Jesus Through The Centuries: His Place In The History Of Culture

“God said: 'Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness,'” (Gen 1:26) after which He created Adam and Eve and all of humanity. Sadly, this divine image, as we know, was defaced in man when they committed original sin by disobeying God at the beginning of human history. We recognize this story as the Fall of humanity. Yes, it seems that we had it all in the beginning, and lost it all because of original sin.

However, a late scholar named Jaroslav Pelikan offers a reminder in one of his books titled Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture that Augustine of Hippo “made it clear...that the doctrine of the fall must not be interpreted 'as though man had lost everything he had of the image of God.'” Nevertheless, this divine image in man required restoration. Therefore, God desired that a new person—in place of Adam—would begin de novo, and overcome temptation, sin, and death in obedience to God. He chose His only Begotten Son, the Word, as the new Adam to become flesh to fulfill this purpose. The Son of God would still experience the sufferings of our imperfect human nature while remaining sinless. But, would God permit the woman that was destined to be the mother of the Holy One, and the new Eve, to be subjected to the universality of original sin? Pope Pius IX and his brother bishops prayed about, and studied

God had created Adam and Eve sinless: from the very first moment of “conception,” if you will. Does not the Almighty God—Who, in Christ, wanted to do something new for humanity—have the power, wisdom, and goodness to grant total sinlessness from conception to the New Eve as He granted to the First Eve before the Fall? This “singular grace and privilege” was given to Mary by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ. He came to save us all, and decided to grant to Mary from the moment of her conception what He came to grant to us all: