Thursday, March 28, AD 2024 2:32pm

God, Why ?  Why Wasn’t I Immaculately Conceived ?

I have a “God Why” question:

God, why didn’t You have me, too, immaculately conceived, ?

I think I would have done really well without Original Sin.

Mary, So Why Not Me ?

I am not saying I know better than God. But I do dream that my life would have been so easy, such a cakewalk to heaven, if only I had been conceived without that stain from Adam. Totally pure DNA and a soul with no spiritual defect – God had the power to do this back in 1946. We know this because He did it once before, back in   Zero  A.D., or thereabouts,   for the Virgin Mary, the young girl He asked to be the mother of His Son.

Made in the image and likeness of God, Mary was free to accept or reject what the Angel Gabriel told her were God’s wishes. Thanks be to God, for all of us, she said, “Yes, let it be.”

So I have  my own personal “God Why” question. I don’t mean to question God’s omniscience, His infinite love,  or  His omnipotence or any other divine-omniness  I would just like to know why didn’t He also let me be immaculately conceived?

God Knew He Could Make Me Better

This is an especially incisive question since He knew, long before that day in 1946, that without a pure, immaculate conception, I would sin and sin again. He knew He could see to it that none of this would happen if He would do for me what He did for Mary. Yes, I know, she was His Mom, but I’m a son, an heir,  even royal, not exactly a mere chopped-liver  no-free-will animal creature, acting out of pure instinct because “I was made this way.”

God-Why Questions

My question isn’t the first. There have been “God Why” questions for millennia;  questions about   deep theological issues that have been  studied for centuries, like the problem of evil, God’s unknowable essence, predestination or not, and how can one even put a mystery into words.  For now, I just want to know why God didn’t make me, just me, better.

My life could have been so much easier, and I would never have had to say, “Bless me, father, for I have sinned.” Somehow I doubt, however, that  Sister Mary Margaret , my fifth grade teacher, (truly, may she rest in well-earned peace) would have believed my explanation for skipping  weekly confession. I know what would have been the look on her face had I said, “Nope, Sister, I am sinless.” As it turned out, she knew only too well that I needed that sacrament on a regular basis.

Theobony –  No Problem With  Good?

Some professional scholars, theologians, philosophers, and commentators make a living discussing “God-Why” questions. There is a whole sub-category of discussion called “Theodicy” – and it deals with the so-called “Problem of Evil.”  Phrased in “God-Why” language, it is this:

God, why,  if You are all-good, all-knowing, all-generous, all-loving, etc., then why is there evil (including pain, suffering, crimes, sin, wickedness)  in the world that You made and why do your human creatures do evil?

I have noticed that my “God-Why” questions are similar – usually dealing with pain, suffering, evil and death, or with something I think I need. I rarely ask, “God, why have you given me so much?”  I don’t have a theobony problem. No problem with all the good in my life.  I rarely ask God-Why questions like the following:

God, why did You give me this fullofwonder wife and the children we made together with You ?

God, why did You bless me with all the wunnerfull folks You  let me live with every day?

God, why do I usually have three good meals a day?

Job Did Not Get Answers From God

God has not replied to my “God Why” question, yet.  No lightning-bolt revelation or divine voice speaking from a whirlwind . So I have done what I often do when I am in my confused, mystery-befuddled  needing-some-theological-assistance mode – I rejoice,  and then reread the Book Of Job. This can be very helpful when one  has a “God Why” question and learns, (or in my case relearns), that God is God, and you’re not:

Who is that who tries to darken divine plans with words of ignorance? Gird up you loins now, like a man. [Job 38:1,2].

Have you ever in your lifetime commanded the morning? [Id. 12].

Will we have arguing with the Almighty by the critic? Let him who would correct God give answer [Job 40:1,2].

Although God does not answer Job’s questions, or any of the questions of Job’s so-called friends, God makes quite an impression on Job telling him about all His creation and how He cares for it. Even without explicit, divine answers, Job realizes “I have dealt with great things that I do not understand, things too wonderful for me that I cannot know.” [Job 42:3].

