The Church Fathers- Mary: Ever Virgin

The Church Fathers ^ | 120AD-450AD

[marshmallow]

The Protoevangelium of James

“And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by [St. Anne], saying, ‘Anne! Anne! The Lord has heard your prayer, and you shall conceive and shall bring forth, and your seed shall be spoken of in all the world.’ And Anne said, ‘As the Lord my God lives, if I beget either male or female, I will bring it as a gift to the Lord my God, and it shall minister to him in the holy things all the days of its life.’ . . . And [from the time she was three] Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there” (Protoevangelium of James 4, 7 [A.D. 120]).

“And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of priests, saying, ‘Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, lest perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord?’ And they said to the high priest, ‘You stand by the altar of the Lord; go in and pray concerning her, and whatever the Lord shall manifest to you, that also will we do.’ . . . [A]nd he prayed concerning her, and behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him saying, ‘Zechariah! Zechariah! Go out and assemble the widowers of the people and let them bring each his rod, and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be. . . . And Joseph [was chosen]. . . . And the priest said to Joseph, ‘You have been chosen by lot to take into your keeping the Virgin of the Lord.’ But Joseph refused, saying, ‘I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl’” (ibid., 8–9).

“And Annas the scribe came to him [Joseph] . . . and saw that Mary was with child. And he ran away to the priest and said to him, ‘Joseph, whom you did vouch for, has committed a grievous crime.’ And the priest said, ‘How so?’ And he said, ‘He has defiled the virgin whom he received out of the temple of the Lord and has married her by stealth’” (ibid., 15).

“And the priest said, ‘Mary, why have you done this? And why have you brought your soul low and forgotten the Lord your God?’ . . . And she wept bitterly saying, ‘As the Lord my God lives, I am pure before him, and know not man’” (ibid.).

Origen

“The Book [the Protoevangelium] of James [records] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end, so that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word . . . might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Spirit came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony with reason that Jesus was the firstfruit among men of the purity which consists in [perpetual] chastity, and Mary was among women. For it were not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the firstfruit of virginity” (Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]).

Hilary of Poitiers

“If they [the brethren of the Lord] had been Mary’s sons and not those taken from Joseph’s former marriage, she would never have been given over in the moment of the passion [crucifixion] to the apostle John as his mother, the Lord saying to each, ‘Woman, behold your son,’ and to John, ‘Behold your mother’ [John 19:26–27), as he bequeathed filial love to a disciple as a consolation to the one desolate" (Commentary on Matthew 1:4 [A.D. 354]).

Athanasius

“Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the ever-virgin Mary” (Discourses Against the Arians 2:70 [A.D. 360]).

Epiphanius of Salamis

“We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things, both visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God . . . who for us men and for our salvation came down and took flesh, that is, was born perfectly of the holy ever-virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit” (The Man Well-Anchored 120 [A.D. 374]).

“And to holy Mary, [the title] ‘Virgin’ is invariably added, for that holy woman remains undefiled” (Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 78:6 [A.D. 375]).

Jerome

“[Helvidius] produces Tertullian as a witness [to his view] and quotes Victorinus, bishop of Petavium. Of Tertullian, I say no more than that he did not belong to the Church. But as regards Victorinus, I assert what has already been proven from the gospel—that he [Victorinus] spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary but brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in point of kinship, not by nature. [By discussing such things we] are . . . following the tiny streams of opinion. Might I not array against you the whole series of ancient writers? Ignatius, Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and many other apostolic and eloquent men, who against [the heretics] Ebion, Theodotus of Byzantium, and Valentinus, held these same views and wrote volumes replete with wisdom. If you had ever read what they wrote, you would be a wiser man” (Against Helvidius: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary 19 [A.D. 383]).

“We believe that God was born of a virgin, because we read it. We do not believe that Mary was married after she brought forth her Son, because we do not read it. . . . You [Helvidius] say that Mary did not remain a virgin. As for myself, I claim that Joseph himself was a virgin, through Mary, so that a virgin Son might be born of a virginal wedlock” (ibid., 21).

