The idea of Mary living without sin is not directly supported by scripture, although both sides of the argument have interpretations of scripture that they say supports their belief. The direct answer to your question is "No, the Bible does not explicitly state that Mary never sinned." In 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed that "The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin." This is codified in the Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph #491.

Nowhere does the Bible even give the idea that Mary was without sin. If when she gave birth to the purest being this world has ever seen she was still considered to be unclean. Jesus is the only person to be without sin. That is very misleading for the pope to say that she was. Many Catholics put Mary up on a pedistal when she doesnt belong there. Jesus said " I am the way, the truth, and the life. Noone comes to the father but through me." Meaning Jesus is the only one to save your soul. Mary cannot hear our prayers. The Bible also tells us to prove all things and hold fast to what is true. It doesnt matter if every pope said she was. The Bible is Gods word. Follow the word and not the system of religion.

Travis said it correctly. The Bible hardly mentions Mary. There is more in it about Job, Jeremiah, or just about anyone else, than there is about her. She had to accept her own son as the Messiah to be saved herself! Remember when even after an angel came and told her that Jesus would be born, and all the other signs were shown her, and he lived a sinless life, and when he started ministering to people, she came to bring him home one day because she thought he was crazy? Does that sound like a perfect, holy, flawless being who was in perfect union with God? She had to be shown the truth. I doubt she knew completely who he was until Pentecost after he was raised from the dead and talked and ate with people for days. She was present the day he died, saw the darkness take over the earth, felt the earthquake, etc. Hey, man, she was just human. I don't blame her for needing further proof; I just doubt that she was completely cognizant of what God, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus were up to.

The Church believes the Blessed Virgin Mary was Saved by her Saviour, her son, before she was concieved. So, yes Christ's merits kept Mary free from sin, it just so happens that for her it was before her conception. Since God transcends all time and space this is thoroughly possible. We know from the Gospel of Luke that Mary was greeted by the Angel Gabriel, as "full of Grace". She is the only person in scripture to receive such a greeting. It's meaning is such that Mary, being "full of grace", that is, possessing the fullness of God's grace in her, would logically not have room in her then for sin. One's ability to keep from sinning is directly related to the grace they are given by God. If Mary is "FULL" of grace as scripture tells us then she has been given by God the fullest measure of grace needed to be without sin, and remained so all her life. She then, is the model of descipleship for all of us. Her life demonstrates that humans can acheive holiness with His grace. Mary is the only human to walk her life completely with Chirst and thus the only human to walk Christ's life with him, from beginning to end. And by the Way she was present at Pentacost, the birth of the Catholic church!

I've searched through many different translations of the mainstream bible for 'full of grace', and nowhere is Mary called that. She is told by the angel that she is 'favoured by god', or has 'found favour in god's eyes'. So? David was favoured in god's eyes. At one time Saul was favoured in God's eyes. Samuel was favoured in God's eyes. We are favoured in God's eyes. The truth is that Mary was just another human being who was given the blessing (and curse) of being the mother of God's child. Think of the pain and anguish she went through when he died. Not all roses. Mary was married, and according to evidence in the bible, had other children to Joseph. She may have been a virgin when she conceived Jesus, but for her to have other children to Joseph meant that at some stage in life she gave up her virginity to him. She was an ordinary woman living in an ordinary world. The only thing extraordinary about her was her son. Nowhere in the bible does it say that Mary hears our prayers. It is not Mary who 'stands at the right hand of the Father, and ever lives to make intercession for us'. Nowhere in the bible is Mary given any role in our salvation or relationship with God. In fact, she's hardly mentioned past his birth. We're told about the visit to Jerusalem, and that Jesus grew in favour with God and man. Then Jesus starts his public ministry. The only times Mary is ever mentioned after that are the wedding at Cana, when his Disciples tell him she is looking for him, at his crucifixion and at his resurrection. There is nothing - I repeat - NOTHING in the bible that portrays her as anything but a regular girl who was favoured by God and chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. To label her as anything else is idolatry and worship of a false god. The Apostles never mentioned her as such in their teachings, and it is odd that only the traditional Catholics with their rites and rituals (of which some people consider idolatry and false religion) teach this doctrine. No other mainstream or unorthodox Christian church teaches on the deification of Mary, and I guarantee that thousands upon thousands of scholars and researchers have examined the bible, and none that I know of have come up with any support for Mary worship.

