Was Mary born without sin? (Immaculate Conception)

The Immaculate Conception requires an in-depth study of the Bible to understand.

What the Immaculate Conception is and isn't

The Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception does not mean that Mary's mother was a virgin when she conceived Mary. Mary's parents, St. Joachim and St. Anne, conceived her in the usual way (We know their names from early Christians). Nor is it about the conception of Jesus by Mary and the Holy Spirit. The dogma simply means that through the merits of Jesus, Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception.

What about "All have sinned and fallen short of God?"

An Evangelical emailed us saying "Mary needed a Saviour." Yes, Christ, "conquered the enemy of the human race alone (solus)". In the same way, He alone acquired the grace of Redemption for the whole human race, including Mary..." (Dr. Ludwigg Otto, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma 212-13). In 1854, Pope Pius IX pronounced the Dogma like this "... the Most Blessed Virgin Mary was in the first instant of her conception, by the singular grace and privilege of God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin."

Imagine parachuting and falling through the air towards quicksand. Suddenly, a gust of wind blows you away from it. Mary could not prevent herself from falling into original sin. It was Divine Mercy which was preparing a place for the Incarnation, the Ark of the New Covenant, which would carry the Word of God.

Does the Bible present Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant?

I (David) stayed with an Orthodox Jewish family in Israel. When they talked about the Ark of the Covenant, they sounded like Catholics talking about Mary. The Ark was built immaculately, as perfect as it could be under the Old Covenant. If God wanted the vessel that would carry the Word of God made "stone" immaculate (Ex 25:10), we think He would require the Ark of the New Covenant which would carry the Word of God made "flesh" even more immaculate (Rev 11:19) . Jewish scholars and archeologists are searching Israel for the Ark, but the Ark of the New Covenant has been found.

If Jesus is the Word made flesh, then we could consider Mary as the Ark made flesh.

The Lord punished (killed) those who did not have the utmost respect for the Ark (1 Chr. 13:10-11) and blessed those who took it into their care (1 Chr. 13:14). We think it would be very reckless for Christians not to honour Mary the way the Israelites honoured the Ark.

The purity of the old Ark of the Old Covenant sets the precedence for the "immaculate" purity of Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant. (Rev 11:19)

Martin Luther talks about the Immaculate Conception

Three hundred years before it was declared Dogma, the Protestant reformer Martin Luther said:

"... so that while the soul was being infused, she would at the same time be cleansed from original sin ... And thus, in the very moment in which she began to live, she was without all sin." (Martin Luther's Works, vol 4, pg 694)

"God has formed the soul and body of the Virgin Mary full of the Holy Spirit, so that she is without all sins, " (ibid. vol 52, pg 39)

". . . she is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin. . . . God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil. . . . God is with her, meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action of God in her. Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her." (Ref: Luther's Works, American edition, vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968)

How could Jesus prevent Mary from falling into original sin before He was born?

Jesus is not a slave to time. Jesus was the rock in the desert that provided water for the Israelites fleeing Egypt long before he was born. (Exo 17:6). John says "He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him." (Jn 1:2-3). Elijah was taken up to heaven before Christ was born. There is a mystery in Jesus and our 3.5 pound brains have trouble understanding God's timelessness. It must also be noted that Mary was not "saved" at the Immaculate Conception nor was she deprived of her free will. She could have chosen to sin. She could have even said "No" to the Archangel Gabriel. Then we all would have been in a real jackpot! At the time of her conception, she was given the grace that most of us receive at baptism, more about that below. If you understand the Catholic conception of baptism you can grasp some of the basic ideas of the Immaculate Conception. Catholics believe that Mary was saved by God from sin, in a preventative way.

Why did Mary have to be sinless to give birth to Christ?

On a message board, an Evangelical said:

If Jesus had human blood in His veins, then it was defiled. His blood is perfect, pure and precious, untainted. However, the Catholic Church teaches a doctrine that puts a human element in our salvation - Mary.

