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You're quite simply ignorant of Scripture, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic. Your feeble attempt at applying contemporary definitions and word usage to a culture two millennia removed from the present is laughable.

Provide me the passages from Scripture where the Blessed Mother gives birth to other children? You can't. Where were these other children during the search for Jesus while He was in the temple? Where were these other children during the Crucifixion? Why did Christ entrust the care of His mother to the son of Zebedee and Salome, the Apostle John, after chastising the Pharisees for abandoning their obligations regarding the care of their parents? Why would He have even bothered to mention this while dying on the cross if He knew that His "brothers and sisters", that you claim existed, were required to take care of His and "their" mother? You have no plausible answers to these questions.

The alleged perpetual celibate state of Joseph and Mary’s relationship is contrary to the divine ideal.

Nothing alleged nor contrary about it. You have failed to absorb the teachings of Christ regarding the sacrifice of self for the sake of the Kingdom of God. If a conjugal life constitutes "the divine ideal" then why did Jesus tell us:

"You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be as the angels of God in heaven." Matthew 22:29-30

Moses himself became celibate within marriage after God's call. If you knew anything about the oral law of Kiddushin, to which both St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother were subject to, you'd realize that a conjugal life between them would have been an adulterous one. St. Joseph was prepared to divorce the Blessed Mother because of her pregnancy until he learned that her child was conceived of the Holy Ghost, yet people like you want the world to believe he became an adulterer following the birth of Christ. God chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, with her agreement, to conceive, give birth, care for and raise the Word Incarnate, even though He knew she would engage in adultery following Christ's birth. Right! Just because you think that a conjugal life defines the worth of a marriage doesn't make it so. I can only imagine the relativist rationale you use to dismiss the celibate life, and teachings about same, of Christ and St. Paul.

The belief reeks of carry-over related Vestal Virgins of pagan Rome.

Your ignorance and disputation of the truth is a relatively recent exercise in the history of Christianity, Helvidius and a few others notwithstanding. The protestant "heroes" Luther, Calvin and Zwingli; often touted in the religion threads here as the ones who "got it right", amongst many others, categorically reject your attempt at revisionism. They all belived in and taught that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to a single child, Jesus Christ, and remained a perpetual virgin.

Your particular judgment will be interesting, to say the very least.

Thanks for playing "I'm ignorant of Scripture." Johnny, tell our loser what parting gifts he/she has won.

"You're quite simply ignorant of Scripture, Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic."

I guess those years studying the Talmud were lost. I'm near fluent in Hebrew and doing OK in Greek and Aramaic. (I am a Jew who lived in Israel, after all, even if I did convert to Christianity.)

"Your feeble attempt at applying contemporary definitions and word usage to a culture two millennia removed from the present is laughable."

The words have not changed. All that has changed is broad access by knowlegeable men to the original scriptural language.

"Provide me the passages from Scripture where the Blessed Mother gives birth to other children?"

Obviously, the birth scene is not there, but the brothers and sisters are. These have been cited.

And regarding Calvin (just another flawed bigoted man to me), but since you quote him as authoritative, he actually said:

"The conjecture which some have drawn from these words, that she had formed a vow of perpetual virginity, is unfounded and altogether absurd. She would, in that case, have committed treachery by allowing herself to be united to a husband, and would have poured contempt on the holy covenant of marriage; which could not have been done without mockery of God."

So much for this being "new" theory, huh?

Moses himself became celibate within marriage after God's call. If you knew anything about the oral law of Kiddushin, to which both St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother were subject to, you'd realize that a conjugal life between them would have been an adulterous one. St. Joseph was prepared to divorce the Blessed Mother because of her pregnancy until he learned that her child was conceived of the Holy Ghost, yet people like you want the world to believe he became an adulterer following the birth of Christ.

You're a total nutcase, huh Archie?

"Your ignorance and disputation of the truth is a relatively recent exercise in the history of Christianity, Helvidius and a few others notwithstanding. The protestant "heroes" Luther, Calvin and Zwingli; often touted in the religion threads here as the ones who "got it right", amongst many others, categorically reject your attempt at revisionism. They all belived in and taught that the Blessed Virgin Mary gave birth to a single child, Jesus Christ, and remained a perpetual virgin."

Do you know how they explained Mark 6:3?

"Is he not the carpenter, 3 the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him."

Or Mathew 13:55 "Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?"