I agree what david said..All people are sinners..even mary will be judge according to his work..Mary is not only woman that called a blessed woman..We should not consider Mary as God, we should not worship and pray to her because she was dead already.If you read the bible, you can't find some text that Mary was a God..Mary is just a human being.therefore, mary is like us and she also commit a sin because Jesus is only perfect!....to all marian believer, open your eyes to the truth, let Jesus and God be the one to save us. Many people will be lost because of her, so ry to think of if you are truly believe that Jesus is the lord.

From years of debating Catholics on this issue among others, I know many will try to say that the Greek "kecharitomene" suggests she had special grace by which God kept her from sinning. The best site I've yet seen on the subject is this one: http://www.angelfire.com/ky/dodone/GS1.html Here's a quote: "Strong's Greek Dictionary defines the Greek word kecharitomene "to grace, endue with special honor." Berry's Interlinear New Testament defines the word "(thou) favored one." Thayer's Greek Lexicon says, "to pursue with grace, compass with favor, honor and blessings." Therefore "hail, thou art highly favored" (KJV) is the correct translation. Following through with the Catholic conclusion, Mary's status is seen to be "indistinguishable from that of other women of the Bible." I've already addressed the topic of Mary pretty in-depth here: http://www.answerbag.com/a_view.php/42410 Here's some points from it: ======================================================================================================== They [Catholics] might be surprised to learn the Bible actually gives an example of this error in trying to worship Mary where a woman actually comes up to Jesus calling Mary's body blessed: Luke 11:27 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. 28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. First, notice that while Jesus agreed her body was blessed, He said that 'rather' blessed are those which hear God's Word and keep it. In other words, any Christian can be more blessed then Mary's body in and of itself." Catholics also try to use John 2:3-7 to say that they show Mary had parental authority over Jesus. However, they show just the opposite. Notice that when Mary tries to exercise parental authority Jesus rejects it (v. 4, note-NOT disrespect to Mary) for as He says in Luke 2:49, parental authority is to His heavenly Father and not those allowed to watch over their Creator here on earth. It is only when she acknowledges Jesus' authority with the only command we have from her in the Scriptures, "whatsoever He saith unto you, do it" that He agrees to help her. Catholics believe Mary sinless, but as Galatians 2:16 says, by the law of works will no flesh be justified in His sight. As Romans 3:23 says, all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. As Romans 3:19 says, the whole world is guilty before God. Jesus is the one exception precisely because He IS God. Furthermore, the Bible says every knee in heaven, earth, and under the earth will bow to Jesus, as well as confessing Him Lord, or Master. And that means Mary too. Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Mary was simply a humble peasant girl God blessed in allowing her to be a gateway for her Creator to step into this world, and not the "Queen of Heaven" that Catholics love worshipping. As she said in Luke 1:47, her spirit rejoiced in God her Saviour. What is God saving us from? Precisely what the angel told Joseph, our sins (Matthew 1:21). Mary is a sinner in need of mercy through faith in Jesus and not works, just like any of us. ======================================================================================================== Also, observe these verses: Matthew 12:46 While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. 47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. 48 But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? 49 And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 50 For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Notice that ANYONE who "shall do the will of my [Jesus'] Father which is in Heaven" can be Jesus brother, sister, or mother. Therefore, Mary has no special family position to Jesus according her special respect in and of itself (though she is a saint like any Christian and as such loved). Notice secondly that the only family position to Jesus not mentioned as being open is that of Father, precisely because that is the ONLY ONE TAKEN. Also, observe these verses: Luke 2:48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. Notice that Jesus said His first responsibility was that He "be about my Father's business." This should quickly show us who truly has parental authority over Him, and it is not Mary, the creation of Jesus who He chose to use to bring Himself into the world, like water comes through a pipe. Mary played no part in the CREATION of Jesus, for He existed before her, just as He existed before Abraham (John 8:58). And finally, observe these verses: Matthew 22:42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. 43 He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, 44 The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? 45 If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? Notice that even though Jesus' fleshly nature was descended from David by blood, even as it was from Mary, David called Jesus in spirit "Lord." Thus, the same holds true to Mary, for He is her Creator, and she must call Him Lord as well. As it is written: Philippians 2:10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, Jesus is not in bondage to Mary for authority, but the other way around. For He existed before both Mary and David, and created them, thus it is they who call Him "Lord" and not the other way around. David was Mary's great-great-great, etc... grandfather and even he acknowledged Jesus as Lord, even before she was born! How then should Mary, his great-great-great, etc... grandchild not do the same?!?