Job speaks to me and gives me hope when I ask my God-Why questions.  I don’t get answers,  or a personal divine seminar in the reasons for creation and the meaning of  everything taught by the Almighty, but I do learn again):

The Lord restored the prosperity of Job  . . . .Thus the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his earlier ones. [Job 42:10,12].

So, What Are The Answers ?

Although there is no explicit, direct answer to most “God-Why” questions, there is a response that believers in God may find satisfying. And that will be discussed in Part II, to come.

0 0 votes
Article Rating
20 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Mary De Voe
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 8:22am

If you were not created as you are, then you would not be you. You might not be at all. But you are created as you are and you are you, that is, you have come into existence. You have the power that is the grace to live the life of the innocent. St Augustine has helped me in finding the source of original sin and in leading a better life.
Oh, Mary conceived without sin, pray for us, who have recourse to you. Oh, Mary conceived without sin pray for us who have recourse to you. Oh, Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.”
We would all be walking around in the Garden of Eden, procreated by Adam and Eve with God as our God. Pretty awesome.

Mary De Voe
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 8:24am

that is, without original sin, we would all be walking around in the Garden of Eden, procreated by Adam and Eve with God as our God. Pretty awesome.

Howard
Howard
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 9:06am

“Had I been made the partner of Eve, we’d be in Eden still!” — Sir Lancelot, as portrayed in the musical “Camelot”

We think too highly of ourselves. We think we would not have fallen; the truth is (to the extent such questions have answers at all), we would have had an uglier fall. We think that if we had been in the place of Pontius Pilate, we would not have been so cruel, but actually, we would have been more cruel. We think that if we faced full on persecution of the kind so many Christians have faced, we would become holy martyrs. The fact that we are not literally scourged, as the Apostles were in Acts 5:40, is likely because we are not accounted worthy (Acts 5:41).

T. Shaw
T. Shaw
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 12:28pm

The First Jiyful Mystery, The Annunciation. I desire the love of humility. Think of the humility of the Virgin Mary when the angel Gabriel greeted her with, “Hail, full of grace!”

Obviously, I am not a theologian. However, I think [klaxons!] Adam and Eve were not afflicted with Original Sin, but they chose to commit the original sin.

In conclusion, O Lord, why didn’t I hit The PowerBall jackpot last night?

Mary De Voe
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 3:27pm

“Had I been made the partner of Eve, we’d be in Eden still!” — Sir Lancelot, as portrayed in the musical “Camelot”
Camelot got it backwards. Eve was made the partner of Adam. Had Adam told Eve that he would not eat the apple, Eve would have been redeemed by her husband.

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 5:27pm

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception kept me out of the Church (literally! every Dec. 8th) for a long time.

The only answer I can offer Guy is this: Because God didn’t pick you to be his mother. That’t why.

Howard
Howard
Sunday, December 2, AD 2018 6:25pm

@Mary de Voe — Eve was created after Adam, but (1) that has nothing to do even with the literal line in the musical, since she became his wife at the precise moment he became her husband, and (2) works of poetry are not meant to be analyzed they way a lawyer looks for a loophole.

trackback
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 12:02am

[…] Van Kirk, Catholic Stand The True Season of Advent – Fr. Jeffrey Kirby, The Catholic Thing God, Why? Why Wasn’t I Immaculately Conceived? – Guy McClung Ph.D. J.D., TACatholic Was Jesus Born December 25th? – Jimmy Akin, […]

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 9:57am

“The only answer I can offer Guy is this: Because God didn’t pick you to be his mother. That’t why.”
All people are called to bring Jesus Christ to the world and in doing so we achieve our original innocence. Original innocence is the state of the individual’s human soul as created by God. God does not create sin. Upon achieving our original innocence, a man will have redeemed his parents and his first parents Adam and Eve. This man will walk with Jesus Christ.

