The Immaculate Conception and freedom

[joshringsell]

Hi,

I’m a theology student currently doing an essay on Catholic-Orthodox relations and the understanding of the papacy. I’ve come to a section of the essay where I’m looking at the differing views on the development of doctrine between the two Churches. In greatly oversimplified terms it could be said that the Catholic Church views doctrine as something that comes to the fullness of light over time, and can develop, even up to the present day if deemed appropriate after much theological debate - the most recent doctrine I think would be the Immaculate Conception. The Orthodox would generally state that doctrine did not and does not develop, but during the seven ecumenical councils it was necessary to come to a consensus on the doctrines of the faith, and thus they rarely change to the present day, the Catholic Church often being attacked as the ever-changing Church.

Anyway, this got me thinking about the Immaculate Conception. I’m not so bothered about Church Father opinions on this matter, as I’m sure every party could find views in the Fathers to match their own, however, my question is regarding the free will of Mary. If the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free from original sin, that is a fallen nature and tendency to fall into evil, why could God not do the same for all of humanity? Could God not free us from original sin at our conception and make us ‘full of grace’? This would leave little room for Christ, but some might say Christ would still have come to bring us into fuller union with God. Lots of issues arising in my head here!

My second question (or group of questions) is regarding the nature of free will itself. The mammoth intelligence that is Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart said something along the lines of - ‘freedom is not the ability to choose from an infinite number of choices, rather true freedom would be the inability to sin’. From this basis, could it be said that Mary did indeed have NO ability to sin? Is this not an affront to free will? If this is the case, does Mary have a higher freedom than that of Adam and Eve, in that they clearly had the ability to sin leading to the Fall?

Apologies if these are confusing questions, essay writing on these topics is fascinating but can make your head spin and lose faith for five minutes haha.

Josh

 

[adamhovey1988]

They are confusing questions, but not unanswerable. I’ll let people who know more about it than I do answer them though.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Could God not free us from original sin at our conception and make us ‘full of grace’? This would leave little room for Christ, but some might say Christ would still have come to bring us into fuller union with God.

I never really understand these questions (then again, I’m just a bear).

Q. Could God do X?
A. Why yes, he Could do that, he can do anything, he’s God.

Q. Then why didn’t God do X?
A. How am I supposed to know? I’m not God, I can’t comprehend God, and I sure can’t read His mind. I figure if He chose to do or not do something, it was all part of His plan and if I’m lucky I might gain an inkling of understanding of it after death…then again it might be just too huge and awesome to ever fit into my head, even my glorified head after death in Heaven.

Additionally, if He wanted me to know why He did something, he’d just tell me.

I’m pretty sure my response is somehow “wrong” though, and there is some discussion in Augustine, Aquinas, or other theologian/ philosopher, or maybe even a Scott Hahn book, that has totally figured out (or claims to have figured out) why God does stuff.

 

[pianistclare]

God didn’t need to create us sinless because we were not all chosen to be His mother.

Nothing that God creates or decides is an affornt to anything. Free will is not a “thing” to be damaged or a person to be offended.

Mary is set apart from all the rest of humanity, yes.

 

[fide]

1. If the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free from original sin, that is a fallen nature and tendency to fall into evil, why could God not do the same for all of humanity?

Since you specified that Mary was “conceived”, I guess you are presuming the Fall, and the Promise of salvation to come, and therefore Mary as the child of fallen parents lacking sanctifying grace. So you are presuming a whole world of persons born into sin - is that correct? And your question (1) is basically, “Why could God not, beginning with Mary, cause every child after her to be conceived immaculately?” Is this your question?

If so, my answer is that such a world would be impossible to imagine, for me: a world-wide generation of persons with no sin, mixed in with a world-wide generation of persons as we now have. This boggles my mind. God “could” do this, in general, I think, and if He did He would draw good out of it, as He always does. The way He did do things, I think, is better.

Note that God created Adam and Eve sinless. And we all know how that turned out. Your question #1, in other words, calls for much more specificity to get to your real question.

1. “‘freedom is not the ability to choose from an infinite number of choices, rather true freedom would be the inability to sin’. From this basis, could it be said that Mary did indeed have NO ability to sin? Is this not an affront to free will?”

I disagree with this definition of freedom. The Catholic Catechism has this:

1731 Freedom is the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility. By free will one shapes one’s own life. Human freedom is a force for growth and maturity in truth and goodness; it attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.
1732 As long as freedom has not bound itself definitively to its ultimate good which is God, there is the possibility of choosing between good and evil, and thus of growing in perfection or of failing and sinning. This freedom characterizes properly human acts. It is the basis of praise or blame, merit or reproach.
1733 The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes. There is no true freedom except in the service of what is good and just. The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to “the slavery of sin.” [Cf. Rom 6:17]

#1733 is most helpful, I think. “The more one does what is good, the freer one becomes” Authentic freedom has the orientation toward the good - this is the result of the state of holy grace in the soul, “grace” being a participation in the very life of God. Thus “The choice to disobey and do evil is an abuse of freedom and leads to “the slavery of sin.””

Thus “freedom” is not an “inability” to sin, but rather, the “ability” - or even the power - to do good. To be freed from the “slavery of sin”, to cling in love to Christ the Son, is to be freed TO live His life in righteousness.