No, the Bible does not come right out and say that Mary was without sin, just like the Bible does not say that we attend Mass on Sunday morning because Jesus resurrected from the grave on Sunday. To understand the Bible and what it's writers are saying requires much wisdom and insight. As far as Mary goes, the angle came to her and told her that the Lord has found favor with her. Since God is SINLESS, how could ever incarnate Himself through a sinful vessel? Mary was without original sin. Mary does infact hear our prayers just as any other saint we call upon for guidence, it's in the BIBLE! No, Mary is not the Truth, the Way & the Life, Christ is. Christ gets a person to God, Mary gets a person to Jesus. Jesus and Mary are the new Adam and Eve. The first Adam and Eve said NO to God and took us into the ground. The new Adam and Eve said YES to God and lift us up into the sky... think about it

Mary's humanity is essential for the whole of God's plan of salvation the One and Only Perfect Man is the sacrifice for sin. He was fully man but perfect! Mary although greatly blessed was a young woman who was greatly used by God for the blessing of the world.

No. "According to Roman Catholicism, in addition to Jesus, the Virgin Mary also lived her entire life without sin. Catholicism teaches as infallible dogma that Jesus assumed her directly into heaven after the end of her life on Earth; see Assumption of Mary. The belief in Mary's sinlessness is shared by many Eastern Orthodox theologians, but is not universally held and is not generally considered to be a point of dogma. In addition, the Orthodox view of the sinlessness of the Theotokos is not quite of the same nature as that held by Roman Catholics, since the Catholic teaching of the Immaculate Conception is not an Orthodox doctrine." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sin I suppose, if it stayed clearly in the Bible, there would not be such a controversy about it among Christians.

I'm not an expert, but I know of noplace in Scripture where such a claim is ever made.

1 I don’t think the Bible says that. It doesn’t say much about Mary anyway. The HQ says quite a bit about Mary. This scripture in Arabic says that God chose a Jewish woman, Mary, above all the women of the earth (Behold! the angels said: "O Mary! God hath chosen thee and purified thee- chosen thee above the women of all nations” HQ 3:42) and it even has a whole Surah (HQ 19) named after her (although translated as ‘chapter’ a ‘surah’ is more like a book of the Bible). But even the HQ, the only scripture to honour Mary so highly, does not say that she never sinned. 2 So where does the idea come from? Well, it’s a non-scriptural belief that is used to explain another non-scriptural belief – that of the “original sin” see http://www.answerbag.com/a_view/4071005 According to these beliefs everyone is born with the “original sin” making the sin so great that a human sacrifice is required to atone for it, and an ordinary human will not do, it has to be a perfect human being, one that has no sin. Now Jesus has no human father to pass on the original sin to him so he is the best candidate for the sacrifice. But he has a human mother who could have passed on the original sin to him. So how do you get out of that problem? 3 The Catholics solved the problem by claiming that Mary was an immaculate conception, meaning that the original sin was not passed on to her when she was conceived, she was thus born sinless. As such, she did not have any original sin to pass down to Jesus. What is not explained is how did Mary's parents, BOTH being human, fail to pass on the "original sin gene" to her? 4 Having left the RC church the Protestants stripped Mary of the status given to her by that church. They even deny that she was a biologicl mother of Jesus, claiming that “Christ was conceived completely by the Holy Ghost, NOT BY Mary AT ALL. She was just His vessel to enter into the world” – a surrogate mother. This might be their explanation of how Jesus was born totally sinless but it creates other problems. If he had no human gene either from the father or the mother how does that make him human? How does that make him the perfect HUMAN sacrifice? How can anyone claim that God came down as a man if this “man” wasn’t human? 5 Most of the above beliefs stem from the teachings of Paul, they neither agree with the teachings of Jesus nor with those of the HQ.

