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Immaculate Conception
The claims of the Roman Catholic Church concerning the sinlessness of Mary are quite striking (emphasis mine):
“It is no wonder, then, that the usage prevailed among the holy Fathers whereby they called the Mother of God entirely holy and free from all stain of sin, fashioned by the Holy Spirit into a kind of new
substance and new creature. Adorned from the first instance of her conception with the splendors of an entirely unique holiness, the
Virgin of Nazareth is, on God’s command, greeted by an angel messenger as ‘full of grace’ (cf. Lk. 1:28)...Embracing God’s saving
will with a full heart and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally as a handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her
Son…”
-
Despite these claims, most of the early fathers
stated that Mary was not sinless. J.N.D. Kelly notes:
“Tertullian, however, repudiated the suggestion, finding the opening
of her womb prophesied in Exodus 13, 2, and Origen followed him and argued that she had needed the purification prescribed by the
Law…Irenaeus and Tertullian recalled occasions on which, as they read the gospel stories, she had earned her Son’s rebuke, and Origen
insisted that, like all human beings, she needed redemption from her sins; in particular, he interpreted Simeon’s prophecy (Luke 2,
35) that a sword would pierce her soul as confirming that she had been invaded with doubts when she saw her Son crucified…On the other
hand, almost all Eastern theologians, so far from acknowledging her spiritual and moral perfection, followed Origen in finding her
guilty of human frailties…Only in Syria, where Marian devotion was particularly fervid, do we find Ephraem delineating her as free
from every stain, like her Son…But he [Hilary] still regarded the birth as a natural one; he also took it for granted that Mary would
have to face God’s judgment for her sins…On the other hand, he [Augustine] did not hold (as has sometimes been alleged) that she was
born exempt from all taint of original sin (the later doctrine of the immaculate conception)…After Ephesus, admittedly, her divine
maternity and perpetual virginity seem to have been accepted without question in East and West; but the old doubts about her sinlessness
and moral perfection continued to be widely held.”
–J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, rev. ed. (
Here are some of the quotes from early fathers that confirm this (emphasis mine):
Clement of
“Now, O you, my children, our Instructor is like His Father God, whose son He is, sinless, blameless, and with a soul devoid of passion; God in the form of man, stainless, the minister of His Father’s will, the Word who is God, who is in the Father, who is at the Father’s right hand, and with the form of God is God. He is to us a spotless image; to Him we are to try with all our might to assimilate our souls. He is wholly free from human passions; wherefore also He alone is judge, because He alone is sinless. As far, however, as we can, let us try to sin as little as possible. For nothing is so urgent in the first place as deliverance from passions and disorders, and then the checking of our liability to fall into sins that have become habitual. It is best, therefore, not to sin at all in any way, which we assert to be the prerogative of God alone.”
-Clement
of
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-02/anf02-52.htm#P3301_980658
Origen
“For in the connected series of statements which appears to apply as to one particular individual, the curse pronounced upon Adam is regarded as common to all (the members of the race), and what was spoken with reference to the woman is spoken of every woman without exception.”
-Origen, Against Celsus 4.40
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-58.htm#P9338_2404199
Tertullian
“But there is some ground for thinking that Christ’s answer denies His mother and brethren for the present, as even Apelles might learn. ‘The Lord's brethren had not yet believed in Him.’ So is it contained in the Gospel which was published before Marcion’s time; whilst there is at the same time a want of evidence of His mother’s adherence to Him, although the Marthas and the other Marys were in constant attendance on Him. In this very passage indeed, their unbelief is evident.”
-Tertullian, On the Flesh of Christ 7
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-03/anf03-39.htm#P9359_2571829
Cyril of
“This is the Holy Ghost, who came upon the Holy Virgin Mary; for since He who was conceived was Christ the Only-begotten, the power of the Highest overshadowed her, and the Holy Ghost came upon her, and sanctified her, that she might be able to receive Him, by whom all things were made. But I have no need of many words to teach thee that generation was without defilement or taint, for thou hast learned it.”
-Cyril of
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-07/Npnf2-07-22.htm#P2364_670434
Basil
of
“About the words of Simeon to Mary, there is no obscurity or variety of interpretation. “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary His mother, Behold, this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hears may he revealed.”...By a sword is meant the word which tries and judges our thoughts, which pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of our thoughts. Now every soul in the hour of the Passion was subjected, as it were, to a kind of searching. According to the word of the Lord it is said, ‘All ye shall be offended because of me.’ Simeon therefore prophesies about Mary herself, that when standing by the cross, and beholding what is being done, and hearing the voices, after the witness of Gabriel, after her secret knowledge of the divine conception, after the great exhibition of miracles, she shall feel about her soul a mighty tempest. The Lord was bound to taste of death for every man--to become a propitiation for the world and to justify all men by His own blood. Even thou thyself, who hast been taught from on high the things concerning the Lord, shalt be reached by some doubt. This is the sword. ‘That the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.’ He indicates that after the offence at the Cross of Christ a certain swift healing shall come from the Lord to the disciples and to Mary herself, confirming their heart in faith in Him. In the same way we saw Peter, after he had been offended, holding more firmly to his faith in Christ. What was human in him was proved unsound, that the power of the Lord might be shewn.”
