virgin Mary and the texts of Quran for Her.
Introduction
There are very few people in the whole word that they are honored by million people for their virtues, their character and their life. Some of them are admired of their words and their important way of life. There is one person in the whole world, who appeared only few times in the public life and spoke only four, according to the Holy Bible of Christians[1]. This person is the holy virgin Maria. For Christians, she is the mother of Christ, the enfleshed Word. She became the bridge that Christ came in the world to bring reconciliation between man and God. Because of Her, the second person of the Triune God became real man and remained real God.
According to Christian tradition and
the Holy Bible, Holy Virgin Mary, Theotokos, played an important role in the
incarnation. The devout face of the mother of Christ has central position in
the mystery of our salvation, because she served the incarnation of the Son of
God with her holiness and with her volition[2].
She is the "great wonder in heaven; the woman clothed with the sun, and
the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars"[3].
In Qu'ran's tradition Mary is a
respectful person, the mother of the prophet Jesus. She is very righteous and
her son Christ was no more than a messenger; many were the messengers that
passed away before him. His mother was a woman of truth.
Mary is one of the most honored figures in Muslim history, with the majority of Muslims viewing her as one of the most righteous women to have lived, and a minority viewing her as an actual female prophet[4].
Although these two religious trace
their roots to Abraham and both honour the holy Virgin Mary with own way each
other. For Christians, Mary the mother of Jesus a chaste and pious human woman
who gave birth to Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, the Triune
God, the Son of God, and at the same time "fully" God Almighty in
every respect. On the other hand, for Islam a chaste and pious human woman who
was chosen, purified, and preferred over all of the women of creation to be the
one to give birth to Gods elect messenger Jesus through the command of God
without any father whatsoever.
- Maria, the mother of God for
Christians
For Christians, believing Mary to be the Theotokos (Greek, "God-bearer") or Mother of God, is an area of agreement with Catholics, most of Protestants and Orthodox. If Jesus Christ is truly God, then Mary is truly the Mother of God. But there are some people who are sometimes horrified when the Virgin Mary is referred to as the Mother of God of Christians.
A woman is a man’s mother either if she carried him in her womb or
if she was the woman contributing half of his genetic matter or both. Mary was
the mother of Jesus in both of these senses; because she not only carried Jesus
in her womb but also supplied all of the genetic matter for his human body,
since it was through her—not Joseph—that Jesus "was descended from David
according to the flesh"[5].
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[6].
In Bible,
there is less information about the life of Holy Virgin Mary. But there are
significant reports to her face. The Church depends heavily on its Tradition
other than Holy Scripture, Ecumenical Councils, liturgical books, and the
writings of the Fathers, for details and the precise definition of the nature
of the veneration of the Virgin Mary, there are several passages of the New
Testament that really form the basis for Christians' practice[7].
In the Old Testament, she is indirectly referred as the woman that her "seed" would be threat for the devil: "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel"[8]. It is the first promise of a Redeemer. It is the beginning of a long line of prophecies concerning the coming Messiah. The Promised One would be from the woman's seed an indication of the eventual virgin birth of Christ. So, the Holy Virgin Mary was part of the pre - eternal salvation of the human race. Mary's life and role in the history of salvation is prefigured in the Old Testament, while the events of her life are recorded in the New Testament.
In Old Testament, besides the promise of God to Adam and Eve about the Redeemer, many other prophets spoke about her. Isaiah argued about the virginity of the woman that she would give birth of Immanuel, God be with us[9], Christ the enfleshed God. This prophesy was verified in the Immaculate Conception through the words of the archangel Gabriel to Mary[10]. For this reason the evangelist Matthew explain in his gospel that the birth of Christ was happened according to the fulfilment of Isaiah's prophesy: " And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins. Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us"[11].
In another book of the Old Testament, "Ezekiel", is
written that "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man
shall pass through it; because the Lord the God of Israel hath entered in by it,
and it shall be shut"[12].
Expounding these words, St. Ambrose of
In the book of psalms, psalm 44 (45) there is the prophesy of David
about the Holy Virgin Mary. David says: "Hearken,
O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people,
and thy father's house; So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: for he is
thy Lord; and worship thou him"[17].
