No where is there any Gospel that suggests that Mary ever had sex.
You seem hung up an the sex ACT itself.
Why?
Did say that Yashua had brothers - i.e. “James, the brother of Yashua” ... where did he come from????
Boy, you Catholics love to major in the minors.
I have no strong opinion about this, but it seems to me that Matthew 1:25 at least suggests it. It would be odd to say that Joseph refrained from having sex with Mary until after the birth of Jesus, if he continued to refrain afterward as well. If he never consummated the marriage, then that's what it would make sense to say.
I would suggest you go back and re-read your thread title. Then you might discover who is really hung up on the 'sex act'.
I happen to believe that the 'sex act' was created by God as a way for a husband and wife to celebrate their covenant with each other and God. There is nothing wrong or dirty or unpure about it. It is what God intended.
24 Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: 25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
She "knew" her husband after Jesus was born. "Know" is a euphemism for carnal knowledge/sexual intercourse.
We do know Mary had kids and usually sex is required for that to happen...Plus, there is not a single thing is the scriptures to suggest Mary didn't have sexual relations with her husband...
Normal married women have sex, it is the RCC who have made up the evervirgin without biblical proof.
There's also no Gospel which suggests Mary was born without original sin or was assumed into heaven. There is, however, Scripture which points to Jesus as having early siblings.
To do otherwise would have meant Mary and Joseph would have disobeyed God's command in Genesis 1:28. As righteous servants of God, that would have been quite out of character for them.
Yet it says he was not an only child. Were the others immaculately conceived too? Why is it so important to some to "prove" she remained a virgin when the real story is the initial virgin birth?
By what tenet/canon is she required to have remained a virgin after bringing Jesus into the world? It might make some feel better to envision her as an eternal virgin, but would God do that to Joseph after hitting him with the initial surprise? God meant for husbands and wives to unite in order to procreate - why is it so hard to think of Mary as a good wife after her initial task was done?
I am sure this is familiar to you:
V. THE GOODS AND REQUIREMENTS OF CONJUGAL LOVE 1643 "Conjugal love involves a totality, in which all the elements of the person enter - appeal of the body and instinct, power of feeling and affectivity, aspiration of the spirit and of will. It aims at a deeply personal unity, a unity that, beyond union in one flesh, leads to forming one heart and soul; it demands indissolubility and faithfulness in definitive mutual giving; and it is open to fertility. In a word it is a question of the normal characteristics of all natural conjugal love, but with a new significance which not only purifies and strengthens them, but raises them to the extent of making them the expression of specifically Christian values."152( http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c3a7.htm)
No where is there any Gospel that suggests that Mary ever had sex.
Well as I indicated in an earlier post, we do have the 'till' or 'until' to consider. Striking because Matthew is being quite clear Joseph DID NOT touch Mary in any 'conjugal' way 'till' Jesus Christ was born. None of the NT writers get into the conjugal actions of Mary and Joseph but leave us with 'till' and 'until' to make it clear she was truly a virgin 'till' the birth of Christ.
That's what we have to operate with. That's all the 'till' or 'until' which should be clear enough. Then we have the accounts of brothers and sisters in the Gospels. One can say cousin or kin all they want but the Greek has words for that too and those words were not used. We could argue all day, cousin, brother, sister, etc. but the 'till'/'until' is pretty clear throughout Matthews Gospel. It literally means UNTIL.