The Church's faith in Mary's virginal conception of Jesus found its way into many ancient professions of belief. The Apostles' Creed of the early second century speaks of “Jesus Christ who was born by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.” The Biblical basis was traceable to the prophecy of Isaiah (7:14), which the first Gospel applies to Mary, “Therefore the Lord Himself shall give a sign. Behold a virgin (halmah) shall conceive and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel (God with us)." From the beginning, Christians understood the passage to refer to the Messiah, since the sign had been fulfilled. Contemporary objection that the Septuagint (Greek) version of the Old Testament, made about 130 B.C., had wrongly rendered the Hebrew halmah by παρθέυος; (parthenos, "virgin") instead of by υεάυις; (neanis, "young woman") was shown to be unfounded. Matthew thus interpreted the term in recalling the Isaian prophecy (Matthew 1:23). Moreover, in Old Testament language, halmah means an unmarried girl of marriageable age, presumed to be a virgin by the Jews' moral code. The context requires "virgin," for an extraordinary sign would exist only if a virgin conceived and gave birth.
All the Church Fathers affirm Christ's virginal conception by Mary. At the turn of the first century, Ignatius of Antioch spoke of Jesus as “truly born of a virgin.” Starting with Justin Martyr (c. 100-165), ecclesiastical writers uniformly defended the Messianic interpretation of Isaiah, as given by Matthew and confirmed in the Gospel of St. Luke.
As a non-Catholic, anyone want to explain:
(1) any biblical support for Mary being a virgin forever and/or being immaculately conceived herself; or
(2) why this has any relevance or bearing for us being saved through faith in Jesus Christ?
Just curious.
Excellent! Thanks for posting this!
Totus Tuus!
Anyone watching the hit piece on 20/20?