Dusty Phrases

Hi! Welcome to “Dusty Phrases.” You will find below an ancient phrase in one language or another, along with its English translation. You may also find the power to inspire your friends or provoke dread among your enemies.

For other examples, visit HERE:

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Greek:

χαριτόω
κεχαριτωμένη

Latin:

Gratia plena

English:

Full of grace, or
Oh favored one

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This is one of the more dissected and consequential translations in all of history. It comes originally from the Gospel of Luke 1:28, as the Angel Gabriel describes Mary, shortly before she became the Mother of Jesus. The original text was written in Koine Greek (shown above.)

From Blue Letter Bible, citing Strong’s Dictionary:

χαριτόω charitóō, khar-ee-to’-o; from G5485; to grace, i.e. indue with special honor:—make accepted, be highly favoured.

Thayer’s Greek Lexicon:

STRONGS G5487:

χαριτόω, χαρίτω: 1 aorist ἐχαριτωσα; perfect passive participle κεχαριτωμένος; (χάρις);
1. to make graceful i. e. charming, lovely, agreeable: passive, Sir. 18:17; ταῖς διαλοξοις στροφαῖς χαριτουμενος ὀφρυν, Libanius, vol. iv., p. 1071, 14.
2. to pursue with grace, compass with favor; to honor with blessings: τινα, Ephesians 1:6; passive, Luke 1:28 (some would take it in these two examples subjectively (R. V. marginal reading endued with grace)); Psalm 18:26 Symm.; (Hermas, sim. 9, 24, 3 [ET]; Test xii. Patr. test. Joseph. 1); ecclesiastical and Byzantine writings.

Why does the translation matter? This phrase, short as it is, stands at the heart of the textual argument concerning the sinlessness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. As a result of this difference of opinion, you now have Protestants arguing with Roman Catholics and Orthodox over whether “full of grace,” or “favored one” can refer to not just her unique role as the mother of Christ, but also to being alive without the stain of original sin. It’s a particularly important textual interpretation/debate, as it works as a jumping off point for Catholic and Orthodox textual tie-ins to other places in Scripture, ranging from Genesis to the Book of Revelation.

Historically, the split over this translation (as well as other differences, obviously) has played a role in nation-state hostilities between Protestant and Catholic countries over the last few hundred years. This debate may or may not have had any effect you on you personally, but it almost certainly impacted your ancestors if they are from the West.

The Catholic argument:

The Orthodox Argument:

The Protestant Argument:

If you watch the videos above, you’ll notice some differences of opinion concerning objective facts and regarding extra-Biblical writings and traditions from the early Church. Following the debate, as a layperson, probably requires a lot of personal knowledge of the Church fathers being cited. For example, does it matter that Tertullian (an early Church father who is cited a lot by Protestants in these Marian arguments) later embraced the heretical Montanist sect and may have apostatized outright, if his writings on Mary happened before he did that? Origen, another early Church father oft cited by Protestants here, was also declared a heretic a thousand years prior to the Reformation, and was responsible for two early Church crisis (each with their own wiki pages.) However, monks devoted to the teachings of Origen who had ben exiled from Alexandria were sheltered by the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Saint John Chrysostom, who was removed from his position at the Synod of the Oak for doing so.

It’s all a bit tangled and not nearly as straight-forward as one might wish. That said, I do believe it’s fair to say that a large majority of Christians, both historically and at present, believe in the sinlessness of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. It is also fair to say that the early Fathers of the Reformation also believed in the sinlessness of Mary, though that belief did not survive the Reformation by long. If you’re a Western Protestant, perhaps that might motivate you to investigate the issue more closely yourself. Alternatively, if you’re Catholic or Orthodox, maybe you might feel motivated to really know your side of this argument so that you can speak on it. Maybe both sides or the debate should spend a lot of time reading and studying the early Church.

Either way, I recommend a desire for unity.