The reviews for The Nativity Story are starting to come in and Peter Chattaway notes reviewers are already getting themselves tied in knots, theology-wise.
People: Immaculate Conception: the belief that Mary was redeemed by God, i.e. preserved from original sin and its corruption from the moment of her conception.
Virginal Conception: the belief that Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb without a human father. Also known (incorrectly, to be picky about it) as the Virgin Birth.
(I make the distinction, because there have been in Catholic theological history, discussions about the literal "Virgin Birth" in which it was said Mary’s physical virginity was preserved during birth, and, slightly related to both ideas, she would not have experienced labor pains. I’m sure we can have discussions about that once I open comments.)
Peter’s got some doozies already noted, the first, a massive one, from The Hollywood Reporter’s review:
Mary’s] aging cousin Elizabeth (Oscar-nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo) is experiencing a similar miracle, newly pregnant by her equally ancient husband Zechariah (Stanley Townsend), a priest. Mary convinces her parents to allow her to visit the pious couple to sort out her life. It is here she experiences the Immaculate Conception.
I mean…how is this wrong. Let us count the ways.
Ah, well.
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