Why Catholics Believe Mary Was Sinlessness: Part III
The first two parts of this series presented the basis for looking at Jesus as the last Adam and Mary as the second Eve. We talked about how they “undid” the condemnation of mankind resulting from Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden. In this part, the last of the series, we’ll see how that is the foundation of the Catholic belief that Mary was sinless. Let’s begin with her birth.
Perhaps the most widely known and misunderstood Catholic belief is the Immaculate Conception. Most non-Catholics think it refers to the virgin birth of Jesus. This is a belief that is shared by all Christian faiths, but it is not what is meant by the term Immaculate Conception. The Immaculate Conception is the belief that Mary came into the world without sin. Let’s examine this further by once again going back to Eve.
God created Eve from the rib of Adam. She was free of sin upon her creation because sin didn’t even exist yet. We’ve talked about how Adam foreshadowed Jesus in a sense, but no one would argue that he was better than Jesus in any way. Many see King David as also foreshadowing Jesus, but he had a sinful nature so was in no way better than Jesus. Each of these men foretold of and mirrored in some way Jesus, but no Christian would say they were his equals. Jesus far surpassed them in infinite ways. Applying this to Mary, since Eve entered the world without sin, Mary must do the same in order to just put her on par with Eve. She must surpass her in some way; her lifelong sinlessness accomplishes this. This makes her greater than Eve, just as Jesus was greater than Adam. And just as Jesus was without sin, so was Mary. One of the ancient Christian scholars who wrote about this was Ephrem the Syrian. In the fourth century, he wrote:
Only you [Jesus] and your Mother are more beautiful than everything. For on you, O Lord, there is no mark, nor is there any stain in your Mother.¹
Many Protestants would see this as offensive and say that proclaiming her as being without sin is proclaiming her as not human but instead God-like. Catholics and others who look at Mary through the eyes of the ancient Jewish people, however, say this is no more true than it would be to say that Adam and Eve were not human but were instead God-like. Accepting Mary as the new Eve and Jesus as the new Adam means accepting that it must be true that both Mary and Jesus were without sin. The Catholic Catechism explains it like this. (The term Protoevangelium is a reference to Genesis 3:15):
The Christian tradition sees in [Genesis 3:15] an announcement of the “New Adam” who, because he “became obedient unto death, even death on a cross,” makes amends superabundantly for the disobedience of Adam. Furthermore many Fathers and Doctors of the Church have seen the woman announced in the Protoevangelium as Mary, the mother of Christ, the “new Eve.” Mary benefited first of all and uniquely from Christ’s victory over sin: she was preserved from all stain of original sin and by a special grace of God committed no sin of any kind during her whole earthly life. (CCC 411)
Notice that the belief about Mary is rooted in the belief about Jesus. Catholic beliefs about Mary always go back to Jesus. Her parents do not provide her sinlessness through a virgin birth or anything else. It exists because of Christ. It’s because of who Jesus was and his victory over sin. It’s because of God’s grace. It also does not imply that she did not need the salvation offered by Jesus, her Son. It says that she was saved because of Him, by Him. Without Him, she wouldn’t have salvation, just as the rest of mankind would not have salvation. Again, all Catholic beliefs about Mary are rooted in Christ — who he is and his victory over sin.
Conclusion
As we continue looking at what Catholics believe about Mary, we will continue looking at Old Testament and other ancient Jewish writings. And we will continue to see that it’s all rooted in Jesus. We’ll build on and refer back to some of what we discussed in these first few articles. Next up: Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant.
