A Catholic on the Areopagus: Mary

"The Acts of the Apostles provides evidence that Christian proclamation was engaged from the very first with the philosophical currents of the time. In Athens, we read, Saint Paul entered into discussion with 'certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers' (17:18); and exegetical analysis of his speech at the Areopagus has revealed frequent allusions to popular beliefs deriving for the most part from Stoicism. This is by no means accidental. If pagans were to understand them, the first Christians could not refer only to 'Moses and the prophets' when they spoke. They had to point as well to natural knowledge of God and to the voice of conscience in every human being (cf. Rom 1:19-21; 2:14-15; Acts 14:16-17). Since in pagan religion this natural knowledge had lapsed into idolatry (cf. Rom 1:21-32), the Apostle judged it wiser in his speech to make the link with the thinking of the philosophers, who had always set in opposition to the myths and mystery cults notions more respectful of divine transcendence." -- Pope St. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio

Showing posts with label Mary. Show all posts

Saturday, July 20, 2024

All Have Sinned? On an Argument Against the Sinlessness of Mary

A standard Protestant argument (and the one that seems to be the most popular on social media) against the Catholic doctrine of Mary's sinlessness is rooted in the alleged fact that Sacred Scripture teaches that all human beings have sinned:

[A]ll have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Now, since Mary is a human being, it follows that Mary is a sinner. Apparently, then, the argument for Mary being a sinner is as follows:

For any x, if x is human, then x is a sinner.
Mary is human.
Therefore, Mary is a sinner.

Saturday, July 20, 2024

All Have Sinned? On an Argument Against the Sinlessness of Mary

A Painful Personite Problem for Stage Theory