C. S. Lewis + Immaculate Conception =

[DojoGrant]

I'm reading Mere Christianity which is just excellent. However, this line got me thinking about the Immaculate Conception.

"Some people think that they can imagine a creature which was free but had no possibility of going wrong; I cannot."

1) Mary was born without original sin. Did she still have concupiscience (propensity to sin; having to fight the urge to commit sin as we do)?

2) Did Mary have free will?

3) Could Mary have chosen to sin?

4) If Mary could chose to sin, but did not, was she given special grace from God to either help her not sin or even prevent her from sinning?

5) If she was prevented from sinning, does this this not take away her free will?

These are tough questions for me, but I hope someone will attempt to answer them.

[BLAZEr]

Being [b][u]conceived[/b][/u] without original sin means that Mary was conceived in a state identical to Adam and Eve. Both Adam and Eve were created without original sin. Yet, they had the same human freedom we do, and their freedom allowed them to commit a sin. They freely chose to commit a sin.

Mary was in the same state as Adam and Eve, yet Mary chose to be obedient to God in all things. Concupisence is an effect of Original Sin. Mary did not have concupisence. Mary had the same freedom we have. Mary could have chosen to sin, but her will, because she was full of Grace, was perfectly united to God through her son. Shd never sinned.