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If Mary’s Immaculate, Why a Sin Offering? Why bother, unless she was 'unclean'?
- By Michie
- One Bread, One Body - Catholic
- 0 Replies
Under the Law of Moses, forty days after the birth of a son, a woman would offer a “sin offering” in the Temple (Lev. 12:1-4). And so today, forty days after Christmas, we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation. Since this is the final Christmas-related feast, it’s also when people began looking for signs of spring, a practice that gave rise to Groundhog Day.
What exactly is going on today? And why is it so important? We’ll start by explaining the deeply Jewish background of the Feast of the Presentation, because without that, it’s hard to make sense of any of it.
For instance, there’s an ongoing debateabout whether the Holy Family was “middle class” or poor. Leaving aside the anachronistic nature of using “middle class” to describe anyone in the first century, the question is largely answered by Luke 2:24, which says that Mary’s offering in the Temple was “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” What’s the significance of that? Ordinarily, a woman offered “a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering” (Lev. 12:6). But “if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering” (v. 8). In this case, the fact that Mary is offering two birds tells us that the Holy Family were poor enough that they couldn’t afford a lamb.
But we’ve just established that she’s offering a “sin offering” here in the Temple. Doesn’t that prove that Mary is a sinner, just like the rest of us? That’s how many Protestants read the passage. John MacArthur writes, “That Mary offered a sin offering is consistent with the reality that she was a sinner in need of a Savior. The Catholic dogma that Mary was immaculately conceived and lived a sinless life finds no support in Scripture.” And CARM’s Matt Slick asks, “If Mary was sinless, how could she also be unclean?”
So according to MacArthur and Slick, the Feast of the Presentation is all about Mary offering a sin offering to atone for the “sin” of . . . well, what, exactly? Giving birth to Jesus Christ? The obsession with trying to debunk the Catholic view of Mary has led these men into strange and impious places.
As you might have guessed, these Protestant objections are ignorant of the Jewish background to Luke 2. Let’s start with Slick’s question: “if Mary was sinless, how could she also be unclean?” Quite easily. Ritual impurity isn’t the same thing as being in a state of sin. As Jonathan Klawans explains in his book Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism, “sin does not produce ritual impurity, and ritual impurity does not render one sinful. Also ritual purification is not a part of the process of atonement.” Klawans further explains that ritual impurity is “generally natural and more or less unavoidable,” and “it is not sinful to contract these impurities.”
We see this distinction illustrated quite clearly in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), in which the priest and Levite see a man on the road, wounded so badly that he appeared to be dead, and “passed by on the other side.” Why did they pass by? Because touching a dead body would render one ritually impure (Num. 19:13). By obsessing about ritual impurity, they were failing to treat the man with charity. Jesus is clear that the Samaritan, unconcerned with such matters, is the only one who treats the man lovingly.
Continued below.
www.catholic.com
What exactly is going on today? And why is it so important? We’ll start by explaining the deeply Jewish background of the Feast of the Presentation, because without that, it’s hard to make sense of any of it.
For instance, there’s an ongoing debateabout whether the Holy Family was “middle class” or poor. Leaving aside the anachronistic nature of using “middle class” to describe anyone in the first century, the question is largely answered by Luke 2:24, which says that Mary’s offering in the Temple was “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” What’s the significance of that? Ordinarily, a woman offered “a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering” (Lev. 12:6). But “if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering” (v. 8). In this case, the fact that Mary is offering two birds tells us that the Holy Family were poor enough that they couldn’t afford a lamb.
But we’ve just established that she’s offering a “sin offering” here in the Temple. Doesn’t that prove that Mary is a sinner, just like the rest of us? That’s how many Protestants read the passage. John MacArthur writes, “That Mary offered a sin offering is consistent with the reality that she was a sinner in need of a Savior. The Catholic dogma that Mary was immaculately conceived and lived a sinless life finds no support in Scripture.” And CARM’s Matt Slick asks, “If Mary was sinless, how could she also be unclean?”
