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Most Orthodox reject the dogma of the Immaculate Conception as unnecessaryand wrong. Because Orthodoxy does not see ancestral sin as an inheritance of guilt or a stain, there is no reason for the miraculous removal of either. Nonetheless, Orthodox tradition does hold that the Theotokos remained free of personal sin, a belief shared with some reformers such as Martin Luther.
*[http://www.oca.org/QA.asp?ID=4 St. Augustine & Original Sin] - a typical Orthodox perspective, by Fr. John Matusiak
===From modern Orthodox theologians===
*"Like other human beings, such as St John the Baptist, whose conception and birth are festivals of the Church, the Holy Virgin was born under the law of original sin, sharing with all other human beings their common responsibility for the fall." [[Vladimir Lossky]], "Panagia," in E. L. Mascall, ed., ''The Mother of God: A Symposium by Members of the [[Fellowship of St . Alban and St . Sergius]]''. Westminster: Dacre Press, 1959. Page 31.
*"The Orthodox church does not accept the Catholic dogma of 1854 -- the dogma of the immaculate conception of the Virgin, in the sense that she was exempt at birth from original sin. This would separate her from the human race, and she would then have been unable to transmit to her Son humanity. But Orthodoxy does not admit in the all-pure Virgin any individual sin, for that would be unworthy of the dignity of the Mother of God." Sergius Bulgakov, ''The Orthodox Church''. Crestwood: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1997.
*"I do not see any irresoluble conflict between the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception and the full humanity and freedom of Mary as of the same race as [[Eve]]." - alleged to [[Vladimir Lossky]] but not verified.
*"...being Himself at once God and man, His flesh and soul were and are holy - and beyond holy. God is holy, just as He was and is and shall be, and the Virgin is immaculate, without spot or stain, and so, too, was that rib which was taken from Adam. However the rest of humanity, even though they are His brothers and kin according to the flesh, yet remained even as they were, of dust, and did not immediately become holy and sons of God."
::- St. [[Symeon the New Theologian]], Discourse XIII in ''On the Mystical Life'', vol. 2, trans. [[Alexander Golitzin]] (SVS Press, 1996)
One of the most evident Orthodox statements against the Immaculate conception was written by St. [[Ephraim the Syrian]]: "As lightning illuminates what is hidden, so also Christ purifies what is hidden in the nature of things. He purified the Virgin also and then was born, so as to show that where Christ is, there is manifest purity in all its power. He purified the Virgin, having prepared Her by the Holy Spirit... having been born, He left Her virgin. I do not say that Mary became immortal, but that being illuminated by grace, She was not disturbed by sinful desires" ([http://ortodoks.dk/ortodoks-tro-og-praksis/de-hellige/the-orthodox-veneration-of-mary-the-birthgiver-of-god Homily Against Heretics, 41]).
==History and background==
[[Category:Heresies]]
[[Category:Non-Orthodox]]
[[ro:Imaculata Concepţie]]
