Monday, January 24, 2022

Innocent III Denies the Immaculate Conception (with more complete citation/sources)

William Albrecht, relying on a secondary source, alleged that the sermons of Innocent III that were quoted in "How Many Popes does it Take to Deny the Immaculate Conception?" (link) were inauthentic.  His quotation stated:

"John Baptist Posa [t] say those sermons of Innocent III were plucked from apocryphal libraries. Fr. Peter of Alva, and Theophilus Raynaudus say that the sermons were by John Lotharius, a Canon regular."

Oddly enough Lothario dei Conti was Innocent III's name before he became pope.  

The sections of the relevant sermons are found among the authentic writings of Innocent III, in the Migne Latin Patrology,  second series, Tome CCXVII.

The Sermon on the Purification of the Virgin is Sermon XII (of the Sermones De Tempore series), and the relevant material is at col. 506-07:




But forthwith [upon the Angel’s words, ‘The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee’] the Holy Ghost came upon her. He had before come into her, when, in her mother’s womb, He cleansed her soul from original sin; but now too He came upon her to cleanse her flesh from the ‘fomes’ of sin, that she might be altogether without spot or wrinkle. That tyrant then of the flesh, the sickness of nature, the ‘fomes’ of sin, as I think, He altogether extinguished, that henceforth any motion from the law of sin should not be able to arise in her members.

Sermon on the Assumption, Sermon 2 (aka Second Discourse on the Assumption) is Sermon XXVIII (of the Sermones de Sanctis series) at column 581.  Note the Editor's note that excuses Innocent III's views on the grounds that the doctrine had not yet been defined.


Eve was produced without sin, but she brought forth in sin; Mary was produced in sin, but she brought forth without sin.

The Sermon On the Feast of John the Baptist, is Sermon XVI (of the Sermones de Festis series) and the material is at column 531.



Of John the Angel does not speak of the conception but of the birth. But of Jesus he predicts alike the Birth and the Conception. For to Zechariah the father it is predicted, ‘Thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John,’ but to Mary the mother it is predicted, ‘Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bear a Son, and shalt call His Name Jesus.’ For John was conceived in fault, but Christ Alone was conceived without fault. But each was born in grace, and therefore the Nativity of each is celebrated, but the Conception of Christ Alone is celebrated.

And you will see from the column range that these are all within the range of the authentic sermons, not in the "Dubiorum" group.

So, I cannot help but think that Mr. Albrecht has made a serious error in relying on the less than reliable pen of Mr. Peter D'Alva (or Peter of Alva), one of the major proponents of the immaculate conception in the 1600s.  Migne's patrology was published, unless I am mistaken, in the 1800s, although sometimes building on the work of preceding centuries.  Nevertheless, between someone with an obvious axe to grind and the Migne patrology, it seems clear who is more reliable.

1 comment:

  1. Question for TurretinFan:

    I am a Reformed apologist. Would you be ok I reposted this on my blog?

    ReplyDelete

Comment Guidelines:

1. Thanks for posting a comment. Without you, this blog would not be interactive.

2. Please be polite. That doesn't mean you have to use kid gloves, but please try not to flame others, even if they are heretics, infidels, or worse.

3. If you insult me, I'm more likely to delete your comment than if you butter me up. After all, I'm human. I prefer praise to insults. If you prefer insults, there's something wrong with you.

4. Please be concise. The comment box is not your blog. Your blog is your blog. If you have a really long comment, post it on your blog and post a short summary of it here.

5. Please don't just spam. It's one thing to be concise, it's another thing to simply use the comment box to advertise.

6. Please note, by commenting here, you are relinquishing your (C) in your comments to me.

7. Remember that you will give an account on judgment day for your words, including those typed in comment boxes. Try to write so you will not be ashamed if it is read back before the entire world.

8. Stay on topic. If your comment has nothing to do with the post, email it to me (my email can be obtained through my blogger profile), or simply don't post it.

9. Don't post as "Anonymous." If you are going to post anonymously, at least use some kind of recognizable "handle," so we can tell you apart from all the other anonymous folks. (This is moot at the moment, since recent abuse has forced me to turn off "anonymous" commenting.)

10. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you; and abstain from doing to others what you would not wish upon yourself.