I'm still having troubles with the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Why does the Church insist on this dogma, and doesn't it contradict the Bible?

Recall that there are three common objections to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception which are made by modern Protestants in general and Evangelicals and Fundamentalists in particular:

• Only God is sinless. So if Catholics believe that Mary is sinless too, does that not mean that Catholics make Mary into God (or a god)? Jesus was sinless because He Is God.
• Isn't sin a part of human nature? Then how can Catholics believe that Mary was conceived without sin?
• Doesn't the Bible itself tell us that all of us are sinners—and so doesn't this belief necessarily contradict the Bible?

There may be a number of other less-frequent objections, but, as I have mentioned before, to treat every objection would require too much time for even a short series of posts (or RCIA sessions). In the previous installments of this short series, I considered in turn the doctrine of original sin and what the Church teaches concerning the Immaculate Conception, and then I replied to the first two objections. Today, I would like to wrap-up by considering a few of the Biblical verses concerning this doctrine.

I'm having troubles with the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Why does the Church insist on this dogma, and doesn't it contradict the Bible? Also, if Mary is sinless, then how is she not God (or at least a god)?

In talking a number of my friends who have converted from Protestantism—in particular, Baptist, Evangelical, or Fundamentalist forms of Protestantism—to Catholicism, I've found that there are certain doctrines or dogmas which are always last to be accepted. The Marian doctrines are always among these, and I suspect that if they had to name one doctrine which was hardest of those, it would be the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. The objections aren't always the same, but many are similar:

• Only God is sinless. So if Catholics believe that Mary is sinless too, does that not mean that Catholics make Mary into God (or a god)? Jesus was sinless because He Is God.
• Isn't sin a part of human nature? Then how can Catholics believe that Mary was conceived without sin?
• Doesn't the Bible itself tell us that all of us are sinners—and so doesn't this belief necessarily contradict the Bible?

These are the main objections, though there are also a number of questions which get associated with these, and there are a number of "minor" objections held by different individuals which are no less potent (for those individuals) for not being widespread. Actually to deal extensively with these three "major" objections (let alone the "minor" ones) and to explain the meaning the of dogma, etc would be more than could be dealt with by one post or one RCIA session (etc.) [1].

Although I can't in a single post (or session) build an absolutely convincing case for the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, I think I can give a brief reply to these objections—the first two today, and then the last one next time. It may be helpful to briefly review my short discussion of original sin.

With this explanation of original sin in mind, lets turn to the first two of the objections, each in turn. First, the objection that only God is sinless. Alternatively, being sinless means being perfect, and hence being God. This I would like to disprove by demonstration. First, unless I am horribly mistaken concerning Protestant doctrine (and, for that matter, Jewish belief on the matter), there ought to be no objection to the Catholic belief that sin requires an intellect and a will. This means that inanimate objects, not to mention plants, animals (excluding humans, who are endowed with both intellect and will), and "artificial intelligences" are without sin. Whatever may be its value as a bumper-sticker political slogan, "Guns don't kill people; people kill people" is a reasonable description of how sin works. Guns, rocks, dogs, skyscrapers, robots, trees, etc: these are all sinless. Yet, none of them is thought by anyone to be "perfect," let alone to be God.

But that is a trivial explanation, almost a strawman [2]. Man has an intellect and a will, and is therefore a sinner if he is not God. I am not sure that this conclusion follows either. After all, the angels also have both intellect and will--and those in heaven are also without sin, are they not [3]? They are also not perfect in the absolute sense, though perhaps in the lesser sense of being "perfect angels," that is, in the sense pertaining to their own natures, which are certainly not divine. Therefore, sinlessness does not imply being God [4].