The Gospels teach that He whom we call Jesus Christ was true God and true man (Jn. 1:14). St. John tells us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn. 1:14), and thus of the Church. St. Ignatius of Antioch, on his way to his martyrdom in Rome in 107 A.D., wrote to the Ephesians insisting on it, “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 Spirit” (Ignatius, Eph. 18) As with most Church dogmas, the teaching is already present in Revelation, enters ordinary teaching, but becomes a dogma only when there is serious opposition to believing it, or error in expressing it. In this case, the Council of Ephesus declared the dogma in 431, to settle the Christological controversy created by Nestorius. The Greek word Theotokos used by the Council of Ephesus means "God-bearer." In the period leading up to the Council in 431, Nestorius, the Archbishop of Constantinople, tried to argue that Mary was only Christotokos, meaning “Birth Giver of Christ.” This implied that Jesus could be divided—with Mary as the mother of Christ as man, but not the mother of a Divine Person who became man. The Council rejected this notion and declared Mary the Theotokos, the “God-bearer,” and not merely the Christotokos.   Even though it might sound like a slight difference, the titles Christotokos (“Birth Giver of Christ”) and Theotokos (“God-bearer”) indicate completely different views of Jesus. With Christotokos, we are saying that Christ can be divided (part Man, part God), but with Theotokos we see that Jesus is fully God and fully Man. Mary is the Mother of God (Council of Ephesus, 431).She was immaculately conceived (Ineffabilis Deus, 1854).She maintained her virginity throughout her life (Lateran Council, 649).She was assumed into Heaven (Munificentissimus Deus, 1950). READ MORE