Didymus the Blind

“It helps us to understand the terms ‘first-born’ and ‘only-begotten’ when the Evangelist tells that Mary remained a virgin ‘until she brought forth her first-born son’ [Matt. 1:25]; for neither did Mary, who is to be honored and praised above all others, marry anyone else, nor did she ever become the Mother of anyone else, but even after childbirth she remained always and forever an immaculate virgin” (The Trinity 3:4 [A.D. 386]).

Ambrose of Milan

“Imitate her [Mary], holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of material virtue; for neither have you sweeter children [than Jesus], nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son” (Letters 63:111 [A.D. 388]).

Pope Siricius I

“You had good reason to be horrified at the thought that another birth might issue from the same virginal womb from which Christ was born according to the flesh. For the Lord Jesus would never have chosen to be born of a virgin if he had ever judged that she would be so incontinent as to contaminate with the seed of human intercourse the birthplace of the Lord’s body, that court of the eternal king” (Letter to Bishop Anysius [A.D. 392]).

Augustine

“In being born of a Virgin who chose to remain a Virgin even before she knew who was to be born of her, Christ wanted to approve virginity rather than to impose it. And he wanted virginity to be of free choice even in that woman in whom he took upon himself the form of a slave” (Holy Virginity 4:4 [A.D. 401]).

“It was not the visible sun, but its invisible Creator who consecrated this day for us, when the Virgin Mother, fertile of womb and integral in her virginity, brought him forth, made visible for us, by whom, when he was invisible, she too was created. A Virgin conceiving, a Virgin bearing, a Virgin pregnant, a Virgin bringing forth, a Virgin perpetual. Why do you wonder at this, O man?” (Sermons 186:1 [A.D. 411]).

“Heretics called Antidicomarites are those who contradict the perpetual virginity of Mary and affirm that after Christ was born she was joined as one with her husband” (Heresies 56 [A.D. 428]).

Leporius

“We confess, therefore, that our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, born of the Father before the ages, and in times most recent, made man of the Holy Spirit and the ever-virgin Mary” (Document of Amendment 3 [A.D. 426]).

Cyril of Alexandria

“[T]he Word himself, coming into the Blessed Virgin herself, assumed for himself his own temple from the substance of the Virgin and came forth from her a man in all that could be externally discerned, while interiorly he was true God. Therefore he kept his Mother a virgin even after her childbearing” (Against Those Who Do Not Wish to Confess That the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God 4 [A.D. 430]).

Pope Leo I

“His [Christ’s] origin is different, but his [human] nature is the same. Human usage and custom were lacking, but by divine power a Virgin conceived, a Virgin bore, and Virgin she remained” (Sermons 22:2 [A.D. 450]).

[allmendream]

Matthew 15: 1-14- 1 Pharisees and scribes from Jerusalem approached Jesus with the question: 2 “Why do your disciples act contrary to the tradition of our ancestors? They do not wash their hands, for example, before eating a meal.” 3 In reply he said to them: “Why do you for your part act contrary to the commandment of God for the sake of your ‘tradition’? 4 For instance, God has said, “Honor your father and your mother,’ and, Whoever curses father or mother shall be put to death.” 5 Yet you declare, “Whoever says to his father or his mother, ‘Any support you might have had from me is dedicated to God, 6 need not honor his father or his mother.’ This means that for the sake of your tradition you have nullified God’s word. 7 You hypocrites! How accurately did Isaiah prophesy about you when he said: 8 ‘This people pays me lip service but their heart is far from me. 9 They do me empty reverence, making dogmas out of human precepts.’” 10 He summoned the crowd and said to them: “Give ear and try to understand. 11 It is not what goes into a man’s mouth that makes him impure, it is what comes out of his mouth.” 12 His disciples approached him and said, “Do you realize the Pharisees were scandalized when they heard your pronouncement?” 13 “Every planting not put down by my heavenly Father will be uprooted,” he replied. 14 “Let them go their way; they are blind leaders of the blind. If one blind man leads another, both will end in a pit.”

What is it about God's words - that you cannot wait to defile yourself by what comes out of your mouth (keyboard) after reading them?

[allmendream]

Colossians 2:16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day.

17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind.

[lastchance]

Actually I do have superior knowledge since texts were kindly left for us by the Church Fathers you villify. We also have the historical record. But perhaps historical fact is just not good enough for you.

