Monday, March 21, 2022

Leading Theologian on the Flesh of Mary being Refined and Purified from Corruption and Catholic Apologetics for the Immaculate Conception

It is common for some (not all) Catholic apologists to latch onto an isolated text from an early Christian author that speaks of Mary being purified/refined prior to the annunciation/incarnation as if that is implicit, if not explicit, evidence for the Immaculate Conception. Consider the following:

 

That part of the flesh of the virgin whereof the human nature of Christ was made was refined and purified from corruption by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit. Our Savior is therefore called ‘that holy thing,’ though born of the virgin.

 

If you are a Catholic apologist and a fan of Albrecht et al., would you consider this implicit (if not explicit) evidence for the Immaculate Conception? If so, here is the source:

 

William G. T. Shedd, Dogmatic Theology: Complete and Unabridged, Volumes 1-3 (Reformed Retrieval, 2021), 566

 

Shedd, of course, was a Reformed Presbyterian and did not believe Mary was free from personal sin, let alone the stain of original sin. But absolutizing Shedd's comment here, it would indicate he held to some form of Immaculate Conception or pre-purification of Mary.


On an actual early Christian author who has been abused to support the Immaculate Conception, see:


Ephrem the Syrian (306-373) vs. the Immaculate Conception of Mary


Further Evidence Ephrem the Syrian (306-373) Held a Lower Mariology than the Dogmatic Theology of Roman Catholicism