To: dead
Three theses: (1) Mary did not have intercourse with any human being before giving birth to Jesus; (2) Jesus did not pass through Mary's vaginal canal at birth and consequently her hymen remained intact; (3) Mary never had intercourse with anyone after the birth of Jesus. All three have been affirmed by (some) Christians for centuries. But I take it that the point at issue here is thesis (2), not (1). Although it's hard to tell since people aren't always precise about making the distinction.
To: ConsistentLibertarian
Jesus did not pass through Mary's vaginal canal at birth and consequently her hymen remained intact;Hymen is not necessarily related to virginity. Jesus had brothers and sisters.
To: ConsistentLibertarian
Three theses: (1) Mary did not have intercourse with any human being before giving birth to Jesus; (2) Jesus did not pass through Mary's vaginal canal at birth and consequently her hymen remained intact; (3) Mary never had intercourse with anyone after the birth of Jesus. All three have been affirmed by (some) Christians for centuries. But I take it that the point at issue here is thesis (2), not (1). Although it's hard to tell since people aren't always precise about making the distinction.
If you, like some of these Christians for centuries, would simply read the accounts, you'd see that 1. is unambiguously claimed, that 2. comes as a result of the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary, something not found in the canon of the New Testament, and that 3. is specifically denied by the same New Testament documents that state that although Joseph didn't have intercourse with Mary before the birth of Jesus he did have intercourse afterwards.
75 posted on
12/23/2002 10:31:42 AM PST by
aruanan
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