Athanasius the great explained this phrase of the psalm in his epistle to Marcellinus
and underlined that the word "daughter" is referred to Theotokos and
it has the same meaning with the vocative case of the name Maria that the angel
Gabriel used to speak to Mary[18].
The only difference being that Gabriel addressed Mary by an epithet, because he
is of another race from her, while David fitly calls her his own daughter,
because it was from him that she should spring[19].
Finally in the proverbs of Solomon, the King of
Israel said many women obtained cosmic power, money, honor but one (the mother
of Christ) excel them all. All the others were in vain, but the woman who feared
the Lord, she shall be praised[20]. The Holy Virgin had an incomparable purity and
chastity and immaculate virginity. She represents the humanity with which God
wants to open dialogue respecting fully the gift of freedom that gave it from the
first time of its creation.
In the New Testament, there are some details
about the representative of the human race with God. Also for the life of the
Holy Virgin, we accept the text of the apocryphal gospel of Apostle James or
Protoevangelium of James[21].
According to the story found in this book, Mary's parents, Joachim and Anna,
were childless for many years. They remained faithful to God, but their prayers
for a child were unanswered. One day, when Joachim came to the temple to make
an offering, he was turned away by the High Priest who chastised him for his
lack of children. To hide his shame, Joachim retreated to the hill country to
live among the shepherds and their flocks. As Joachim was praying, his wife
Anna was praying at the same time at their house in
When She became thirteen the priests of the temple chose Joseph for her
fiancé, after God's illumination. Joseph according to the gospel of James was
eighty years old. He was widower and had seven children. This man was elected
by God to protect Mary, until the time of the birth of enfleshed God, Christ,
came. Under the protection of Joseph, Mary had a "father" for her
child in the eyes of the other people[23]. So Joseph, the righteous man[24], became the earthly father of Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament and mainly in the gospel of Luke, Mary appeared to
accept the visit of angel Gabriel. In the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin
Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady. Gabriel informed Her that she would
conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking his
Incarnation. Gabriel told Mary to name her son Jesus, meaning
"Saviour"[25]. Theotokos had the objection of how such a conception could take place,
because She didn't see not a man[26]. After Gabriel's explanation to her objection, She accepted God's will
with humiliation: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me
according to thy word"[27].
Later, the holy Virgin appeared in the house of
In other fact, the holy Virgin asked the twelve year old Jesus, where he
was, because she was anxious about Him[29]. Then She appeared and spoke for the last in the wedding of
According the Tradition of Orthodox and Roman Catholics, Mary lived
fifteen years after the death of Her Son. She was living as a nun. When she
realized that she was time for her death. She blessed people who were around
Her and died, but as the hymns says: "In failing asleep you did not
forsake the world"[31]. By this words, it is cleared that for Christians and mainly for the
Orthodox Greeks the Holy Virgin Mary is the pained mother, the comforter and
the protector, who stands by us in every circumstance and pray for us to her
Son.
In the end it should be underlined that Panagia
(most holy above all saints) is a holy figure for Greeks not only because she
gave birth to Jesus but because worshipers have connected Her with the Greek
nation’s freedom during some hard times, apart from the miracles recorded in
many personal cases as well. So Greeks thank the Virgin Mary for her aid in
some of the woes they faced. The best known and most significant historic event
occurred in 626, when Constantinople was besieged by the Avars while Emperor
Heraclius and his troops were campaigning against the Persians in
In modern times, Panagia helped Greeks to defend
the enemies successfully during the two world wars. Every Greek mother pray to
Her and ask health and happiness of her Child. Theotokos is the mother of All,
so everyone trusts her, his dreams, his prayers, his sadness, his happiness.
She listens carefully to everyone's prayer and she begs her son for us.
"To God and the Savior you've given birth;
I ask you, O Virgin, From the dangers deliver me; For now I run to you for
refuge, With both my soul and my reasoning. Now and forever, and to the ages of
ages. Amen".
- The use of the term Theotokos
for the mother of Jesus by Christians.
