View source for Theotokos

{{Short description|Title of Mary in Eastern Christianity}}
{{italic title}}
{{Redirect|Mother of God}}
{{Format footnotes|date=September 2025}}
[[File:Kazan moscow.jpg|thumb|An icon of the [[Our Lady of Kazan|''Theotokos'' of Kazan]].]]
'''''Theotokos''''' ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Θεοτόκος}}){{efn|English pronunciation: {{IPAc-en|UK|θ|i|ˈ|ɒ|t|ə|k|ɒ|s}},<ref>{{Cite OED|Theotokos}}</ref> {{IPAc-en|US|ˌ|θ|iː|ə|ˈ|t|oʊ|k|oʊ|s|,_|ˌ|θ|eɪ|ə|-|,_|-|ˈ|t|ɒ|k|-|,_|-|k|ə|s}};<ref>{{MerriamWebsterDictionary|Theotokos}}</ref><ref>{{Dictionary.com|Theotokos}}</ref><br>Modern Greek pronunciation: {{IPA|el|θeoˈtokos|}}.}} is a [[Titles of Mary|title]] of [[Mary, mother of Jesus]], used especially in [[Eastern Christianity]]. The usual Latin translations are {{lang|la|Dei Genitrix}} or {{lang|la|[[Deipara]]}} (approximately "parent [{{gcl|fem}}] of [[God in Christianity|God]]"). Common English translations are "'''Mother of God'''" or "'''God-bearer'''" – but these both have different literal equivalents in {{Langx|grc|Μήτηρ Θεοῦ}}, and {{lang|grc|[[Theophorus|Θεοφόρος]]}} respectively.<ref>Ph. Schaff, H Wace ''Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fathers'', II.XIV ({{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170511212317/http://st-takla.org/books/en/ecf/214/2140263.html "Excursus on the Word Θεοτόκος"]}})</ref><ref>J.F. Bethune-Baker, ''Nestorius and His Teachings: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence'' (1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=WHFKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 p. 58]</ref>

The title has been in use since the 3rd century, and in the [[Liturgy of Saint James]] (4th century).<ref>John Witvliet, "The Anaphora of St. James" in ed. F. Bradshaw ''Essays on Early Eastern Eucharistic Prayers,'' 1997. {{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0717.htm |title=CHURCH FATHERS: Divine Liturgy of St. James |publisher=Newadvent.org |access-date=2013-11-03}}</ref> The [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] in AD 431 decreed that Mary is the {{lang|el|Theotokos}} because her son [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]] is [[God-man (Christianity)|both God and man]]: one divine person from two natures (divine and human) intimately and [[hypostatic union|hypostatically united]].<ref name=Ephesus /><ref name="ccel.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf214.x.xvi.i.html |title=NPNF2-14. The Seven Ecumenical Councils - Christian Classics Ethereal Library |publisher=Ccel.org |date=2005-06-01 |access-date=2012-10-04}}</ref>

The title of Mother of God ({{langx|grc|Μήτηρ (τοῦ) Θεοῦ}}){{Clarify|date=September 2025|reason=The parentheses are not explained.}} or Mother of Incarnate God, abbreviated {{lang|grc|ΜΡ ΘΥ}} (the first and last letter of main two words in Greek), is most often used in [[English language|English]], largely due to the lack of a satisfactory equivalent of the Greek {{lang|grc|τόκος}}. For the same reason, the title is often left untranslated, as {{grc-transl|Θεοτόκος}}, in Eastern liturgical usage of other languages.

{{lang|el|Theotokos}} is also used as the term for an Eastern [[icon]], or type of icon, of the Mother with Child (typically called a [[Madonna (art)|Madonna]] in the [[Western Christianity|Western tradition]]), as in "the [[Virgin of Vladimir|''Theotokos'' of Vladimir]]" both for the original 12th-century icon and for icons that are copies or imitate its composition.

==Etymology==
{{anchor|Etymology}}
{{main|Titles of Mary}}
{{further|Madonna (art)#Terminology}}
[[File:Mary, mother of Jesus on the throne.jpg|thumb|left|Byzantine mosaic of the enthroned {{lang|el|Theotokos}}, [[Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo]], Ravenna, {{Circa|AD 560|lk=no}}.]]
{{lang|el|Theotokos}} is an [[Compound modifier|adjectival compound]] of two Greek words Θεός "God" and τόκος "childbirth, parturition; offspring". A close paraphrase would be "[she] whose offspring is God" or "[she] who gave birth to one who was God".<ref>J.F. Bethune-Baker, ''Nestorius and His Teachings: A Fresh Examination of the Evidence'' (1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=WHFKAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 p. 58] ("who gave birth to one who was God", "whose child was God"). {{cite book|last=Pelikan|first=Jaroslav|title=Mary Through the Centuries|year=1998|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-07661-5|page=55}}</ref> The usual English translation is "Mother of God"; Latin uses {{lang|la|Deipara}} or {{lang|la|Dei Genitrix}}.

