Category Archives: Saints

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Mary: Theotokos or Mother of a Prophet

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The Holy Theotokos

After contrasting the views of Zechariah in Surah 19 and the Gospel of Luke, we will now discuss the Blessed Virgin Mary.  In the Christian tradition, the Virgin Mary is given the title Theotokos which literally translates as God bearer.  In Greece to this day the Virgin Mary is referred to as the Theotokos.  Members of the Eastern Orthodox Church who speak English as a first language refer to the Virgin Mary as Theotokos.  An Arab friend of mine who was raised in the Antiochian Orthodox Church told me that in the Arabic liturgy they transliterate the Greek word into the prayers.  The Russian Church refers to her as Bogoroditsa and I assume the other slavic churches use that or something similar.  I’m not sure if the Georgians have their own word or use Theotokos.  Greek Catholics use the word, and I would imagine that at least some Oriental Orthodox do as well.

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Zechariah: Luke 1 vs. Surah 19

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Zechariah and John The Baptist

In the Bible and the Quran, Zechariah is the father of John the Baptist.  In Surah 19 we have the story of Luke 1 and it’s been radically changed.  I don’t know the exact reason why the author of the Quran decided to make these changes but here are a few things that I noticed.

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The Second Council of Nicaea and the Immaculate Conception

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The Hagia Sophia in Iznik

There is a church in Turkey that I want to visit and that’s the Hagia Sophia.  I’m not referring to the grand former Church in Istanbul(which I also want to visit) but one in the little town of Iznik.  Iznik is the municipality once called Nicaea.  The famous city where two Ecumenical councils were held; the first in 325 AD and the second in 787 AD.  Like the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, this one is also now a Mosque/Museum.

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James White and the Early Christian View of the Eucharist

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There is a clip going around of the well known Evangelical Francis Chan saying that for the first 1,500 years of the Church, the unanimous belief was that the Eucharist was the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  I want to say that I don’t agree that it was unanimous.  It was about 95% but still a strong majority.  When Protestants start to read the Church Fathers their jaw drops at the early view of the Eucharist.  They clearly viewed it as the body and blood of Christ and Francis Chan sees that.

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Nasty Internet Stuff

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St. Thomas More

I sometimes think that the internet brings out the worst in people.  Lately all over the internet and social media, I’ve been seeing a lot of nasty religious arguments.  I’m not against arguing at all as that is the goal of this blog.  I’m against being nasty, especially being nasty all the time.  I don’t want to name names or groups but here is my take on it.

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Musings on Isaiah 7 and the Virgin Birth

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Not long ago, I wrote about Hosea 11 and what is actually meant by how the NT uses this passage.  I would like to do the same thing with the virgin birth as many people think this passage is just wrenched out of context by Matthew.  There is actually a very rich context to explore and this passage actually shows how the Son is eternal.

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John the Baptist in Matthew 11 and John 1 – A Contradiction?

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The Baptism of Christ

I’ve recently come across Muslims trying to use the accounts of John the Baptist in the NT to try and discredit the Gospels having a consistent narrative.  Of course this isn’t new to Muslims.  It’s been a tactic employed by liberals for a couple hundred years.  It’s not like modern Muslim apologists are attempting anything new.

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St. Cyril of Jerusalem and Muhammad’s Trinity Blunder

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St. Cyril of Jerusalem

I have often spoken about Muhammad’s Trinity blunder in Surah 5.  In this surah in verses 73, 75, and 116 we see that Muhammad thought that the Trinity was Allah, Jesus and Mary instead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.