Catechism for Adults: IV. ‘Born of the Virgin Mary’

Extract

The section of the creed introduced by the words ‘conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary’ consists of a relatively long Christological statement. This statement is an essential part of the original proclamation of the Gospel, and indeed, is found both in the Epistles of St Paul and the Acts of the Apostles. The reason for its inclusion in the creed is both because the Gospel cannot be expressed without it, and because it serves to refute any view of our Lord’s life and suffering as only apparent and not real. The whole section is a witness to the historic reality of his words and actions. By the emphasis it lays on this section, the Church refutes the most pervasive of all heresies, Docetism. The term ‘Docetism’ is derived from the Greek word for ‘suppose’ or ‘seem’ and the heresy suggests that Christ only apparently possessed a human body or that only some of the events recorded in the Gospels are salvific. All Docetism pre supposes an idea of what salvation should be like, of what divine action cannot involve. From this ready-made standpoint it proceeds to select the elements in the Christian Gospel that it finds congenial and to reject the rest. The Christological section of the creed serves to remind Christians that it is the Gospel that judges the man and not man the Gospel. The article ‘conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary’ is introductory to this Christological section.