Through
the disobedience of Eve, death and sin were introduced to the world, but
through the obedience of the Ever-Virgin Mother of God, the Theotokos, the Son
of God overthrew the power of the devil and liberated us from sin. Τheotokos is
a powerfully evocative term which belonged to the “language of devotion”. The
word “Theotokos” is Greek and literally means “God-bearer”, although in more general terms
it can be taken to mean “Mother of God”. Mary is the Theotokos, the one who gave birth
to God. This single word sums up the meaning of Luke's phrase: “Mother of the
Lord”[32] and represents a
counterpoint to John's teaching that the “Word was made flesh”[33] Usually the term theotokos is translated into English as “Mother of God”. However, Greek-speaking
Christians also used the equivalent Meter Theou. The latter form
offers a more comprehensive vision of Mary's motherhood in line with a
personalist point of view. The
Fathers of the Church saw in this name, Theotokos, a compendium of the Church's
faith in the Incarnation[34].
In the 2nd and 3rd
centuries we find the term Theotokos for the Holy Mother in the texts of Ignatius of Antioch. He had created the concept of Mary as
God-bearer when he wrote in his second epistle to John that the Mother of Jesus
was honorable, affable, and aroused wonder in all people who came in
Some years later another patristic writer of the Church, Origen used the term Theotokos. According to the early Church historian Socrates Scholasticus, Origen defended the term Theotokos -God-bearer or Mother of God- in a commentary on Romans a full two centuries before the Council of Ephesus defined the term[36]. Origen underlines that the name Mariam is the name of Mary, who will be called Theotokos[37]. In another passage of the Homily on Luke's gospel, Origen supports that the seeds of David are the ancestors of Mary, Theotokos, and of Christ[38]. Origen also in the first volume of his Commentaries on the apostle’s epistle to the Romans, gives an ample exposition of the sense in which the term Theotokos is used[39].
More problematic seems to be the evidence of the use of the term Theotokos by Gregory the Wonderworker (213-270), the most disciple of Origen. Indeed, it is not known who wrote the oration for Annunciation. This text which uses the specific term is attributed to either Apollinaris of Laodicae (310-390) or an unknown writer of the 5th century. But in no case in a Cappadocian Fathers[40].
Some years later the term Theotokos is used by Alexander of Alexandria underlines that «our Lord Jesus Christ assumed flesh in reality (not by illusion) from Mary the Theotokos unto the end of the ages and came unto the race of men to destroy sin». The way that the term is used declares that it was a common word for the mother of Christ that period of time[41]. Alexander tried to defend the teaching of Arians with the use of the term Theotokos, and with his whole theology.
His successor in the throne of
On the other hand a Cappadocian Father, the Basilius the Great uses
the noun Theotokos for Mary a lot of times in his writings to show that Mary
gave birth truly God and truly man[43].
Through his works, Theotokos is presented as an
honorable
Basilius' favorite friend, Gregory the Theologian in his Letter to Cledonius says the following: "Whoever does not accept Mary as the Theotokos is godless. And whoever asserts that God the Word passed through the Virgin as one passes through a tube, and, consequently, He was not formed inside her simultaneously in a divine and human manner - in a divine because there was no mediation of a man, and in a human manner because He was no subjected to the law of gestation - is equally godless".[44]
Epiphanius of Cyprus, in his attempt to exalt the Theotokos who is above all exaltation, underlines with emphasis the following: "How can I call blessed the glory which is the root of all glory, given that she is above all, except God, and that she is better than the Cherubim and the Seraphim and every other Angelic order? No language is sufficient for this, neither in heaven nor on the earth, and not among the Angels, since they, too, offered hymns and praise, honor and glory, but did not succeed to speak commensurable with her worth."[45]
Another Cappadocian Father Gregory of Nyssa uses the term Theotokos to distinguish the holy Virgin from other women. In his Epistle 3, 19-24, he explains that the word of theotokos is incompatible with that of anthropotokos. The explanation of the differences between the terms theotokos and anthropotokos, we can say, that there is an early response to the falsehoods of Nestorius in the fifth century.
In fifth century, Cyril, patriarch of
He was a perfect man with a body (sarx) and a soul ( nous ), and he was borne by the Virgin Mary. It was obvious that the holy Virgin Mary did not give birth to a common man in whom the Word of God dwelt[47], lest Christ be thought of as a God-bearing man. For all this, the holy Virgin should be called Theotokos and She is Theotokos[48].
Theotokos is the most important person after Christ in Christianity. She is thought as the mother of all Christians, for this reason many temples are devoted to them, because it is said during the Divine Liturgy of St. Basil the Great: "All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace, the ranks of Angels and the human race; hallowed Temple and spiritual Paradise, glory of Virgins; from you God was incarnate, and He, who is our God before the ages, became a little child. for He made your body a throne and made your womb more spacious than the heavens. All of creation rejoices in you, O full of grace; glory to you!"
- The position of Holy Mary in Qu'ran
(Koran)
Mary was honoured by Muslims as mother of Jesus,
Isa. Muslims believe that Jesus peace be upon him according to the Holy Quran
is a wonderful, humble, generous messenger of God who came down and revealed
God's words to his people, the people of
The Qur'an speaks of Mary, who is called Miriam in
Arabic, not only as the mother of Jesus, but as a righteous woman in her own
right. There is even a chapter of the Qur'an named for her[50]. The third chapter in the Quran is named after her
father, Imran[51]. Chapters Mariam and Imran are among the most
beautiful chapters in the Quran. Of the Quran's 114 suras, she is among only
eight people who have a chapter named after them. Mary is specifically
mentioned in the Quran, alongside Asiya, as an exemplar for all righteous women[52]. Mary is the only woman specifically named in the
Quran. The Virgin Mary plays a very significant role in Islam. She is an
example and a sign for all people. Mary's father is called Amran - Imran in
Arabic- in tradition and is the equivalent of Joachim in Christian tradition.
Her mother is called Anne -Hannah
in Arabic-, which is the same name as in Christian tradition, Saint Anne.
In the Quran, it is supported that Mary’s mother,
Hannah, dedicated her into Allah when she was in her mother’s womb[53]. By this way the baby would serve only the Creator
as a scholar or religious teacher. Of course, Mary’s mother was hoping that the
baby would be a boy. Delivering a female child, she realized that things did
not go according to her plan, but decided to fulfill her vow, and Maryam was
the name of the child. And she made a prayer for her newly born asking God to
protect her and her offspring from Satan, “I have named her Mariam, and I
commend her and her offspring to Thy protection from Satan, the Rejected”[54]. So the name Mariam literally means “maidservant of
God”.
Although Hannah wanted to have a boy to serve God, Mary was accepted by God, and was brought up in a good manner after she was put under the care of Zachary. Through her devotion and righteous upbringing and the prayer from her mother, Mary became the best woman to ever live as depicted in the Quran in the verses: “"And (remember) when the angels said: 'O Maryam (Mary)! Verily, Allah (God) has chosen you, purified you (from polytheism and disbelief), and chosen you above the women of the world (of her lifetime)'”[55].
“This is from Allah. Verily, Allah provides sustenance that He wills, without limit. So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance. He made her grow in a good manner under the care of Zachary. Every time he entered Al-Mihrab in the praying place to visit her, he found her supplied with sustenance –food”[56].
The Qu’ ran speaks about is described how the pious Virgin Mary is visited by angel Gabriel, who appears before her in a form of a man. Not knowing who he is, she fears for herself, but he asserts to her that he is an angel, a Messenger from her Lord, and announces to her news of her miraculous conception of a son. In shock, she questions, affirming her chastity. The angel answers that such a conception, though miraculous, is easy for The Lord, all He needs to say is "Be." and it is. And that these are matters decreed by Him, for greater purposes and to the benefit of mankind[57]. And the miracle happened, Mary's miraculous conception.
In the chapter 19th of
the Qu’ran, the story of her pregnancy and the birth of Jesus are described.
When the time of giving birth of Jesus came, Mary, driven out of town, out of
sight to
After the birth of Jesus, Mary returned to her village with the new born baby. She managed to face up the charges of her neighbors with her silence, as God advised her: “Then she brought him (the baby) to her people, carrying him. They said: 'O Maryam! Indeed you have brought a thing which is greatly evil! O sister of Haron - O you who we consider the like of Haron, who was a pious man at the time of Mary- Your father was not a bad man (adulterous), nor was your mother an unchaste woman”. Then she pointed to him (to the baby). They said: “How can we talk to one who is a child, in the cradle?”[59].
Finally, we can say that there is a great respect for Mary into Quran. The respect comes from the acceptance of her virginity, her pious character and the miraculous way of pregnancy and birth of Jesus, one of the prophets in Islam. Mary receives the most attention of any woman mentioned in the Quran even though all the Prophets with the exception of Adam had mothers.
