Although the sinlessness of Mary had been held by the church since the earliest times, the means by which this came about had long been a matter of dispute.

Although the sinlessness of Mary had been established in the early church, the exact time and means whereby Mary became sinless became a matter for debate and dispute.

Their expressions on the subject of the sinlessness of Mary are, it is pointed out, so ample and so absolute that they must be taken to include original sin as well as actual.

Others maintain that Luther in later years changed his position on the Immaculate Conception, which, at that time was undefined in the Church, maintaining however the sinlessness of Mary throughout her life.

Some Catholics have held to a belief that John the Baptist never sinned, though this has never been a point of doctrine and is not binding in belief upon any adherent as is the sinlessness of Mary.