Mary's will to sin

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nowhere_Man
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
N

Nowhere_Man

Guest
Since as Roman Catholics we believe Mary was conceived without Original Sin, and had no personal sin, does the Church also teach that Mary didn’t have a desire to sin? or, because she was part of a fallen world, she also inherited a desire to sin, but, by the grace of God, was withheld from giving into temptation?
 
No, she had no desire to sin, but yes, she could have been tempted. Because we are fallen sin seems more enticing to us than grace. For angels grace seems more enticing than sin. For Mary, in her between state (she did not inherit our fallen intellect and concupiscence) sin and grace seemed like apples and oranges. She did not have the tendency to lean toward sin like we do.

To make it easier, there are 3 sources of temptation:
  1. Internal: Our internal tendencies, passions and feelings are all out of wack and do not always express what our intellect wants them to. We may hate someone we should love for no apparent reason (in the case of troubled marriages), be slow at forgiving when we know we have nothing to gain from resentment (sometimes even if we wanted to forgive the resentment will linger against our will), be attracted to someone when we know we should be faithful to our spouses, etc.
  2. External: At times sinning may seem like the “better thing to do” like in the cases of abortion or a poor man who turns to a life of crime in order to feed his family instead of going to a shelter, running from battle, social pressures, societal lies, etc.
  3. Satan and his demons: He outright tempts us. Very rare, since he only temps either very holy people (who have conquered 2 no doubt) or people when they are on the verge of obtaining a greater holiness.
2 can become great because of 1, and 3 is not common. However, since Mary did not have 1, then 2 was not as effectual. However, Satan, being the devil he is, may have fixed that by providing alot more 3.
 
Of course she was tempted. Jesus himself was tempted by the devil himself. It would be a bit of a stretch to think that Mary was never tempted in any way. If she didn’t sin, then it follows that she must have resisted the temptation.
 
Nowhere_Man said:
Since as Roman Catholics we believe Mary was conceived without Original Sin, and had no personal sin, does the Church also teach that Mary didn’t have a desire to sin? or, because she was part of a fallen world, she also inherited a desire to sin, but, by the grace of God, was withheld from giving into temptation?
Click to expand...
Adam and Eve were created without original sin yet they were able to sin so everyone without exception can be tempted but some did not give in to temptation.
 
thistle said:
Adam and Eve were created without original sin yet they were able to sin so everyone without exception can be tempted but some did not give in to temptation.
Click to expand...
Not to mention the angels. Lucifer himself was created without sin.
 
seagal said:
Not to mention the angels. Lucifer himself was created without sin.
Click to expand...
That is what makes him SOOOOO much worse. Satan didn’t have 1 or 2 or 3. His sin was completely novel. He is the father of sin.
 
Nowhere_Man said:
Since as Roman Catholics we believe Mary was conceived without Original Sin, and had no personal sin, does the Church also teach that Mary didn’t have a desire to sin? or, because she was part of a fallen world, she also inherited a desire to sin, but, by the grace of God, was withheld from giving into temptation?
Click to expand...
According to Catholic dogma, Mary was preserved free from the stain of original sin: concupiscence of the flesh, concupiscence of the eyes, darkness of thoughts, and the pride of life. Thus she had no inclination and desire to sin. If Mary had ever felt any aversion towards God by momentarily preferring, even for an instant, anything other than God in the created order to the extent of potentially denying His will and rejecting His love, then she would have been an unworthy mother of our Lord. Mary neither sinned against God nor felt inclined to offend Him. God created her so that she would be preserved free from the grip of unruly passions and pride. Her position with God in no way thwarts the Divine Justice, since no human being is personally culpable of the sin of Adam.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord.”
Luke 1, 46

“Thou alone and thy Mother are in all things fair; there is no stain in thee and no stain in thy Mother.”
Ephraem (A.D. 370)

“As he formed her without any stain of her own, so He proceeded from her contracting no stain.”
Proclus of Constantinople (ante A.D. 446)

“A virgin, innocent, spotless, free of all defect, untouched, unsullied, holy in soul and body, like a lily sprouting among thorns.”
Theodotus of Ancrya (ante A.D. 446)

“She is born like the cherubim, she who is of a pure immaculate clay.”
Theoteknos of Livias (ante A.D. 650)

PAX :heaven:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top