The view of Mary being sinless is derived from the Roman Catholic Church, it is not taught or addressed in the Bible, and actually the opposite is slightly hinted at in a couple passages. The view is held because they view Jesus to be without sin, which they view being passed down genetically. They view that since Jesus was born of Mary, then he shared in her genes and her sin would have been passed down to Jesus. Some Catholics will even go so far as to say that every ancestor of Mary was without sin (although this is totally off since she is a descendent of David who clearly sinned when he had an affair with Bathsheba). The problem is that the Catholics miss the point because the Holy Spirit planted the seed in Mary. Jesus, in human likeness, was a new creation, which did not use Mary's genes. He is described as the new Adam in the book of Romans, because he was born without the nature of sin. To go back to the discussion of Mary's potential sin. In the wedding at Cana, Mary is depicted as trying to persuade Jesus to begin his ministry before it was time. Then again, in Mark chapter 3, Jesus' whole family (Mary included) oppose Jesus, even calling him crazy, and attempt to stop Jesus from teaching. The use of logic would show that since Mary opposed Jesus and his ministry, and if Jesus is God, then Mary opposed the will of God, therefore the natural conclusion would be that Mary did in fact sin. But since Jesus was a new seed, born without sin or the nature to sin, any of Mary's transgressions would not play into Jesus' nature.

No. The Bible teaches the opposite. Why would she call God her "Saviour" if she was not a sinner(Luke 1:47)? Sinless people have no need of a Saviour because they do not need to be saved from their sins. Mary was indeed a godly woman who obeyed God and honored the Lord Jesus Christ, but she was not without sin. The Bible says that all have sinned(Romans 3:23). The only Man Who was without sin was the Lord Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, our Lord and Saviour. Thank you and may God bless you! :) -In Jesus' Name.

Mary was a descendant of Adam and Eve and had inherited sin and evenutally died.

No in fact Mary herself proclaimed her sinfulness in the Song of Mary when in Luke 1:42 she says, "... and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior." This is a self proclamation of sinfulness for if she was without sin she would need no Savior but would refer to him by some other name.

even Abraham sinned!! all humans sin.. Abraham , Moses, etc. all gave "blood of lamb" sacrifices for atonement..New Testament was "blood of Jesus(LAMB)", once. so, we are not under OT laws of atonement. Jesus is the only way now. He paid for our sins .

