McGrath Institute Blog

Editorial Note: This post is part of our #FaithAndScience series exploring the relationship between science and religion, and contains excerpts from the textbook Faith, Science, & Reason: Theology on the Cutting Edge, 2nd edition (Midwest Theological Forum, 2019).

How do we know what is true? Is truth discovered from majority opinion or is it grounded in something else? 

The answer to this question depends on what kind of truth someone is looking for. For example, someone might ask if it is true that the universe began with a “Big Bang,” or someone might ask if it is true that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without sin. In the first example, we are talking about scientific or material truth—the truth about how something works in the material world. In the second instance, we are talking about a spiritual truth—the truth about meaning. What does it mean to say Mary was conceived without sin, and why is this important?

Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Occasionally this dogma is confused for the doctrine of the Virgin Birth of Jesus. According to the Catechism, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception pertains to the “splendor of an entirely unique holiness” that, among humans, belongs only to our Blessed Lady, because she is “enriched from the first instant of her conception”—a singular grace coming wholly from Christ. Mary is “redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son” (CCC, §492).

With the release of Vespers for the Immaculate Conception, Grammy-winning composer and Notre Dame Folk Choir director J.J. Wright follows up on the musical fusion of 2016’s Billboard Classical chart-topping album O Emmanuel.