Mary: A Catholic-Evangelical Debate<\/a>?<\/em> Even for those who are not Evangelicals, the Catholic arguments are put best I can.\nOne answer to the question is this: to be fully involved in God\u2019s plan of redemption, Mary had to make a totally free choice whether to obey God\u2019s invitation or not. The problem is, that original sin tilts our free will in the direction of disobedience. If Mary had not been free of original sin, she would not have had a totally free choice. Her choice would have been biased toward saying \u2018No\u2019. In order to have a free choice (like Eve\u2019s) she had to be delivered from original sin. This freedom from original sin did not bias her toward saying \u2018yes\u2019 or guarantee that she would say, \u2018Yes\u2019. It simply put her in a totally free condition where there was no bias either way. From this unbiased position she was totally free to co-operate with God or not.<\/p>\n
Once this necessity is seen it then remains to ask, \u201cIf this is so, how was she preserved from original sin, and when did this state of perfection begin?\u201d The church has answered this by explaining that she was preserved from the stain of original sin by a special act of grace (merited by her Son\u2019s redemptive death). When did this begin? It must have begun when her life began. When did her life begin? At conception.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder \u2018why?\u2019. It may be so but surely Our Lady would still be unique in creation even if she were not immaculately conceived?Good question. May I humbly recommend my book Mary: A Catholic-Evangelical Debate? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Immaculate Conception<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder 'why?'. It may be\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Immaculate Conception\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder 'why?'. It may be\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2007-02-23T20:32:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_5BV_YADVD7o\/Rd-bCTzVaeI\/AAAAAAAAAWU\/3gdlJ_ryjc0\/s320\/immaculate_conception.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html\",\"name\":\"Immaculate Conception\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2007-02-23T20:32:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2007-02-23T20:32:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\"},\"description\":\"In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder 'why?'. It may be\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Immaculate Conception\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad\",\"name\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Fr. Dwight Longenecker\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Immaculate Conception","description":"In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder 'why?'. It may be","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Immaculate Conception","og_description":"In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder 'why?'. It may be","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html","og_site_name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","article_published_time":"2007-02-23T20:32:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_5BV_YADVD7o\/Rd-bCTzVaeI\/AAAAAAAAAWU\/3gdlJ_ryjc0\/s320\/immaculate_conception.jpg"}],"author":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html","name":"Immaculate Conception","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website"},"datePublished":"2007-02-23T20:32:00+00:00","dateModified":"2007-02-23T20:32:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad"},"description":"In a recent comment a reader asked about the Immaculate Conception: about the Immaculate Conception. As a mere Anglican I still wonder 'why?'. It may be","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2007\/02\/immaculate-conception-6.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Immaculate Conception"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/9a47bc6ba9c0a8c532dc90230d7ad3ad","name":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8dbbfbf5b6d096630322e90bce3f0cec?s=96&r=g","caption":"Fr. Dwight Longenecker"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/dwightlongenecker.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/author\/frdwight"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/557"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3283\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_5BV_YADVD7o\/Rd-bCTzVaeI\/AAAAAAAAAWU\/3gdlJ_ryjc0\/s1600-h\/immaculate_conception.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n