How can the Catholic church teach that Mary was born w/o original sin?

Question

when scripture seems to be clear only Jesus was born without sin? I would love to hear some Catholic viewpoints on this as well as Christian or anyone else who may want to jump in. Scripture references might be nice too!

Answer 1

Roman Catholic theologians can justify anything...

If it's not in the Bible then they search the apocryphal pesudografia books or a 4th Century Gospel for one that says what that want or they say it is "church tradition" ( all it takes is one heretical Bishop from the 1st to the 5th Century saying it is so for it to be Church Tradition) or if no luck there then the Pope simply says it is so.

Such a system can make anything they want official doctrine even if it was never mentioned in the Bible!

Here are some "Church Traditions" they claim go back to the time of the Apostles:

Prayers for the dead were introduced in 310
The lighting of candles in 320
The worship of saints about 375
The mass was adopted in 394
The worship of Mary began to develop about 432
Priests began to assume distinctive robes in 500
The doctrine of purgatory was introduced in 593
Worship in Latin (since repealed, recently re-instated) was mandated in 600
Claims to Papal Supremacy took firm foot in 606
Feasts in honor of the Virgin Mary began in 650
The custom of kissing the Pope's foot was introduced in 709
The worship of images and relics was authorized in 788
The invention of holy water was about 850
The canonization of saints was formalized in 993
Feasts for the dead were introduced in 1003
The celibacy of the priesthood was declared in 1074
The dogma of Papal infallibility was announced in 1076
Prayer beads were introduced in 1090
The doctrine that there are seven sacraments was introduced in 1140
The sale of indulgences began in 1190
The wafer was substituted for the loaf in 1200
The dogma of transubstantiation was adopted in 1215
Confession was instituted in 1215
The adoration of the Wafer began in 1220
The Ave Maria was introduced in 1316
The cup was taken from the laity in 1415
Purgatory was officially decreed in 1439
Roman tradition was placed on the same level as Scripture in 1546
The Apocrypha was received into the Canon in 1546
The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary was announced in 1854
The doctrine of the papal infallibility was proclaimed in 1864
The personal corporeal presence of the Virgin in heaven in 1950

While they claim the church Always believed/did those things it is very enlightening to go back in history and see what date the very first mention of it was made in any letter or document!

If Peter or Paul returned today, I wonder if they would even be able to recognise their church anymore?

Answer 2

That's one corollary, but that has more to do with the nature of man than with what Original Sin means to you and I. Are you in a Catholic class, or is this for a Protestant theology course? The difference is important. Original Sin has been fairly well-defined since Aquinas in the Catholic Church - if in doubt, go to Summa Theologica and you'll have a thorough albeit verbose answer. We Catholics generally like to defined by who we are, rather than in comparison to other traditions. If you're not in a Catholic class, it may be much more helpful to compare the doctrines of Original Sin and Total Depravity. They're remarkably similar though with nuanced differences (such as that, by Grace, one can be born without Original Sin, while Total Depravity is without exception). Also, check the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Search for the USCCB - the United States Council of Catholic Bishops - website, which has a searchable Catechism available. If you're really having trouble with it, contact me through my avatar and i'll provide you with the verbatim text via email, k? I'm always glad to help someone understand what Catholics believe, even if you don't agree with it.

Answer 3

Yeah, the Bible doesn't say explicitly that Mary was born without original sin (that term isn't even in there), but it does hint at it. When Gabriel first came to her: "And he came to her and said, 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!'" (Luke 1:28) "And the angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.'" (Luke 1:30)
When Mary visits Elizabeth: "And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?'" (Luke 1:41-43) You can see from these passages that she's not any old woman.
Also, a bit of logic is involved. From the Old Testament, when the Ark of the Covenant was being built: "And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a mouldling of gold around it." (Exodus 37:2...the whole making of the Ark is 37:1-9) Obviouly, this doesn't necessarily mean that Mary was without sin. But take into account that passage, and the fact that anyone who touched the Ark died. It was the most holy and sacred thing in ancient Israelites possessed, and what was inside it?-- just the Ten Commandments!
If God commanded that the Ark that housed stone tablets be sacred and pure, wouldn't the woman that carried GOD in her womb be even more so?