The [[Church Slavonic language|Church Slavonic]] translation is {{lang|cu|Bogoroditsa}} (Russian/Serbian/Bulgarian {{lang|ru|Богородица}}).{{clarification needed|date=September 2025}} The full title of Mary in Slavic Orthodox tradition is {{lang|cu|Прест҃а́ѧ влⷣчица на́ша бцⷣа и҆ прⷭ҇нод҃ва мр҃і́а}} ({{langx|ru|Пресвятая Владычица наша Богородица и Приснодева Мария}}), from Greek {{lang|grc|Ὑπεραγία δέσποινα ἡμῶν Θεοτόκος καὶ ἀειπάρθενος Μαρία}} "Our Most Holy Lady {{lang|el|Theotokos}} and [[Perpetual virginity of Mary|Ever-Virgin]] Mary". German has the translation {{lang|de|Gottesgebärerin}} ({{lit|bearer of God}}). In [[Arabic]], there are two main terms which are widely used at the general level, first one is: {{lang|ar-latn|Walidatu-liilahi}} ({{Langx|ar|rtl=yes|وَالِدَةُ ٱلْإِلَـٰهِ}} {{lit|Birther of God}}) and {{lang|ar-latn|Ùmmu-'llahi}} ({{Lang|ar|rtl=yes|أُمُّ ٱللهِ}}) or {{lang|ar-latn|Ùmmu-l'iilahi}}, ({{lang|ar|rtl=yes|أُمُّ ٱلْإِلَـٰهِ}}), {{lit|Mother of God}}).

"Mother of God" is the literal translation of a distinct title in Greek, {{lang|el|Μήτηρ τοῦ Θεοῦ}} ({{grc-transl|Μήτηρ τοῦ Θεοῦ}}), a term which has an established usage of its own in traditional Orthodox and Catholic theological writing, hymnography, and iconography.<ref>
The [[Second Vatican Council]] stated: "Clearly from earliest times the Blessed Virgin is honoured under the title of Mother of God." [https://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19641121_lumen-gentium_en.html Pope Paul VI, ''Lumen gentium'', 66]</ref>
In an abbreviated form, {{lang|grc|ΜΡ ΘΥ}} ({{langx|ru|М҃Р Ѳ҃Ѵ}}), it often is found on Eastern icons, where it is used to identify Mary. The Russian term is {{lang|ru|Матерь Божия}} (also {{lang|ru|Богома́терь}}).<ref>[https://ru.wikisource.org/wiki/ЭСБЕ/Богоматерь-Богородица Богоматерь-Богородица] [[Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary|Энциклопедический словарь Брокгауза и Ефрона]] : в 86 т. (82 т. и 4 доп.). — СПб., 1890—1907.</ref>

Variant forms are the compounds
*{{lang|el|Θεομήτωρ}}: [[Theometor|{{grc-transl|Θεομήτωρ}}]]
*{{lang|el|Μητρόθεος}}: {{grc-transl|Μητρόθεος}}
*{{lang|el|Θεογεννήτωρ}}: {{grc-transl|Θεογεννήτωρ}}
*{{lang|el|Θεοκυήτωρ}}: {{grc-transl|Θεοκυήτωρ}} 
These are found in patristic and liturgical texts.<ref>''On Martyrs: Speech on [[Simeon (Gospel of Luke)|Simeon]], [[Saint Anne|Anne]], at the day of the [[Presentation of Jesus at the Temple|Presentation]]'', and the Holy Theotokos. {{cite book|author=Saint Methodius of Patara|author-link=Methodius of Olympus|title=S. Methodii Opera Et S. Methodius Platonizans|volume= Pars I|year=1865|editor-first=Albert|editor-last=Jahnius|publisher=Halis Saxonum, C.E.M. Pfeffer|language=el, la|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D146LnZuSWQC&pg=PA109|pages=109, 110}} (... [80] περιφανῶς ἡ ἱερὰ '''θεομήτωρ''' ἐξετέλει ... [109] ἐκφαντικώτατά σε τὴν '''θεοτόκον''' προσημαίνουσαν ...)</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Dionysios|last=Pyrros|title=Panthektē: hiera ekklēsiastikē periechousa to Pentēkostarion|volume=2|year=1852|language=el|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QGlHAAAAYAAJ&q=%CE%9C%CE%B7%CF%84%CF%81%CF%8C%CE%B8%CE%B5%CE%BF%CF%82&pg=PA904|page=904}} (... πῶς δῆ ἡ '''μητρόθεος''' ...)</ref>

