Catholic Christians look to the development over time of Biblical faith. This follows from Jesus' promise to send the Holy Spirit to reveal more things than He would tell His Apostles. This deepening of understanding God's Truth is evidenced in the definitions of the truth about the Trinity and the natures of Christ in the early Church councils.
Catholics also believe that the Bible does not record all the revealed Word of God. The Word of God in paradosis or tradition under the guidance of the Holy Spirit cannot contradict anything in the Bible, nor be absent from the constant faith of the believing Church.
Some understanding of the truth of God passed on by the believing Church (paradosis, tradition) later defined as revealed truth concerns Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Catholics believe, as did the Protestant Reformers, that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus. Catholics believe the truth of the Bible that the Redemption of Jesus freed all believers from the original sin of Adam and its consequence, death.
On the basis of Bible truths from Genesis to Revelation, Catholics believe that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was the first to believe, and the first to reap both benefits from her Son's Redemption.
Mary's freedom from original sin is called her Immaculate Conception; her freedom from death (the consequence of the sin from which she was free) is called her Assumption.
By Paul Flanagan and Robert Schihl.
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture texts are taken from the New American Bible with Revised New Testament, © 1986, Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.
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Last Updated: January 3, 1997