Immaculate Conception - is not included in the gospels; it does not refer to the Incarnation of Jesus through the overshadowing of the BVM by the Holy Spirit.
I keep hearing this mistake over and over. In the past weeks I hear the term "Immaculate Conception" used in a comical way to refer to the strange confusion and ridiculousness of the paternity of Dannielynn Smith, and "we all know Dannielynn was not an immaculate conception". The reporters are trying to be funny, but they are being ignorant. They are confusing their terms.
I know it will not be the last time, but once again with feeling - here it is: Immaculate Conception has to do with whether or not Mary, the Mother of Jesus, was preserved from Original Sin at the time of her conception in the womb of her mother, Anna. Sacred tradition says it was so, as to render her a fit Mother for the Son of God, i.e to be the new Ark of the Covenant. Now, whether a person chooses to believe this or not, does not alter the fact of what the doctrine is. It's not about sex or biology; it's about original sin!!!! And, it's not about Jesus's conception and birth.
The thing that made her fit to be the mother of our Savior and God, JESUS was that she was a virgin and that GOD chose her. To add to that risks adding to the good news things that are not even hinted to.
This is just speculation and causes division in the body (church). These traditions(sacred or not) were added to the faith until the truth was obscured and the church departed from the faith handed down to her by holding the traditions to be equil to or superceding the WORD. These traditions started seeping into the church in the 4th century and have not stopped. This is what is destroying the faith handed to us by the Apostles. They were eye witnesses to what JESUS said and did, they wrote down what the HOLY SPIRIT guided them to write and that is what we have today. ANYONE found to have a copy of the bible or any part of it was in danger of being killed by the church(RCC) during the dark ages. We came out of the dark ages after the BIBLE was printed and given to the common folk to read for themselves. This is what also started the Reformation and the greatest persecution of believers outside the established authority of the RCC.
The persecution of bible believing christians by the RCC is well documented. The RCC continues to hold that to believe anything outside the traditions of the RCC is anathema to them to this day.(anathema[Gr. thing devoted to evil] 1. a thing or person accursed or damned. 2. a thing or person greatly detested.)If it were possible they would continue to persecute anyone who does not agree with their traditions today. Read it in their own documents, it is there.
However, there are believers in the RCC today. They are searching the scriptures and following the only authority on what the church is, through the WORD, JESUS and allowing the guide of the church, the HOLY SPIRIT, to teach them what is in the WORD. May GOD and JESUS bless them and guide them into the truth.
Thank you for the correction. However I think the verse all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God pretty much would include Mary too. But hey, that is just the Baptist in me.