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180 THE HISTORY OF HERESIES,
natural, and not the adopted Son of God, lest we might be drawn
in to admit that in Christ there were two Sons, one natural, and
the other adopted. There are, however, two reasons to prove
the
that Christ as man should be called the natural Son of God ;
more simple one is found in that passage of the Scriptures, in
which the Father speaks of the eternal and continual generation
of the Son :
" Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee"
(Psalms, ii, 7). Hence, as the Divine Son was generated previous
to his Incarnation, without being personally united to human
nature by the flesh, so when he took flesh he was generated, and
is always generated, with human nature, hypostatically united
to the Divine Person ;
and hence the Apostle, speaking of Christ
as man, applies to him the text of David now quoted :
" So
Christ also did not glorify himself, that he might be made a high
priest, but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, this day
have I begotten thee" (Hob. v, 5). Jesus Christ, therefore, even
according to his humanity, is the true Natural Son of God (2).
H.
MARY IS THE REAL AND TRUE MOTHER OF GOD.
19. The truth of this dogma is a necessary consequence of
what we have already said on the subject of the two Natures ;
for if Christ as man is true God, and if Mary be truly the Mother
of Christ as man, it necessarily follows that she must be also
truly the Mother of God. We will explain it even more clearly
by Scripture and tradition. In the first place the Scripture
assures us that a Virgin (that is the Virgin Mary) has conceived
and brought forth God, as we see in Isaias (vii, 14) :
"
Behold a
Virgin shall conceive and shall bring forth a Son, and his name
shall be called Emmanuel, which is interpreted (says St. Matthew),
God with us." St. Luke, relating what the angel said to Mary,
proves the same truth :
"
Behold thou shalt conceive in the womb,
and shalt bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus.
(2) Vide Tournelly, Comp. Theol. t. 4, p. 2, Incarn. c. 3, ar. 1, p. 800, signanter,
p. 817, vers. ter.