Apostolic Apologetics: Immaculate Conception

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Introduction

The Immaculate conception is the belief held by Catholics and other Christians that Mary was from the first moment of her existence, preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind (known as Original Sin), and that she was instead filled with divine grace.

Note: The Immaculate conception does not claim Mary was free from Personal Sin (Romans 3:23). See "Mary's Perpetual Sinlessness" Below.

This document will:

• Explain the Official Catholic Teaching on the Immaculate Conception.
  
• Give a Biblical explanation of why this doctrine developed.
• Answer common objections.

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The Catholic Teaching

Excerpt from the Apostolic Constitution Ineffabilis Deus of Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception (December 8, 1854):

Latin Text:

Declaramus, pronuntiamus et definimus doctrinam quae tenet beatissimam Virginem Mariam in primo instanti suae conceptionis fuisse singulari Omnipotentis Dei gratia et privilegio, intuitu meritorum Christi Jesu Salvatoris humani generis, ab omni originalis culpae labe praeservatam immunem, esse a Deo revelatam, atque idcirco ab omnibus fidelibus firmiter constanterque credendam.

English Translation:

We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.

Full text available here.

This document is also available in PDF format in both English and Latin and the end of this page.

This dogmatic declaration is reinforced and reiterated by the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin

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Original Sin

Romans 5:12
Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world and by sin death: and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned.

Objections to Original Sin

Ezekiel 18:20
The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son; the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

• This verse does not argue against Original Sin, what it does say, is that we will not be punished for our parents sins.
  
• This does not mean that our nature is unaffected by the fall, or that we are not sinners as a result.

"[W]e suffer for Adam’s sin by effect as well as nature." - Matt Slick (anti-Catholic).

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Did Mary need to be sinless?

Catholics believe in Original Sin. As such, had Mary inherited the stain of Original Sin, so would Jesus, consequently Jesus would have needed a savior.

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How was Mary Preserved from Original Sin?

Mary was saved from Original Sin, as all are, through grace purchased for us by the Sacrifice Christ made on the Cross. It is an unearned gift. The only difference is how it was applied to her. Catholics believe that God transcends time and space, and has the ability to apply this grace to Mary before Jesus was born.

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Did Mary need a Savior?

Yes! Without Christ Mary could not have been preserved from Original Sin.

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Full of Grace

Luke 1:28
And coming to her (Mary), he (the angel Gabriel) said, "Hail, favored one (kecharitomene)"

Note that the angel's salutation preceded Mary's acquiescence. Mary was already highly favored. God's grace was not given in time after Mary accepted the angel's word. The Church believes that this grace was given from the very beginning of Mary's life. It is clearly grace because at the time of Mary's conception she could have done nothing to earn it.

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Proof from Reason

There is an incongruity in the supposition that the flesh, from which the flesh of the Son of God was to be formed, should ever have belonged to one who was the slave of that arch-enemy, whose power He came on earth to destroy. Hence the axiom of Pseudo-Anselmus (Eadmer) developed by Duns Scotus, Decuit, potuit, ergo fecit, it was becoming that the Mother of the Redeemer should have been free from the power of sin and from the first moment of her existence; God could give her this privilege, therefore He gave it to her.

Again it is remarked that a peculiar privilege was granted to the prophet Jeremiah and to St. John the Baptist. They were sanctified in their mother's womb, because by their preaching they had a special share in the work of preparing the way for Christ. Consequently some much higher prerogative is due to Mary. (A treatise of P. Marchant, claiming for St. Joseph also the privilege of St. John, was placed on the Index in 1833.) Scotus says that "the perfect Mediator must, in some one case, have done the work of mediation most perfectly, which would not be unless there was some one person at least, in whose regard the wrath of God was anticipated and not merely appeased."

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Other Resources

For an extensive explanation of the Immaculate Conception, see here:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07674d.htm

John Salza (Catholic Apologist) on the Immaculate Conception:
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/blessed_virgin_mary.html#tradition-II

Catholic Biblical Apologetics (Immaculate Conception):
http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap080400.htm

How to defend the Immaculate Conception (Catholic Answers):
http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/2001/0102sbs.asp

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Mary's Perpetual Sinlessness

"It was she, the second Eve, who, free from all sin, original or personal, and always more intimately united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father for all the children of Adam..."

Source: Mystici corporis Christi (Pope Pius XII)

Read the full encyclical here.