Do you celebrate World Religion Day, held every year on the third Sunday of January? No? What's the matter with you, don't you like world religions? There are several to choose from, it's hard to pretend you don't like any of them. To ring in the new year with some new knowledge, we've asked implausibly long-running Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings to correct some of the stuff everyone gets wrong about the world's great belief systems. No matter what faith you practice—or even if it's none at all!—Ken will set you straight, chapter and verse.
The Debunker: Who Was Conceived in the Immaculate Conception?
In the Gospel of Luke, the Virgin Mary is told by the angel Gabriel that her child will be "the Son of the Most High" and will reign over Israel forever. Mary is a little taken aback: she's a virgin! It's even in her name! The angel explains further, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you, therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." In other words, Jesus gets conceived without a mortal father. That's the immaculate conception, right?
Nope! The Immaculate Conception is a feast celebrated on December 8, and it's also the name of dozens of Catholic churches and schools around the world. But Catholics, confusingly, have two different doctrines about miraculous conceptions. The conception of Jesus is called the Incarnation—that is, God becoming incarnate in the flesh, fully human but still fully divine. The Immaculate Conception is something different. It actually refers to the conception of Mary herself, in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne (aka Jesus's grandma). Wait, what?
That's right: according to Catholic dogma, Mary's conception of Christ was only possible because she herself was conceived without sin. God, foreseeing the merits of Christ to come, stepped in at the moment of Mary's conception (which was proceeding in the normal biological way, wink wink) and freed her soul from original sin. This is a medieval Catholic tradition that was only made official by the Vatican in 1854, but it explains the special status of Mary in Catholic belief. She's a special protector and intercessor with her Son, Jesus, because she's sinless too.
Quick Quiz: What super-controversial (and Lenny Kravitz-written!) Madonna song was the first single off her 1990 album The Immaculate Collection?
Ken Jennings is the author of six books, most recently his Junior Genius Guides, Because I Said So!, and Maphead. He's also the proud owner of an underwhelming Bag o' Crap. Follow him at ken-jennings.com or on Twitter as @KenJennings.