Mary imperfect, Jesus perfect

by heyfea 39 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  heyfea

  LayingLow, Yes, I tend to agree with your explanation.
• 

  heyfea

  BFD thanks for that link, I'll definitely forward it to my hubby; it's very interesting. heyfea
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  "Mary was free of sin." Is this anywhere in the bible?

  No, but according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_Conception,

  The Immaculate Conception is, according to Roman Catholicdogma, the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus without any stain of original sin, in her mother's womb: the dogma thus says that, from the first moment of her existence, she was preserved by God from the lack of sanctifying grace that afflicts mankind, and that she was instead filled with divine grace. It is further believed that she lived a life completely free from sin. Her immaculate conception in the womb of her mother, by normal sexual intercourse (Christian tradition identifies her parents as Sts. Joachim and Anne), should not be confused with the doctrine of the virginal conception of her son Jesus.
• 

  heyfea

  Thanks for your input. Anyway, now that I think about it, my husband was born and raised Catholic. Well, I guess he never paid attention during Sunday school.
• 

  Meeting Junkie No More

  Let's not forget the original problem with the whole nativity story of Jesus: the mistranslation of the original Hebrew 'prophecy' in Isaiah referring to a 'young woman' giving birth, which was erroneously translated into Greek as 'virgin'...
• 

  logic&reason

  I am pretty sure that only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke mention the virgin birth specifically, and they were (most likely) written after, and influenced by, most of Paul's letters. \

  If you go back far enough, there is evidence that the concept of a "virgin birth" is of pagan origin.

  Google "Isis and Horus" for some information. It is interesting when you read the Egyptian myths that deal with Horus (the son of god) battling with Set (the evil brother of god)... I am simplifying here, but you get the point.
• 

  BurnTheShips

  Let's not forget the original problem with the whole nativity story of Jesus: the mistranslation of the original 'prophecy' in Isaiah referring to a 'young woman' giving birth, which was erroneously translated into Greek as 'virgin'...

  The Septuagint, translated centuries before Christ by hellenized Jews, and considered by many of Diaspora Jews (cf Aristeas, Philo) of those times to be a miraculous and perfect translation, uses the word "parthenos" to translate the Hebrew "almah" here. Parthenos means virgin. It is within the semantic range of the Hebrew word, which simply means a young unmarried marriagable woman. Jerome did the same thing when he translated the Vulgata directly from Hebrew to Latin in using the term "virgo".

  Burn
• 

  snowbird

  Please see:

  http://www.custance.org/Library/SOTW/Index.html

  The author attempts to answer those perplexing questions all of us have regarding the conception of Jesus.

  Sylvia
• 

  BurnTheShips

  but you get the point.

  I don't, L&R

  Underwear are of pagan origin:

  Should I give up the boxers and freeball it instead?

  Burn
• 

  logic&reason

  That is funny.

  Except for the part about freeballing it...