Results 1 - 8 of 8
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | jawz | 47499 | ||
Many quote Matthew 1:25 as clearly stating that Joseph and Mary had sexual relations after Jesus was born. In fact it states the opposite. The greek word "eos" does not translate simply as "until" in English but is used in a perfect continuous form which makes it an unbound condition, not tied to the event of Jesus birth. As a stark example look at the text of 2 Samuel 6:23 "As to Michal daughter of Saul, she had no child till the day of her death."(YLT) We clearly understand that Michal's not having children is not tied to the event of her death, she did not suddenly start having children after she died. (I quoted Youngs literal translation because most do not translate "eos" as "till"). The structure of Matthew 1:25 is the same as that of 2 Samuel 6:23 and there are numerous other passages that use the same unbound expression of the greek "eos". If you read them with the same English grammar interpretation "until" in Matthew 1:25 they make no sense. Regarding other passages where Jesus brothers and sisters are referred to, remember that very few people were privvy to the knowledge that Mary had conceived by the Holy Spirit so all who were acquainted with Mary and Joseph would have considered Jesus as Joseph's son. If Joseph had other children (he may have been a widower) or if Mary and Joseph had nephews and nieces then they would have quite rightly called Jesus their brother they would not have called him anything else. Now if Joseph's other children were by Mary then Jesus would have been the eldest and as such would have had considerable influence over his younger siblings, especially after the death of Joseph. Yet what do we read about Jesus' brothers; John 7:5 "For even his own brothers did not believe in him." It is hard to believe that if they were also the children of Mary that she would not have explained to them the extraordinary circumstances of Jesus' birth, nor that they would not believe that which their oldest brother, the head of their household, told them. Also, as Emmaus pointed out with John 19:26-27, if Mary had other children then there would have been no need for Jesus to place his mother under John's care. The simple fact of the matter is that Mary had no other children Finally, I would ask you to put yourselves in the shoes of Joseph and ask yourselves as God fearing people, would any of you even consider having sexual relations with the woman who bore the Son of God? Would you even dare to presume to put your seed in the same womb which God himself had chosen to bear the Saviour of mankind? Within Mary's womb had grown the most holy Son of God become man. On Mary's breast was sustained the creator and sustainer of all life. Her body became a sacred temple. The very thought of someone having sexual relations with the one who had been so intimately connected to Christ simply fills me with horror. |
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2 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Mommapbs | 47511 | ||
Greetings! You wrote, "if Mary had other children then there would have been no need for Jesus to place his mother under John's care." What happened to Joseph? Does anyone know? What happened to their children? Does anyone know that either? What about other family relatives? Why were't they considered? Maybe those in line to care for Mary were all dead, (don't discount spiritual deadness as Steve pointed out in his answer to you!) hence it would stand to reason that Jesus would ask John to care for Mary. Why did Jesus chose John ahead of the others? As far as Mary remaining a virgin, well, that seems most unnatural to me (Gen 2:24). I believe that she and Joseph indeed enjoyed the intimacy of the marriage bed as witnessed by the mention of their offspring. Mary was just as human as the rest of us. I am not diminshing the blessing that she was given, for indeed she was privileged to be selected from among mankind to be the vessel in which the Son of Man was knit. Thank you for sharing your views, but I repectfully disagree on the issue of her continued virginity and any other doctrine about Mary that is not Biblically supported. Mommapbs |
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3 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Hank | 47514 | ||
Mommapbs, to your statement, "I respectfully disagree on the issue of her continued virginity and any other doctrine about Mary that is not Biblically supported." allow me to echo it with a loud AMEN! Mariolatry must go to extra-biblical sources for support of much of its teaching. Thus those of us who hold to sola scriptura do not and cannot buy in to the claims Mariolatry imposes. Not to Mary's continued virginity. Not to her immaculate conception. Not to her being a mediator between God and man. Scripture does not support any of these notions. --Hank | ||||||
4 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Mommapbs | 47526 | ||
