---It is not difficult to accept the possibility, there's just no Scriptural evidence for it. Our faith should be based on the Bible.---
YOUR Faith is based solely on the Bible. Mine is based on Holy Scripture, Apostolic Tradition and the Magisterial Teachings of the Church. Not everything is recorded in the Bible. Seems someone actually says that at the end of one of the Gospels!
Frank
"Our faith should be based on the Bible."
No, our faith is based on the Bible and Traditions passed on for the past 2000 years, just as the Bible teaches.
"If Mary needed to be sinless to bear Jesus then did Mary's mother need to be sinless to bear Mary? And what of Mary's mother's mother - would she not also need to be sinless to bear Mary's mother."
Only Mary needed to be sinless. Why would God need to create all these others sinless? You're trying to make it way too difficult for no reason.
"Here is something for you to think about. Mary, (and all true Christians) by virtue of Jesus death, has obtained a position higher than that which Adam and Eve had in the garden."
What?
"If Mary needed to be sinless to bear Jesus then did Mary's mother need to be sinless to bear Mary?"
No.
"Our faith should be based on the Bible."
I agree. Which verse does it say that again?
Regards
Christianty Today had some wonderful articles on the Evangelical understanding of Mary. I think it was the December issue, the articles are most likely archived on the website Christianitytoday.com.
I understand Protestant's do not have the same evotion to Mary as Catholics but there is still a place for her in the Evangelical's heart. It should not be a nothing or everything choice.
"It is not difficult to accept the possibility, there's just no Scriptural evidence for it. Our faith should be based on the Bible."
There's your first problem. The bible is a touchstone for our faith. It is not the foundation of our faith. Christ, his life, death and resurrection is the foundation of our faith. The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her lord. The bible did not come before faith. Jesus and his disciples came before the bible and the bible wasn't even the whole story and attests to that fact itself.
I honestly wish I could get an answer to this!
Two points, and I hope you find my answer sufficient.
First of all, it was not "necessary" for Mary to be sinless. It was rather a fitting gift given to Mary by virtue of her role. There are two reasons for this, first, that she is the New Ark of the Covenant. If noble and holy materials were used to carry God in the Old Testament, why should the Incarnation of God in the New Testament be any less?
Secondly, if Jesus followed the Law perfectly this would include honoring His mother. And since, as God, He was able to preserve her from sin, to save her, how could He not? Do you think Mary went to hell? Of course not. Jesus would save her, and save her first.
Do you forget Jesus was truly human? His love for His mother is as real as our own. How could He love His mother and not make her perfect?
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Second is the idea that Mary's IC requires some type of unbroken chain of IC's going back infintely. This is a gross misunderstanding of, and confusion of, the differences between Jesus and Mary.
Protestants seem to equate sinfulness with humanity, and sinlessness with divinity. Or more specifically, to assert that humans can not be without sin. So when Mary is called sinless, this equates to the assumption that we are ascribing divinity to her.
This also explain the Protestant notion of imputed righteousness versus the Catholic idea of infused righteousness. Put simply, we believe God has the power to grant us graces to make us actually without sin. And without simultaneously making us divinities.
Protestants seems to have difficulty with this notion.
Let's look at your objection. If we say Mary must have been made sinless in order to be a worthy vessel to conain Jesus, you say "well, then St. Ann must have been sinless to carry Mary, and her mother, and her mother..."
Mary was a sinless human. Jesus was God Incarnate.
These are two different things. Very different.
Since Mary contained God Himself in the flesh, her sinlessness was a fitting tribute to God. St. Ann had no need to be sinless to carry a human in her womb. Mary is NOT DIVINE. Jesus is.
SD