nc33/MultiSpan_SQUAD huggingface dataset:
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Despite Martin Luther's harsh polemics against his Roman Catholic opponents over issues concerning Mary and the saints, theologians appear to agree that Luther adhered to the Marian decrees of the ecumenical councils and dogmas of the church. He held fast to the belief that Mary was a perpetual virgin and the Theotokos or Mother of God. Special attention is given to the assertion that Luther, some three-hundred years before the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception by Pope Pius IX in 1854, was a firm adherent of that view. Others maintain that Luther in later years changed his position on the Immaculate Conception, which, at that time was undefined in the Church, maintaining however the sinlessness of Mary throughout her life. For Luther, early in his life, the Assumption of Mary was an understood fact, although he later stated that the Bible did not say anything about it and stopped celebrating its feast. Important to him was the belief that Mary and the saints do live on after death. "Throughout his career as a priest-professor-reformer, Luther preached, taught, and argued about the veneration of Mary with a verbosity that ranged from childlike piety to sophisticated polemics. His views are intimately linked to his Christocentric theology and its consequences for liturgy and piety." Luther, while revering Mary, came to criticize the "Papists" 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. He considered the Roman Catholic practice of celebrating saints' days and making intercessory requests addressed especially to Mary and other departed saints to be idolatry. His final thoughts on Marian devotion and veneration are preserved in a sermon preached at Wittenberg only a month before his death:

Question: Who wrote polemics regarding Roman Catholic beliefs about Mary?
Answer: Martin Luther

Question: In which year was the Immaculate Conception dogmatized?
Answer: 1854

Question: Which pope was responsible for the dogmatization of the Immaculate Conception?
Answer: Pope Pius IX

Question: What does Theotokos mean?
Answer: Mother of God

Question: Where did Martin Luther preach a sermon on Marian devotion a month before his death?
Answer: Wittenberg
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Differences in feasts may also originate from doctrinal issues—the Feast of the Assumption is such an example. Given that there is no agreement among all Christians on the circumstances of the death, Dormition or Assumption of Mary, the feast of assumption is celebrated among some denominations and not others.  While the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of the Assumption on August 15, some Eastern Catholics celebrate it as Dormition of the Theotokos, and may do so on August 28, if they follow the Julian calendar. The Eastern Orthodox also celebrate it as the Dormition of the Theotokos, one of their 12 Great Feasts. Protestants do not celebrate this, or any other Marian feasts.

Question: On what date does the Catholic Church celebrate the Feast of the Assumption?
Answer: August 15

Question: What do Eastern Catholics call the Feast of the Assumption?
Answer: Dormition of the Theotokos

Question: On what date of the Julian calendar do Eastern Catholics celebrate the Domition of the Theotokos?
Answer: August 28

Question: How many Great Feasts does the Eastern Orthodox Church celebrate?
Answer: 12

Question: Do Protestants celebrate Marian feasts or not?
Answer: do not
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

In paintings, Mary is traditionally portrayed in blue. This tradition can trace its origin to the Byzantine Empire, from c.500 AD, where blue was "the colour of an empress". A more practical explanation for the use of this colour is that in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, the blue pigment was derived from the rock lapis lazuli, a stone imported from Afghanistan of greater value than gold. Beyond a painter's retainer, patrons were expected to purchase any gold or lapis lazuli to be used in the painting. Hence, it was an expression of devotion and glorification to swathe the Virgin in gowns of blue.

Question: Which color is traditionally used to portray Mary in paintings?
Answer: blue

Question: What rock was used as the source of blue pigment in paints in Medieval and Renaissance Europe?
Answer: lapis lazuli

Question: From which country was lapis lazuli imported?
Answer: Afghanistan

Question: Lapis lazuli was thought to be more valuable than which precious metal?
Answer: gold

Question: Which ancient empire is thought to have started the tradition of portraying Mary in paintings using the color blue?
Answer: Byzantine Empire
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Nontrinitarians, such as Unitarians, Christadelphians and Jehovah's Witnesses also acknowledge Mary as the biological mother of Jesus Christ, but do not recognise Marian titles such as "Mother of God" as these groups generally reject Christ's divinity. Since Nontrinitarian churches are typically also mortalist, the issue of praying to Mary, whom they would consider "asleep", awaiting resurrection, does not arise. Emanuel Swedenborg says God as he is in himself could not directly approach evil spirits to redeem those spirits without destroying them (Exodus 33:20, John 1:18), so God impregnated Mary, who gave Jesus Christ access to the evil heredity of the human race, which he could approach, redeem and save.

