Two De Fide Doctrines of the Catholic Church
Posted by Matt Postiff August 18, 2016 on Matt Postiff's Blog under Theology Cults, Etc.
Editor's Note: This is a guest post by FBC member Vincent Brattin.
Two dogmas of the Catholic church are Mary's immaculate conception and her perpetual virginity. The first teaches that Mary herself (not Jesus) was miraculously conceived so as to be kept pure from original sin. The second is that Mary remained always a virgin and never had any other children.
These doctrines are both accepted by the Catholic church as de fide teachings, which carry the very highest level of theological certainty, and so any suspicion of doubt as to their veracity would subject the believing Roman Catholic to excommunication and anathema. Traditionally, anyway. Today, Rome is inclusivistic almost to the point of being universal, so they might not toss anyone out for anything.
One of the strange effects of all the Marian teachings of Roman Catholicism is that they force Jesus to share His singular glory with Mary. Jesus was immaculately conceived, and on their view, Mary was immaculately conceived as well. Jesus was a virgin, Mary was perpetually virgin. Jesus suffered and died on the cross, Mary shared in Jesus' suffering and nearly died at the foot of the cross. Jesus was bodily assumed to heaven, Mary is bodily assumed to heaven. Jesus is the dispenser of all graces, Mary is the one through whom those graces are dispensed. Jesus conquered death, Mary crushed the serpent, etc.
Those who believe in Sola Scriptura can appreciate Mary for exactly who she was (not immaculately conceived and not a perpetual virgin), and not swipe any of Jesus' glory, character or attributes to do so.
