The doctrine of Immaculate Conception simply makes sense.
As someone coming from Evangelical Baptist to Catholicism, I find the doctrine of Immaculate Conception to be very much more sensible than Mary having original sin, as is what Baptists and generally any Evangelical believes. I've been thinking about it more and more lately, and I just can't shake the fact that it makes more sense.
I know I'm kinda preaching to the choir here, but I'll explain anyway. Even though there are many verses and passages in Scripture that state that all have sinned, statements that would include Mother Mary if one takes a flat literal interpretation to it, I think when one considers the sinless nature of Christ, a better interpretation of what Original Sin is, as well as God's ill-tolerance of sin, the doctrine simply makes a lot of sense to even non-Catholics.
Firstly, Christ is utterly sinless until the Passion. Pretty everyone agrees on this. He was born with Original Sin, nor was He ever disobedient with the Father throughput His life, He simply bore our sins for our salvation. Original Sin, as St. Augustine teaches in "Confessions", passes from Adam to us, it is inborn, only taken away ordinarily by the grace of God through baptism and inordinately means of grace, like the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Mary. Another example can be the thief on the cross, who Christ forgave as He died. Another note to make is that sin is not natural to man's nature. Scripture plainly teaches that we were created perfect without sin. It is only from sin that we're able to die and not live wholly in our nature as human beings. So sin is a pure corruption of that which exists, not having existence on it own.
Secondly, God can not tolerate sin. This is also very clear from Scripture. Christ is not born with sin, God can not deny Himself, and the essence of sin (sort to speak) is to deny the Will of God. So if God is truly to be incarcerated into flesh, He must do so without even the slightest possibility of sinfulness being present, thus is why Mary was a virgin, no other person with Original Sin to potentially introduce it into Christ. The Holy Spirit, who is God, conceives of the body of Christ in Mary. But it also follows that Mary too must be sinless. For if Original Sin is inborn and she has sinned, then Christ would obviously assume a sinful nature from birth. There is no evidence that Mary has ever sinned against God in Scripture, so to assume that she did merely because of verses and passages that speak of humanity in a general sense is to conflate their meaning.
Mary has to be sinless in order for Christ Himself to be sinless. It matches what has been revealed about God's character in His complete ill-tolarence for sin. It thusly follows that, in an even perfect order to ensure that Christ is sinless, that Mary was also wholly without sin,and thus not having Original Sin, and thus her Immaculate Conception. There can be no possibility of sin in Christ, not in His divine or human nature, which is key here, until the Passion. So Mary, too, must be sinless.
Tbh, I'm still thinking it through, but it is mystery to me. I'd like to see yall's criticisms or responses. Thanks.
