Did Augustine Believe Mary was Sinless?

 

Roman Catholic apologists commonly appeal to the following passage of St. Augustine to assert that he believed in the immaculate conception:

"We must except the holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no sin. 1 John 3:5 Well, then, if, with this exception of the Virgin, we could only assemble together all the forementioned holy men and women, and ask them whether they lived without sin while they were in this life, what can we suppose would be their answer? " (On Nature and Grace, Chapter 42 [XXXVI])

Augustine is here discussing the issue of actual sin, not original sin. Here is what church historian Philip Schaff said on the subject:

"Augustine went a step farther. In an incidental remark against Pelagius, he agreed with him in excepting Mary, “propter honorem Domini,” from actual (but not from original) sin.This exception he is willing to make from the sinfulness of the race, but no other. He taught the sinless birth and life of Mary, but not her immaculate conception" (Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, vol. 3, pgs. 418-419)

This is confirmed by what we read in other passages of Augustine:

"For to speak more briefly, Mary who was of Adam died for sin, Adam died for sin, and the Flesh of the Lord which was of Mary died to put away sin. " (Expositions on the Psalms, on Ps. 34:13)

"This being the case, ever since the time when by one man sin thus entered into this world and death by sin, and so it passed through to all men, up to the end of this carnal generation and perishing world, the children of which beget and are begotten, there never has existed, nor ever will exist, a human being of whom, placed in this life of ours, it could be said that he had no sin at all, with the exception of the one Mediator, who reconciles us to our Maker through the forgiveness of sins." (On Merit and Forgiveness of Sins, Chapter 47)

"Let us hold fast, then, the confession of this faith, without faltering or failure. One alone is there who was born without sin, in the likeness of sinful flesh, who lived without sin amid the sins of others, and who died without sin on account of our sins. " (On Merit and Forgiveness of Sins, Chapter 57)

"For there is no soul, save that of the one Mediator, which does not derive original sin from Adam. Original sin is that which is fastened on the soul at its birth and from which it can only be freed by being born again." (Jerome's Letter 144 - From Augustine to Optatus)

"Moreover, when expounding the Gospel according to Luke, he [i.e. Ambrose] says: “It was no cohabitation with a husband which opened the secrets of the Virgin’s womb; rather was it the Holy Ghost which infused immaculate seed into her unviolated womb. For the Lord Jesus alone of those who are born of woman is holy, inasmuch as He experienced not the contact of earthly corruption, by reason of the novelty of His immaculate birth; nay, He repelled it by His heavenly majesty.”" (On the Grace of Christ and Original Sin, Chapter 47)

Church historians and patristic scholars on Augustine agree that Augustine believed that Mary was free from actual sin, but not from original sin:

"It is clear nonetheless that, given the various theories regarding the transmission of original sin current in his time, Augustine in that passage [from On Nature and Grace] would not have meant to imply Mary's immunity from it. Julian of Eclanum had accused him of being worse than Jovinian in consigning Mary to the devil by the condition of her birth (conditio nascendi). Augustine, Contra Julianum opus imperfectum 4.1.22, replies that Mary was spared this by the grace of her birth ('ipsa condition solvitur gratia renascendi'), implying her baptism. His understand of concupiscence as an interbgral part of all marital relations made it difficult, if not impossible, to accept that she herself was conceived immaculately. He further specifies in the following chapter (5.15.52) that the body of Mary, 'although it came from this [concupiscence], nevertheless did not transmit it for she did not conceive in this way.' Lastly, De Genesi ad litteram 10.18.32 asserts 'And what more undefiled than the womb of the Virgin, whose flesh, although it came from procreation tainted by sin, nevertheless did not conceive from that source." (Daniel E. Doyale, "Mary, Mother of God", in Allan D. Fitzgerald, Augustine through the Ages: An Encyclopedia, pg. 544)

"There seems no doubt that Augustine considered Mary's exemption from sin to be a great grace. But what sins does he mean? Undoubtedly he excludes any personal sin from Mary. Is it possible to hypothesize that Augustine also intended to exclude original sin? Some scholars think so and make him a forerunner of the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. A full treatment of the question would call for a lengthy discussion. To us it seems safer to adopt the contrary position, which is held by many experts and appears more in accord with numerous Augustinian texts." (Luigi Gambero, Mary and the Fathers of the Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary in Patristic Thought, pg. 226)

"While having no doubts about the holiness of Mary in terms of the absence of personal sin, St Augustine is not so clear as to an affirmation of her freedom from original sin." (Paul Haffner, The Mystery of Mary, pg. 77)

"This exclusion, which occurs, in his refutation of the claims of Pelagius that man was capable of living a sinless life through right use of his will, does not necessarily mean, however, that Augustine believed Mary to be free from original sin, but should be understood in terms of an extraordinary grace that was given to her in order to overcome it." (Brian K. Reynolds, Gateway to Heaven: Marian Doctrine and Devotion Image and Typology in the Patristic and Medieval Periods, pg. 345)