Veneration vs Worship: is there a difference?

A friend read my Blog "the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43): the communion of the Logos with the biology of Mary the Theotókos

and wrote:

"Sure, I agree that Mary and Elizabeth must have been holy, but they are NOT God and therefore should not be worshipped as such."

This is my reply:

Dear Friend,

You may be confusing veneration for worship.
In Greek we have two words to distinguish the two.
We have Proskynesis, (Greek προσκύνησις) and we have Latria ( Greek λατρεια)

Proskynesis is formed from the Ancient Greek words pros and kunyo literally means "kissing towards", and refers to the traditional Persian act of prostrating oneself before a person of higher social rank, and is the act of veneration; giving solemn reverence towards.

(see wikipaedia reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proskynesis#cite_note-0 )

Latria (from the Greek λατρεια) used in Orthodox to mean adoration, which is the highest form of worship or reverence and is directed only to the Holy Trinity.

(see wikipedia reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latria )

Orthodox Christians offer veneration (proskynesis) towards anything Holy and of great esteem, but offer worship/ adoration (latria) only to God the Trinity. In this Respect, the Orthodox Christians are continuing the Jewish custom of showing reverence to Holy things by holding them in high esteem and demonstrating this by touching, bowing and kissing them.

Just don’t take my word for it, have a look at these references:

“Whenever the scroll is opened to be read it is laid on a piece of cloth called the mappah. When the Sefer Torah is carried through the synagogue, the members of the congregation may touch the edge of their tallit to the Sefer Torah and then kiss it as a sign of respect.”

(ref wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_Torah )

Or another reference:

"A feature of most [Jewish] services is some form of kissing, usually associated with the Torah, kissing it as it is marched by or before one blesses it. This is done through another medium such as touching a prayerbook or a hand to the Torah then kissing it. Some people also kiss prayerbooks after picking them up if they have fallen to the floor. In Israel kissing mezuzot, ritual containers with biblical verses on the doorposts of most rooms, has become a major form of popular spirituality, including many who are not at all religious."

(ref. Dept Jewish Zionist Education http://www.jafi.org.il/education/juice/history1/week7.html )

The Jews would strongly deny that they worship the wood, metal, paper and ink of the Torah or other religious items, but because it contains the word of God and it brings God into the consciousness of the Jew, they touch it and kiss it like they would a precious Holy object or person. This is true for the Orthodox Christians, who are the new Jews (by adoption) in the post Messianic age.

The problem with a lot of Christians, in my opinion, is that they don’t offer adoration/worship to Jesus and God at any rate, and confuse their veneration (or agreement) of Him for worship. Most Christian, I suspect, would feel very uncomfortable to fall on their faces before Jesus if He were to appear before them. I suspect that this is partly a cultural thing (ie middle eastern, Mediterranean people kiss everything and anything out of love; whilst Western Europeans tend to shake hands and show little emotion even in times of severe distress, such as grief and trauma), but I also suspect that pride and feeling undignified has something to do with it.

Many Protestants have forgotten to offer respect to Mary, and some have gone so far as to shun her completely (as if she were a sinful person). Many Protestant churches today make little or no reference to her in their daily living and preaching (and yet they will discuss St Paul, John Knox, Martin Luther, Calvin etc etc), and yet we read:

The major figures of the Reformation honored Mary. Martin Luther said Mary is "the highest woman", that "we can never honour her enough", that "the veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart", and that Christians should "wish that everyone know and respect her". John Calvin said, "It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor." Zwingli said, "I esteem immensely the Mother of God", and, "The more the honor and love of Christ increases among men, so much the esteem and honor given to Mary should grow". Thus the idea of respect and high honour was not rejected by the first Protestants; but they criticized the Catholics for blurring the line, between high admiration of the grace of God wherever it is seen in a human being, and religious service given to another creature.

(ref wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_(mother_of_Jesus) )

In the final analysis, I agree with you that only God deserves worship (latria), BUT that still begs the question:

"how do you demonstrate your reverence and thankfulness
to Jesus' mother for her active part in the Incarnation?"

Without Mary's ‘Yes’ to God, the incarnation could not have happened (just read Luke chapter 1 slowly and carefully). Mary had to say “yes” for it all to occur. She was not coerced. And then, in the final analysis, Mary herself tells us that “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Luke 1:48)

Cheers, hope to keep in touch
With love in Christ

Spiro

"the mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43): the communion of the Logos with the biology of Mary the Theotókos

The Hypothesis- can the Orthodox Justify the Title of Theotókos for the Mother of Jesus from a Scriptural Standpoint?

