February the 2nd marks the celebration of the Roman Catholic feast day known as the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also called the Purification of Our Lady, Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, or, as it is known in Germany, Candlemas. First instituted by Pope Sergius I, this holiday is based on the Roman Catholic belief that the Virgin Mary, after the birth of the Lord Jesus, went to the Jewish temple at Jerusalem to be purified and to present the child Jesus to the Lord God.

A Practical Catholic Dictionary explains it thus:

“This feast is in memory of Our Lady’s purification in the Temple after the birth of Jesus. According to the Jewish law, a mother, after the birth of a child, went to the Temple to present the child and to be purified after childbirth. The Presentation in the Temple is commemorated in the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. The Feast of the Purification is also called Candlemas Day.”

A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 179

Purification was done in obedience to the law of Moses:

“If a woman have conceived seed, and born a man child: then she shall be unclean seven days; according to the days of the separation for her infirmity shall she be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his [the child’s] foreskin shall be circumcised. And she shall then continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled.

“And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled, for a son, or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtledove for a sin offering, unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, unto the priest: Who shall offer it before the Lord, and make atonement for her: and she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood. This is the law of her that hath born a male or a female.”

Leviticus 12:2-4, 6-7

According to this passage, purification involved both a physical component and a spiritual component. The physical component was a period of thirty-three days following the birth of a child, during which time a woman’s blood flow cleansed her of afterbirth. The spiritual component involved the woman making a sin offering in order to atone for her sins. The physical component was accomplished at home, whereas the spiritual component was accomplished at the temple in Jerusalem.

Because a woman’s purification had to be accomplished before she made her sin offering (Leviticus 12:6), Mary, the mother of Jesus, would not have gone to the temple to be purified; but, in fact, would have been purified before she even went to Jerusalem. Moreover, as during her purification, a woman was not allowed to enter the sanctuary, or touch any sacred thing, Mary would not have even been allowed to enter the temple, much less offer a sacrifice, a thing hallowed unto the Lord.

The fact that she was not only allowed into the temple, but, did, in fact, make a sin sacrifice, could only mean that when Mary went to Jerusalem, her purification had already been completed. The Bible confirms this:

“When the days of her [Mary’s] purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought Him [Jesus] to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtle doves, or two young pigeons.”

Luke 2:22,24

It is clear from the Bible that Mary the mother of Jesus, went to the temple to offer a sin sacrifice, and the time of her purification had already been accomplished. Why, then, does the Roman Catholic Church teach that the Virgin Mary went to the temple to be purified? I believe it is to bolster the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, the belief that the Virgin Mary was not born with original sin. 

A Practical Catholic Dictionary defines the Immaculate Conception as:

“The privilege by which the Blessed Virgin was free from original sin from the very moment of her conception. Her soul was filled with sanctifying grace at its creation. The word immaculate means free from any stain, that is, perfectly pure. The Blessed Virgin Mary was perfectly pure from her first moment of being.”

A Practical Catholic Dictionary, p. 118

The Roman Catholic Church says that the Virgin Mary is the same as the biblical Mary, the mother of Jesus; yet the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception cannot be reconciled with the Bible’s testimony that Mary, the mother of Jesus considered herself a sinner. If the Virgin Mary and the biblical Mary are the same person, then either the Roman Catholic Church is wrong, or the Bible is wrong. If, however, the Virgin Mary and Mary, the mother of Jesus, are not the same person, then it is entirely possible that the Virgin Mary is sinless.

As a Protestant, I believe the Bible’s testimony that Mary, the mother of Jesus, knew she was a sinner, and offered a sin sacrifice in accordance with the law of Moses. I therefore cannot accept the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception with regard to Mary, the mother of Jesus. I can, however, accept the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception with regard to the Roman Catholic Virgin Mary, because the Virgin Mary is an idol of stone; and an idol of stone cannot sin.

The Roman Catholic Church claims to be infallible, so it would never abandon a doctrine so central to its existence as the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, simply because it does not agree with the Bible. What it would do, and, in fact, has done, is change the Bible’s testimony regarding Mary’s visit to the temple, to make it fit the unbiblical doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. This is because virtually all doctrines concerning the Virgin Mary hang on the Immaculate Conception, especially the doctrine that the Virgin Mary is Co-Redeemer and Mediatrix with the Lord Jesus.

The doctrine of the Purification is further proof that the Virgin Mary is not Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ, but another Mary. The Bible calls this other Mary the “Virgin Daughter of Babylon” and the “Lady of Kingdoms” (Isaiah 47:1,5). 

“Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.”

Be encouraged and look up, for your redemption draweth nigh.

The Still Man