Immaculate Conception
Mary was preserved from original sin.
This doctrine is actively contested between major traditions. Faithful Christians disagree.
What the traditions say
Dogma since 1854 (Ineffabilis Deus). Mary was preserved from original sin from the moment of her conception by a singular grace of God.
Luther initially accepted it but later Lutheranism rejected it as unscriptural. Mary is honored but not exempted from the human condition.
Orthodoxy honors Mary's sinlessness but rejects the specific mechanism of the Immaculate Conception. It presupposes Augustine's understanding of original sin, which Orthodoxy does not share.
No scriptural basis. Mary was a sinner saved by grace like all believers. Rom 3:23 — "all have sinned." The doctrine is seen as a post-biblical development.
Who binds this
Every affiliated congregation inherits its denomination's position. Follow a chip to see the confession's language.
Key scriptures
- 1Pet 1:19 — But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
- Eph 1:4 — According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
- Gal 3:13 — Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
- Gal 4:4 — But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,
- Gen 3:15 — And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
- Heb 4:15 — For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
- Isa 7:14 — Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- John 1:14 — And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
- Luke 1:28 — And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
- Luke 1:42 — And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
- Luke 2:7 — And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
- Matt 1:20 — But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.
- Ps 51:5 — Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
- Rev 12:1 — And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:
- Rom 5:12 — Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
What the confessions say
Articles of the historic confessions that address this doctrine.
- Reformed Heidelberg Catechism Q36 — What benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ?
- Reformed Belgic Confession Art18 — The Incarnation
- Reformed Heidelberg Catechism Q35 — What do you confess when you say: He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary?
- Reformed Canons of Dort 1.R8 — Of Divine Predestination
- Reformed Canons of Dort 1.A2 — Of Divine Predestination
- Lutheran Augsburg Confession Article 3 — Of the Son of God
The Church Fathers
The earliest Fathers who commented on the Scriptures above.
For there is but One that became incarnate, and that neither the Father nor the Paraclete, but the Son only, [who became so] not in appearance or imagination, but in reality. For "the Word became flesh." For "Wisdom builded for herself a house." And God the Word was born as man, with a body, of the Virgin, without any intercourse of…
And hear again how Isaiah in express words foretold that He should be born of a virgin; for he spoke thus: "Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bring forth a son, and they shall say for His name, `God with us.'" For things which were incredible and seemed impossible with men, these God predicted by the Spirit of prophecy as about to…
He has therefore, in His work of recapitulation, summed up all things, both waging war against our enemy, and crushing him who had at the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head, as thou canst perceive in Genesis that God said to the serpent, "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy…
It is probably therefore with reference to the consummation that Salome says: "Until when shall men die?" The Scripture uses the word "man" in two senses, the outward man and the soul, and again of him who is being saved and him who is not; and sin is said to be the death of the soul. That is why the Lord gave a cautious answer - "As…
Concerning the last step, plainly, of His passion you raise a doubt; affirming that the passion of the cross was not predicted with reference to Christ, and urging, besides, that it is not credible that God should have exposed His own Son to that kind of death; because Himself said, "Cursed is every one who shall have hung on a tree."…
Christ, he means, the wisdom and power of God the Father, hath builded His house, i.e., His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he (John) hath said beforetime, "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." As likewise the wise prophet testifies: Wisdom that was before the world, and is the source of life, the infinite…