Baptists and Mary

[GaryZak]

MT 14:8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist.”

MK 9:40 For whoever is not against us is for us.

9:39 Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me.

MT 16:28 Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."

MK 9:1 He also said to them, “Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see that the kingdom of God has come in power.”

LK 9:27 Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God."

MT 10:7 As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

At hand, another way of saying, AVAILABLE in the present tense…

 

[mayra_hart]

Does Romans 3:23 Teach that Mary Sinned?

http://members.aol.com/uticacw/baptist/immacula.jpg

Paul writes in Romans 3:23 that: “all (‘pantes’ in the original Greek) sinned and lack God’s glory.” Some Baptists wrench this verse out of context in order to claim that Mary was a sinner. But is this conclusion actually warranted by Paul’s discussion of sin in the Letter to the Romans?

Does Paul Mean that Each and Every Person Sinned?

No. Paul’s use of the word ‘pantes’ (“all”) in Romans 3:23 hardly constitutes a statement that every single person since Adam has sinned! Indeed, common sense bears this out, for the sad fact is that many young babies have died within moments or hours of death, and have thus obviously not sinned. Paul himself explicitly admits that not every one has sinned, when he explains that as a result of Adam’s disobedience “many” (‘polloi’), and not “all,” were made sinners (Ro. 5:19). Needless to say, Baptists never cite this passage when discussing the issue of the Mary and the Immaculate Conception!

But Doesn’t “All” Mean Just That, “All”?

When Paul says “all”, he is making a generalization about humanity’s bondage to sin as opposed to a categorical statement that each and every person has sinned. This is easily demonstrated by looking at Romans 5:12-14, where we read that death came to “all” (again, ‘pantas’) men. But the Bible tells us that some men did not die. For example, Enoch (He. 11:5) and Elijah (2 Ki. 2:11) were both taken up to heaven without experiencing death. Clearly, then, when Paul says that death came to “all”, he means that death was the normal end for man, although God might make exceptions.

As a point of grammar, when Paul says “all” (‘pantes’) in Romans 3:23, he means precisely the same “all” mentioned in Romans 3:22: *“all those who are believing.” *So too, by emphasizing in Romans 3:21-23 that there is no difference in justification for those believers who were under the Law and those who were not, Paul refers us back to Romans 3:9: “Jews and Gentiles alike are all (‘pantas’) under sin.” Paul’s statement about sin in Romans 3:23 thus glosses his earlier comment on the dominion of sin over Jew and Gentile alike, and the need of both for God’s grace.

 

[mayra_hart]

**Does Paul’s Discussion of Sin Support the Doctrine of the Imma

Yes. While we simply cannot found the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception on the Epistle to the Romans alone, Paul nonetheless clears the way for understanding how such a doctrine can exist comfortably within his soteriology. **

Paul’s discussion of sin in Romans is grounded upon the concept of original sin. Sin, he tells us, entered the world through one man (Ro. 5:12) and thence reigned over humankind until the Resurrection of Christ (Ro. 6:17-23). Nonetheless, this condition of original sin was not always universally imputed to men; e.g., prior to the Law (cf. Ro. 5:13). So too, even after the advent of the Law, the Lord graciously declined to impute sin to some people, even apart from their works (Ro. 4:6). To this end, Paul approvingly cites the Psalmist: “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord imputes no sin” (Ro. 4:8). And what is the Virgin Mary, if not especially blessed by God (Lk .1:48)?

So too, Paul teaches that the gift of the abundance of God’s grace frees us from the stain of original sin (Ro. 5:15-17). What was the Blessed Mother, if not completely filled with grace (Lk. 1:28)? Again, Paul teaches that those who are not slaves (‘douloi’) to sin are instead slaves of God. And once again, what is Mary, if not the “slave” (‘doule’) of the Lord (Lk. 1:38)?

In the Epistle to the Romans, Paul never articulates any doctrinal point that rules out or excludes Mary’s sinless life. Indeed, in explaining the radical freedom from sin that Christians enjoy, the Apostle actually touches in a broad-brushed way upon the very characteristics that lie at the heart of Mary’s unique exemption from the stain of Original Sin: her blessedness, her fullness of God’s grace, and her status as a special servant of the Lord. It is with the greatest of ease that we can imagine St. Paul heartily assenting to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. santa maria madre de dios ruega por nosotros… amen