A very interesting essay on the nature of Christ, and (among other things) the difference between the virgin birth and the Immaculate Conception:
Christianity like many world religions has often been less than fair in its treatment of women. But at the heart of historic Christianity there has always been the idea that one young single woman’s faithful choice gave God the opening he used to save the whole human race. Christmas is a feminist holiday, a feast that celebrates the free choice of an autonomous woman. As Christianity has risen to become the largest and most widespread religion in the world, women are coming into their own. It cannot be otherwise; Christianity of all the world’s great religions owes its origin to the choice of a woman to cooperate with God.
That’s a new take to me.
That’s a new take to me.
Or, more cynically, new spin.
New take or new spin?
What part of “Magnificat anima mea Dominum” is new to Western culture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnificat?
Terrific article. I am not Roman Catholic, and I confess I was quite surprised to learn not too many years ago that the term “immaculate conception” applied to how Mary was conceived rather than how Jesus was conceived.
On a somewhat related subject, I just finished a good story about Mary’s husband Joseph. Not much is known about him, and the fictional account is faithful to what little the Bible says about him, but it certainly made me consider the difficulties a fiancee would face in his family and community with an unexpected pregnancy:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Carpenter-Prince-Greg-Tackett-ebook/dp/B01901MMP0/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?ie=UTF8