Mary as God-Bearer in Early Christianity

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching

Commemorating our all-holy, pure, most glorious, blessed Lady, the God-Mother and Ever-Virgin Mary, and all the saints that have been well-pleasing to You since the world began, let us devote ourselves, and one another, and our whole life, to Christ our God:

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching

Who, having descended from heaven, and become flesh of the Holy Spirit and Virgin Godmother Mary, and having sojourned among men, fulfilled the dispensation for the salvation of our race;

Early Liturgies, Divine Liturgy of St. James Direct teaching

who submitted for our salvation to become flesh of the holy God-mother, and ever-virgin Mary;

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Direct teaching

Blessed of the Lord is your name, full of divine grace, and grateful exceedingly to God, mother of God, you that gives light to the faithful.

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Direct teaching

O holy mother of God, remember us, I say, who make our boast in you, and who in hymns august celebrate the memory, which will ever live, and never fade away.

Methodius, Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna Supporting witness

Hail! Mother and handmaid of God. Hail! Hail!

Matthew 1:18 Direct teaching

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.

Luke 1:38 Direct teaching

And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:34 Direct teaching

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

Luke 1:30 Supporting witness

And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

Luke 1:27 Supporting witness

to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary.

Luke 1:45 Supporting witness

And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Luke 1:43 Supporting witness

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Luke 1:42 Supporting witness

and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!

Luke 1:28 Supporting witness

And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Direct teaching

...stating that before Joseph united with Mary, she remained a virgin and was "found with child by the Holy Spirit." The angel Gabriel told her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, the holy one to be born of you will be called the Son of God." The angel told Joseph in a dream, "This happened to fulfill what Isaiah the prophet spoke: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son." The elders interpreted Isaiah's words: "And the Lord said to Ahaz, Ask for yourself a sign from your Lord God from the depths below or the heights above. Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not test the Lord. Then he said, It is not a small thing for you to tire men; how does the Lord tire them? Therefore, the Lord will give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son; and you will call His name Emmanuel. He will eat butter and honey. Before He knows to reject evil, He will choose good; before He knows good or evil, He will not choose evil, so He may select what is good." The Holy Spirit has carefully highlighted His birth from a virgin and His essence, indicating He is God, as the name Emmanuel shows. Yet, He is also shown as

Gregory Thaumaturgus, Twelve Topics on the Faith Direct teaching

How could anyone say that Christ was born from the seed of man through the Virgin, when the holy Gospel and the angel, in announcing the good news, testify about Mary the Virgin that she said, "How will this be, since I do not know a man?" Luke 1:34 Therefore he says, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore also that holy One who will be born of you will be called the Son of the Highest." Luke 1:35 And to Joseph he says, "Do not fear to take Mary your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a son, and they will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Matthew 1:20-21

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

... not to leave his wife. The angel who appeared to him told him that what was in her womb was of the Holy Ghost. So, he was afraid and did not leave her. During the first census in Judea, under Cyrenius, Joseph went up from Nazareth, where he lived, to Bethlehem, which was his ancestral home, to be registered, as his family belonged to the tribe of Judah, which was settled in that area. Then, along with Mary, he was instructed to go to Egypt with the Child and stay there until another revelation told them to return to Judea. But when the Child was born in Bethlehem, because Joseph could not find lodging in the village, he stayed in a cave near the village. While they were there, Mary gave birth to the Christ and laid Him in a manger, and this was where the Magi from Arabia found Him. I have shared with you,” I continued, “what Isaiah foretold about the sign foreshadowing the cave; but for the benefit of those accompanying us today, I will remind you of the passage.” Then I repeated the passage from Isaiah I have already written, adding that the words stirred those who presided over the mysteries of Mithras, incited by the devil, to claim that they were initiated by him in a place

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Direct teaching

In line with this plan, Mary the Virgin is found obedient, saying, "Behold the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." But Eve was disobedient; for she did not obey even when she was a virgin. And just as she, having a husband, Adam, but being nevertheless still a virgin (for in Paradise "they were both naked, and were not ashamed," since they, having been created a short time before, had no understanding of having children: for it was necessary that they should first reach adulthood, and then multiply from that time onward), became disobedient, she was the cause of death for both herself and the entire human race. Likewise did Mary, having a man engaged to her, and being nevertheless a virgin, by being obedient, become the cause of salvation for both herself and the whole human race. Because of this, the law calls a woman engaged to a man, the wife of him who had engaged her, even though she was still a virgin; this reveals the connection back from Mary to Eve because what is joined together could not be separated other than by reversing the process by which these bonds were formed, so that the former ties be undone by the latter, allowing the latter to

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

...ected with a tree through His own obedience on the tree, thus undoing the deception that misled the virgin Eve, who was engaged to a man. This was joyfully announced through the truth spoken by the angel to the Virgin Mary, who was also engaged to a man. Just as the former was led astray by the word of an angel and fled from God after disobeying His command, the latter received the news through an angelic message that she would bear God, being obedient to His word. While the former disobeyed God, the latter chose to be obedient, so that the Virgin Mary might become the advocate for the virgin Eve. Thus, as humanity fell into the captivity of death by a virgin, it is redeemed by a virgin; virginal disobedience is countered by virginal obedience. Similarly, the sin of the first-created man is corrected by the First-begotten, and the serpent's deception is overcome by the innocence of the dove, breaking the chains that bound us to death.

