Posted on 04/15/2016 7:25:23 AM PDT by verga
There are some people that believe there is no scriptural support for the Dogmatic teaching on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.
This will be fun.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
Fortunately, one’s salvation is not dependent upon the truth or falsity of this matter.
And I still don’t despite the handsprings and contortions in your article
And those people who believe there is no scriptural support for the perpetual virginity of Mary are absolutely correct.
Hoss
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
checkmate!
Will it really be fun to watch people arguing over whether someone’s mother was a virgin or not?
Luk 2:22 And when the days of her cleansing according to the Torah of Mosheh were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to YHWH – 23 as it has been written in the Torah of YHWH, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called set-apart to YHWH” –
When a womb is ‘opened’, virginity no longer exists and hence, the reason for the need for cleansing...
Lev 12:1 And YHWH spoke to Mosheh, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘When a woman has conceived, and has given birth to a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days, as in the days of her monthly separation she is unclean. 3 And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin is circumcised. 4 And she remains in the blood of her cleansing thirty-three days. She does not touch whatever is set-apart, and she does not come into the set-apart place until the days of her cleansing are completed. 5 But if she gives birth to a female child, then she shall be unclean for two weeks, as in her monthly separation, and she remains in the blood of her cleansing for sixty-six days. 6 And when the days of her cleansing are completed, for a son or for a daughter, she brings to the priest a lamb a year old, as a burnt offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove as a sin offering, to the door of the Tent of Meeting. 7 And he shall bring it before YHWH, and make atonement for her, and she shall be cleansed from the flow of her blood. This is the Torah for her who has given birth to a male or a female. 8 And if she is not able to bring a lamb, then she shall bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons, one as a burnt offering and the other as a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”
The account in the Gospels is very vague and many assume that the day of circumcision & the bringing of the sacrifice for cleansing happened at the same time. They did not. These are two separate events that happened 21 days apart, the 8th day after birth & the 33rd day after birth. But the fact remains, if Mary remained pure as a virgin in that there was no shedding of blood during the birth of Jesus, then how come she brought the required sacrifice that is only required by one who is not longer a virgin?
Matthew 1:20-25 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)
But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost.
And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.
Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:
Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife.
And he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.
Re-read the last verse here. Joseph did not know (i.e. have sexual relations with) her (i.e. Mary) UNTIL Christ was born.
The perpetual virginity of Mary is unnecessary to fulfill scripture. The scripture was fulfilled when Jesus was BORN of a virgin.
It would also mean that Joseph and Mary did not ever consummate their marriage.
Mark 10:7-8
For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother; and shall cleave to his wife.
And they two shall be in one flesh. Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh.
Mary was a devout practicing Jew, with a devout Jewish husband. A marriage not consummated is not valid under Jewish law, if I am not mistaken. And the scriptures don’t mention Joseph having other wives.
Do we have a FReeper Rebbe on hand who can clarify the issue, in the interest of accuracy?
But at the end of the day we'll all go on believing what we believed before this thread.
Nicely done. I just finished a Bible study called Mary, a Biblical Walk with the Blessed Mother. It involved watching a video and discussing the readings in the book we had as well as the Bible passages. It was produced by Ascension Press and the presenter was Edward Sri. It was my first series with this Bible study group and I thought it would be sort of light and frothy for some reason but it was amazing. What’s cool about your writing is that it comes from a different angle and for the most part uses other scriptural cites. If it’s okay with you I would like to print it out and distribute it to my study group. (we’ve moved on to Galatians).
Agreed. This will produce a lot of heat, but not much light.
An extensive essay. I will read it through, perhaps more than once, with great interest. Thanks for the ping.
Mary's story... as passed on by Catholic Tradition
Mary is the daughter of Sts Joachim and Anna, who had been childless. On a feast day, Joachim presented himself to offer sacrifice in the Temple, he was repulsed by a certain Ruben, under the pretext that men without offspring were unworthy to be admitted. Joachim, bowed down with grief, did not return home, but went into the mountains to complain to God in solitude. Also Anna, having learned the reason of the prolonged absence of her husband, cried to the Lord to take away from her the curse of sterility, promising to dedicate her child to the service of God. Their prayers were heard. An angel came to Anna and said: "Anna, the Lord has looked upon thy tears; thou shalt conceive and give birth and the fruit of thy womb shall be blessed by all the world". The angel made the same promise to Joachim, who returned to his wife. Anna gave birth to a daughter whom she called Mary.
When she was three years old, Mary was presented to the Temple by Joachim and Anna. It is said that she stood up and mounted the steps herself. When presented, she is said to have taken a vow of virginity in service to God.
When Mary was 14 years old, the High Priest intended to send her home to be married, as was custom. Mary reminded him of her vow of virginity. This presented a unique problem as she was well-regarded for her virtue. She could not remain in the Temple and yet needed a protector so the High Priest called together men of the family of David and looked for a sign from the Holy Spirit as to who should be chosen. Joseph's walking staff bloomed in their presence and she was betrothed to him.
From there, we know the rest of the story...
Didn’t read the article did you.
Extrapolation directly to the gates of HELL.
Thank you, You are more than welcome to share it with whomever you like.
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