Mary is not God, but God made sure Mary was without sin so that Jesus was born from Virgin without sin. Catholics are not saying Mary is God. You should love Your God above all, but Mary is Our MOther. She is the mediatrix of all graces and co-redemptrix. Maybe ask yourselves, why is Mary appearing all over the world and especially the past several years. I am not good at explaining myself but I will leave a statement that was said by Jesus: My children, I accept in suffering, in patience, and with a consolable heart the abominations against My nature and My divinity in the Father and in the Spirit, but I will not tolerate the abuses to My Mother! You who have cast aside the knowledge of My birth, accepting to degrade My Mother in your hypocrisy and rejection of truth! "The Eternal Father chose My Mother before Her beginning on earth to be the receptacle for My entrance onto your earth. My Mother was conceived without sin; She knew not the stigma of sin, the original sin of mankind from the first parents. She was destined from the beginning of time, in the knowledge of the Eternal Father, to be a spotless receptacle for My entrance into your world. "My Mother is not and was not an ordinary woman. My Mother was ever-virgin. My Mother bore Me forth without pain and knowledge of My entrance until the sound of the babe awakened Her and Her spouse, Her pure spouse, Joseph. My Mother knew not man before or after My birth. My Mother, as was written in the Book of old, was ever-virgin. How dare you degrade Her, O man of little faith!" - Jesus, May 14, 1977 Go to this website: http://www.tldm.org/directives/directives.htm (directive #8 explains a little bit about Mary) - Mary showed up at Bayside, Garabandal, Medjugorje,..etc. - If you are thinking that these are not genuine, then why do they all co-incide with all information given to the Prophets. Or all the miracles that have happened in all the areas where Mary was appearing. (ie: Our Lady of Lourdes, Bayside, Garabandal, etc.) - Mary is Our Mother. Even Jesus said this when he said to John at the foot of the cross "behold your Mother". We cannot forget about Mary. When We love Mary we give Glory to God, because God made Mary without the stain of sin. - All those that do not believe. Why? Because you feel God doesn't have the power to make this possible? Why did she ascend to Heaven if she had sin. I don't want to be pushy. I appologize if this may appear as such. But every time someone refuses to believe her virginity, her purity, you break her heart and make her shed more tears. She truly is the Mother of Sorrows! - At least love Her and accept Her as Your Mother if all else fails. Look up more of where she has been appearing and read the messages she left. You can't always ask humans because we are only humans. If you really want to learn and understand, or even look into Mary as having no stain of sin. Do this also by yourself, through searching and asking the Holy Spirit as well as Jesus to help you understand or to know the truth whether Mary had no stain of sin. I am sure that if you ask this of the Holy Spirit and Jesus, they will show you whether through knowledge and wisdom. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand the bible too, because without the Holy Spirit, you would only be reading parables. - After all of this, I know that you will understand and know the truth. Instead of trying to find whats wrong with the church, pray for the church. Instead of trying to find omisions or picking at all words given to the profits. Instead of this accept them with faith, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you. The end of the age is fast approaching. Remember that Jesus and Mary will not leave us! Mary: "I stand upon the head of the serpent. My heel will crush him, but not until man and the world have been cleansed. I come as a Mediatrix of all graces, representative through My Son in the Father." Jesus (King of All Nations) said: "My children, dear children, do not despair. There is always hope...Souls underestimate the power of Mary's prayers. One glance from My dear Mother is enough to disarm My Perfect Justice. She is the channel of My Mercy. Through her flows My Life to mankind. Children, My children, do not despair...Come to My Throne of Mercy, confident that I will hear you. I reign in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Adore Me there. Receive Me with hearts full of love and submission to My Holy Will. I need you My faithful ones. Help Me to save souls..." By the way: Look at Your Saints. All Saints had a special/close relationship with the Mother of God. Look at Your saints and follow their examples. Read about their lives. - Read about the Eucharistic Miracles that have occured in the Blessed Sacrament. - Read about the Miracles occurring regarding Mary appearing in different places in the world. (See Garabandal - this one I cherish because it teaches us the example how to receive the host properly) - If you want to know the truth ask the Holy Spirit and search yourselves instead of constantly asking others. If you really want to know and understand, you will through prayers and searching/pursuing. God Bless everyone in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Mary please help your little children find their way back to you.

The bible says that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God with one exception Jesus Christ. Mary falls into the same category as the rest of humanity.

Mary was in God's favour , In His Grace as we all are..She gave sacrifices for sins same as Abraham, Noah, Moses, whom God also chose and found favor with...they were RIGHTEOUS but not perfect...

The bible does not explicitly say whether Mary sinned or not. Similary, the bible does not mention the word trinity, but this also is a doctrine that developed in the Church through careful reflection on the bible and the teaching of the apostles.

I like to go a bit off topic.I think Jesus inherited nothing from Mary including original sin because at one instance Jesus himself acknowledge John the Baptist to be the greatest of those who were born of a woman.If Jesus was born of a woman, is John the Baptist even greater than Jesus Christ.