[allmendream]

Hung up on what day Church should assemble? Obeying the dietary laws? That is fine. That you seek out this disagreement with your fringe interpretation after reading the Scripture "It is not what goes into the mouth that makes a person unclean. It is what comes out of the mouth that makes a person unclean." speaks volumes. You couldn't let it pass without saying I had it wrong. Me and the rest of the pork eating Christian world have a different opinion. Let us leave it at that.

[xone]

Any LCMS Pastor's I have talked to also did not have a clue about the roles of Israel and the Church.

Doubtless because of the lack of Scriptural warrant for your viewpoint. A parish pastor has many duties and little time to do them, they study the Bible as part of their vocation, if they don't see eye to eye with you, who is likely missing the eye.

[allmendream]

I will pray for you.

[allmendream]

Romans 14:13 Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. 14 I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. 15 If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. 17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit

[allmendream]

Therefore were we ever to break bread together, I would not distress you by eating swine in your presence - even though I know it to be good.

Nothing is unclean in itself. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

I, and the rest of the Christian world, do not practice nor advocate lawlessness by having a different interpretation of dietary laws or when Church should assemble, how to observe the Sabbath, or circumcision, or stoning people for adultery. The old law was nailed to a cross. Leave it there.

[Quix]

Well put, imho.

[lastchance]

Many of the Fathers you cast aspersions upon died for the Faith. Here is one synopsis of the life of one of these great Saints. You sir must live in a blissful state.

St. Polycarp.

St. Polycarp lived in about 69-155 A.D., and was the Bishop of Smyrna, Izmir in modern Turkey. He was the leading Christian figure in Roman Asia Minor.

v He is an important link between the tradition of the Church stretch from the apostles to the 2nd century church.

v Polycarp was a disciple of St. John the Apostle: St. Irenaeus (Bishop of Lyons in 2nd century) tells us that Polycarp sat at the feet of the Apostle St. John. Polycarp also knew others that saw Christ in the flesh. He was appointed to the See of Smyrna by the Apostles themselves.

v Polycarp was a strong defender of orthodoxy—he put much of his energy into refuting Gnosticism. He had a severe attitude towards heretics. According to Irenaeus, Polycarp once met the heretic Marcion in the street: “Do you recognize me?” asked Marcion. “Indeed,” replied Polycarp, “I recognize you as the firstborn of Satan!”

v Polycarp and Ignatius were friends: On his way to martyrdom, St. Ignatius (Bishop of Antioch) stopped in Smyrna and rested with its young Bishop—Polycarp. Polycarp was the only individual to whom the great Antiochian martyr ever addressed a surviving personal letter (see attached). After the martyrdom of Ignatius, Polycarp collected his letters and sent them to others.

v Polycarp visited Rome to discuss a few church matters with Bishop Anicetus, particularly the date of the Easter celebration. Asia Minor churches were celebrating Easter on the exact date of the Jewish Passover, regardless of the day of the week, while Rome was using a specific Sunday each year. Both agreed to leave their traditions as they were—and the fellowship between them was not disturbed.

v On a February day in 155 A.D., St. Polycarp departed with the honor of the crown of martyrdom to the Church of Heaven.

[Quix]

Fiercely disagreeing

with the Vatican Cult’s casting of their Mary caricature in the role of the new Ishtar Goddess of the Christian era shows not the least bit of disrespect or caring for the authentic Mary.

She herself is greatly dismayed and grieved over what little she knows of the Vatican Cult’s idolatrous, blasphemous nonsense about her.

[Quix]

According to some.

Nevertheless . . .

The letter of the law kills . . . the Spirit brings life and liberty.

[allmendream]

Colossians 2:14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.

Wow! How little you know. You think Colossians 2:14 is inspired by Satanism because of your little delusion that I am a Satan worshiper because I disagree with you and eat pork and attend Church on Sunday?

[metmom]

Why can’t you seem to have a disagreement without being rude and insulting and resorting to name calling?

I see you've met amd.....

Welcome to the club.

[metmom]

We get our faith from those who personally knew the Lord as well.

We read what they wrote that doesn’t change.