-Basil
of
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-08/Npnf2-08-278.htm#P5846_1834816
John
Chrysostom
“For where parents cause no impediment or hindrance in things belonging to God, it is our bounden duty to give way to them, and there is great danger in not doing so; but when they require anything unseasonably, and cause hindrance in any spiritual matter, it is unsafe to obey. And therefore He answered thus in this place, and again elsewhere, ‘Who is My mother, and who are My brethren?’ (Matt. xii. 48), because they did not yet think rightly of Him; and she, because she had borne Him, claimed, according to the custom of other mothers, to direct Him in all things, when she ought to have reverenced and worshiped Him. This then was the reason why He answered as He did on that occassion....And so this was a reason why He rebuked her on that occasion, saying, ‘Woman, what have I to do with thee?’ [John 2:4] instructing her for the future not to do the like; because, though He was careful to honor His mother, yet He cared much for the salvation of her soul.”
-John
Chrysostom, Homilies on the Gospel According to
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF1-14/npnf1-14-25.htm#P1099_367579
Theodoret
of Cyrrhus
“If then He was made flesh, not by mutation, but by taking flesh, and both the former and the latter qualities are appropriate to Him as to God made flesh, as you said a moment ago, then the natures were not confounded, but remained unimpaired. And as long as we hold thus we shall perceive too the harmony of the Evangelists, for while the one proclaims the divine attributes of the one only begotten-the Lord Christ-the other sets forth His human qualities. So too Christ our Lord Himself teaches us, at one time calling Himself Son of God and at another Son of man: at one time He gives honour to His Mother as to her that gave Him birth; at another He rebukes her as her Lord.”
-Theodoret, Dialogues, Dialogue 2
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-03/Npnf2-03-20.htm#P3414_970722
Pope Leo I
“And whereas in all mothers conception does not take place without stain of sin, this one [Mary] received purification from the Source of her conception. For no taint of sin penetrated, where no intercourse occurred.”
-Leo I, Sermons of Leo I, Sermon XXII.3
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/NPNF2-12/Npnf2-12-183.htm#P2986_707498
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Prayer to Mary and the Saints
One of the biggest things that irk evangelicals about the Roman Church’s doctrines is the Cult of the Saints, and this is rightfully so. As J.N.D. Kelly notes:
“Thus reliable evidence of prayers being addressed to her, or of her protection and help being sought, is almost (though not entirely) non-existent in the first four centuries…There is evidence, sparse but persuasive, that a genuine cult of the Virgin was emerging about this time, and that prayers were beginning to be addressed to her. Thus Epiphanius, writing in the 370s, describes a sect, the Collyridians, who celebrated a form of worship in connection with her. He was at pains to refute such heretical practices, protesting like other orthodox writers that, while Mary was beautiful, holy and deserving of great honour, worship should be confined to Almighty God alone.”
–J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, rev. ed. (
Here are some of the quotes from early fathers that confirm this (emphasis mine):
Origen
“For every prayer, and supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving, is to be sent up to the Supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living Word and God. And to the Word Himself shall we also pray and make intercessions, and offer thanksgivings and supplications to Him, if we have the capacity of distinguishing between the proper use and abuse of prayer. For to invoke angels without having obtained a knowledge of their nature greater than is possessed by men, would be contrary to reason. But, conformably to our hypothesis, let this knowledge of them, which is something wonderful and mysterious, be obtained. Then this knowledge, making known to us their nature, and the offices to which they are severally appointed, will not permit us to pray with confidence to any other than to the Supreme God, who is sufficient for all things, and that through our Saviour the Son of God, who is the Word, and Wisdom, and Truth, and everything else which the writings of God’s prophets and the apostles of Jesus entitle Him...Celsus forgets that he is addressing Christians, who pray to God alone through Jesus.”
-Origen, Against Celsus 5.4-5, 8.37
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-60.htm#P9795_2552248
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-04/anf04-63.htm#P11406_3112331
Cyprian
“Moreover, when we stand praying, beloved brethren, we ought to be watchful and earnest with our whole heart, intent on our prayers. Let all carnal and worldly thoughts pass away, nor let the soul at that time think on anything but the object only of its prayer. For this reason also the priest, by way of preface before his prayer, prepares the minds of the brethren by saying, ‘Lift up your hearts,’ that so upon the people’s response, ‘We lift them up unto the Lord,’ he may be reminded that he himself ought to think of nothing but the Lord. Let the breast be closed against the adversary, and be open to God alone…”
-Cyprian, On the Lord’s Prayer 31
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-05/anf05-114.htm#P7129_2334049
Lactantius
“…it is manifest that those who either make prayers to the dead, or venerate the earth, or make over their souls to unclean spirits, do not act as becomes men, and that they will suffer punishment for their impiety and guilt, who, rebelling against God, the Father of the human race, have undertaken inexpiable rites, and violated every sacred law.”
-Lactantius, The Divine Institutes 2.18
http://www.ccel.org/fathers2/ANF-07/anf07-05.htm#P796_317883
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Also, some helpful audio on this topic can be found at:
http://www.straitgate.com/webster/
Some helpful online reading can be found here:
http://aomin.org/In_sententius.html
Suggested reading:
- James R. White, The Roman Catholic Controversy (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Bethany House Publishers, 1996).
- David King and William Webster, Holy Scripture: The Ground and Pillar of Our Faith, Vol. I-III (
- William Webster, The Church of Rome at the Bar of History (Carlisle, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1995).
- Eric Svendsen, Who Is My Mother? (Amityville:
- J.N.D. Kelly, Early Christian Doctrines, rev. ed. (
History and the
Marian Doctrines
(Part 2)