research & development

(re-posts from engagement via YouTube comments)

Believing God created his own mother corrupted by sin

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church –

§ 355 “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them.” (GENESIS 1:27) Man occupies a unique place in creation: (I) he is “in the image of God”..&..he is created “male and female”; (IV) God established him in his friendship.

So, man and woman are both made in the image of God and had friendship with God at the beginning..

§ 397 Man, tempted by the devil, (GENESIS 3:1-11) let his trust in his Creator die in his heart and, abusing his freedom, disobeyed God’s command. This is what man’s first sin consisted of. All subsequent sin would be disobedience toward God and lack of trust in his goodness.

..but Adam and Eve lost friendship with God because they believed the liar and the father of lies (§ 392 The devil “has sinned from the beginning”)

§ 404 How did the sin of Adam become the sin of all his descendants? The whole human race is in Adam “as one body of one man”. By this “unity of the human race” all men are implicated in Adam’s sin, as all are implicated in Christ’s justice. Still, the transmission of original sin is a mystery that we cannot fully understand. BUT WE DO KNOW BY REVELATION THAT ADAM HAD RECEIVED ORIGINAL HOLINESS AND JUSTICE NOT FOR HIMSELF ALONE, BUT FOR ALL HUMAN NATURE. By yielding to the tempter, Adam and Eve committed a personal sin, but this sin affected the human nature that they would then transmit in a fallen state.

however original holiness would still remain with Adam and Eve had they chosen not to sin

§ 411 …(of Christ) 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.

§ 489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living (GENESIS 3:15)….Mary “stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established.

out of the ultimate offspring of Adam and Eve will be fashioned victory over sin.

§ 493..(of Mary): “free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature”. By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

Jesus is the New Adam and fully human hence the epithet “Son of Man”. Mary is the New Eve, she never lost original holiness, she was preserved from sin (i.e. did not inherit it) at conception. She is fully human but sinless as Eve was before the fall. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

man and woman are both made in the image of God and had friendship with God at the beginning

but Adam and Eve lost frienship with God because they believed the liar and the father of lies (§ 392 The devil “has sinned from the beginning”)

so original holiness would still remain with Adam and Eve had they chosen not to sin

but from the offspring of Adam and Eve it was prophesied to come salvation and the remedy to sin in Jesus through Mary…

§ 489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living…Mary “stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established.

from the above Catholics receive the understanding that Jesus is the New Adam, who while fully God is also fully human hence the epithet “Son of Man”. Mary is the New Eve who never sinned and is by incapable of sinning. Had she listened to the father of lies she would rank the same as the original Eve and “new” would not apply. Mary never lost original holiness, she was preserved from sin (did not inherit it) as conception. She is fully human but sinless as Eve was before the fall.

Question. What if Mary was sinful/sinless?

Q)>So what if mary was sinful…as long as Jesus wasn’t she’s not that important.

Your question raises a question – whether it is a matter that is unimportant either way. I would argue it is important because the premise of religious belief is that you should believe what is true, and this is all the more so in Christianity – particularly about Jesus. And also for the woman who bore the incarnate word in her womb. If you think believing a falsehood about the mother of God would offend her Son, then it is important. Conversely believing the truth about Mary honours her (Luke 1:42)

Q)>Mary didn’t have to be sinless for Jesus to be sinless….thats a concept of yall own creation…cause if mary was sinless….what about Mary’s mom??

Catholic teaching doesn’t say she HAD to be sinless, just that it was a fitting exception. (Pope Pius X : “It is fitting that the Mother of God be free from original sin, for she bears the sin‑less Son”). Jesus didn’t have to be born of a woman – but if he had not then that Christianity as we know it would be another religion entirely.

Q)>She was the mother of the new ark right…so she had to be sinless then too right…cause how is God gonna make the mother of his own new ark sinful? So if mary was sinless so was her mom….well then what about her grandmother..you see how this thinking plays out? And why it’s not really plausible

A regress of sin-less mothers does not follow and is not Catholic teaching. The ark was built to UNIQUE and exacting requirements, it was a heavenly blueprint – Exodus 25 & 37 – the implication of the foreshadowing of Mary is she was fore-ordained to bear the Messiah as per Isaiah 7:14. Jesus didn’t pick any woman in particular, he is the creator of his very own mother.

For reference with regards to Mary’s “exception”. Pope Pius IX 1854 – “in the first instance of her conception, by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin.”

In short: Mary’s exemption from that condition of sin is a direct, singular grace from God at the moment of her soul’s creation.

Pious beliefs about Mary are not arbitrary or invented, they are part of the deposit of faith – what the Church has always believed and has been handed down from generation to generation and is safeguarded by the Church and ultimately by the Holy Spirit who guides her.