But Mary was selected by God to be the mother of Jesus Christ.
Mary was immaculately conceived. The immaculate conception has nothing to do with Jesus and everything to do with the purity of Mary.
Her parents, St. Anne and St. Joachim were favored by God as they were to be the parents of Mary.
As far as Tom Horn is concerned I thought he was an indian fighter who was hanged for murder in 1903.
Disagree. Mary was a vessel.
Was she favored? Yes. But I would ague that she was special because she was chosen - not chosen because she was special.
Going back through the lineage of Christ, you find adulterers (David) & prostitutes (Rahab).
To his own glory God chooses & uses who he will - despite deep character flaws.
As for Mary - was she rare? Probably. Was she unique in terms of her purity? Probably not.
Just mho...
Mary, the mother of Christ, was a sinner. ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The ONLY exception is Jesus Christ. Period.
Mary was conceived just like every other human that has ever lived, with the sin nature passed to her through her father.
She too needed a savior, and when she was told that she would conceive and bear a son, He would not be born with that sin nature because God is His father, therefore the sin nature was not passed to Him, because Joseph was not his natural father, therefore the sin nature was not in Him.