The theological dispute over the term concerned the term {{lang|el|Θεός}} "God" versus {{lang|el|Χριστός}} "[[Christ (title)|Christ]]", and not {{lang|el|τόκος}} ({{lang|la|genitrix}}, "bearer") versus {{lang|el|μήτηρ}} ({{lang|la|mater}}, "mother"), and the two terms have been used as synonyms throughout Christian tradition. Both terms are known to have existed alongside one another since the early church, but it has been argued,{{by whom|date=September 2025}} including in modern times, that the term "Mother of God" is unduly suggestive of Godhead having its origin in Mary, imparting to Mary the role of a [[Mother Goddess]]. But this is an exact reiteration of the objection by [[Nestorius]], resolved in the 5th century, to the effect that the term "Mother" expresses exactly the relation of Mary to the [[incarnation (Christianity)|incarnate]] Son ascribed to Mary in Christian theology.{{efn|"Pearson is mistaken in supposing that the resolution of the compound Theotocos into μήτηρ τοῦ Θεοῦ was unknown to the early Greek writers. It is not an open question whether Mater Dei, Dei Genitrix, Deipara, μήτηρ τοῦ Θεοῦ are proper equivalents for Θεοτόκος. This point has been settled by the unvarying use of the whole Church of God throughout all the ages from that day to this, but there is, or at least some persons have thought that there was, some question as to how Theotocos should be translated into English. Throughout this volume I have translated it 'Mother of God,' and I propose giving my reasons for considering this the only accurate translation of the word, both from a lexico-graphical and from a theological point of view."{{whose quote}}}}{{efn|"It is evident that the word is a composite formed of Θεός God, and τίκτειν to be the mother of a child. Now I have translated the verbal part 'to be the mother of a child' because 'to bear' in English does not necessarily carry the full meaning of the Greek word, which (as Bp. Pearson has well remarked in the passage cited above){{which|date=September 2025}} includes 'conception, nutrition, and parturition.' It has been suggested that 'God-bearer' is an exact translation. To this I object, that in the first place it is not English; and in the second that it would be an equally and, to my mind, more accurate translation of Θεοφόρος than of Θεοτόκος. Another suggestion is that it be rendered 'the bringer forth of God.' Again I object that, from a rhetorical standpoint, the expression is very open to criticism; and from a lexicographical point of view it is entirely inadequate, for while indeed the parturition does necessarily involve in the course of nature the previous conception and nutrition, it certainly does not express it. Now the word Mother does necessarily express all three of these when used in relation to her child. The reader will remember that the question I am discussing is not whether Mary can properly be called the Mother of God; this Nestorius denied and many in ancient and modern times have been found to agree with him."{{whose quote}}}}{{efn|"It only remains to consider whether there is from a theological point of view any objection to the translation, 'Mother of God.' It is true that some persons have thought that such a rendering implied that the Godhead has its origin in Mary, but this was the very objection which Nestorius and his followers urged against the word Theotocos, and this being the case, it constitutes a strong argument in favour of the accuracy of the rendering. Of course the answer to the objection in each case is the same, it is not of the Godhead that Mary is the Mother, but of the Incarnate Son, who is God. 'Mother' expresses exactly the relation to the incarnate Son which St. Cyril, the Council of Ephesus, and all succeeding, not to say also preceding, ages of Catholics, rightly or wrongly, ascribe to Mary."{{whose quote}}}}<ref>Ph. Schaff, H Wace (eds.), ''Early Church Fathers'', ''Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fathers'', Ser. II, Vol. XIV, {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20170511212317/http://st-takla.org/books/en/ecf/214/2140263.html "Excursus on the Word Θεοτόκος"]}}</ref>

==Theology==
{{see also|Catholic Mariology#Mother of God|Mariology|Hypostatic union|Incarnation (Christianity)|Nestorian Schism}}
{{Mariology}}
Theologically, the terms "Mother of God", "Mother of Incarnate God" (and its variants) does not mean that Mary is the source of the divine nature of Jesus, who Christians believe existed with the Father from all eternity.<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.ewtn.com/faith/teachings/maryc1.htm |title=Mary, Mother of God |author=Father William Saunders |date=December 22, 1994 |publisher=The Arlington Catholic Herald (retrieved from EWTN)}}</ref><ref>{{citation |url=http://www.catholic.com/tracts/mary-mother-of-god |title=Mary: Mother of God |publisher=Catholic Answers |others=Nihil obstat by Bernadeane Carr, STL; Imprimatur by Robert H. Brom, Bishop of San Diego |date=August 10, 2004 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161213155713/http://www.catholic.com/tracts/mary-mother-of-god |archive-date=December 13, 2016 }}</ref>

Within the Orthodox and Catholic tradition, Mother of God has not been understood, nor been intended to be understood, as referring to Mary as Mother of God from eternity — that is, as Mother of God the Father<!-- In Christianity, all persons of the trinity are "from eternity," so this sentence is misleading. --> — but only with reference to the birth of [[Jesus]], that is, the [[Incarnation]].{{clarification needed|date=September 2025}}
To make it explicit, it is sometimes translated ''Mother of God Incarnate''.<ref>"We recognize the Blessed Virgin Mary as the {{lang|el|Theotókos}}, the mother of God incarnate, and so observe her festivals and accord her honour among the saints." ''Mary: Grace and Hope in Christ'' by the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC II)</ref>

The [[Nicene Creed#History|Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed]] of 381 affirmed the Christian faith on "one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father [[Pre-existence of Christ|before all worlds]] (æons)", that "came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the [[Holy Ghost]] and of the Virgin Mary, and was made man". Hence, the term affirms Jesus Christ's full divinity as God by referencing [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] as the "Mother of [that] God". In the [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac tradition]], the creed contains an addition of {{lang|el|Theotokos}} after mentioning the incarnation, where it reads "...was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God {{bracket|{{langx|syr|rtl=yes|ܝܠܕܬ ܐܠܗܐ|translit=Yāldath Alāhā {{noitalic|or}} Yoldath Aloho}}}}."{{citation needed|date=September 2025}}{{whose translation|date=September 2025}}

The status of Mary as {{lang|el|Theotokos}} was a topic of theological dispute in the 4th and 5th centuries and was the subject of the decree of the [[First Council of Ephesus|Council of Ephesus]] of 431 to the effect that, in opposition to those who denied Mary the title {{lang|el|Theotokos}} ("the one who gives birth to God") but called her {{lang|el|Christotokos}} ("the one who gives birth to Christ"), Mary is {{lang|el|Theotokos}} because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human.<ref name=Ephesus >{{cite book |last1=Braaten |first1=Carl E. |last2=Jenson |first2=Robert W. |date=2004 |title=Mary, Mother of God |publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/marymotherofgod00carl/page/84 84] |isbn=0-8028-2266-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/marymotherofgod00carl/page/84 }}</ref><ref name="ccel.org"/> This decree created the [[Nestorian Schism]]. [[Cyril of Alexandria]] wrote, "I am amazed that there are some who are entirely in doubt as to whether the holy Virgin should be called {{lang|el|Theotokos}} or not. For if our Lord Jesus Christ is God, how is the holy Virgin who gave [Him] birth, not [{{lang|el|Theotokos}}]?" (Epistle 1, to the monks of Egypt; [[Patrologia Graeca|PG]] 77:13B).{{Full citation needed|date=September 2025}} But the argument of [[Nestorius]] was that divine and human natures of Christ were distinct, and while Mary is evidently the {{lang|el|[[Christotokos]]}} (bearer of Christ), it could be misleading to describe her solely as the "bearer of God" without referencing the humanity. At issue is the interpretation of the [[Incarnation (Christianity)|Incarnation]], and the nature of the [[hypostatic union]] of Christ's human and divine natures between Christ's [[Annunciation|conception]] and [[Nativity of Jesus|birth]].