Conclusions
It is undoubtful that for
all of the esteem and honor which Muslims and Christians have for Mary, the
mother of Jesus, in her role in separate ways of prayer. For Christians she is
the all-holy “Theotokos”, the mother of God, the mother of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God incarnate. For Muslims she is the mother of Jesus, the Messiah, “who
was no more than God's apostle and his Word, which he cast to Mary: a spirit
from him”[60]. There are many common references for Theotokos in
Qu’ran and in Bible such as the virginity, her annunciation with different
promise of the angel Gabriel according Muslims and Christians. For the firsts
the promise that was given to Mary was for a pious Messenger of God, Jesus. For
the seconds the promise to Mary was about the incarnation of the second Person
of the Triune God, Jesus Christ.
Finally, It should be
underlined that Holy Virgin is one of the most respectful woman for Muslims and
Christians and for this reason Christans can praise to her as:
“More honourable than the
Cherubim, and more glorious beyond compare than the Seraphim, without
corruption Thou gave birth to God the Word: True Theotokos, we magnify Thee”.
and Muslims also say:
“O Mary! Allah has
chosen you and purified you – chosen you above the women of all nations”.
Let
the Holy Virgin Mary praise to God for us and give peace, love to all the
world. Then as mother, I beg her to protect all the children of the World to
become good and peaceful men and women. Amen.
[1] Lk. 1:26-
[2] Kallistos Ware, Bishop of Diokleias, "Image of the human freedom", Vimothiro, 1 (2009-2010) 42-46, p. 42.
[3] Revelation 12:1.
[4] Amira El-Azhary
Sonbol ed., Beyond The Exotic: Women's Histories In Islamic Societies,
Syracuse University Press, Syracuse 2005, p. 402
[5] Rom 1:3.
[6] Eirini Artemi, "Cyril of Alexandria’s critique, of the term Theotokos by Nestorius Constantinople", Acta Theologica 32(2) (2012) 1-16.
[7] Archbishop Dmitri of Dallas and the South, "The veneration of the Virgin Mary in the Orthodox Church", The Dawn, Newspaper of the Diocese of the South Orthodox Church in America 2007, p. 4.
[8] Gen. 3:15.
[9] "Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel", Is. 7:14.
[10] "And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast
found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring
forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be
called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne
of his father David: And he shall reign
over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no
end". Lk. 1:30-33.
[11] Matt. 1:21-23.
[12] Ezek. 44:2-4.
[13] Ambrose of Milan, The Consecration of a Virgin and the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, 8:52, PL 16, 330.
[14] Ibid. 8:57, PL 16, 334.
[15] Heironymus, Commentarium in
Evangelium Lucae, PL 25, 430.
[16] Heironymus, Dialogus contra Pelagianos
2, 4.
[17] Psalm 44 (45): 10-11.
[18] Lk. 1:28-30.
[19] Athanasius of Alexandria, To Marcellinus on the interpretation of the Psalms, PG 27, 16B.
[20] Prov. 31:29-30.
[21] The Gospel of James, is known as the Infancy Gospel of James or the Protoevangelium of James. It is an apocryphal Gospel probably written about the half of the second century, 150AD. It is the oldest source to assert the virginity of Mary not only prior to but during (and after) the birth of Jesus. Cf. Luigi Gambero, Mary and the fathers of the church: the Blessed Virgin Mary in patristic though, Ignatius Press 1999, pp.35-41.
[22] Protoevangelium of James, 2-7.
[23] Ibid.
[24] Matt. 1:19.
[25] Lk. 1:26-38.
[26] Lk. 1:34.
[27] Lk. 1:38.
[28] Lk. 1:46-55.
[29] Lk. 2:48.
[30] Jo. 2:3, 2:8.
[31] Kontakion for the dormition feast of Theotokos
[32] Lk 1:43
[33] Jn 1:14
[34] J. Saward, Christ
is the Answer: the Christ-Centered
Teaching of Pope John Paul II, Alba House, New York 1995, p. 65.
[35] Ignatius of Antioch, Epistula ad Ephesios, XVIII, 2, PG 5, 560B.
[36] Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical
History, VII, 32, 2.