Question: According to Nontrinitarian belief, what is Mary's relationship to Jesus?
Answer: biological mother

Question: Which Nontrinitarian theologian says that God cannot approach eveil spirits to redeem them?
Answer: Emanuel Swedenborg

Question: Unittarians, Christadelphians and Jehovah's Witnesses are examples of what kind of church?
Answer: Nontrinitarians

Question: "Mother of God" is an example of what kind of title?
Answer: Marian
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

The Qur'an relates detailed narrative accounts of Maryam (Mary) in two places, Qur'an 3:35–47 and 19:16–34. These state beliefs in both the Immaculate Conception of Mary and the Virgin birth of Jesus. The account given in Sura 19 is nearly identical with that in the Gospel according to Luke, and both of these (Luke, Sura 19) begin with an account of the visitation of an angel upon Zakariya (Zecharias) and Good News of the birth of Yahya (John), followed by the account of the annunciation. It mentions how Mary was informed by an angel that she would become the mother of Jesus through the actions of God alone.

Question: By what name is Mary referred to in the Qur'an?
Answer: Maryam

Question: Which Sura in the Qur'an describes the visitation of an angel upon Zakariya?
Answer: 19

Question: In how many places does the Qur'an give detailed accounts of Mary?
Answer: two

Question: Which Gospel provides an identical account of the Virgin Birth as Sura 19 in the Qur'an? 
Answer: Luke

Question: Who was visited by an angel in Sura 19 of the Qur'an?
Answer: Zakariya
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary asserts Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made Man. The term Ever-Virgin (Greek ἀειπάρθενος) is applied in this case, stating that Mary remained a virgin for the remainder of her life, making Jesus her biological and only son, whose conception and birth are held to be miraculous. While the Orthodox Churches hold the position articulated in the Protoevangelium of James that Jesus' brothers and sisters are older children of Joseph the Betrothed, step-siblings from an earlier marriage that left him widowed, Roman Catholic teaching follows the Latin father Jerome in considering them Jesus' cousins.

Question: What term is used to describe the belief that Mary remained a virgin for her entire life?
Answer: Ever-Virgin

Question: Which Latin father described the belief that Jesus' siblings were his cousins?
Answer: Jerome

Question: Which churches teach that Jesus' brothers and sister were step-siblings from a previous marriage of Joseph the Betrothed?
Answer: Orthodox Churches

Question: What document teaches that Jesus' brothers and sisters were older children of Joseph from a previous marriage?
Answer: Protoevangelium of James

Question: Which doctrine describes the belief that Mary remained a virgin, even though she gave birth to Jesus?
Answer: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Orthodox Christianity includes a large number of traditions regarding the Ever Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. The Orthodox believe that she was and remained a virgin before and after Christ's birth. The Theotokia (i.e., hymns to the Theotokos) are an essential part of the Divine Services in the Eastern Church and their positioning within the liturgical sequence effectively places the Theotokos in the most prominent place after Christ. Within the Orthodox tradition, the order of the saints begins with: The Theotokos, Angels, Prophets, Apostles, Fathers, Martyrs, etc. giving the Virgin Mary precedence over the angels. She is also proclaimed as the "Lady of the Angels".

