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I spent this morning trying to get my head wrapped round some of the teachings of the Blessed John Duns Scotus, a philosopher priest from the High Middle Ages. I failed as I always do when tackling philosophy to understand the confusion and complexity of thought that lies behind their ideas. I guess after fifty odd years of trying to get to grips I have to admit failure. Part of the reason I think is the tortured way they deal with subjects, that and the fact none of it can ever be proved, we never get to the definitive answer. However all was not lost in my morning study as I read part of his proof of the necessity of the Immaculate Conception in our theological studies. I found this to be helpful as I struggled with this idea for a long time trying to get to grips with it intellectually. It was refreshing to read the clarity of his writing on this subject as he ended up in the same place as myself, not that for one minute do I equate myself with his masterful mind. I muddled my way through to a similar conclusion.

It was his thinking that five centuries later led to it being declared in the 19th century as a Dogma of the Church. It wasn’t a new idea, it had been around for a very long time, especially in Eastern Christianity.

Basically we are to believe that Mary was born without the stain of original sin and therefore was the perfect host for the Son of God. His argument goes like this, and here I quote from the excellent article on Wikipedia, : 

“Mary was in need of redemption like all other human beings, but through the merits of Jesus' crucifixion, given in advance, she was conceived without the stain of original sin. God could have brought it about 

1. that she was never in original sin, 
2. she was in sin only for an instant, 
3. she was in sin for a period of time, being purged at the last instant.”

To grasp it fully we must of course refer back to a previous discussion about the nature of time as a created entity that God is not bound by in anyway. Whether we understand these things fully or not doesn’t really matter as long as we realise the importance of the role of Mary in the bringing about our salvation and the devotion due to her as Mother of God and Queen of Heaven and first of the disciples.

God does not demand from us the abilities of a Duns Scotus but rather simple childlike faith and trust. If we can understand then it may be helpful or it may not,  but we should be thankful for these intellectual giants who forged new paths of thinking. His arguments for the Immaculate Conception caused uproar in Paris when first presented. But his thoughts have stood the test of time and examination to become an accepted part of the deposit of faith handed down to us. He like so many others over the centuries was both teaching us and learning to see the truth.