Within the Orthodox doctrinal teaching on the [[Economy (Eastern Orthodox Church)|economy]] of salvation, Mary's identity, role, and status as {{lang|el|Theotokos}} is acknowledged as indispensable. For this reason, it is formally defined as official [[dogma]]. The only other [[Mariology|Mariological]] teaching so defined is that of her virginity. Both of these teachings have a bearing on the identity of Jesus Christ. By contrast, certain other [[Blessed Virgin Mary|Marian]] beliefs which do not bear directly on the doctrine concerning the person of Jesus (for example, her [[Sinlessness of Mary|sinlessness]], the circumstances surrounding her [[Immaculate Conception|conception]] and [[Nativity of Mary|birth]], her [[Presentation of Mary|Presentation in the Temple]], her continuing [[Perpetual virginity of Mary|virginity]] following the birth of Jesus, and her [[Dormition of the Mother of God|death]]), which are taught and believed by the Orthodox Church{{which|date=September 2025}} (being expressed in the Church's liturgy and patristic writings), are not formally defined by the Church.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

==History of use==
{{Mary}}

===Early Church===
The term and similar titles were certainly in use before the 4th century. [[Ephrem the Syrian]] used it in 318,<ref>{{Cite web |last=E. A. Wallis Budge, M.A. |title=E.A.Wallis Budge, On a Fragment of a Coptic Version of Saint Ephraim's Discourse on the Transfiguration of our Lord, Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archaeology, vol. 9 |url=https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Fathers-EN/627.ephraim_coptic_fragment_transfiguration.html&chunk.id=000003 |website=catholiclibrary.org |pages=317–327}}</ref> [[Pope Alexander I of Alexandria|Alexander I of Alexandria]] in 321,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexander of Alexandria: Epistles on the Arian Heresy |url=https://www.andrews.edu/~toews/classes/sources/early/Alexander%20Epistles%20on%20the%20Arian%20Heresy.htm |website=www.andrews.edu}}</ref>[[Athanasius of Alexandria]] in 330,<ref>{{Cite web |last1=John Henry Newman |last2=Archibald Robertson |title=CHURCH FATHERS: Discourse III Against the Arians (Athanasius) |trans-title=From Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series, Vol. 4 |url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/28163.htm |website=www.newadvent.org |publisher=(Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1892.) |at=Points 14, 29, 33 (twice) use "Theotokos" in Greek, translated here as "Bearer of God". |via=Philip Schaff and Henry Wace - Revised and edited by Kevin Knight.}}</ref> [[Gregory Nazianzus|Gregory the Theologian]] in 370, [[John Chrysostom]]{{Failed verification|date=December 2023}} in 400, and [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] all used {{lang|el|Theotokos}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.egolpion.com/term_theotokos_.en.aspx |title=The rejection of the term Theotokos by Nestorius Constantinople and the refutation of his teaching by Cyril of Alexandria |publisher=Egolpion.com |date=2012-06-24 |access-date=2012-10-04 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008063042/http://egolpion.com/term_theotokos_.en.aspx |archive-date=2012-10-08 }}</ref>

[[Origen]] (d. 254) is often cited as the earliest author to use {{lang|el|Theotokos}} for Mary (Socrates, ''Ecclesiastical History'' 7.32 ([[Patrologia Graeca|PG]] 67, 812 B) citing Origen's ''Commentary on Romans''),{{full citation needed|date=September 2025}} but the surviving texts do not contain it. It is also claimed that the term was used c. 250 by [[Dionysius of Alexandria]], in an epistle to [[Paul of Samosata]],<ref name=Villiers>{{cite web|last=de Villiers|first=Henri |url=http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2011/02/sub-tuum-praesidium.html |title=The Sub Tuum Praesidium |publisher=New Liturgical Movement |date=2011-02-03 |access-date=2012-10-04}}.</ref> but the epistle is a forgery of the 6th century.<ref>Wolfgang A. Bienert, "Dionysius von Alexandrien: zur Frage d. Origenismus im 3. Jh", de Gruyter (1978), pp.47-49.</ref>

The oldest preserved extant hymn dedicated to the Virgin Mary, {{lang|el|Ὑπὸ τὴν σὴν εὐσπλαγχνίαν}} (English: ''Beneath thy Compassion,'' {{langx|la|[[Sub tuum praesidium]]}},) has been continually prayed and sung for at least sixteen centuries, in the original [[Koine Greek]] vocative, as {{lang|grc-x-koine|ΘΕΟΤΟΚΕ}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2011/08/oldest-hymn-to-theotokos.html?m=1|title=The Oldest Hymn To the Theotokos|website=johnsanidopoulos.com|access-date=25 July 2022}}</ref> The oldest record of this hymn is a papyrus found in Egypt, mostly dated to after 450,<ref>G. Vannucci, ''Marianum'', 1941 (3), pp. 97-101, "La piu antica preghiera alla Madre de Dio". [http://www.trismegistos.org/text/64320 P. Ryl. Gr. 3 470] (Roberts, Colin Henderson) = Le Muséon 52 (1939), p. 229-233 (Mercenier, P. F. ) = [[Zeitschrift für katholische Theologie]] 74 (1952), p. 76-82 (Stegmüller, Otto). "Date: AD 450 - 799".</ref> but according to a suggestion by Henri de Villiers possibly older, dating to the mid-3rd century.<ref name=Villiers/>