This gets to the heart of the question. Why would God create Jesus in a sinful human vessel? We believe the answer is that He didn't. He purified the vessel. That is what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is all about. So our friend is mistaken about what we teach.

Most Evangelical theologians teach that the virgin birth was necessary to separate Jesus from the sin of Adam.

The popular Evangelical radio program, "A Love Worth Finding" plays on hundreds of stations around the world. It features the late Pastor Adrian Rogers. Pastor Adrian was defending the necessity for a virgin birth. He said something very powerful:

"Jesus had to be born through a virgin birth because he could not be corrupted by original sin of Adam."
(CHRI Radio, Dec 23, 2006)

This is absolutely true, but Pastor Adrian seems to be missing something in this reasoning. Original sin doesn't just come through the bloodline of the human father. It comes through the mother also. We are born into sin both through our mother and through our earthly father. Jesus was born of Mary and if she would have been infected with original sin, then Jesus would have been infected also. Original sin is kind of like the HIV virus or alcoholism. If the mother has it during pregnancy then the child gets it. Of course every mother (except Mary) has original sin.

In order for the good pastor's logic to make sense in his defense of the virgin birth, there would also have to be a way to purify the vessel of Mary before Jesus was conceived. We Catholics believe the God prepared this place by freeing Mary of the burden of original sin. If she was conceived with original sin, then Jesus who is spotless would be at enmity with his mother at the moment of his conception.

In the radio show, Pastor Adrian Rogers was comparing the purity of Jesus to the sin of Adam. The early Christians also compared Mary (the Mother of the living) to Eve (the Mother of the dead). Eve's cooperation with Satan led Adam to introduce death into the world. Mary's cooperation with God introduced Jesus and life to the world. Scripture tells us Eve was conceived without sin. The Church has always believed it is only fitting that the new Eve (Mary) should be born without sin also.

If God had to make Mary clean of sin to make a pure vessel for Jesus, what prevents that from being necessary for the generations before her also?

An Evangelical wrote us saying:

...if Christ's birth required a mother for whom was born without original sin, would Mary also not require this at her birth to achieve the same affect? If not, then it would appear logical to conclude that Christ was protected in the womb by the Holy Spirit from the stain of what, under these conditions, would be a sinful human, that is, Mary. If, however Mary would also require the purification of her own mother to avoid the stain of sin, then how far in the past must this process continue?

Most certainly God could have protected Jesus from sin while in the womb of Mary without protecting Mary from sin, but that would put him in enmity with his mother, which seems pretty far-fetched. His mother was going to be the one to nurse him and teach him and feed him. We have a biblical precedent for God wanting a pure vessel for the Word of God (Exodus 25:10-22). We have biblical evidence (above) that Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant.

We appreciate the kind of argument that says "well then every human being back to Eve would then need to be purified of original sin..." but then of course we wouldn't need Jesus. The Lord made a pure vessel for the Word of the Lord made flesh, just like he made a pure vessel for the Word of the Lord made stone (10 Commandments).

In Catholic tradition the parents of Mary are Joachim and Anne are Saints in the Catholic Church (meaning they lived a very holy life and are in heaven now). However, they conceived Mary in the same way as all humans, and they were not sinless. Of course, now that they are in heaven, they are perfectly sinless, for no sin can enter heaven. Our Evangelical friend continues:

"...if God can simply imbue an individual with the ability to prevent original sin, why not simply bestow this upon all humans?"

Then he would have taken the free choice of Adam and Eve away from humanity. There can be no Love where there is not freedom. Mankind chose sin, through Adam and Eve... and to automatically undo that action would be to deny mankind freedom.
 
Mary is the New Eve and the Jesus is the New Adam. Mary's "Yes" undid Eve's "no." If Eve was conceived without sin, which the Bible says she was, then Mary, the New Eve, who is greater than Eve, would also be born without sin.

