8
December 1854 A.D. Mr.
(Pope) Pius IX Authorizes/Decrees Immaculate Conception (MSU = Makin’ Stuff Up)
Severance,
Diana. “Immaculate Conception Became
Catholic Doctrine.” Christianity.com. Jul
2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1801-1900/immaculate-conception-became-catholic-doctrine-11630497.html?utm_source=nextArticleBox&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=next-article-box. Accessed 12 Jun 2014.
Pope
Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception of Mary an article of faith on this day, December 8, 1854. According to his
pronouncement in Ineffabilis Deus, Mary was given grace to be sinless at the
instant of her conception. Sin was shut out of her. The teaching was
controversial among Christians at large. Neither Protestant nor Orthodox accept
it.
In general Christians insist
that any major doctrine must be clearly backed up by some Scripture. Catholics
require the same. Yet, as the Catholic Encyclopedia admits: "No
direct or categorical and stringent proof of the dogma can be brought forward
from Scripture." Edward O'Connor, compiling a massive defense of the belief
went even further, acknowledging that the idea was not even a tradition of the
early church, coming to the fore about only 1100 AD.
According to O'Connor, the
doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was "handicapped by the lack of any
clear Scriptural evidence (or, even...any explicit patristic tradition) in its
favor, but it even seemed to go counter to the clear teaching of St. Paul...and
Christ's own declaration..."
What is more, many of the
greatest fathers of the church and its "doctors," explicitly rejected
the idea. How could this belief be accepted when it is not taught in Scripture,
had at best a weak early tradition, and was explicitly rejected by theologians
of the highest rank?
Although the early church
recognized that God chose Mary for a special place in His plan, countless
sources both east and west show that she was not considered sinless. However,
in the eastern part of the church, some theologians did write of Mary as pure
and holy. Mary was called the "Mother of God" and, in passing, some
remarked that she had a special flawless holiness. Gradually, in the western
church, this belief became the assertion of an unfallen nature.
By the twelfth century, the idea
of the Immaculate Conception of Mary was widely accepted in the Roman Church,
although there was still strong opposition to the belief. St. Thomas Aquinas
especially objected that, "If the soul of the Blessed Virgin had never
been stained with the contagion of original sin, this would have detracted from
Christ's dignity as the savior of all men." Many others stood with him.
Thomas recognized that if Mary were without sin, she would not need a Savior;
the Bible would then be wrong in saying Jesus was the Savior of all men and
that "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; there is none
righteous, no not one."
The thirteenth century
philosopher Duns Scotus tried to sidestep Aquinas' argument by saying that
Mary's freedom from sin was a privilege given to her on the basis of Christ's
future merits.
Both before and after the dogma
was made binding on faithful Catholics by Pius to be "firmly and
constantly... believed by all the faithful," theologians sought for new
arguments to justify the teaching. Theology is a progressive science, they
said. The church comes to understand some mysteries only after pondering them a
long time in its heart. Mary was compared to a second Eve, sinless before her
fall. How could Christ be born of flesh that was at some point in time under
Satan's dominion? they asked. They argued that just as the Holy Spirit set John
the Baptist apart while he was still in the womb, so Mary, to an even greater
degree, was set apart. However, other theologians replied to all these
arguments and raised other objections--for instance, is it credible that Mary,
a mere mortal, withstood all temptation when even Christ, the living Son of
God, could overcome the gravest only by sweating blood?
Bibliography:
2. Bell, Mrs. Arthur. Saints in Christian Art. London: George
Bell, 1901 - 1904. Source of the image.
3. Holweck, Frederick G. "Immaculate Conception." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton, 1914.
4. O'Connor, Edward Dennis. The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1958.
5. Sugrue, Francis. Popes in the Modern World. New York:
Thomas Y. Crowell, 1961.
Last updated July,
2007.
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