Answer 4

It's no sillier than relying on a bible for so-called evidence. A myth is a myth, is a myth.

If you're looking for the biblical evidence - none of which I agree with anyway - usually cited is Matthew 1:20-21, Luke 1:26-34, especially where it reads:

Then Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

The other text advanced as justification is Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall his name Emmanuel.

If you're taking this at face value, then the Catholic claims about the virgin birth make as much sense as the ideas of a rapture or any other Christian dogma.

None of this says she was born without original sin, but the implication drawn from it is that to bear Jesus, who is God made man, the vessel herself would have to sinless. The Immaculate Conception comes from the Tradition of the Church, as does as the Assumption. The twin pillars of Catholic belief are Tradition and Scripture. Tradition is seen as guiding the interpretation of Scripture and the Catholic Church has long mistrusted the Protestant emphasis on 'sola scriptura'. That is, on scripture alone without any guide for its initerpretation.

Answer 5

Jesus was born without sin because He was and is God, and had no need of a Savior. Mary did need a Savior, as she herself stated. But she was saved in a unique way, at the moment of her conception, so that the eternal, infinitely pure God would not be born of a creature tainted by sin. This truth has been binding teaching of God's Church from the beginning, and as such is bound in heaven, just as the Bible states.

Answer 6

They made it up, kinda like papal infallibility, purgatory, indulgences, etc.. There is no scriptural assertion that she was anything other than a human God used for His purposes. Think about it, if she was without a sin nature, then her father would have been without one too, since we inherit our sin nature through are fathers. And his father would have had to be without one as well, and on and on. Also, consider this verse:

Luk 1:47 and my spirit exulted in God My Savior.

If she was sinless, why would she need a savior?
She was a normal human, who had a sin nature, who sinned, was used by God for a special purpose, had other children, and died, like all the other humans. She is not a co-redeemer or co-mediator. We do not pray to her, we have access to the throne, why do we need a middle man or woman?

Answer 7

Catholics believe in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

When the angel Gabriel called Mary, "Full of grace," Mary was already full of grace.

When the angel Gabriel said, "The Lord is with you," the Lord was already with her.

The Blessed Virgin Mary was in a state of grace before she says "yes" to the angel's question and before the Holy Spirit came upon her for a different purpose.

When did Mary's state of grace begin?

Catholics believe this state of grace was with Mary since her Immaculate Conception. This means that Mary was conceived in the normal way (not like Jesus) but that she did not inherit original sin.

God prepared her for her later role as the mother of Jesus.

Catholics celebrate this miracle on December 8 as the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 490 and following: http://www.nccbuscc.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt2art3p2.htm#490

With love in Christ.

Answer 8

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say...

Everyone is born with it, according to the Catholic church, that's why they opt for baptisms.

Jesus was born without sin because he wasn't conceived through two people having sex, he was conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost. He was half mortal and half Deity.

Edit:

The original sin is when Adam and Eve first noticed their nakedness and began to feel lust and sexual desire, bringing about the existence of the rest of the human world through sexual reproduction. So everyone conceived by sex, which means all of us...have this original sin upon us until we are baptized and forgiven for our parent's transgression. (Odd isn't it?)
I'm not Catholic, but this is how it was explained to me.

Answer 9

They believe that the Pope has equal standing with the Bible in matter concerning the faith. So if the Pope makes it official then Catholics are required to believe it. I don't and if you were to read the book called Two Babylons which describes how the Catholics adopted all of the ancient practices of Egypt you will know too.

Answer 10

The Church did a little mind-reading on this, and decided that God would not have wanted Jesus to be born of a sinner. There is, of course, no basis for this claim.