The Orthodox Church calls Mary, Jesus’ mother, the Theotókos: a synthesis of two Greek words: Theós and tókos (Gr: Θεός- God, and τόκος- parturition, childbirth). But what is this all about? Is this scripturally defendable, OR some kind of Greek hocus-pocus? Surely if the Orthodox Church claims to be the true Church of Christ, there must be a reflection of the title “Theotókos” in the scriptures which the Church produced and claims to reflect its inner life.

My Scriptural Synthesis of the title Theotókos

My scriptural analysis and synthesis begins with Elizabeth and her prophetic role in the Messianic Age. According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron the priest (Luke 1:5). She and her husband Zechariah were "righteous before God, living blamelessly" (1:6), but childless. Zechariah was visited by the Archangel Gabriel, who told him his wife would have a son who "will be great in the sight of the Lord" (1:15) (text copied from wikipedia). Elizabeth is described as a relative of Mary in the Gospel of Luke, and by tradition is said to be Mary’s cousin, according to St Hippolytus of Rome (c. 170-c. 236); the mother of Elizabeth, Sobe and the mother of Mary, Saint Anne were sisters (Wikipedia reference).

We are told in Luke’s Gospel, that Elizabeth proclaimed in a loud voice about Mary:

"Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord" (Luke 1:42-45)

I would like to unpack these statements a bit in order to fully highlight their significance. But before I do that, I would like to take a few small steps backward to the circumstances just prior to Elizabeth’s “fantastical” comments regarding this young, unwed, pregnant woman, known to us as Mary.

Elizabeth's Inspiration- was it human or Divine revelation?

We need to see the aetiology of Elizabeth's exuberant proclamations. Were her words mere hyperbole, OR indeed inspired? Was it the expression of human flattery, OR God's revelation indeed? Were they the ramblings of an 'crazed' elderly pregnant woman who had been scorned all her life for being barren, OR were they the expression of truth from a prophetess' mouth?

"And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said..." (Luke 1:41)

Lets have a closer look at the sequence of events leading up to Elizabeth’s proclamations of Mary:
1. Mary's calls out a greeting--->
2. Elizabeth's hears the greeting--->
3. Elizabeth’s baby responds in an extraordinary joyous manner--->
4. Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit.- i.e. she is saturated with the Spirit (you can't get more "Pentecostal" than that!)----> and
5. Elizabeth opens her mouth and goes 'nuts' with the praise for this little unmarried girl named Mary, who (oops), by the way, happens also to be pregnant!

Mary has said nothing specific to Elizabeth about her circumstances, nothing about her pregnancy or even the purpose of her visit. We recall that Mary left in haste after the Annunciation to visit her kinswoman (who was 6 months pregnant) (Luke 1:39). There were no emails, telephone calls, telegrams to inform Elizabeth ahead of time. There would have been no time to send a messenger ahead of time to inform Elizabeth, and why would she? To be found pregnant outside of marriage was a shameful situation and punishable by death by stoning!

All that Mary did was enter the house of Elizabeth and made a salutation. But this simplest of actions caused the foetus of St John the Forerunner and Baptist to leap for joy in an extraordinary physical way, And at the same time to enabled Elizabeth to be filled by the Holy Spirit.

This begs the question:

"WHY?".

Why does the greeting of a lowly pregnant girl, unmarried (although betrothed to Joseph) cause such a commotion? What was so special about this girl to inspire such a response form an elderly woman and her unborn baby? I will answer this question in due course- but before I do that, I would like to highlight yet another interesting fact in this scenario, that unfolded with the visitation of Mary and Elizabeth.

Prophecy returns to the nation of Israel after a 400 Year Absence!

With her encounter of the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth effectively becomes the first person of the nation of Israel since the Prophet Malachi (400 B.C.) to publicly prophesy God's will, albeit to Mary herself in the first instance. We know that the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary at the Annunciation (Lk 1:35), but Mary remained publicly silent of the event until after she visited Elizabeth (Lk 1:46). Zacharia was also visited by the Archangel Gabriel, but because he did not believe the angel he was made "mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place" (Lk 1:20). Thus Elizabeth effectively becomes the 1st to publicly prophesy in the Messianic age.

This is the first instance in a long-time (approximately 400 years) since the Holy Spirit filled a citizen of the nation of Israel (i.e. manifested and revealed Himself to that person) in order to proclaim God's revelation to the people of Israel (i.e. to become a prophet). Even though Elizabeth's public proclamation was to the exclusive audience of Mary, the foetal John the Forerunner, and the foetal Jesus, the message has in time been proclaimed to all generations (first to the Jews and then to the Gentile) as evidenced by its inclusion in Luke's Gospel.

