Immaculate Conception

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I have heard most people refer to the emaculate (sp?) conception as Mary, a virgin, becoming pregnant with Jesus but recently heard that it might be refering to the belief that Mary was born of a virgin. Which is it?
 
Mary was born without the stain of original sin, no different than Adam and Eve. She had the choice and ability to sin, yet did not.

She and Jesus are both said to be "full of grace"or “highly favored” in scripture. She is in no way equal to God whatsoever, she was/is fully human, something we are all trying to attain.
 
Justin is correct. The Immaculate Conception is not when Jesus was concieved (why would the feast be in December). It refers to the conception of Mary.

Welcome to the site, by the way.
 
The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s own conception. She is the only human conceived without sin (except Jesus). She was conceived without sin in order to be the vessel, the Ak of the Covenant, the one who carried Jesus himself.

She was a virgin when she conceived Jesus in her womb. She became pregnant only by the Holy Spirit, not Joseph or any human being. She remained a virgin all of her life. Jesus’ brothers and sisters mentioned in the bible is a mistranslation as I understand it. In the original text a word was used which referred to Jesus’ kin. In those days, it was customary to refer to cousins as kin, i.e., the translation to brothers and sisters. There are apologetics reasonings which support the ever-virgin concept beginnning with the oral tradition of the early Christians. The Immaculate Conception concept was a declared teaching by a Pope in the early or mid 20th centruy but it had been accepted unofficially I believe more or less throughout church history.
 
AliciaCL said:
The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s own conception. She is the only human conceived without sin (except Jesus). She was conceived without sin in order to be the vessel, the Ak of the Covenant, the one who carried Jesus himself.

She was a virgin when she conceived Jesus in her womb. She became pregnant only by the Holy Spirit, not Joseph or any human being. She remained a virgin all of her life. Jesus’ brothers and sisters mentioned in the bible is a mistranslation as I understand it. In the original text a word was used which referred to Jesus’ kin. In those days, it was customary to refer to cousins as kin, i.e., the translation to brothers and sisters. There are apologetics reasonings which support the ever-virgin concept beginnning with the oral tradition of the early Christians. The Immaculate Conception concept was a declared teaching by a Pope in the early or mid 20th centruy but it had been accepted unofficially I believe more or less throughout church history.
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I would like to mention that teachings are only clearly defined as dogmas by the Pope when there is dispute over them. For example, the Resurrection has not been defined. For 1700+ years of Christianity, the Immaculate Conception was accepted in some form by the faithful. It was only well after the Protestant Reformation that it was questioned by any serious Christians.
 
Thanks for the welcome. So it refers to Mary. Is there any scripture that is used in reference for this or is it simply a traditional view or an edict of the Pope?
 
sjmelton said:
I have heard most people refer to the emaculate (sp?) conception as Mary, a virgin, becoming pregnant with Jesus but recently heard that it might be refering to the belief that Mary was born of a virgin. Which is it?
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The Immaculate Conception is a belief that is taught dogmatically by the Church that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin and through her life remain sinless.
 
I’m not sure but I think that the Immaculate Conception teaching is a result of theological reasoning. Compare the Levite priests of the Old Testament and the construction of the Ark itself, how purified it had to be kept, as it was the vessel of God’s Ten Commandments, manna and the staff used by Moses or his successor, In the Temple the Holy of Holies was the actual dwelling place of God. There, the ancient Jews took extreme care to protect the sanctity of this place. The sanctity and purity is carried on with Mary, serving as the Immaculate dwelling place for Jesus, God on earth.
 
I have heard most people refer to the emaculate (sp?) conception as Mary, a virgin, becoming pregnant with Jesus but recently heard that it might be refering to the belief that Mary was born of a virgin. Which is it?

None of the above.

“Immaculate Conception” never meant that Mary was born of a virgin, though some Protestant controversialists try to say so.

It means that from the first instant of her presence in her mother’s womb, her body formed according to the usual laws of nature, she was preserved free from original sin in anticipation of the merits of Christ.

FWIW, the icon of the Conception of the Theotokos show Ss Joachim and Anna embracing and kissing beside a bed, with an empty cradle in the corner.

Get the point? Could religious art be clearer?
 
bpbasilphx said:
**Immaculate conception means that from the first instant of her presence in her mother’s womb, her body formed according to the usual laws of nature, she was preserved free from original sin in anticipation of the merits of Christ.

FWIW, the icon of the Conception of the Theotokos show Ss Joachim and Anna embracing and kissing beside a bed, with an empty cradle in the corner.

Get the point? Could religious art be clearer?
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But for Orthodox there is December 22 Feast of Conception by Righteous Anna and Ioakim of Mother of God. But this is not Immaculate Conception such as in Latin Church. We believe Mother of God was heroically avoiding sin - but is human - so that Christ is born of possibly ( but not in actual) sinful human race. Otherwise Orthodox would like Catolics believe Maria is becoming CoRedemeer - which is not Christian orthodox teaching.

