So there is no firm date as to around when most Protestants switched from believing in it to not believing in it? I would think there would be writings and such. I’m not trying to “get” anyone, I was just curious. Are there Protestants who still believe in the perpetual virginity? Some places I looked on the web say that some Lutherans and Anglicans still believe in it, other places make no mention of this.
Freegards
>>So there is no firm date as to around when most Protestants switched from believing in it to not believing in it?<<
My take is that because my relationship is with God and very personal, I don’t think in “groups”. It is not about groups believing things at particular times. It is about individuals. And they change on a daily basis.
My wife was a STRONG Catholic until her late 30’s. She never heard of this “perpetual virginity” of Mary thing and considers it folly.
“So there is no firm date . . . “
Your question assumes a hierarchy (other than Jesus as Lord), which, by definition, protestants reject.
Disagreements with the official line of the Roman church began before there was an official line of the Roman church, witness Terullian, who is both a roman church father and a rejector of roman church teaching.
Protestantism is not an organization, but the idea that man is fallable and can, and will, corrupt God’s teachings, much like the Pharasees corrupted the Law.
As a result, many people can come to the same idea at different times.
I would opine the orginal “protestants” (by which I mean protestors of the official relgious establishment, not some denominition) began with Abraham, proceeded to Moses, include most of the prophets, certainly includes John the Baptist, perhaps Jesus himself, and certainly Paul.
The disagreement regarding Marian beliefs, IMHO, started way before 431AD (including Terllulian), starting spreading with the advent of the printing press/
They have probably have come to a head with the 1850ish Roman proclamations of Mary as a co-redemtrix, which, if they didn’t actually cross the line to worship (and they don’t, technically, I agree), come so close in their extreme veneration of Mary as to lead people into error.
This extreme veneration caused people to discuss these errors more often.