Perpetual virginity of Mary

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The Annunciation, by Caravaggio. "How can this be, for I know not man."
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The Annunciation, by Caravaggio. "How can this be, for I know not man."

The perpetual virginity of Mary, a doctrine of Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, affirms Mary's "real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made Man."[1] Thus Mary was ever-Virgin (Greek ἀειπάρθενος) for the remainder of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, whose conception and birth are held to be miraculous.

Contents

[edit] History

In 107, Ignatius of Antioch described the virginity of Mary as "hidden from the prince of this world… loudly proclaimed, but wrought in the silence of God"[2] The affirmation of the doctrine of Mary's virginity before, during, and after the birth of Jesus was the principal aim of the early second century work, the Protoevangelium of James (c. 120-150).[3] The work, concerned with the character and purity of Mary, claims that Joseph had children from a marriage previous to Mary.[4] However, the text does not explicitly assert the doctrine of perpetual virginity, the earliest such surviving reference being Origen's Commentary on Matthew,[5] where he cites the Protoevangelium in support.

By the fourth century, the doctrine is well attested. Athanasius described Mary as "Ever-Virgin",[6] as did Epiphanius.[7] Hilary argued in favor of the doctrine,[8] and to this may be added Didymus,[9] Ambrose,[10] Jerome,[11] Siricius[12] and others. However, it cannot be said that unanimity existed in antiquity concerning the doctrine, as it was denied by Tertullian,[13] and Jovinian's teaching that childbirth ended Mary's physical virginity had to be condemned by a synod of Milan in 390.

Further important statements of the belief include the Lateran Synod of 649, Thomas Aquinas's teaching that Mary gave birth painlessly in miraculous fashion without opening of the womb and without injury to the hymen,[14] Pope Paul IV's Cum quorundam of 7 August 1555 at the Council of Trent,[15] and most recently the statements in the current catechism.[16]

During the Protestant Reformation, the doctrine came to be questioned, although such notable reformers as Martin Luther [17] and Huldrych Zwingli[18] affirmed its veracity.[19] John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, also held to this doctrine.[20] However, the absence of clear Biblical statements expressing the doctrine, in combination with the principle of sola scriptura, kept references to the doctrine out of the Reformation creeds. Additionally, the tendency to associate veneration of Mary with idolatry[21] and the rejection of clerical celibacy[22] lead to the eventual denial of this doctrine amongst most Protestant churches. Lastly, many Protestant communities cite Biblical passages that refer to the "brothers" of Jesus (see Desposyni).

[edit] New Testament passages

The New Testament references Jesus' adelphoi, which can mean either "brothers" or "brethren".[23] Both forms are employed in the various books of the bible, with examples of the latter including the "one-hundred twenty brothers" of Acts 1:15, and the Septuagint rendering of Abraham and Lot. Lot was Abraham's nephew, but is referred to as "adelphos".[24] Because "brother" is the more common usage, and because Greek has another word for cousin (anepsios), many translations of the Bible render passages which describe relations to Jesus (such as Matthew 13:55) as his "brothers" or "brothers and sisters", rather than "brethren".[25] At times these passages are cited as a basis for believing that Mary and Joseph had marital relations following the birth of Jesus.[26] However, even if the adelphoi are understood as brothers, the view that Joseph was a widower who had children from a previous marriage remains consistent with the various New Testament passages, except for certain interpretations of Matthew 2:13-14.

Other reasons are based on an interpretation of Matthew 1:25, which states that Jesus was Mary's "firstborn son" and that Joseph "had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son". It is argued this passage states that Mary's virginity persisted until the birth of Jesus, but implies that Mary and Joseph had marital relations afterward. The Greek word heos, translated as "until", does not carry the same implications as the English word. For example, in the Septuagint rendering of 2 Samuel 6:23 states that Michal had not child "until" the day of her death (c.f. Hebrews 1:13 and Timothy 4:13). Lastly, use of the title "firstborn son" had legal and cultural implications, and thus would have been used meaningfully in this sense, without regard to providing information about siblings.

[edit] Spiritual significance

Many hymns and prayers mention Mary's perpetual virginity.

In some modern spiritual writings, Mary's virginity is cited as a counter-example to current sexual mores. In spiritual writings more generally, her virginity is cited as an expression of holiness, devotion, and loving self-denial. In some of St. Augustine's writings he gives her virginity as an example of the mystery of God. Other spiritual writings have mentioned Mary's great humility, which is connected with the sparse mention of her in Scripture and with her willingness to be virginal in order to carry out a part of God's plan. Some writers give Mary as an example of spiritual integrity, of which her virginal integrity is a sign. Over the centuries, it has been a tradition for some of the faithful to consecrate themselves to God, partly by remaining virgins, which is called the "charism of virginity" (or "gift of virginity").

In many icons, Mary's perpetual virginity is signified by three stars that appear on her left, her right, and above her or on her head, which represent her virginity before, during, and after giving birth.


[edit] See also

[edit] External references

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Catechism of the Catholic Church §499
  2. ^ Jurgens §42
  3. ^ Quasten, Patrology 1:120-1
  4. ^ Protoevangelium chapters 7-8
  5. ^ Origen, Commentary on Matthew §10.17
  6. ^ Athanasius, Orations against the Arians 2.70
  7. ^ Epiphanius of Salamis, The Man Well-Anchored 120, c.f. Medicine Chest Against All Heresies 78:6
  8. ^ Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew §1:4
  9. ^ Didymus the Blind, The Trinity 3:4
  10. ^ Ambrose of Milan, Letters 63:111
  11. ^ Jerome, Against Helvetius, 21
  12. ^ Denziger §91
  13. ^ see Jurgens §359, though Tertullian accepted the virgin birth, see Jurgens §277
  14. ^ Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III.28.2
  15. ^ Denziger §993
  16. ^ online
  17. ^ In his 1523 treatise, That Jesus Christ was born a Jew, Luther said that "Scripture does not quibble or speak about the virginity of Mary after the birth of Christ, a matter about which the hypocrites are greatly concerned, as if it were something of the utmost importance on which our whole salvation depended. Actually, we should be satisfied simply to hold that she remained a virgin after the birth of Christ because Scripture does not state or indicate that she later lost her virginity... But the Scripture stops with this, that she was a virgin before and at the birth of Christ; for up to this point God had need of her virginity in order to give us the promised blessed seed without sin." Luther’s Works, American Edition, Walther I. Brandt, ed., Philadelphia, Augsburg Fortress; St. Louis, Concordia Publishing House, 1962, ISBN 0-8006-0345-1 pp.205-206
  18. ^ On September 17, 1522, Zwingli published a sermon entitled The Perpetual Virginity of Mary the Mother of Jesus Christ our Savior [1]
  19. ^ See [2]. [3]
  20. ^ Wesley wrote: "I believe that He was made man, joining the human nature with the divine in one person; being conceived by the singular operation of the Holy Ghost, and born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin." Letter to a Roman Catholic, July 18, 1749 [4]
  21. ^ see John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion I,12,3
  22. ^ see John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion IV,12,27-28
  23. ^ For example, see the entry here
  24. ^ other such usages include: Deuteronomy 23:7, Nehemiah 5:7, Jeremiah 34:9, and 2 Kings 10:13—14
  25. ^ the passages in question are: Matthew 12:46, 13:55, Mark 3:31—34, 6:3, Luke 8:19—20, John 2:12, 7:3, 5, 10, Acts 1:14, and 1 Corinthians 9:5
  26. ^ See this article

[edit] Bibliography

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