Question: In Orthodox tradition, what comes next in precdence after The Theotokos in the order of the saints?
Answer: Angels

Question: What are hymns to the Theotokos called in Orthodox tradition?
Answer: The Theotokia

Question: In the liturgical sequences of the Eastern Church, who is placed next in prominence after Christ?
Answer: the Theotokos

Question: What is Mary proclaimed to be in the Orthodox tradition?
Answer: "Lady of the Angels"

Question: What do the Orthodox believe Mary remained to be before and after she gave birth to Christ?
Answer: a virgin
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

The multiple churches that form the Anglican Communion and the Continuing Anglican movement have different views on Marian doctrines and venerative practices given that there is no single church with universal authority within the Communion and that the mother church (the Church of England) understands itself to be both "catholic" and "Reformed". Thus unlike the Protestant churches at large, the Anglican Communion (which includes the Episcopal Church in the United States) includes segments which still retain some veneration of Mary.

Question: What is the mother church of the Angican Communion?
Answer: the Church of England

Question: Which church in the United States is associated with the Angican Communion?
Answer: the Episcopal Church

Question: What practice differentiates the Angican Communon from Protestant churches at large?
Answer: veneration of Mary

Question: What branch of Christianity does the Angican Communion fall under?
Answer: Protestant
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Although Calvin and Huldrych Zwingli honored Mary as the Mother of God in the 16th century, they did so less than Martin Luther. Thus the idea of respect and high honor for Mary was not rejected by the first Protestants; but, they came to criticize the Roman Catholics for venerating Mary. Following the Council of Trent in the 16th century, as Marian veneration became associated with Catholics, Protestant interest in Mary decreased. During the Age of the Enlightenment any residual interest in Mary within Protestant churches almost disappeared, although Anglicans and Lutherans continued to honor her.

Question: For what practice did the first Protestants criticize the Roman Catholics?
Answer: venerating Mary

Question: In which century did the Council of Trent occur?
Answer: 16th

Question: Which Protestant churches still honor Mary?
Answer: Anglicans and Lutherans

Question: During which historical era did Protestant interest in Mary almost disappear?
Answer: Age of the Enlightenment

Question: Marian veneration became associated with which Christians after the Council of Trent?
Answer: Catholics
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

 In Methodism, Mary is honored as the Mother of God. Methodists do not have any additional teachings on the Virgin Mary except from what is mentioned in Scripture and the ecumenical Creeds. As such, Methodists believe that Mary was conceived in her womb through the Holy Ghost and accept the doctrine of the Virgin Birth, although they, along with Orthodox Christians and other Protestant Christians, reject the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. John Wesley, the principal founder of the Methodist movement within the Church of England, believed that Mary "continued a pure and unspotted virgin", thus upholding the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. Contemporary Methodism does hold that Mary was a virgin before, during, and immediately after the birth of Christ. In addition, some Methodists also hold the doctrine of the Assumption of Mary as a pious opinion.

Question: Which doctrine about Mary do Methodists reject?
Answer: the Immaculate Conception

Question: Who was the founder of the Methodist movement?
Answer: John Wesley

Question: What are the sources of beliefs about Mary held by Methodists?
Answer: Scripture and the ecumenical Creeds

Question: The Methodist movement began in which church?
Answer: the Church of England

Question: Which Marian doctrine did John Wesley uphold in founding Methodism?
Answer: the perpetual virginity of Mary
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

She is the only woman directly named in the Qur'an; declared (uniquely along with Jesus) to be a Sign of God to humanity; as one who "guarded her chastity"; an obedient one; chosen of her mother and dedicated to Allah whilst still in the womb; uniquely (amongst women) Accepted into service by God; cared for by (one of the prophets as per Islam) Zakariya (Zacharias); that in her childhood she resided in the Temple and uniquely had access to Al-Mihrab (understood to be the Holy of Holies), and was provided with heavenly "provisions" by God.

