--The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of Mary is the Catholic teaching that Mary was protected against the stain of original sin at the moment of her conception by a special dispensation of God’s grace as a retroactive or pre-effectual result of the death and resurrection of her later-to-be-born Son Jesus Christ.
--The main reason for this belief is the idea that Jesus could not have been simply self-gracing and thereby protected from sin because the nature of the Gospel is other-directed. Therefore, the only way to preserve Him from sin was for His Salvation to come into being ahead of time in the conception of Mary, in essence performing for her in utero what Catholics believe happens for all people when they are baptized.
--Now there are some common errors that seem to go along with this doctrine, often espoused by Protestants who haven’t done enough investigation.
--For instance, some people say this doctrine denies that Mary needed salvation. Well, that’s quite a foolish criticism, actually, since the entire doctrine is about how Mary did both need and receive the pre-Incarnative grace earned by her Son. The doctrine depends on her needing this grace, not her having it already in herself.
--Another common error is the idea that one would need to believe in an infinite regress of immaculate conceptions to make this work. Again, the view is that this was a special and especially necessary one-time miraculous dispensation of God. According to Catholicism, Mary herself was not the product of a virgin birth, and this error is rejected by them.
--But what is instructive about this particular issue is how it reveals some of the deep differences between Catholics and Protestants, not so much about Mary per se, but about other matters. I’ll explain about that tomorrow.
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