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"Immaculate Conception" Doesn't Make SenseSubmitted by matt on Fri, 2005-03-18 10:28.
From what I understand, the Catholic dogma of the "Immaculate Conception" of Mary is deduced by the fact that Jesus is perfect and therefore His mother must have been as well, since, logically, imperfection does not beget perfection. This is not supported in scripture, of course, and I don't believe there is any claim as such. Rather, it's one of the many things that have arisen from "church tradition", which to the RCC, is Gospel truth. The Christian response to this idea is that God is big enough to cause His Son to be born of an imperfect human being, and yet still be perfect. This IS supported by scripture, since we are told both that ALL have sinned (Ps 14:2-3, Ecc 7:20, Isa 53:6, Isa 64:6, Rom 3:10-12, Rom 3:23, Rom 5:12, Gal 3:22), except Jesus (1Pet 2:22, Heb 4:15), AND that He was born of a human woman (Mat 1:22, et al). My real point, however, is to pose a question to Catholics: If Marian perfection was required for the Savior's birth and sinless life, would not Mary's mother (St. Ann, according to RCC tradition) have to be perfect first? What about Mary's father (St. Joachim, according to RCC tradition), must he be perfect, too? And, going on down the line with the RCC reasoning, shouldn't we have an unbroken succession of perfect people beginning with Adam and Eve? It is obvious from scripture that Adam and Eve were anything but sinless. Where, then, does this perfect family tree begin? The Bible certainly doesn't give us any clues... So there had to be some special grace applied to Mary, and/or one or more of her ancestors, in order for them to attain perfection, which in turn enabled Mary to mother Jesus. If so, why is that any easier to believe than saying God miraculously enabled a sinful human to carry His perfect Son (as the Bible says)? This whole line of reasoning is absurd, of course. It is, unfortunately, completely logical according to RCC doctrine. So we see that "Immaculate Conception" leaves us with more questions than answers! This doctrine does not follow either logically or scripturally. ( categories: Theology )
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