Bless Me Father....

...for I have erred greatly! Thanks to Aunt Mary (a wise and well-schooled catholic woman) and the internet, I have been enlightened on the origins of the immaculate conception and Jesus' birth. However, in all fairness, I only attended catholic school up until the beginning of seventh grade, when we moved and Aunt Mary attended all through high school and into college. Nonetheless, I'm sure my grade school nuns are rolling over in their graves as I type.

As it turns out, the immaculate conception doesn't even have anything to do with Jesus (even though he was immaculately conceived), rather, it has to do with Mary. According to www.gotquestions.org, the immaculate conception is a doctrine, or an official statement, of the Roman Catholic church that is the belief that "Mary did not have a sin nature and was, in fact, sinless."

The website goes on to say, however, that one problem with this doctrine is that is not taught in the bible (maybe that's why I didn't know this!) The bible really only refers to Jesus being without sin. However, people started wondering, how can Jesus be without sin if he was born in a sinful woman. Thus, the need to create a sinless Mary. If Mary is a sinner, then that means Jesus is a sinner. The bible's solution to this problem is addressed by declaring that Jesus was "miraculously protected from being polluted by sin" while in Mary's womb. To which some argue, "well what's up with that?" If he could protect Jesus from sin, why couldn't he protect Mary, thus eliminating the need for her to be immaculate? Also, what about Mary's mom and grandma? In order for Mary to be immaculate, THEY would have to be immaculate.

The website goes on to explain that the doctrine is neither biblical nor necessary. Jesus was miraculously conceived inside Mary, who was a virgin at the time. The bible doesn't even hint that there was something special about Mary's conception, rather it only teaches the miraculous conception of Jesus Christ. I may be opening up a whole new can of worms here, but I believe that happened when an angel visited her. To which Joseph replied "what?" upon hearing that explanation.

Anyhow, that's today's lesson on Maryology (yes it's a real word), which is the theological study of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Suffice it to say, Mary was not pregnant for a mere three weeks or even three months.

Check back next week, when we will once again be discussing Rebeccaology, the study of Rebecca, the mother of Alex and Cameron.