[[John Cassian]] (360–435) stated:

{{blockquote|Since then you said that God was born of Mary, how can you deny that Mary was the mother of God? Since you said that God came, how can you deny that He is God who has come?<ref name="Cassian1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/35096.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: On the Incarnation, Book VI (John Cassian)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>}}

{{blockquote|And so you say, O heretic, whoever you may be, who deny that God was born of the Virgin, that Mary the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ ought not to be called {{lang|el|Theotokos}}, i.e., Mother of God, but Christotocos, i.e., only the Mother of Christ, not of God. For no one, you say, brings forth what is anterior in time. And of this utterly foolish argument whereby you think that the birth of God can be understood by carnal minds, and fancy that the mystery of His Majesty can be accounted for by human reasoning, we will, if God permits, say something later on. In the meanwhile we will now prove by Divine testimonies that Christ is God, and that Mary is the Mother of God. Hear then how the angel of God speaks to the Shepherds of the birth of God. There is born, he says, to you this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11 In order that you may not take Christ for a mere man, he adds the name of Lord and Saviour, on purpose that you may have no doubt that He whom you acknowledge as Saviour is God, and that (as the office of saving belongs only to Divine power) you may not question that He is of Divine power, in whom you have learned that the power to save resides.<ref name="Cassian2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/35092.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: On the Incarnation, Book II (John Cassian)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>}}

[[Basil of Caesarea]] (330–378) stated:

{{blockquote|According to the blameless faith of the Christians which we have obtained from God, I confess and agree that I believe in one God the Father Almighty; God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost; I adore and worship one God, the Three. I confess to the œconomy of the Son in the flesh, and that the holy Mary, who gave birth to Him according to the flesh, was Mother of God.<ref name="Basil">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/3202360.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: Letter 360 (St. Basil)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>}}

[[Augustine of Hippo]] (354–430) stated:

{{blockquote|An Angel speaks to Zacharias; fertility is given to the barren; the priest comes forth dumb from the place of incense; John bursts forth into speech while yet confined within his mother's womb; an Angel blesses Mary and promises that she, a virgin, shall be the mother of the Son of God.<ref name="Augustine">{{Cite web|url=https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/330202.htm|title=CHURCH FATHERS: On the Trinity, Book II (Hilary of Poitiers)|website=www.newadvent.org}}</ref>}}

===Third Ecumenical Council===
[[File:Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière (52163619802).jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|A mural in the [[Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourvière]] in [[Lyon]] depicting [[Cyril of Alexandria]] defending his doctrine of one-nature in Christ and the term {{lang|el|Theotokos}} at Ephesus, 431 AD. On the throne is the [[Madonna (art)|Virgin Mary and child Jesus]].]]
The use of {{lang|el|Theotokos}} was formally affirmed at the [[Third Ecumenical Council]] held at [[Ephesus]] in 431. It proclaimed that Mary truly became the Mother of God by the human conception of the Son of God in her womb:

{{Blockquote|Mother of God, not that the nature of the Word or his divinity received the beginning of its existence from the holy Virgin, but that, since the holy body, animated by a rational soul, which the Word of God united to himself according to the hypostasis, was born from her, the Word is said to be born according to the flesh.<ref>{{cite book |title=Catechism of the Catholic Church - Paragraph # 466 |url=http://www.scborromeo.org/ccc/para/466.htm |access-date=3 November 2021}}</ref>}}

The competing view, advocated by [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch]] [[Nestorius]] of Constantinople, was that Mary should be called {{lang|el|Christotokos}}, meaning "Birth-giver of Christ," to restrict her role to the mother of Christ's humanity only and not his divine nature.

Nestorius' opponents, led by [[Cyril of Alexandria]], alleged that this view, in conjunction with Nestorius's two-nature Christology, leads to two persons in Christ, which results in an incomplete incarnation and, by extension, incomplete salvation for mankind. The council accepted Cyril's reasoning and his one-nature Christology, affirmed the title {{lang|el|Theotokos}} for Mary, and [[anathema]]tized [[Nestorianism]] as [[heresy]].

In letters to Nestorius which were afterwards included among the council documents, Cyril explained his doctrine. He noted that "the holy fathers... have ventured to call the holy Virgin {{lang|el|Theotokos}}, not as though the nature of the [[Logos (Christianity)|Word]] or his divinity received the beginning of their existence from the holy Virgin, but because from her was born his holy body, rationally endowed with a soul, with which the Word was united according to the [[hypostasis (religion)|hypostasis]], and is said to have been begotten according to the flesh" (Cyril's second letter to Nestorius).