Question: To whom was Mary dedicated while still in the womb?
Answer: Allah

Question: Which prophet cared for Mary?
Answer: Zakariya

Question: What is understood to be the Holy of Holies in Islam?
Answer: Al-Mihrab

Question: Where did Mary reside in her chilhood?
Answer: the Temple

Question: What did God provide for Mary?
Answer: heavenly "provisions"
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

From the early stages of Christianity, belief in the virginity of Mary and the virgin conception of Jesus, as stated in the gospels, holy and supernatural, was used by detractors, both political and religious, as a topic for discussions, debates and writings, specifically aimed to challenge the divinity of Jesus and thus Christians and Christianity alike. In the 2nd century, as part of the earliest anti-Christian polemics, Celsus suggested that Jesus was the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier named Panthera. The views of Celsus drew responses from Origen, the Church Father in Alexandria, Egypt, who considered it a fabricated story. How far Celsus sourced his view from Jewish sources remains a subject of discussion.

Question: Who suggested that Jesus was the son of a Roman soldier?
Answer: Celsus

Question: What was the name of the Roman soldier said by Celsus to be the father of Jesus?
Answer: Panthera

Question: Origen was a Church Father in which Egyptian city?
Answer: Alexandria

Question: In which century did Celsus suggest that Jesus' father was a Roman soldier?
Answer: 2nd

Question: For what purpose did detractors use the idea of Mary's virginity and the virgin conception of Jesus?
Answer: to challenge the divinity of Jesus
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Mary had been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Churches believe that Mary, as Mother of Jesus, is the Mother of God and the Theotokos, literally "Giver of birth to God". There is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas; namely her status as the mother of God; her Immaculate Conception; her perpetual virginity; and her Assumption into heaven. Many Protestants minimize Mary's role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary (Maryam) also has a revered position in Islam, where a whole chapter of the Qur'an is devoted to her, also describing the birth of Jesus.

Question: What is the literal meaning of Theotokos?
Answer: Giver of birth to God

Question: Which branch of Christianity gives a diminished role to Mary?
Answer: Protestants

Question: What is Mary called in Islam?
Answer: Maryam

Question: What is the basis for Mary's diminished role in Protestantism?
Answer: brevity of biblical references

Question: Which two Protestant churches, along with the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches, believe that Mary is the Mother of God?
Answer: Anglican, and Lutheran
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Mary resided in "her own house"[Lk.1:56] in Nazareth in Galilee, possibly with her parents, and during her betrothal — the first stage of a Jewish marriage — the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was to be the mother of the promised Messiah by conceiving him through the Holy Spirit, and she responded, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done unto me according to your word." After a number of months, when Joseph was told of her conception in a dream by "an angel of the Lord", he planned to divorce her; but the angel told him to not hesitate to take her as his wife, which Joseph did, thereby formally completing the wedding rites.[Mt 1:18-25]

Question: What is the first stage of Jewish marriage?
Answer: betrothal

Question: Which angel announced to Mary that she was to be the mother of the Messiah?
Answer: Gabriel

Question: What did Joseph plan to do when told of Mary's coneption in a dream?
Answer: divorce her

Question: Where did Mary live when she was visited by the angel Gabriel?
Answer: in Nazareth in Galilee

Question: In his dream, who told Joseph about Mary's conception?
Answer: an angel of the Lord
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

The Virgin birth of Jesus was an almost universally held belief among Christians from the 2nd until the 19th century. It is included in the two most widely used Christian creeds, which state that Jesus "was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary" (the Nicene Creed in what is now its familiar form) and the Apostles' Creed. The Gospel of Matthew describes Mary as a virgin who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14, mistranslating the Hebrew word alma ("young woman") in Isaiah 7:14 as "virgin", though.[citation needed] The authors of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke consider Jesus' conception not the result of intercourse and assert that Mary had "no relations with man" before Jesus' birth.[Mt 1:18] [Mt 1:25] [Lk 1:34] This alludes to the belief that Mary conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and not through intercourse with Joseph or anyone else.