We know that Mary "Magnifies the Lord" (Lk 1:46). If she had sin, she could not magnify him. She would only obscure him, like a magnifying glass with dirt smudged on it.

Noah and Job are called "blameless" in the Bible. Doesn't that show they are purer than Mary?

We got an email for an Evangelical woman saying:

There were many men in the bible who were blameless in God's sight. Noah (Genesis 6:9) and Job (Job1:1) are some examples ...Mary was not described as blameless in the Bible. She was only referred to as being favored (Luke 1:28 and 30). Why not pray to Noah and Job then?

If a child spills milk at 2 years old, they are "blameless." It does not take away the fact that the child spilled milk. Being blameless does not remove original sin, it just means that they did amazing things in spite of it. Mary says "All nations will call me blessed." No one else in Scripture says that about themselves. There is a big difference between "blameless" in the case of some Old Testament figures, and protected from sin as Mary was. Noah got drunk and naked, and Job doubted. Neither met Jesus.

Adam and Eve were conceived without sin, Mary is more holy than Eve

Scripture tells us that besides Jesus, God conceived two other humans without sin. They were Adam and Eve. They were conceived in a sinless state. Catholics believe that Mary is the new Eve.

A more complete comparison table of Mary as the New Eve is here.

If God conceived Eve without sin, then we think it is logical that he also conceived Mary, who is many times more faithful and holy, without sin.

Doesn't Leviticus 12 show that Mary's offering of two turtle doves was to cleanse her of sin?

We got an email from an Evangelical that said:

read your article on Mary Conceived Without Sin; my question is if she was without sin why did she give a sin offering; in Luke 2:23-25 Mary gave an offering. I myself did not understand the significance of this offering until i found Leviticus 12; wouldn't this indicate that Mary was not immaculately conceived?

Mary was born under the law and as a good Jewish woman she met the requirements of the law. Jesus was ritually washed for "the repentance of sins" by John the Baptist. Certainly Jesus had no sin and did not need to repent, yet he did this out of obedience to "fulfill all righteousness."

Also, we should re-iterate that Mary was not sinless by nature, but rather, she was preserved from original sin at conception and then by the Grace of God did not sin during her life. She had free will. But she remained pure her entire life by complete reliance on God. What a lady!

Some Evangelicals believe that every human being is immaculately conceived

Some Evangelical churches teach that before the age of reason, everyone is bound for heaven, which is why they don't baptise babies. They believe that humans only begin sinning when they reach the age of reason, and when they consciously choose sin. Given those beliefs they would say that everyone is conceived without sin because conception is certainly before the age of reason. Yet these same Evangelicals have a sudden revulsion when a Catholic mentions that Mary is conceived without sin. It seems they are saying that everyone is conceived without sin except for Mary the Mother of Jesus.

As a result of original sin, human nature is weakened in its powers, subject to ignorance, suffering and the domination of death, and inclined to sin (this inclination is called "concupiscence"). Catechism 418

Catholics believe that everyone is born into sin and that humanity's "Separation from God" is the result of "original sin" from Adam and Eve, our first parents. Catholics believe we are born into "original sin." Original sin and personal sin is the source of our damnation.

Baptism and the Immaculate Conception

Catholics believe the role of baptism is to cleanse us of original sin that began with Adam eating the apple in the garden of Eden, that caused the downfall of humankind, and introduced death into the world. Catholics baptize shortly after birth to wash away the original sin and to infuse the child with the grace of the Holy Spirit. What the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is saying is that in the case of Mary, its as if baptism was moved forward to the moment of her conception. In this way, the original sin never affected her.

