Results 1 - 3 of 3
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Half Brothers and Sisters of Jesus? | John 7:5 | junmeskie | 136943 | ||
Mary: Virgin and Ever Virgin All Christians believe that Mary was a virgin before and at the time of the birth of her son Jesus. Is 7:14 "The virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel." Mt 1:18-25 "Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly. Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means "God is with us." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus." Lk 1:26-27 "In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgins name was Mary." Nicene Creed (325), Constantinopolitan Creed (381) ... Who for us men and because of our salvation came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became human. Roman Catholic Christians and many other Christians also believe that Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life. Constant faith of the Church Great teachers of the Church from at least the fourth century spoke of Mary as having remained a virgin throughout her life: Athanasius (Alexandria, 293 - 373) Epiphanius (Palestine, 315? - 403) Jerome (Stridon, present day Slovenia, 345? - 419) Augustine (Numidia, now Algeria, 354 - 430) Cyril (Alexandria, 376 - 444) and others. Magisterium of the Church Council of Constantinople II (553 - 554) twice referred to Mary as "ever-virgin." Protestant Reformers The great protestant reformers affirmed their belief in Marys perpetual virginity: German reformer Martin Luthers (1483-1546) writings often address the subject of Mary: On the Divine Motherhood of Mary, he wrote In this work whereby she was made the Mother of God, so many and such great good things were given her that no one can grasp them. ... Not only was Mary the mother of him who is born [in Bethlehem], but of him who, before the world, was eternally born of the Father, from a Mother in time and at the same time man and God. (Weimers The Works of Luther, English translation by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, v. 7, p. 572.) Luther, true to Catholic tradition, wrote on the Virginity of Mary: It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a virgin. ... Christ, we believe, came forth from a womb left perfectly intact. (Weimers The Works of Luther, English translation by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, v.11, pp. 319-320; v. 6. p. 510.) The French reformer John Calvin (1509-1564) also held that Mary was the Mother of God It cannot be denied that God in choosing and destining Mary to be the Mother of his Son, granted her the highest honor. ... Elizabeth called Mary Mother of the Lord, because the unity of the person in the two natures of Christ was such that she could have said that the mortal man engendered in the womb of Mary was at the same time the eternal God. (Calvini Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Braunschweig-Berlin, 1863-1900, v. 45, p. 348, 35.) On the perpetual virginity of Mary, "Calvin routinely brushes aside the difficulties sometimes raised from "first born" and "brothers of the Lord." (O Carroll, M., 1983, Theotokos, M Glazier, Inc.: Wilmington, DE, p. 94.) The Swiss reformer, Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531), wrote, on the divine motherhood of Mary: It was given to her what belongs to no creature, that in the flesh she should bring forth the Son of God. (Zwingli Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Berlin, 1905, v. 6, I, p. 639.) On the perpetual virginity of Mary, Zwingli wrote, I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel as a pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin. (Zwingli Opera, Corpus Reformatorum, Berlin, 1905, v. 1, p. 424.) In another place Zwingli professed CON'T please click or copy paste to your browser links below http://www.catholicapologetics.org/ap080300.htm http://www.geocities.com/junmeskie/BVM.html Thanks God Bless Jun (Al) |
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2 | Half Brothers and Sisters of Jesus? | John 7:5 | Morant61 | 136971 | ||
Greetings Al! What the early church fathers believed is interesting historically to me, but not authoritative. :-) There simply isn't any Scripture that says that Mary remained, or must remain, a virgin after the birth of Christ. Thanks for links though! Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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3 | Half Brothers and Sisters of Jesus? | John 7:5 | justme | 136997 | ||
Moran61: Tim this is a fascinating dialogue. Junmeskie presents some information that is most interesting. Frankly I have never really heard the Catholic side of Mary being a Virgin her whole life. He does present a solid case for why he believes as her does, and that is unusual from anyone I have ever asked about this before. I respect his view even though I am of the typical Protestant understanding that Mary gave birth to sons and daughtes after Jesus Christ was born. To be sure we are left wondering how the family of Jesus as close as they were could reject Jesus. I prefer to hope that the were saved. That's as good a thought as any. There is much about the childhood and the family of Joseph and Mary that we are left to simply wonder about. Surely just because His half brothers and sisters are not mentioned about their service to Christ does leave one to draw speculations that are just a guess. Thanks Tim for your response, blessings. justme |
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