Not since the Prophet Malachi (around 400 B.C.) has God's Holy Spirit prophesied to the people of Israel via a prophet concerning the coming age of the Messiah. Now once again, the Holy Spirit (the third person of the Trinity), who (by the way) is yet to be revealed to the nation of Israel as the third person of the Trinity (a revelation still some 30 years or so away from Jewish consciousness; occurring at the time of Christ's Baptism (Luke 3:22)) this same Holy Spirit fills Elizabeth's whole being (her spiritual "hard-drive" so to speak) and opens her mouth (not in a robotic, manipulating or mechanistic manner, but in a synergistic way; in synchrony with "God's will", in order to proclaim God's word.

From this time onward, the Nation of Israel begins to prophesy again. We see multiple examples of Messianic prophesy occurring in the wake of Elizabeth's proclamations: the prophesies of Mary herself in the Magnificant (Like 1:46); of Zacharia in "the Benedictus" (Luke 1:76); of Symeon and Anna in the temple (Lk 2:25-38); and John the Forerunner and Baptist (Lk 3:2) just to name a few.

Even though women had very poor socio-political standing in Judaism at the time of Christ (and were not considered reliable witnesses by Judaic Law), God nevertheless chose a woman--Elizabeth-- to be the 1st prophet in the Messianic age!.....WOW!

Thus a new age of prophecy was ushered into Israel through a woman. It all gets kick started again with Elizabeth- an elderly, and, until recently, a barren woman, who would have been shunned by her community and suffered much grief as a result of her barrenness.

Having chosen a women to be the 1st prophet in the Messianic age, what did Holy Spirit want her to say?

The Proclamation of the Prophetess Elizabeth.

What was the 1st thing this prophet said? What had God enlightened her to say after some 400 years of prophetic absenteeism amongst the people of Israel. Was it something profound regarding the establishment of an earthly kingdom for the Jews in a Messianic age (or something equally as vain)?

No it was not.

The first words uttered by this neo-prophetess of Israel were words of praise and exaltation for a young, unwed, pregnant girl; a young mother-to-be, who although unwed was betrothed to Joseph (who lacking the prophetic insight of the prophetess Elizabeth, and jumping to the conclusion that Mary must have had sex with a man, sought to divorce her in an quiet manner and be done with the whole affair (Matthew 1:19).

God's re-establishment of prophesy to the nation of Israel begins with "over the top" praise of a young unwed pregnant woman. For 400 years there was prophetic silence, and then suddenly (as quickly as it took for one to respond to the salutation of a kins person), we have Elizabeth proclaiming in a loud voice, "blessed are you amongst women" and "blessed is the fruit of your womb".

Wow! Mama mia!

Just take a moment and think through the implications of these words.............

For 400 years, the Spirit of God did not inspire any new prophetic proclamations. Then suddenly, the first thing Elizabeth says after having been filled by the Holy Spirit are:

1. "You're most excellent amongst all women"

AND

2. "Your baby that is fruiting (forming, growing, taking shape)
in your womb as we speak is also most excellent "

Just stop a while and contemplate the order in which the praise was given. Remember, Elizabeth has just been saturated with the Holy Spirit. She is filled with the Spirit. She is the embodiment of the 'Pentecostal' believer. Out of her mouth comes praise for this woman above all other women, and then, contrary to the belief that Mary was just a conduit that God used (and thus, by implication, He could have used any womb to achieve the same purpose), Mary's 'uterine' fruit is equally blessed.

Mary's Uterus

Mary's uterus produced the fruit we know as Jesus from the seed planted by the Holy Spirit. Fruit on a tree or a vine takes time to form from flower to edible fruit. Jesus was that fruit from Mary's uterus. Flesh and blood drawn from Mary's endometrium (the blood-vessel laden lining of the uterus designed to sustain the growth of an embryo from a group of cells into a fully grown baby) helped grow and form the human body of Jesus Christ (who whilst He was and remained Truly God's Son from all eternity, became a True Man with a body that grew as an embryo inside his mother's uterus; embedded in the endometrium).

"The Word became flesh" (from the prologue of St John's Gospel) was a process which took time. It took 9 months to be precise. It required cell division (mitosis) and replication and cellular growth. It required the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into differentiated mature cells to form all the organs of the body. This whole process demanded a functioning uterus, with endometrium capable of allowing a placenta to form in order for life giving nutrients to be exchanged for toxic metabolites and waste products.

