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Perpetual virginity of Mary
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin "before, during and after" the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do many Lutherans, some Anglicans, Reformed, and other Protestants. In Eastern Christianity, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East both adhere to this doctrine as part of their ongoing tradition, and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize Mary as Aeiparthenos, meaning "ever-virgin". It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Most modern nonconformist Protestants, such as the Plymouth Brethren, reject the doctrine.
The extant written tradition of the perpetual virginity of Mary first appears in a late 2nd-century text called the Protoevangelium of James. The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 gave her the title "Aeiparthenos", meaning Perpetual Virgin, and at the Lateran Synod of 649 Pope Martin I emphasized the threefold character of the perpetual virginity, before, during, and after the birth of Christ. The Lutheran Smalcald Articles (1537) and the Reformed Second Helvetic Confession (1562) codified the doctrine of perpetual virginity of Mary as well.
The doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity has been challenged on the basis that the New Testament explicitly affirms her virginity only until the birth of Jesus and mentions the brothers (adelphoi) of Jesus, who may have been: (1) sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph; (2) sons of Joseph by a former marriage; or (3) sons of the Mary named in Mark 15:40 as "mother of James and Joses", who has been identified as either the wife of Clopas and sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a sister-in-law to Joseph.
The Odes of Solomon have been interpreted as implying that Mary was a virgin even during childbirth as well as stating that Mary did not have pain during childbirth. Similar statements exist in the Ascension of Isaiah; for example, the passage "And after her astonishment had worn off her womb was found as (it was) at first, before she had conceived" is described by scholars as an "extraordinary process".
The virgin birth of Jesus is found in the Gospel of Matthew and possibly in Luke, but it seems to have little theological importance before the middle of the 2nd century. The 2nd century Church fathers Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, though mentioning the virgin birth, nowhere affirmed explicitly the view that Mary was a perpetual virgin. This idea, however, appears in at least three second-century works: the Protoevangelium of James, the Gospel of Peter and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. All of these early sources independently assert that the so-called "brothers of the Lord" were children of Joseph's first marriage. According to Anglican scholar Richard Bauckham, these works "show no signs of literary relationship" and probably "evidence of a well-established tradition in (probably early) second-century Syrian Christianity that Jesus' brothers and sisters were children of Joseph by a previous marriage". According to Richard Bauckham, Ignatius of Antioch also believed in the doctrine of Mary's virginity in partu.
The Gospel of James states that Mary remained a life-long virgin, because Joseph was an old man who married her without physical desire, and the brothers of Jesus mentioned in the canonical gospels are explained as Joseph's sons by an earlier marriage. The Protoevangelium seems to have been used to create the stories of Mary which are found in the Quran, but while Muslims agree with Christians that Mary was a virgin at the moment of the conception of Jesus, the idea of her perpetual virginity thereafter is contrary to the Islamic ideal of women as wives and mothers. The Second Apocalypse of James portrays James, the Brother of the Lord, not as a child of Joseph but of a certain "Theudas", a relative of Jesus.
The 8th book of the Christian Sibylline Oracles, which may have been composed in the late II or early III century, describe Mary as "always virgin" (αἰεὶ κούρῃ) and that she received God in her "intact bosom" (ἀχράντοισι ... κόλποις).
Hegesippus's writings are not clear on this subject, with some authors arguing that he defended the doctrine, while others arguing that he disputed the perpetual virginity of Mary.
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Perpetual virginity of Mary
The perpetual virginity of Mary is a Christian doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was a virgin "before, during and after" the birth of Christ. In Western Christianity, the Catholic Church adheres to the doctrine, as do many Lutherans, some Anglicans, Reformed, and other Protestants. In Eastern Christianity, the Oriental Orthodox Churches and the Church of the East both adhere to this doctrine as part of their ongoing tradition, and Eastern Orthodox churches recognize Mary as Aeiparthenos, meaning "ever-virgin". It is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Most modern nonconformist Protestants, such as the Plymouth Brethren, reject the doctrine.
The extant written tradition of the perpetual virginity of Mary first appears in a late 2nd-century text called the Protoevangelium of James. The Second Council of Constantinople in 553 gave her the title "Aeiparthenos", meaning Perpetual Virgin, and at the Lateran Synod of 649 Pope Martin I emphasized the threefold character of the perpetual virginity, before, during, and after the birth of Christ. The Lutheran Smalcald Articles (1537) and the Reformed Second Helvetic Confession (1562) codified the doctrine of perpetual virginity of Mary as well.
The doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity has been challenged on the basis that the New Testament explicitly affirms her virginity only until the birth of Jesus and mentions the brothers (adelphoi) of Jesus, who may have been: (1) sons of Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Joseph; (2) sons of Joseph by a former marriage; or (3) sons of the Mary named in Mark 15:40 as "mother of James and Joses", who has been identified as either the wife of Clopas and sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a sister-in-law to Joseph.
The Odes of Solomon have been interpreted as implying that Mary was a virgin even during childbirth as well as stating that Mary did not have pain during childbirth. Similar statements exist in the Ascension of Isaiah; for example, the passage "And after her astonishment had worn off her womb was found as (it was) at first, before she had conceived" is described by scholars as an "extraordinary process".
The virgin birth of Jesus is found in the Gospel of Matthew and possibly in Luke, but it seems to have little theological importance before the middle of the 2nd century. The 2nd century Church fathers Irenaeus and Justin Martyr, though mentioning the virgin birth, nowhere affirmed explicitly the view that Mary was a perpetual virgin. This idea, however, appears in at least three second-century works: the Protoevangelium of James, the Gospel of Peter and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. All of these early sources independently assert that the so-called "brothers of the Lord" were children of Joseph's first marriage. According to Anglican scholar Richard Bauckham, these works "show no signs of literary relationship" and probably "evidence of a well-established tradition in (probably early) second-century Syrian Christianity that Jesus' brothers and sisters were children of Joseph by a previous marriage". According to Richard Bauckham, Ignatius of Antioch also believed in the doctrine of Mary's virginity in partu.
The Gospel of James states that Mary remained a life-long virgin, because Joseph was an old man who married her without physical desire, and the brothers of Jesus mentioned in the canonical gospels are explained as Joseph's sons by an earlier marriage. The Protoevangelium seems to have been used to create the stories of Mary which are found in the Quran, but while Muslims agree with Christians that Mary was a virgin at the moment of the conception of Jesus, the idea of her perpetual virginity thereafter is contrary to the Islamic ideal of women as wives and mothers. The Second Apocalypse of James portrays James, the Brother of the Lord, not as a child of Joseph but of a certain "Theudas", a relative of Jesus.
The 8th book of the Christian Sibylline Oracles, which may have been composed in the late II or early III century, describe Mary as "always virgin" (αἰεὶ κούρῃ) and that she received God in her "intact bosom" (ἀχράντοισι ... κόλποις).
Hegesippus's writings are not clear on this subject, with some authors arguing that he defended the doctrine, while others arguing that he disputed the perpetual virginity of Mary.