The doctrines of the Catholic Church need not be EXPLICITLY in Scripture. It is enough that they don't contradict Scripture and are consistent with Scripture.
The doctrine of the Immaculate conception is one of those. This doctrine says that Mary 1. Was born without original sin and
2. Never committed sin in her life.
Does Scripture say that Mary was born without Original Sin?
For that we must know what is Original Sin? Original Sin is the absence of Original Justice.
What is Original Justice? Original Justice is the condition in which Adam and Eve were created. They were created in a condition of friendship with God.
Adam and Eve lost Original Justice when they betrayed God by listening to Satan's suggestions rather than to God's command. At that moment they entered a condition of Original Sin. A condition of opposition with God.
When Adam and Eve lost Original Justice, they lost the condition of friendship with God and could no longer pass it down. Man now had to earn that condition by making a conscious effort to turn to God.
However, even in this condition, Scripture says that men existed who did not sin:
Romans 5 14 But death reigned from Adam unto Moses, even over them also who have not sinned after the similitude of the transgression of Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come.
This takes care of condition #2. If men have existed who did not commit sin as Adam had done, then it is consistent with Scripture that Mary could as well.
But how about Original Sin, was Mary born in a condition of opposition to God? According to the Protoevangelium, the first Gospel, Jesus would be born of a woman and that woman would be the enemy of Satan.
Genesis 3 15 I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.
Therefore, since God has always destined the mother of Jesus to be the enemy of Satan, we believe that she was born without original sin.
There is another verse which says that Mary is the Kecharitomene. Its kind of complicated, so I'll let you read it here:
The Meaning of Kecharitomene: Full of Grace (Luke 1:28)
Sincerely,
De Maria
You are misusing Rom 5:14 to mean some men have not sinned. You are taking it out of context. Rom 5:12 is clear that all men sinned. The only exception is the Lord Christ. His conception was unlike any other man. Scripture never mentions how Mary was conceived so we must not assume it was any different than anyone else.
ReplyDeleteOne does not have to be sinless to be an enemy of Satan. Just look at the apostles. They were enemies of Satan but we're not sinless.