From Bernard to Bernadette: The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

This course traces the development of the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception and its theological significance today. The course proceeds in four units. It first explores Christian teaching on Original Sin (the sin from which Mary is believed to have been preserved). It then examines key primary texts (Anselm, Aquinas, Duns Scotus) in the development of the Marian dogma. Third, it focusses on the Marian apparitions in 1858 at Lourdes, which occurred four years after the promulgation of the dogma by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Fourth, it studies the contemporary significance of the dogma for Christian anthropology, ecclesiology, and ecumenism. The teaching on Mary's Immaculate Conception is shown to be interconnected to the Church's beliefs about human nature (creation, Fall, sexuality), Christ, redemption, the sacraments, and sanctification.