Greetings Hank and a sincere than you for the affirmation! You negelected to mention what I consider to be the greatest heresy of all - the notion some have of Mary as co-redemtrix! As you know from my posts, I am often thinking "out of the box." I'd appreciate your comments on a post I wrote earlier that suggests the origin of Mariolatry. See ID 34593. Also, my parents just returned from France where they visited a rural church. It attracted their interest because at the front of the sactuary, where we are most accustomed to seeing a cross, there was a statue of the madonna and child. From his research, my father knew that this symbol began in ancient Babylon. And as he turned to remark about this, a fellow standing beside him (who just happened to be research historian) announced, "Yes, that is indeed Babylonian as are many symbols in the church!" Comments? Blessings in the Lord, Mommapbs |
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5 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Hank | 47563 | ||
Mommapbs, at your bidding I read your post #34593. I believe, however, that history attests that the real trend toward Mariolatry as we know it today began in the fifth century when Mary was first called the 'Mother of God' by the Roman Church. Before that time there is no record of the exaltation of the Virgin Mary. In 451 A.D. the dogma of the perpetual virginity of Mary was made binding upon all Roman Catholics. Traditions about her have been added from time to time by 'the church that never changes.' On December 8, 1854 Pope Pius IX declared the Immaculate Conception of Mary to be a binding dogma of the Roman Church. On October 11, 1954 Pope Pius XII declared the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. There is vastly more contained in the doctrine of Mariolatry than I have sketched in here on this post. As tradition has been piled on traditon, Mariolatry has come to be viewed by the vast majority of evangelical Protestants as not only un-scriptural but as anti-scriptural, as heresy. Throughout the whole of Popedom, wherever the eye falls it lights on images of the virgin Mary -- this 'Queen of heaven' -- and her child. --Hank | ||||||
6 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Mommapbs | 47591 | ||
Greetings Hank! Thanks for the information. I've read some of the dialogue about the "Queen of Heaven" on the Forum. I appreciate your boldness, yet I think we must be very careful to separate Mary, the mother of Jesus from Mariolatry. Our Catholic brothers and sisters have depended upon the teachings of men rather than the teachings of the Holy Spirit and as a result, they have a difficult time discerning the difference. I always try to encourage Catholics to REALLY LOOK at and STUDY God's Word to see if what they have been TOLD to believe is WHAT GOD REALLY SAYS! Needless to say, I've been thinking anout the "Queen of Heaven" as reference in Jer 7:18-20 and Jer 44:25 - 28. The Jer 44 verses reference 2 Kings 25. I found it very interesting that the people who were left in the land continued in their disobedience by not sumitting to the authority that God had established over them and fled to Egypt. I suspect that a parallel can be drawn from this with regard to the Church chooing "man made doctrine" apart from God's Word, as well. Hence, we have the queen of heaven being worshipped today! I need to process this a bit but would appreciate your insight on the possible connection. Blessings, Mommapbs |
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7 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Ray | 47624 | ||
Hi Mommapbs, I haven't considered or read the queen of heaven ideas. I agree with you about your Jeremiah references speaking to the contrast between walking in God's word and walking after their own counsels. Jeremiah 7:23, "But this I commanded them, saying, "Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you will be My people; and you will walk in all the way which (I) command you, that it may be well with you." Yet they did not obey or incline the ear, but walked in THEIR OWN counsels... Jeremiah 44:23, "Because you have burned sacrifices and have sinned against the Lord and not obeyed the voice of the Lord or walked in (His) law, His statutes or His testimonies, therefore this calamity has befallen you, as it has this day." Then Jeremiah said to all the peoples, including all the women, "Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah who are in the Land of Egypt,..." Jeremiah 44:28, "And those who escape the sword will return out of the land of Egypt to the land of Judah few in number. Then all the remnant of Judah who have gone to the land of Egypt to reside there will know whose word will stand, Mine or theirs." From the heart, Ray |
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8 | Was Mary a virgin her whole life | Matt 1:25 | Mommapbs | 47638 | ||
Greetings Ray! Thanks for your reply!How goes the battle? I remember when our son was going through chemo (including spinal injections of that stuff too) he spent a lot of time playing computer games - it was about all he could do at times! In most of his games there was a certain feature that enabled the player to beat the villan and win - our son referred to it as "The God Code!" (He used it a lot!) What a perfect illustration of our life in Jesus - we too have THE God Code! I hope this little remembrance from my son's fight will encourage you today! "Greater is He who is in you!" In the love of Jesus, Mommapbs |
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