So according to MacArthur and Slick, the Feast of the Presentation is all about Mary offering a sin offering to atone for the “sin” of . . . well, what, exactly? Giving birth to Jesus Christ? The obsession with trying to debunk the Catholic view of Mary has led these men into strange and impious places.
As you might have guessed, these Protestant objections are ignorant of the Jewish background to Luke 2. Let’s start with Slick’s question: “if Mary was sinless, how could she also be unclean?” Quite easily. Ritual impurity isn’t the same thing as being in a state of sin. As Jonathan Klawans explains in his book Impurity and Sin in Ancient Judaism, “sin does not produce ritual impurity, and ritual impurity does not render one sinful. Also ritual purification is not a part of the process of atonement.” Klawans further explains that ritual impurity is “generally natural and more or less unavoidable,” and “it is not sinful to contract these impurities.”
We see this distinction illustrated quite clearly in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37), in which the priest and Levite see a man on the road, wounded so badly that he appeared to be dead, and “passed by on the other side.” Why did they pass by? Because touching a dead body would render one ritually impure (Num. 19:13). By obsessing about ritual impurity, they were failing to treat the man with charity. Jesus is clear that the Samaritan, unconcerned with such matters, is the only one who treats the man lovingly.
Continued below.
If Mary's Immaculate, Why a Sin Offering?
The sin offering was to fix 'uncleanness.' And so if Mary made a sin offering at the Presentation, then she must have been unclean . . . right?
In Defense of St. Francis Garden Statues
- By Michie
- One Bread, One Body - Catholic
- 0 Replies
Recently I listened to a talk given at a Franciscan retreat center. I felt right at home among the colorful, sprightly paintings of St. Francis and St. Clare dancing joyfully with the sun and the moon. I had reverted to Catholicism while working at a Franciscan eco-spirituality center, and that is still a huge part of my faith life.
The speaker did not share that affinity. She opened her talk with “We all think of St. Francis as just a nice, hippy guy who talks to animals in the forest like some fairy tale princess, like on those garden statues you used to see everywhere. But he was actually a revolutionary.”
I paused. Where did that animosity come from?
Did she have a problem trusting the historical accuracy of saint hagiography? You can’t hold the Medieval imagination to the standard of our post-Enlightenment understanding of history.
I don’t think the umbrage is with any of those things. I hear comments like this enough that I’ve come up with possibly a too-analytical explanation of what is probably not meant to be dissected too thoroughly.
Continued below.
catholicstand.com
The speaker did not share that affinity. She opened her talk with “We all think of St. Francis as just a nice, hippy guy who talks to animals in the forest like some fairy tale princess, like on those garden statues you used to see everywhere. But he was actually a revolutionary.”
I paused. Where did that animosity come from?
Did she have a problem trusting the historical accuracy of saint hagiography? You can’t hold the Medieval imagination to the standard of our post-Enlightenment understanding of history.
I don’t think the umbrage is with any of those things. I hear comments like this enough that I’ve come up with possibly a too-analytical explanation of what is probably not meant to be dissected too thoroughly.
Are Men Allowed to be Nurturing?
Continued below.
In Defense of St. Francis Garden Statues – Catholic Stand
catholicstand.com
Faith-based organizations can now get funding for addiction recovery programs, HHS announces
- By Michie
- General Politics
- 0 Replies
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says faith-based organizations that meet evidence-based addiction recovery standards will now be able to access federal funding under the Trump administration’s new policy on tackling drug addiction and homelessness nationwide.
“We are bringing faith-based providers fully into this work,” Kennedy said at Prevention Day, the largest government-sponsored gathering dedicated to advancing the prevention of substance use, hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Monday.
“This is a chronic disease. It's a physical disease. It's a mental disease, it's an emotional disease. But above all, it's a spiritual disease. And we need to recognize that. And faith-based organizations play a critical role ... [in] helping people reestablish their connections to community.”