Explaining his rejection of Nestorius' preferred title for Mary ({{lang|el|Christotokos}}), Cyril wrote:
<blockquote>{{clarify span|Confessing the Word to be united with the flesh according to the hypostasis, we worship one Son and Lord, Jesus Christ. We do not divide him into parts and separate man and God as though they were united with each other {{interp|only}} through a unity of dignity and authority... nor do we name separately Christ the Word from God, and in similar fashion, separately, another Christ from the woman, but we know only one Christ, the Word from God the Father with his own flesh... But we do not say that the Word from God dwelt as in an ordinary human born of the holy virgin... we understand that, when he became flesh, not in the same way as he is said to dwell among the saints do we distinguish the manner of the indwelling; but he was united by nature and not turned into flesh... There is, then, one Christ and Son and Lord, not with the sort of conjunction that a human being might have with God as in a unity of dignity or authority; for equality of honor does not unite natures. For Peter and John were equal to each other in honor, both of them being apostles and holy disciples, but the two were not one. Nor do we understand the manner of conjunction to be one of juxtaposition, for this is insufficient in regard to natural union.... Rather we reject the term 'conjunction' as being inadequate to express the union... {{interp|T}}he holy virgin gave birth in the flesh to God united with the flesh according to hypostasis, for that reason we call her {{lang|el|Theotokos}}... If anyone does not confess that Emmanuel is, in truth, God, and therefore that the holy virgin is {{lang|el|Theotokos}} (for she bore in a fleshly manner the Word from God become flesh), let him be anathema. (Cyril's third letter to Nestorius)|reason=Wikipedia:Fictitious references|date=December 2024}}{{Citation needed|date=December 2021}}</blockquote>

===Nestorian schism===
{{main|Nestorian schism}}
{{further|Church of the East}}
Following the decision of the [[Council of Ephesus]] to anathematize the two-nature formula and its adherents such as [[Ibas of Edessa]], the followers of Nestorius (but not Nestorius himself) moved eastwards within the borders of the Sassanid Empire. There they spread their ideology, and eventually, their later student, [[Barsauma of Nisibis]], is often credited with the official establishment of the [[Church of the East]] in 424. Other influential figures include [[Narsai]], [[Babai the Great]], and [[Babai of Seleucia-Ctesiphon]] The church accepts the teachings of Nestorius's mentor, [[Theodore of Mopsuestia]], as official doctrine.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Baum |first1=Wilhelm |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CnSCAgAAQBAJ |title=The Church of the East: A Concise History |last2=Winkler |first2=Dietmar W. |date=2003-12-08 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-43019-2 |language=en}}</ref> Whether the Church of the East is truly "Nestorian" is a subject of debate, and modern research suggests that the [[Church of the East in China]] did not teach a doctrine of two distinct natures of Christ.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hofrichter |first=Peter L. |year=2006 |chapter=Preface |editor1-last=Malek |editor1-first=Roman |editor2-last=Hofrichter |editor2-first=Peter |title=Jingjiao: the Church of the East in China and Central Asia |publisher=Steyler Verlagsbuchhandlung GmbH |isbn=978-3-8050-0534-0}}</ref>

===Reformation===
[[Lutheranism|Lutheran tradition]] retained the title of "Mother of God" ({{langx|de|Mutter Gottes}}, {{lang|de|Gottesmutter}}), a term already embraced by [[Martin Luther]];<ref>{{cite book |last1=Basely |first1=Joel R. |title=Festival Sermons of Martin Luther |date=2005 |publisher=Mark V Publiscations |location=Dearborn, Michigan |isbn=0-9652403-1-2 |page=167 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfLCU2Nkxa8C}}</ref> and officially confessed in the [[Formula of Concord]] (1577),<ref>{{citation |first=Theodore G. |last=Tappert |title=The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church |location=Philadelphia |publisher=Fortress Press |edition=1959 |page=595 |chapter=Solid Declaration, article VIII.24}}</ref> accepted by the [[Lutheran World Federation]].<ref>{{citation |chapter-url=https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/1993-Lutheran_Orthodox_Dialogue-EN.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.lutheranworld.org/sites/default/files/1993-Lutheran_Orthodox_Dialogue-EN.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |title=7th Plenary in Sandbjerg, Denmark |chapter=The Ecumenical Councils and Authority in and of the Church |publisher=The Lutheran World Federation |date=10 July 1993}}</ref>

Whilst Calvin believed that Mary was theologically speaking rightly qualified as "the mother of God", [[John Calvin's views on Mary|he rejected common use of this as a title]], saying, "I cannot think such language either right, or becoming, or suitable. ... To call the Virgin Mary the mother of God can only serve to confirm the ignorant in their superstitions."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5PNJAwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA362|title=Letters of John Calvin|first=John|last=Calvin|date=February 1, 2007|publisher=Wipf and Stock Publishers|isbn=9781556352461 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

===20th century===
In 1994, Pope [[John Paul II]] and Patriarch of the [[Assyrian Church of the East]] [[Mar Dinkha IV]] signed an [[Ecumenism|ecumenical]] declaration, mutually recognizing the legitimacy of the titles "Mother of God" and "Mother of Christ." The declaration reiterates the Christological formulations of the Council of Chalcedon as a theological expression of the faith shared by both Churches, at the same time respecting the preference of each Church in using these titles in their liturgical life and piety.<ref>{{cite web |title=Common Christological Declaration between the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East |url=https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/chrstuni/documents/rc_pc_chrstuni_doc_11111994_assyrian-church_en.html |access-date=8 February 2020}}</ref>

==Liturgy==
{{lang|el|Theotokos}} is often used in [[hymns to Mary]] in the [[Eastern Orthodox]], [[Eastern Catholic]] and [[Oriental Orthodox]] churches. The most common is {{lang|el|[[Axion Estin]]}} (''It is truly meet''), which is used in nearly every service.