Question: Which Gospel says that Mary fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah?
Answer: Matthew

Question: What Hebrew word is used to describe Mary in Isaiah 7:14?
Answer: alma

Question: Until which century was the Virgin birth of Jesus held almost universally among Christians?
Answer: 19th

Question: Which verse in Luke states that Mary had "no relations with man" before Jesus' birth?
Answer: 1:34

Question: Along with the Nicene Creed, which other Christian creed asserts the Virgin birth of Jesus?
Answer: the Apostles' Creed
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)


In the Catholic Church, Mary is accorded the title "Blessed", (from Latin beatus, blessed, via Greek μακάριος, makarios and Latin facere, make) in recognition of her assumption to Heaven and her capacity to intercede on behalf of those who pray to her. Catholic teachings make clear that Mary is not considered divine and prayers to her are not answered by her, they are answered by God. The four Catholic dogmas regarding Mary are: Mother of God, Perpetual virginity of Mary, Immaculate Conception (of Mary) and Assumption of Mary.

Question: What title is given to Mary in the Catholic Church?
Answer: Blessed

Question: What is the Latin word from which Mary's title of Blessed is derived?
Answer: beatus

Question: How many Catholic dogmas are there regarding Mary?
Answer: four

Question: Along with Mother of God, Immaculate Conception and Assumption of Mary, what is the other Catholic dogma related to Mary?
Answer: Perpetual virginity of Mary
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

The views of the Church Fathers still play an important role in the shaping of Orthodox Marian perspective. However, the Orthodox views on Mary are mostly doxological, rather than academic: they are expressed in hymns, praise, liturgical poetry and the veneration of icons. One of the most loved Orthodox Akathists (i.e. standing hymns) is devoted to Mary and it is often simply called the Akathist Hymn. Five of the twelve Great Feasts in Orthodoxy are dedicated to Mary. The Sunday of Orthodoxy directly links the Virgin Mary's identity as Mother of God with icon veneration. A number of Orthodox feasts are connected with the miraculous icons of the Theotokos.

Question: What are Akathists?
Answer: standing hymns

Question: How many of the Orthodox Great Feasts dedicated to Mary?
Answer: Five

Question: What is name of the Orthodox hymn devoted to Mary?
Answer: the Akathist Hymn

Question: Which event on the Orthodox calendar is related to Mary and icon veneration?
Answer: Sunday of Orthodoxy
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Mary's special position within God's purpose of salvation as "God-bearer" (Theotokos) is recognised in a number of ways by some Anglican Christians. All the member churches of the Anglican Communion affirm in the historic creeds that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, and celebrates the feast days of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. This feast is called in older prayer books the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary on February 2. The Annunciation of our Lord to the Blessed Virgin on March 25 was from before the time of Bede until the 18th century New Year's Day in England. The Annunciation is called the "Annunciation of our Lady" in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. Anglicans also celebrate in the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin on 31 May, though in some provinces the traditional date of July 2 is kept. The feast of the St. Mary the Virgin is observed on the traditional day of the Assumption, August 15. The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin is kept on September 8.

Question: What is the name given to the Annunciation in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer?
Answer: Annunciation of our Lady

Question: On what date do most Anglicans celebrate the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin?
Answer: 31 May

Question: What is another name for the feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple in the Anglican Communion?
Answer: the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Question: On what date is the Presentation of Christ in the Temple celebrated by Anglicans?
Answer: February 2

Question: On what day was the Annunciation tradtionally celebrated in England until the 18th century?
Answer: New Year's Day
Mary_(mother_of_Jesus)

Protestants in general reject the veneration and invocation of the Saints.:1174 Protestants typically hold that Mary was the mother of Jesus, but was an ordinary woman devoted to God. Therefore, there is virtually no Marian veneration, Marian feasts, Marian pilgrimages, Marian art, Marian music or Marian spirituality in today's Protestant communities. Within these views, Roman Catholic beliefs and practices are at times rejected, e.g., theologian Karl Barth wrote that "the heresy of the Catholic Church is its Mariology".

Question: Which theologian described Mariology as "the heresy of the Catholic Church?"
Answer: Karl Barth

Question: Protestants hold that Mary had what relationship to Jesus?
Answer: mother

Question: Protestants reject what practices in relation to the Saints?
Answer: veneration and invocation

Question: Protestants describe Mary as devoted to whom?
Answer: God