Continued below.
www.christianpost.com
“We are bringing faith-based providers fully into this work,” Kennedy said at Prevention Day, the largest government-sponsored gathering dedicated to advancing the prevention of substance use, hosted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Monday.
“This is a chronic disease. It's a physical disease. It's a mental disease, it's an emotional disease. But above all, it's a spiritual disease. And we need to recognize that. And faith-based organizations play a critical role ... [in] helping people reestablish their connections to community.”
Continued below.
Faith-based organizations can now get funding for addiction recovery programs, HHS announces
U S Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr says faith-based organizations that meet evidence-based addiction recovery standards will now be able to access federal funding under the
www.christianpost.com
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Are you looking forward to spending eternity with Christ?
- Deeper Fellowship
- 4 Replies
Oh sorry, I completely forgot about the New Jerusalem. You are right. 
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Women, declining birth rates, abortion: What is really going on?
- By Michie
- One Bread, One Body - Catholic
- 0 Replies
From an early age, I knew I wanted to be a wife and mother. Even as I grew older and began to plan for college, I knew marriage and motherhood would be my priority, regardless of what career path I might pursue. I did not realize at the time how unusual my priorities had become.
The prevailing assumption of young millennial women was that college was necessary for a successful career and that the subsequent career would translate into economic prosperity.
If I declared my future life goals were to marry and start a family, the response would have been something like, “That’s nice, but what else?” In a world where women now have endless “choice,” why would you just be a wife and mother? Marriage and motherhood were not perceived as bad, but they were no longer an inevitable or necessary measure of success or achievement.
No longer constrained to their biology, women are now free to engage with the world like modified men, which makes having children a “lifestyle choice.” This vision of independence subtly molds women’s identities during formative years, teaching them to understand themselves through achievement and external success. Motherhood is seen as an interruption to be avoided, and the widespread availability of contraception and access to abortion has resulted in a culture that implicitly communicates to women that becoming a mother should be an active choice.
The consequences are increasingly visible. Women are waiting for the “right time” to have children, often delaying well into their 30s or forgoing childbearing altogether.
If the global decline in birth rates persists, it will lead to disastrous socioeconomic consequences worldwide, and many of the proffered explanations do not fully account for the cross-cultural consistency of this trend. To understand the birthrate decline, we must first understand why women are choosing to delay or avoid motherhood altogether and how modernity has transformed the way women construct their identities and find meaning.
Delayed motherhood and the birthrate decline
Continued below.
www.christianpost.com
The prevailing assumption of young millennial women was that college was necessary for a successful career and that the subsequent career would translate into economic prosperity.
If I declared my future life goals were to marry and start a family, the response would have been something like, “That’s nice, but what else?” In a world where women now have endless “choice,” why would you just be a wife and mother? Marriage and motherhood were not perceived as bad, but they were no longer an inevitable or necessary measure of success or achievement.
No longer constrained to their biology, women are now free to engage with the world like modified men, which makes having children a “lifestyle choice.” This vision of independence subtly molds women’s identities during formative years, teaching them to understand themselves through achievement and external success. Motherhood is seen as an interruption to be avoided, and the widespread availability of contraception and access to abortion has resulted in a culture that implicitly communicates to women that becoming a mother should be an active choice.
The consequences are increasingly visible. Women are waiting for the “right time” to have children, often delaying well into their 30s or forgoing childbearing altogether.
If the global decline in birth rates persists, it will lead to disastrous socioeconomic consequences worldwide, and many of the proffered explanations do not fully account for the cross-cultural consistency of this trend. To understand the birthrate decline, we must first understand why women are choosing to delay or avoid motherhood altogether and how modernity has transformed the way women construct their identities and find meaning.
Delayed motherhood and the birthrate decline
Continued below.
Women, declining birth rates, abortion: What is really going on?
No longer constrained to their biology, women are now free to engage with the world like modified men, making having children a lifestyle choice
www.christianpost.com
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