Other examples include {{lang|la|[[Sub tuum praesidium]]}}, the ''[[Hail Mary]]'' in its Eastern form, and ''All creation rejoices'', which replaces {{lang|el|Axion Estin}} at the [[Divine Liturgy]] on the Sundays of [[Great Lent]].
{{lang|pl|[[Bogurodzica]]}} is a medieval [[Polish language|Polish]] hymn, possibly composed by [[Adalbert of Prague]] (d. 997).

The [[Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God]] is a Roman Catholic feast day introduced in 1969, based on older traditions associating 1 January with the motherhood of Mary.{{efn|The [[Mysterii Paschalis|1969 revision]] of the liturgical year and the calendar states: "1 January, the Octave Day of the Nativity of the Lord, is the [[Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God|Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God]], and also the commemoration of the conferral of the Most Holy Name of Jesus."}}<ref>''Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the Calendar'', 35 f.</ref>{{efn|In his Apostolic Letter, ''[[Marialis Cultus]]'', [[Pope Paul VI]] explained: "This celebration, placed on January 1 ...is meant to commemorate the part played by Mary in this mystery of salvation. It is meant also to exalt the singular dignity which this mystery brings to the 'holy Mother...through whom we were found worthy to receive the Author of life.'"}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/apost_exhortations/documents/hf_p-vi_exh_19740202_marialis-cultus.html|title=Marialis Cultus (February 2, 1974) &#124; Paul VI|website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

==Iconography==
{{main|Madonna (art)}}
{{further|Marian art in the Catholic Church|Eleusa icon|Icon of the Hodegetria|List of Theotokos of St. Theodore icons}}
[[File:Bogorodichni ikoni.jpg|thumb|An 18th-century Russian chart of the various types of {{lang|cu|Bogoroditsa}} (birth-giver of God) icons.]]
One of the two earliest known depictions of the Virgin Mary is found in the [[Catacomb of Priscilla]] (3rd century) showing the adoration of the Magi. Recent conservation work at the Catacombs of Priscilla revealed that what had been identified for decades as the earliest image of the Virgin and Child was actually a traditional funerary image of a Roman matron; the pointing figure with her, formerly identified as a prophet, was shown to have had its arm position adjusted and the star he was supposedly pointing to was painted in at a later date.<ref>Geri Parlby, "The Origins of Marian Art in the Catacombs and the Problems of Identification," in Chris Maunder, ed., Origins of the Cult of the Virgin Mary (London: Bloomsbury Academic, 2008) 41-56.</ref> The putative{{editorializing|date=September 2025}} Annunciation scene at Priscilla is also now recognized as a Roman matron with accompanying figure and not the Virgin Mary.{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} Recently another third-century image of the Virgin Mary was identified at the eastern Syrian site of Dura Europos in the baptistry room of the earliest known Christian Church. The scene shows the Annunciation to the Virgin.<ref>Michael Peppard, The World’s Oldest Church: Bible, Art and Ritual at Dura Europos, Syria (New Haven: Yale, 2015)</ref>

The tradition of [[Marian veneration]] was greatly expanded only with the affirmation of her status as {{lang|el|Theotokos}} in 431.{{citation needed|date=September 2025}} The [[mosaic]]s in [[Santa Maria Maggiore]] in Rome, dating from 432 to 40, just after the council, does not yet show her with a [[Halo (religious iconography)|halo]]. The [[icon]]ographic tradition of the {{lang|el|Theotokos}} or [[Madonna (art)|Madonna (Our Lady)]], showing the Virgin enthroned carrying the infant Christ, is established by the following century, as attested by a very small number of surviving icons, including one at [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]] in [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]], and [[Salus Populi Romani]], a 5th or 6th-century Byzantine icon preserved in Rome. This type of depiction, with subtly changing differences of emphasis, has remained the mainstay of depictions of Mary to the present day. The roughly half-dozen varied icons of the Virgin and Child in Rome from the 6th to 8th centuries form the majority of the representations surviving from this period, as most early Byzantine icons were destroyed in the [[Byzantine Iconoclasm]] of the 8th and 9th century,<ref>{{cite book |last=Nees |first=Lawrence |date=2002 |title=Early medieval art |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=143–145, quote 144 |isbn=0-19-284243-9}}</ref> notable exceptions being the 7th-century {{lang|it|[[Blachernitissa]]}} and {{lang|it|[[Agiosoritissa]]}}.

The iconographic tradition is well developed by the [[Early Middle Ages|early medieval period]]. The tradition of [[Luke the Evangelist]] being the [[Saint Luke painting the Virgin|first to have painted Mary]] is established by the 8th century.<ref>Michele Bacci, ''Il pennello dell'Evangelista. Storia delle immagini sacre attribuite a san Luca'' (Pisa: Gisem, 1998).</ref>

An early icon of the Virgin as queen is in the church of [[Santa Maria in Trastevere]] in Rome, datable to 705–707 by the kneeling figure of [[Pope John VII]], a notable promoter of the cult of the Virgin, to whom the infant Christ reaches his hand.

The earliest surviving image in a Western [[illuminated manuscript]] of the [[Madonna and Child]] comes from the [[Book of Kells]] of about 800 (there is a similar carved image on the lid of [[St Cuthbert's coffin]] of 698).
The [[List of oldest Russian icons|oldest Russian icons]] were imports from Byzantium, beginning in the 11th century.

