De Omnibus Dubitandum Est.

This is Greg Daly's excellent & concise explanation of the Immaculate Conception which he posted for the feast yesterday. Well worth a read if you are looking to better understand this doctrine: Mary’s preservation from sin has been mainstream Christian belief from about as early as we can tell in Christian history; it’s been embraced through history by Catholics, the Orthodox churches, and such Protestants as Martin Luther. Partly, it has to be said, the belief derives from incredulity that the flesh from which Jesus was made – Mary’s and Mary’s alone – could ever have been tainted by sin and been what C.S. Lewis called ‘enemy-occupied territory’. At Luke 1:28 , the angel salutes Mary as κεχαριτωμένη ( Kekharitōmenē) , traditionally translated ‘Full of Grace’, but more accurately rendered as something along the lines of ‘you who are already, absolutely, and enduringly endowed with grace’. It’s an extraordinarily unusual grammatical form, and is also the only instance we know...