Immaculate Conception of Mary

For years I have told students about the Immaculate Conception of Mary doctrine. On December 8, in 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, asserting that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was preserved from the effects of original sin from the first instant of her conception. In that way when Jesus was born he would not be tainted by original sin.

The doctrine of original sin says that all are born in sin. One suggestion is that the act of conception itself is an act of lust, therefore an act of sin. Others would suggest that it is a part of our genetic makeup. Because of this doctrine another false doctrine developed--the baptism of infants.

Roman Catholics believed until just recently that infants who died without baptism went to Limbo, a region supposedly just on the edge of hell. Unbaptized infants (including miscarriages) could not go to Purgatory to be eventually purified like the rest of us get to do, and certainly could never go to heaven. By papal decree that doctrine has now been removed from the Roman Catholic church.

We lash out at the Mormons for their Book of Mormon and the Muslims for the Quran, but what has been done by popes and councils of the Roman Catholic Church is no different.

Mary was a normal woman who had a special experience. She was impregnated by God to bring Jesus into the world. After that since she was married she had at least four other children. She would die a widow in the care of the Apostle John. She should be honored for her faith and devotion to God, but nothing more. She is not worthy of worship any more than any other good person.

Marriage and children are part of the plan of God to continue the population on the planet on which we are placed. Sex is a special gift given to human beings to enjoy within the confines of marriage. There is nothing sinful about this act within the marriage bonds. So to elevate people who choose not to get married is unscriptural. That is not the way we were designed. Jesus said that some people would choose the single lifestyle and others would be forced into it, but he did not say that this made anyone better than those who were married.

We only need to look at the disaster this has created in the Roman Catholic Church to realize that even so-called celibate priests can lose control. If they had been allowed to follow God's program of marriage then the massive lawsuits that the Roman Catholics are experiencing would never have resulted.