Icon of Conception by Righteous Anna and Ioakim: (no cradle, but hands of first parents are held up in prayer as embrace)

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
This is a post I put on a nother thread. I think it’s revalent here too.

As to the question of Mary being conceved without sin. What did Jesus the Christ, do in those 9 months in her womb? Jesus sucked up Mary’s blood, her substance, into his divine person. Mary’s flesh fed, nurtured and protected Jesus Christ the second person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus became man from Mary.
Do your’re kids have any of your physical features? Would not Jesus also had inhearted some of Mary’s?
 
The Immaculate Conception is not directly scriptural, but is an ancient Christian tradition and makes complete theological sense…

You would not recieve the Eucharist, the Flesh and Blood of the Lord, in a state of mortal sin.

It would certainly be unfitting to recieve the Eucharist, the Flesh and Blood of the Lord, before one was even Christian and cleansed by Christ.

As St. Paul says, he who recieves the Eucharist unworthily is drinking up wrath for himself.
Now if the Virgin Mary was stained by sin and unsaved by Christ, would it not be unworthy and unfitting for her to recieve the Incarnate Christ in her own body, taking her flesh and taking her blood?

We must remember that she bore Him in a physical intimacy uknown to any other man or woman.

The Immaculate Conception simply states that **the Virgin Mary was saved by Christ before she conceived him in order that she might be worthy and open to recieving him in her womb- Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. **
If we can accept the neccesity of her purification before bearing Him, I don’t see her Immaculate Conception as very difficult to accept.
 
AliciaCL said:
The Immaculate Conception refers to Mary’s own conception. She is the only human conceived without sin (except Jesus). She was conceived without sin in order to be the vessel, the Ak of the Covenant, the one who carried Jesus himself.

She was a virgin when she conceived Jesus in her womb. She became pregnant only by the Holy Spirit, not Joseph or any human being. She remained a virgin all of her life. Jesus’ brothers and sisters mentioned in the bible is a mistranslation as I understand it. In the original text a word was used which referred to Jesus’ kin. In those days, it was customary to refer to cousins as kin, i.e., the translation to brothers and sisters. There are apologetics reasonings which support the ever-virgin concept beginnning with the oral tradition of the early Christians. The Immaculate Conception concept was a declared teaching by a Pope in the early or mid 20th centruy but it had been accepted unofficially I believe more or less throughout church history.
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Are not we all conceived without sin, meaning until we actually sin we are not sinners? I thought that what we inherit from Adam is the sin nature or the ability and propensity to sin. Is it Catholic teaching that we are all born under punishment for Adam & Eves specific sin plus our own or are we judged only for the sins we personally commit?
 
sjmelton said:
I have heard most people refer to the emaculate (sp?) conception as Mary, a virgin, becoming pregnant with Jesus but recently heard that it might be refering to the belief that Mary was born of a virgin. Which is it?
Click to expand...
Neither. The Immaculate Conception refers to the belief that at Mary’s conception in the womb of her mother (St. Anne), God preserved Mary from Original Sin. Jesus’ conception is referred to as the Annunciation and the Incarnation, and Mary was conceived in the normal way.
 
sjmelton said:
I have heard most people refer to the emaculate (sp?) conception as Mary, a virgin, becoming pregnant with Jesus but recently heard that it might be refering to the belief that Mary was born of a virgin. Which is it?
Click to expand...
Neither.

The Immaculate Conception refers to the dogma that Mary was conceived in her mother’s womb free from the stain of original sin.

It has nothing to do with the conception of Jesus in Mary’s womb nor is there any idea that Mary’s mother, Anne, was herself a virgin when Mary was conceived.

Through the Immaculate Conception, Mary was preserved from original sin just as someone can be saved from falling into a pit BEFORE they actually fall; Mary needed a savior just as much as the rest of us who need that same savior to pull us out of the pit into which we have already fallen.

Hope this helps. :tiphat:
 
DLC said:
How come the Bible says nothing about the Immaculate conception?
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Are you sure of this?

The angel greets her by saying, “Hail, full of grace”.

“An implicit reference can also be found in the angel’s greeting to Mary in Luke 1:28: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” The phrase “full of grace” is a translation of the Greek word kecharitomene. This word represents the proper name of the person being addressed by the angel, and it therefore expresses a characteristic quality of Mary. Kecharitomene is a perfect passive participle of charitoo, meaning “to fill or endow with grace.” Since this term is in the perfect tense, it indicates a perfection of grace that is both intensive and extensive. This means that the grace Mary enjoyed was not a result of the angel’s visit, and was not only as “full” or strong or complete as possible at any given time, but it extended over the whole of her life, from conception onward. She was in a state of sanctifying grace from the first moment of her existence to have been called “full of grace.””

from catholic.com/thisrock/2001/0102sbs.asp

Hope this helps. :tiphat:
 
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