Exactly what I meant to say, Matt.

I'm only pedantic about it because *I'm* Catholic, and yet I always manage to forget the actual definition sometime during the year and so hit my head every time we're reminded of it at Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Okay, now I'm confused. What is the actual meaning of "immaculate conception", then, if not "conceived without sex and so, by implication, fathered by God"?

Another question: Did Locke's father actually need the kidney himself, or was the plan to scam him out of it and then sell it? Because if it's option B, that's got to be one of the more convoluted and icky ways to make money I've ever heard of.

I am so over Boone, btw.

Jack so needs Lilah there to bust his chops about the moral failures. "You violated the professional ethics you devoted your whole life to out of spite, and then went back on your decision just to impress little old me? That's so sweet. Kind of like that sickly sweet smell that rot gives off."

Though I suppose her putting on glasses and faking a southern accent while riding him would have slightly different connotations in the context of this show.

The Immaculate Conception is directly about Mary, and indirectly about Jesus. It means that Mary was congenitally free of original sin. It is not the Virgin Birth.

The Immaculate Conception is directly about Mary, and indirectly about Jesus. It means that Mary was congenitally free of original sin. It is not the Virgin Birth.

Thanks, but I'm still floundering. Can you explain in more detail? What made her free of original sin?

Someone more Catholic than I am may need to straighten me out -- I can't cite scripture, and I don't know if scripture overtly supports the idea. But it is required for her logistically and Catholically to be a womb worthy of god, a second Eve (also congenitally sin free).

You and I need baptism to cleanse us of sin (just like the rest of the world). But Adam, Eve, Mary, and Jesus did not.

Wikipedia on Immaculate Conception: [link]

Catholic Encyclopedia on Immaculate Conception: [link]

But it is required for her logistically and Catholically to be a womb worthy of god, a second Eve

So you mean that Immaculate Conception doesn't refer to the fact that she didn't have sex with Joseph, but that *she* was immaculate, yes?

So Mary was also a virgin birth? What made her free of original sin? t googles

It’s important to understand what the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception is and what it is not. Some people think the term refers to Christ’s conception in Mary’s womb without the intervention of a human father; but that is the Virgin Birth. Others think the Immaculate Conception means Mary was conceived "by the power of the Holy Spirit," in the way Jesus was, but that, too, is incorrect. The Immaculate Conception means that Mary, whose conception was brought about the normal way, was conceived without original sin or its stain—that’s what "immaculate" means: without stain. The essence of original sin consists in the deprivation of sanctifying grace, and its stain is a corrupt nature. Mary was preserved from these defects by God’s grace; from the first instant of her existence she was in the state of sanctifying grace and was free from the corrupt nature original sin brings.

(from this site)

Okay. So Mary was born of a human mother and father, but by the grace of God, was free of original sin? I still don't exactly get it, but at least I'm clearer now on what it is I'm not understanding.

Cereal (with banana):

Thanks for the links, dcp. Fascinating stuff.