You don’t need to be a human library, you just need to look at what God’s word says.
Ok this is my first post in refuting your evangeilcal misconceptions.
For something to be against Scripture, it needs to violate Scripture. Just because the Imaaculate Conception is not expressly defined in Scripture, does not mean it violates Scripture. For example, Fundamentalists believe in the Rapture, but this doctrine is not defined in Scripture (it is a false belief, but that has nothing to to with the topic at hand, the Immaculate Conception.
Just to make sure that everyone is on the same page, the Immaculate Conception is the belief that the Blessed Virgin was concieved without Original Sin. It does not mean she did not need a savior. It does not mean that she knew that she was immaculately concieved. It simply means that she was immaculately concieved. One of the first arguments Catholics have to deal with comes out of Romans. Romans 5:12 says “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death came through sin, and so dealth spread to all because all have sinned” Romans 3:10-12 says “as it is written: 'There is no one who is righteous, not even one; there is none who has understanding there is no one who seeks God. All have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, there is not even one” These verses seem to suggest that everyone dies, and that everyone sins. As a Catholic, I agree. I believe the Scriptures. The Bible is a Catholic book.
But I will say that the Bible is a complex document. It has both multiple authors and a single author. It is inspired by God, but is not a word for word dicststion by God. It was written over a period of thousands of years, but its truths apply at all times. However these truths are not always on the surface.
First let us look at Romans 5:12. On the surface it says everybody dies, and everybody sins. My first challenge is that the “all” in Romans 5:12 is not an inclusive all. it is a general all. I know this because not everyone has died, which I can prove through Scripture, and through logic, I can show not all have sinned.
To show that not eveybody has died, we need to go to the Old Testament. (I know Evangelicals try to pretend that the Hebrew canon doesn’t matter, but it most certainly does. After all, Jesus came not to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil.) First we need to go to 2 Kings 2:11. “As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fireand horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind into heaven.”
Elijah did not die. If one example is not enough, I will give you a second one. Now we go to Genesis 5:21-24 “When Enoch had lived for sixty-five years, he became the father of Metheuselah. Enoch walked with God after the birth of Metheuselah for three hundred years, and had other sons and daughters. Thus all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him.” Notice it does not say he died, but “God took him”. Everyone else in the genaeology specificilly died. If you want corroboration from the New Testament, we need look no further than the Epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews 11:5 says “by faith Enoch was taken so that he did not experience death; and ‘he was not found because God had taken him.’ For it was attested before he was taken away that ‘he had pleased God’” So, according to the Scriptures, not “all” had died! We cannot seperate the two "all"s in Romans 5:12.
Even if you want to, I can show that not all have sinned. As Catholics, we believe that life begins at conception. Have the unborn sinned? Also, after birth, are infants or those under the age of reason capable of sin? If you say no, then we must say not all have sinned. Do the Scriptures tell us Mary was without sin? No, not directly. However, it is not a contradiction to say that lived a sinless life. The “all” of Romans 5:12 is not exclusive.
But Romans 3:10-12 has yet to be addressed. This is fairly straightforward. “There is none righteous” The very first words are significant: “asit is written” This means Paul is quoting the Old Testament! Thight’s right boys and girls! We need to go to the Old Testament and find the original context! Unless, of course, St. Paul was misleading the Christians in Rome by ignoring the context? You’re right, probably not. So lets look it up!
We go back to the fifty-third psalm. “Fools say in their hearts, ‘There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they commit abominable acts; there is no one who does good. God looks down from heaven on humankind to see if there are any who are wise, who seek after God. They have all fallen away, they are all alike perverse; there is no one who doe good, no, not one. Have they no knowledge, those evildoers, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call upon God? There they shall be in great terror, in terror such as not has been. For God will scatter the bnes of the ungodly; they will be put to shame, for God has rejected them. O that deliverance for Israel would come from Zion! When God restores the fortunes of his people, Jacob will rejoice; Israel will be Glad.”
Is this in reference to everyone in the world? No. It is about the enemies of God and Israel, not everybody, and certainly not one who is “The servent of the Lord” (Luke 1:38), and one who “all generations will call blessed” (Luke 1:48) The Blessed Virgin, for one had not “turned away”! I can also say that for myself that I do seek after God! Does this render Romans 3:10-12 null and void? Of course not. It just is further evidence that “all” doesn’t always mean “all” and “everyone” doesn’t mean everyone.
That is for the sinlessness of Mary. The conception without sin will be forthcoming!