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book III Supporting witness

... His mother was engaged to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child of the Holy Ghost." When Joseph considered divorcing Mary because she was pregnant, Matthew tells us about the angel of God appearing to him, saying: "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Ghost. She will give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins. This took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: Behold, a virgin shall conceive and give birth to a son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel, which means God with us." This clearly signifies that the promise made to the forefathers was fulfilled, that the Son of God was born of a virgin, and that He Himself was the Christ the Savior whom the prophets had foretold. It counters the claims of those who say that Jesus was merely the one born of Mary and that Christ descended from above. Matthew might have said, "Now the birth of Jesus was in this way;" but the Holy Ghost, anticipating and guarding against false interpretations, states through Matthew, "But the birth of Christ was in this way;" and asserts that He is

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...pel of Luke. From it they try to maintain, not what is true, but only what they want it to be: “The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore also the Holy Thing which is born of you shall be called the Son of God.” If, then, they say, the angel of God says to Mary, “that Holy Thing which is born of you,” then the substance of flesh and body is from Mary. But he has set forth that this substance, that is, that Holy Thing which is born of her, is the Son of God. “Man himself,” they say, “and that bodily flesh, that which is called holy, is itself the Son of God.” They also say that when the Scripture says “that Holy Thing,” we should understand Christ the man, the Son of man. And when it sets before us the Son of God, we should understand, not man, but God. And yet the divine Scripture easily convicts and exposes the frauds and artifices of the heretics. For if it had said only this, “The Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore that Holy Thing which is born of you shall be called the Son of God,” perhaps we would have had to strive against them in another way, and seek other argum

Origen, Commentary on Matthew Direct teaching

...to the end, so that that body of hers, which was appointed to minister to the Word which said, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon you, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow you," in Luke 1:35, might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Ghost came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it is in harmony with reason that Jesus was the first-fruit among men of the purity that consists in chastity, and Mary among women. For it would not be pious to ascribe to any other than her the first-fruit of virginity. And James is the one whom Paul says in the Epistle to the Galatians that he saw: "But I saw none of the other Apostles, except James the Lord's brother," in Galatians 1:19. And this James rose to so great a reputation among the people for righteousness that Flavius Josephus, who wrote the Antiquities of the Jews in twenty books, when he wished to show the cause why the people suffered such great misfortunes that even the temple was razed to the ground, said that these things happened to them in accordance with the wrath of God because of the things they had dared to do against James the brother of Jesus who is called Christ. And the wond

Gregory Thaumaturgus, A Sectional Confession of Faith Direct teaching

... acknowledge that the Son of God became a Son of man, having taken flesh to Himself from the Virgin Mary, not in name only, but in reality. We acknowledge that He is both the perfect Son of God and the perfect Son of man, that the Person is only one, and that there is one worship for the Word and the flesh that He assumed. And we anathematize those who set up different worships, one for the divine and another for the human, and who worship the man born of Mary as though He were someone other than the God from God. For we know that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, John 1:1. And we worship Him who was made man for our salvation, not as one made completely like us in a like body, but as the Lord who has taken to Himself the form of a servant. We acknowledge the passion of the Lord in the flesh, the resurrection in the power of His divinity, the ascension to heaven, and His glorious appearing when He comes for the judgment of the living and the dead, and for the eternal life of the saints.

Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Direct teaching

But the Virgin Mary received faith and joy, when the angel Gabriel announced the good tidings to her that the Spirit of the Lord would come upon her, and the power of the Highest would overshadow her: wherefore also the Holy Thing begotten of her is the Son of God;

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

If, then, say they, the angel of God says to Mary, that Holy Thing which is born of you, the substance of flesh and body is of Mary;

Victorinus, Commentary on the Apocalypse Supporting witness

...l of Luke. From it they try to maintain, not what is true, but only what they want to be true: "The Holy Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore also the Holy Thing which is born of you shall be called the Son of God." If then, they say, the angel of God says to Mary, "That Holy Thing which is born of you," then the substance of flesh and body is from Mary. But he has declared that this substance, that is, that Holy Thing born from her, is the Son of God. Man himself, they say, that bodily flesh, that which is called holy, is itself the Son of God. They also say that when Scripture says, "that Holy Thing," we should understand Christ the man, the Son of man. And when it sets before us the Son of God, we should understand, not man, but God. And yet the divine Scripture easily convicts and exposes the frauds and artifices of the heretics. For if it had only said this, "The Spirit shall come upon you, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you; therefore that Holy Thing which is born of you shall be called the Son of God," perhaps we would have had to contend against them in another way, and to seek other arguments, and to tak

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book IV Direct teaching

...him in a dream: "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She shall bring forth a son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins." Encouraging him in this, he added: "All this has been done to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son, and His name shall be called Emmanuel," thus influencing him with the prophet's words and clearing any blame from Mary, showing that she was the virgin mentioned by Isaiah, who would give birth to Emmanuel. When Joseph was fully convinced, he took Mary and joyfully obeyed regarding all the rest of Christ's upbringing, undertaking a journey to Egypt and back, followed by a move to Nazareth. For this reason, those who did not know the Scriptures or God's promise, or the plan of Christ, eventually called him the child's father. For this reason, too, the Lord Himself read the prophecies of Isaiah in Capernaum: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me; He has sent Me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom to th

Ignatius, The Epistle of Ignatius to the Ephesians (Short Version) Direct teaching

For our God, Jesus Christ, was, according to the appointment of God, conceived in the womb by Mary, of the seed of David, but by the Holy Ghost.

Tertullian, On Prescription Against Heretics Supporting witness

One Lord God does she acknowledge, the Creator of the universe, and Christ Jesus (born) of the Virgin Mary, the Son of God the Creator;