Why I'm Not Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox: Part VIII | Marian Dogma - The Immaculate Conception

What this episode covers

Pr. Shannon discusses the immaculate conception of Mary. Summary: The immaculate conception is often confused with the birth of Christ. But what it means is that Mary was conceived without the stain of original sin in her mother’s womb. This is tied up with the Western conception of original sin which has its roots in Augustine. That all who are born from Adam not only share in the consequences of his sin, but also share in his guilt. The Eastern conception generally rejects this, as far as I can tell, and says we only share in the consequences of Adam’s sin, that being death. Of course, it’s way more complicated than all of this, but I’m trying to be brief. For Rome, a problem arises in Jesus inheriting the guilt of Adam’s sin from Mary. And to resolve this apparent problem, they dogmatized the idea that Mary was free from all the effects of original sin from her conception in the womb. I do hold to the Augustinian, and I would argue biblical teaching, of original sin in its Western form, but I reject totally the idea of the immaculate conception of Mary and her sinlessness throughout her life. Though her immaculate conception and her sinlessness are actually two different things, I will be treating them as a singular idea.

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