Metabolic waste material produced by the Messianic foetal tissues of Jesus' body, were exchanged across the placenta for nutrients found in Mary's blood stream, in order for Jesus to grow in-utero as a truly human baby. Mary was not just a passive tube (a conduit) that Jesus passed through without being in intimate communion with Mary's physiology and physical being. The encounter was not a passive and unimportant exchange between Jesus and His mother; but instead from her very own flesh and blood Jesus took nutrients and oxygen to make his own flesh and blood, and in turn Jesus passed on metabolic waste by-products to his mother. Mary's liver, lung and kidneys had to process those waste-products as part of the natural mind-blowing miracle that is pregnancy and child birth.

The seed planted by the Holy Spirit into the uterus of Mary, following her assent to God's will at the Annunciation (Luke 1: 35- ), was nurtured and cared for by her biological uterine tissues in order to achieve the birth of a live-baby (a truly human child) 9 months later.

Mary did not give birth to Jesus' divinity..... NO, that existed before all time. It was with God and it was God (prologue of St John). BUT in order for the Eternal Logos to become flesh, he had to take flesh and grow as an embryo inside the womb; inside a biological uterus.

Just pause a moment and ponder on this mystery......

We confess Jesus Christ as True God and True Man. The God-Man in total perfection. One with God the Father from all eternity, and one with us in his humanity, except that He did not sin (Hebrews 4:15). The Divinity of the Second Person of the Trinity was somehow completely contained within the confines of Mary's uterus- unaltered, uncompromised and unbelievable- a mystery beyond the understanding of our feeble human brains. The Uncontainable became contained within the uterus of Mary........ impossible for us to understand but for "God nothing will be impossible." (Luke 1:37)

Why is Mary so Blessed?

Was Mary blessed because she possessed functional female genital-reproductive anatomy? Was she blessed because she had the capacity to nurture the foetal Jesus in-utero, and breast feed Him after giving birth to Him? No Mary was NOT blessed because she possessed the right anatomy and physiology (Luke 11:27). Most women are born with a uteri and breasts, but they are not automatically "Blessed amongst women" because of them.

No, biology and physiology were NOT the source of Mary's blessedness. But rather, her willingness to be obedient to God's will. She was blessed because she was willing to say "Let it be to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38), a fact testified to by the prophetess Elizabeth: "Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord." (Luke 1:45). Thus Mary's obedience reversed the disobedience of our mother Eve in the Garden, and as a result Mary became the ultimate example of Jesus' teaching that "blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!" (Luke 11:28).

Mary not only heard the word of God, but also kept it, consented to it and did it, and thus her physical biological attributes become an extension of her blessedness, so much so that not only her voice (her greeting) can be perceived by the foetal John the Forerunner and Baptist, making him leap for joy, and Elizabeth can be filled by the Holy Spirit, but also her womb has the capacity to bear good fruit; to give form and structure to the Incarnate Logos, the second person of the Trinity.

Now for the KNOCK OUT PUNCH

Finally we reach the pinnacle of the argument. Was Mary just the mother of Jesus the man? Was the baby she formed in her womb just a mere human to which the Word of God was somehow subsequently attached following His birth. Well, besides the fact that these arguments have been refuted as heresy by the Church in the 5th Century, the biblical account clearly refutes this.

Firstly, if Mary was carrying in her womb a mere human being and not the God-man Jesus, why was her salutation capable of inducing the foetal John to leap in his mother's womb, and to cause Elizabeth to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Why would her voice have any power to induce these reactions? If she were not carrying the Word of God in His entirety, she would have been like any other pregnant woman that Elizabeth would have encountered in her daily life. But Mary's salutation was capable of inducing metaphysical reactions.

And secondly, why did Elizabeth (after being filled by the Holy Spirit) call Mary the "mother of my Lord" if she was not in truth the Theotókos? The name of God was too reverent to be read aloud by the Jews. It was the Jewish practice of substituting the spoken Hebrew word 'Adonai' (translated as 'Lord') for YHWH when read aloud (wikipedia reference). Thus when Elizabeth referred to Mary as the "mother of my Lord", she was calling her the "mother of God". And thus we find in the scripture the legitimacy of the Orthodox Title given to Mary as the Theotókos.

Conclusion and Summation

It is with confidence that the Orthodox call Jesus' mother the Theotókos. They take their lead from Elizabeth, the 1st prophet of the Messianic Era. Having been filled with the Holy Spirit, she pronounced with a loud voice "blessed......, blessed........, and ....the mother of my Lord".

This begs the questions: "Can one be filled with the Holy Spirit and deny Mary's blessedness? Can one be filled with the Holy Spirit and deny Mary's claim to motherhood of God the Son? Can you give honour to the Son and shun His mum?"

Glory be to Jesus Christ. Blessed is His mum, for she has given birth to the Saviour of the world.

"more honourable than the cherubim,
and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim,
who without defilement gave birth to God the Word,
true Theotókos
we honour you"


AMEN