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 10:21am

@Mary de Voe — Eve was created after Adam, but (1) that has nothing to do even with the literal line in the musical, since she became his wife at the precise moment he became her husband, and (2) works of poetry are not meant to be analyzed they way a lawyer looks for a loophole.
When heresy abides in the poetry, the heresy must be called out by lawyers and all.
The husband is the head of the wife. Informed consent must be given by both man and woman to be husband and wife. Husband and wife are offices, vocations if you must. Having complete original innocence, Adam and Eve were able to give full informed consent to become husband and wife. God officiated and witnessed the first marriage sacrament.
Many times in the Bible, it is pronounced that if a wife, ( of free will informed consent, not any woman) took an oath and if her husband disagreed with her oath, then her oath became nullified.
St. Paul says: “Husbands love your wives. Wives (of free will informed consent, not any woman) be submissive to your husband.”
When Eve ate the apple and gave the apple to her husband and Adam refused to eat the apple, Eve’s crime against obedience was nullified.
So too, when man achieves his original innocence he redeems his first parents Adam and Eve and all of humanity, mankind.
Mary, Jesus Christ’s Mother, willed to remain a virgin in body and soul in her original innocence from the very first moment of her existence. God privileged her request and granted her petition. Mary remains a virgin in body and soul from the very first moment of her existence.
Like it or not every man must acknowledge his failure to love God from the very first moment of his existence to achieve his original innocence. With the grace of God, not only is this achievable but imperative.

Howard
Howard
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 10:59am

“When heresy abides in the poetry, the heresy must be called out by lawyers and all.”
And that does not apply here. At all. You are chasing figments of your own imagination. That doesn’t help others, it doesn’t help you, and it only works to make real objections to real heresies look silly by association. Cut it out.

GregB
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 2:24pm

Mary’s Immaculate Conception was followed by her undergoing the Seven Sorrows. I’ve heard it said that extraordinary spiritual phenomena usually come with trials for the one receiving the extraordinary spiritual phenomena.

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 3:23pm

@HOWARD
““When heresy abides in the poetry, the heresy must be called out by lawyers and all.”
And that does not apply here. At all”
Have you read the Bible at all? Wives are subject to their husbands. No more, no less. Do not get your catechesis from the theater.

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 3:25pm

and that is why homosexuals cannot be married…because there is no wife to be subject to her husband.

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 3:32pm

GREGB
What you say is true. That means that fallen men as we are we are given God’s mercy.

Howard
Howard
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 3:35pm

@Mary de Voe
First of all, the line from that song was never intended to be “catechesis”. Only a nut would think that it was so intended.
Secondly, for a man to be made the partner of his wife has nothing to do with the order in time in which they each came into being, nor does it have anything to do with how they relate to each other. Only a nut would think that it does.
I would like to believe you are not a nut. Stop acting like one. The kind of “catechesis” you are offering through your comments will not strengthen the faltering nor win souls to Christ; it just makes us all look silly.

GUY MCCLUNG
GUY MCCLUNG
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 5:47pm

Everyone-Many thanks for the comments, to you too Howard. Please note my last line re: Part II to come. My overall theme is the asking of God Why questions, and I used one of my own as the hook and entre to this discussion. Part II will deal with God Why questions in general. If He gives me a reply to my specific question, there will be a Part III asap – and bacon will take wing as pigs fly. Guy McClung, Texas

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 9:18pm

Free will informed consent is not forthcoming from the individual intent on sodomy because every sin fills the soul with the smoke of Satan and darkens of the mind and heart by way of the intent to violate “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” Declaration.
@HOWARD:
Everything a man does or encounters leaves a “mark” on him and for no other reason than he spend his time encountering it. If you do not believe that, then you are the one missing out on life.

Mary De Voe
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 9:21pm

“as pigs fly” Pigs do fly but only in heaven.

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Monday, December 3, AD 2018 9:38pm

In my experience, “God, why” questions are best answered by “Because He’s God and you aren’t.”

But then I have a vicious authoritarian streak

Discover more from The American Catholic

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

Scroll to Top