==Gallery==
{{Cleanup gallery|date=September 2025}}
<gallery>
File:Icon of the blessed Virgin Mary by Luke the Evangelist.jpg|Icon of [[Virgin Mary]] in [[Monastery of Saint Mark]], traditionally attributed to [[Luke the Evangelist]]
File:Virgin salus populi romani.jpg|[[Salus Populi Romani]], Rome (5th or 6th century)
File:Encaustic Virgin.jpg|Theotokos icon of [[Saint Catherine's Monastery]], Sinai (6th century)
File:Vlahernskaya.jpg|[[Blachernitissa|Blachernae Icon]] of the Theotokos (7th century)
File:Byzantinischer Mosaizist des 12. Jahrhunderts 002.jpg|''Mother of God'', mosaic icon, [[Hagia Sophia]] (12th century)
File:VergineTricherusa.jpg|''[[Trojeručica]]'', (<abbr>c.</abbr> 8th century), [[Serbia]]
File:Gelati Theotokos.jpg|[[Mosaic]] (ca 1130), [[Gelati Monastery]], [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]] (12th century) 
File:The Mother of God Trenousa (17-18. century).jpg|Theotokos icon (17–18. century), [[National Museum of Serbia]]
</gallery>

'''[[Russian icons]]'''
{{further|List of oldest Russian icons}}
<gallery>
Image:Theotokos Iverskaya.jpg|The ''[[Theotokos Iverskaya|Iveron Theotokos]]'' (''Iverskaya''), an 11th-century [[Russian icon]] based on the 10th-century ''[[Hodegetria]]'' type, [[Iviron Monastery]], [[Mount Athos]].
Image:Svenskaya.jpg|''Theotokos Panachranta'' from [[Svensky Monastery]], by St. [[Alipy of the Caves|Alypios of Kiev]] (11th century)
Image:Panachranta.jpg|''[[Panachranta Theotokos]]'', mid-11th-century Kievan illumination from the [[Gertrude Psalter]].
Image:Vladimirskaya.jpg|''[[Theotokos of Vladimir]]'' (c. 1100)
File:Fedorovskaya3.jpg|''[[Theotokos of St. Theodore]]'' (12th century)
Image:Our Lady Derzhavnaya.jpg|[[Our Lady Derzhavnaya]] (18th century)
File:Neuvyadaemii cvet 18th century icon.jpg| Bogomater of the [[:commons:Category:Unfading Flower icons|"Unfading Flower"]] (Неувядаемый Цвет) type (18th century, [[Tretyakov Gallery]])
</gallery>

==See also==
*{{lang|el|[[Anthropotokos]]}}
*{{lang|el|[[Christotokos]]}}
*[[Hymns to Mary]]
*[[Mother of the Church]]
*[[Perpetual virginity of Mary]]
*{{lang|el|[[Panagia Ierosolymitissa]]}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Maunder, Chris (ed.), ''The Origins of the Cult of the Virgin Mary '', (2008, burns & oates/continuumbooks). {{ISBN|978-0-86012-456-6}}
* Artemi, Eirini, "The mystery of the incarnation into dialogues "de incarnatione Unigenitii" and "Quod unus sit Christus" of St. Cyril of Alexandria", Ecclesiastic Faros of Alexandria, ΟΕ (2004), 145–277.
* [[Cyril of Alexandria]], ''On the Unity of Christ'', [[John Anthony McGuckin]], trans. {{ISBN|0-88141-133-7}}
* Cyril of Alexandria, ''Against Those Who Are Unwilling to Confess That the Holy Virgin Is Theotokos'', [[George Dragas]], edit. & trans. {{ISBN|978-0974561875}}
* McGuckin, John Anthony, ''St. Cyril of Alexandria: The Christological Controversy'' (1994, and reprinted 2004) {{ISBN|0-88141-259-7}} A full description of the events of Third Ecumenical Council and the people and issues involved.
* Saint [[John of Shanghai and San Francisco]],""The Orthodox Veneration of Mary, The Birth Giver of God"(2004, Sixth Printing, Third Edition). {{ISBN|0-938635-68-9}}
* [[Timothy Ware|Ware, Bishop Kallistos]], "The Orthodox Way" (1979, Revised Edition, 1995, and reprinted 1999). {{ISBN|0-913836-58-3}}

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Theotokos}}
{{commons category|Theotokos}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928055858/http://www.anchorite.org/blog/2007/08/06/resources-on-the-theotokos/ Resources on the Theotokos]}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060719115442/http://www.i-m-patron.gr/agiosnektarios/keimeno5.htm Study of the Mother of the Lord the All-Holly Theotokos and Ever-Virgin Mary]}} by St. Nectarios {{in lang|el}}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121008063042/http://egolpion.com/term_theotokos_.en.aspx The rejection of the term Theotokos by Nestorius Constantinople and the refutation of his teaching by Cyril of Alexandria]}}, Eirini Artemi, Oxford, August 2011
* [https://independent.academia.edu/EIRINIARTEMINationalandCapodistrianUniversityofAthens/Papers/1721697/The_rejection_of_the_term_Theotokos_by_Nestorius_Constantinople The rejection of the term Theotokos by Nestorius Constantinople] by Eirini Artemi

{{Madonna styles}}
{{Catholicism}}
{{coptic saints}}
{{Virgin Mary}}
{{Symbols of Greece}}
{{Christianity footer}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Eastern Orthodox icons of the Virgin Mary| ]]
[[Category:Titles of Mary, mother of Jesus]]
[[Category:Marian dogmas]]
[[Category:Christology]]
[[Category:Ancient Christian controversies]]
[[Category:Eastern Orthodox theology]]
[[Category:Oriental Orthodoxy]]
[[Category:Catholic Mariology]]
[[Category:Catholic theology and doctrine]]
[[Category:Eastern Catholicism]]
[[Category:Lutheran theology]]
[[Category:Anglican Mariology]]
[[Category:Theodosius II]]
[[Category:Greek epithets]]