[37] Origen of Alexandria, Homily on Luke, fragment 26,1, 41,1, 33, 2
[38] Origen of Alexandria, Homily on Luke, fragment, 7.
[39] Origen of Alexandria, Commentary in Romans, I, 1. 5. See Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastic History, 7, 32, 2.
[40]F. Winkelmann, Clavis Patrum Graecorum, qua optimae quaequescriptorum patrum
graecorum recensiones a primaevis saeculis usque ad octavumcommode
recluduntur, vol. I: Patres
Antenicaeni Patres antenicaeni, schedulis usi quibus rem paravit, Turnhout
1983, p. 243.
[42] Athanasius of Alexandria, Four discourses against Arians 3: 29.
On the incarnation of the Word 8, 2-3; 19,5 and 37,3.
[43] Basilius of Caesarea, Sermons, 39, PG 85, 425, 3, 34, 44. 428, 43, 16. 429, 23. 448, 5, 28. 429,23. 436,8. 437, 50. 441, 38, 47. 449, 18, 27. 452,6. Basilius of Caesarea, De vita et miraculis sanctae Theclae libri ii,
[44] Gregory of Nazianzen, Epistle to Cledonius, 101,5.
[45] Epiphanius of Cyprus, Panareion 78.
[46] Cyril of Alexandria, PG 77,
[47] Cyril of Alexandria, PG 77, 112A.
[48] Eirini Artemi, "The Virgin Mary, Theotokos, and Christ, true God and true man.
The mystery of Incarnation according to Cyril of Alexandria" Mirabilia
17 (2013/2) 52-74, Jun/Dez 2013/ISSN 1676-5818. Eirini Artemi, "The
rejection of the term Theotokos by Nestorius Constantinople and the refutation
of his teaching by Cyril of Alexandria", De Medio Aevo 2 (2012 / 2) ISSN-e
2255-5889, σελ. 125-149.
http://capire.es/eikonimago/index.php/demedioaevo/article/view/55/96. See. E.
Artemi, Cyril of Alexandria's critique of the term Theotokos by Nestorius
Constantinople, Acta Theologica 2 (2012) 1-16, Acta theologica vol.32, no.2,
Bloemfontein Dec.2012, University of the Free State, Print version ISSN
1015-8758.
[49] Quran 3:59. The similitude of Jesus before Allah is as that of Adam; He (Allah) created him (Jesus) from dust. Then, he said to him: Be. And he was". After a description of the high position which Jesus occupies as a prophet, we have a reputation of the dogma that he was Allah, or the son of Allah, or anything more than a man. If it is said that he was born without a human father, Adam was also so born. Indeed Adam was born without either a human father or mother. As far as our physical bodies are concerned, they are mere dust. In Allah's sight Jesus was a dust just as Adam was or humanity is. The greatness of Jesus arose from the Divine command "Be", for after that he was. He also was a great spiritual leader.
[50] Quran 19.
[51] Quran 3: 35-37.
[52] Quran 66: 11-12: “And Allah sets forth, as an example to those who believe the wife of Pharaoh: Behold she said: «O my Lord! Build for me, in nearness to Thee, a mansion in the Garden, and save me from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me from those that do wrong; And Mary the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity; and We breathed into (her body) of Our spirit; and she testified to the truth of the words of her Lord and of His Revelations, and was one of the devout (servants)»ˮ.
[53] The mother of Mary, said: "O my Lord! I do dedicate into Thee what is in my womb for Thy special service: So accept this of me: For Thou hearest and knowest all things", Quran 3:35.
[54] Ibid 3:36.
[55] Ibid 3:42.
[56] Zachary said: “O Mary! Whence (comes) this to you?' She said: “From God. for God provides sustenance to whom He pleases without measure”. Upon hearing Mary's answer, “There did Zakariya pray to his Lord, saying: 'O my Lord! Grant unto me from Thee a progeny that is pure: for Thou art He that heareth prayer!”, Quran 3: 37- 38.
[57] Ibid 19: 16-21.
[58] Ibid 19: 22-27.
[59] Ibid 19: 27-29.
[60] Ibid 4:171. W. Keeler, “How Mary Holds Christians And Muslims In Conversation”, CNS Documentary Service 25, 36 (1996) 5-10.
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