The Angel Gabriel's words in the Bible support the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

Catholics believe that when the Archangel Gabriel said "Hail Mary, full of grace"  (Lk 1:28), he was saying a lot more than "Hey Mary, how ya doin', you're cool". Catholics believe Gabriel was saying something about the nature of Mary, that Christians would recognize until the end of time. The Greek words Gabriel used were "Chaire, kecharitomene!". [Caire, kecaritomene!]. So let's check out the grammar of it. John Pacheco says the following:

"kecharitomene".. is a perfect passive participle. It means one endowed with favour or grace in a "permanent or perfect" fashion. According to Greek grammatical lexicons, the perfect stem of a Greek verb means the 'perpetuation of a permanent result or completed action'.

Catholics believe Gabriel chose his words carefully. His greeting to Mary was very different from his greeting to Zachariah whom he called by name. Catholics believe Mary was called by her title.

If any of us could make our moms immaculate, wouldn't we?

One question Scott Hahn asks people who doubt the validity of Mary's "Immaculate Conception" is this: if you could make your mom completely free of all the effects of original sin would you do it? We believe most of us would say "yes, certainly." Unfortunately, we wouldn't be able to do it because we are not God. However, Jesus is God and he could do it. Catholics believe he did do it. Mary was probably the first Christian. Later, Mary spoke in tongues with the apostles at the Pentecost. (Acts 1:14, 2:3)

Comparing Mary to Eve

How come it took Catholics 1800 years to decide Mary was conceived without sin?

The Immaculate Conception was defined as a pious belief in 1453 and declared a doctrine by Pope Pius in 1854. But we must realize that the Church does not make something Dogma out of thin air. It is made Dogma after many centuries of careful considerations. For instance, the Trinity took 300 years to turn into Dogma. The New Testament itself took 400 years. We Catholics are not in a rush to cement doctrine. We take our time.

This belief was a part of the early Church and has always been held as a pious belief by the faithful. Martin Luther, the father of the reform, spoke about it 300 years before it became Dogma. The Early Church fathers were talking about it a millennium before that.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church echoes the words from the earliest centuries: "Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is ‘the dwelling of God . . . with men’" (CCC 2676).

Historical Timeline for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception

You will notice, several prominent doctors of the Latin Church (e.g. Aquinas, Bernard, Bonaventure, etc.) were against the doctrine. But this was because they presumed (wrongly) that it implied that Mary did not need a Savior, that she was not saved by Jesus Christ!   For this reason, Aquinas, etc. insisted (with most of the Church fathers) that Mary's sinlessness began at the time of her birth, not at her conception. But, Blessed John Duns Scottus, took away this concern by making it clear that Mary was still saved by Jesus; He merely saved her by expectation outside of time (just as He would if she were saved at the time of her birth, rather than at the time of her conception). So, it is by the grace of Christ and the merits of His Cross that Mary was conceived immaculately in the womb of St. Anna.    

The Popes remained neutral while the debate was taking place. This is what Popes are supposed to do while a theological issue is being debated in the Church. It was only once all doubts against the theology of the Immaculate Conception were removed that Pope Pius IX declared it to be a dogma. 

Is Mary "equal" to Jesus?

The Immaculate Conception does not mean or imply that Mary is "equal" to Jesus. This is a misunderstanding of the Catholic dogma.  Jesus is still Mary's Saviour; she is conceived immaculately by HIS grace and HIS power, not by her own.  But, just as Jesus is the New Adam because He was the first man, since Adam before the Fall, to be totally without sin, so Mary is called the "New Eve" by the fathers because, like her Son, she too was totally without sin.  This is precisely what we are saying via the dogma of the Immaculate Conception.  Neither Jesus nor Mary (like Adam and Eve before the Fall) were ever under the dominion of Satan. Rather, as Gen 3:15 says, both Jesus and Mary are in opposition to Satan, not the victims of Satan's victory in the Garden of Eden:

"I will make enmity (hatred / opposition) between you (Satan) and THE WOMAN (Mary) and between your seed (sin/death) and her Seed (the Messiah); and He (Jesus) will strike at your head (i.e., crush your power) even as you strike at His heel (the Crucifixion)."

Here, in this first prophecy of the Messiah, both the Messiah AND HIS MOTHER are linked together in opposition to Satan. This is why Mary had to be conceived without sin. She is the promised woman of Genesis 3:15, the woman made sinless so that she might be able to give birth to a sinless Messiah. 

Why would Jesus need a "sterilized vessel", isn't sin is subject to Christ Jesus not the other way around?

Jesus could have beamed down from outer space if He wanted. But he chose Mary's womb as his entry point. He could have gone into a sinful woman but that is neither fitting or biblical. Mary says "my soul magnifies the Lord" (Lk 1:46). A magnifying glass that is stained does not magnify its object, it obsures the object that is seen through it. Under the Old Covenant, the Lord could have chosen to put the "Word of God made Stone" (10 commandments) into a junky wood box, but he chose a perfect container, the Ark of the Covenant (Ex 37). How much more perfect would he make the "Ark of the New Covenant" (Rev 11:19) which carried the "Word of God made Flesh". (Jn 1:1).

Is the Catechism committing blasphemy with "All Holy One"

We received an email from an Evangelical that said:

The RCC calls Mary the "All Holy One” in paragraph 2677. This is a name for God ALONE. To call a creature by one of the names for God is called blasphemy. In Isaiah God is called this name 25 or 30 times alone! Isaiah 43:15  "I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King."    Mark 1:24  “Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who art, the Holy One of God.

The Bible uses the term holy at least 662 times. Only some of those are a name for God. For example:

• ...the man whom the Lord chooses shall be the holy one. (Num 16)
• With him were myriads of holy ones; at his right, a host of his own. (Deut 33:2)
• As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. (Psm 16:3) 
• They were jealous of Moses in the camp, and of Aaron, the holy one of the Lord. (Psm 106:16)
• God announced long ago through his holy prophets. (Acts 3:21)
•  you should remember the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets (2 Pet 3:2)

The term "holy" simply means "dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or religion: a holy man." (Source Dictionary.com).

"All Holy..." means Mary is completely holy, conceived without sin, not to be understood as taking the place of God, or an alternative to God. Mary is the "All Holy One" specifically because she was chosen by Jesus her Saviour, to be his mother and she was set aside as the perfect Ark of the New Covenant to carry the Word Made Flesh.

There is no narrative in Catholic circles that Mary takes the place of God. Serious Catholics simply don't believe that.

God is "the one Lord" whom you must love "with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength".  Catechism #202.

Pray to Jesus about Mary

Many people wish that this thing about Mary would go away and that the Church would be in greater unity with other Christians if it would.

It appears that most of the closed feelings against Mary have crept into the reform movement in the last 100 years. Many great Protestants have had strong feelings for Mary including C.S. Lewis. Most early reformers had strong positive feelings for Mary including Calvin, Heinrich Bullinger, and John Wesley. Even Martin Luther spoke to her in the first person saying:

No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all nobility, wisdom, and sanctity.
(Martin Luther Sermon - Feast of the Visitation, 1537)

We are not apologists. Apart from doctrine, the reason we believe that Mary is in heaven helping us is because each of us had an experience with Mary that we cannot refute (David's testimony here, Kirsten's testimony here). No one can tell us she is dead. We don't worship her. She is a friend who prays for us and has shown us very cool things about her Son, Jesus. We believe we are better Christians today because of Mary.

If you are afraid to talk to Mary, we invite you to:

Pray to Jesus about Mary.

Any Evangelical would say it is perfectly safe to pray to Jesus about anything. Ask Jesus what's up with Mary. Give him time to respond. We pray you have the same experience that has led to our powerful convictions about the validity of Mary as a helper for the helpless, and a great prayer warrior.

Sources: Martin Beckman
J. Roy MacIntyre "My Soul Magnifies the Lord"
John Pacheco's refutation of Jame's White "Mary: Another Redeemer?"

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