mary, the eternal virgin?

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**And you STILL haven’t pointed us to any Biblical verse, Church tradition or extrabiblical source that says Mary gave birth to *****other ***children, have you?

**Yeah - *that’s ***what I thought . . . :rolleyes:
For as smart as you think you are you’ve missed me saying that Mary having children is not my issue. I agree with the verses brought forth by others that Jesus had sibblings. I think it’s logical that Mary had other children. However, I don’t think there’s proof one way or the other. Matthew 1:24,25 does suggest Joseph and Mary had ā€˜relations’. If the did, it is logical to assume that they had children. But, that’s NOT my issue.
 
For as smart as you think you are you’ve missed me saying that Mary having children is not my issue. I agree with the verses brought forth by others that Jesus had sibblings. I think it’s logical that Mary had other children. However, I don’t think there’s proof one way or the other. Matthew 1:24,25 does suggest Joseph and Mary had ā€˜relations’. If the did, it is logical to assume that they had children. But, that’s NOT my issue.
Okay here is where I struggle for those who believed she HAD to have had relations after Jesus. Says WHO? Why did she have to have more children? Why is it so difficult to accept all the possibilities she may have chosen NOT to have any?

I am sorry Dokimas,but people living today who really believe it is so un-natural for Mary to have only one child or not have sexual relations is beyond my comprehension. One of my catechist here is 65 year old woaman who has never been married,no kids and has never had any sexual relations with any man. And why? Because she felt her calling was to serve God 100%. Do you think I am making this up? Would you believe her? Is it un-natural for her? Is it impossible in today’s world?
 
Okay here is where I struggle for those who believed she HAD to have had relations after Jesus. Says WHO? Why did she have to have more children? Why is it so difficult to accept all the possibilities she may have chosen NOT to have any?

I am sorry Dokimas,but people living today who really believe it is so un-natural for Mary to have only one child or not have sexual relations is beyond my comprehension. One of my catechist here is 65 year old woaman who has never been married,no kids and has never had any sexual relations with any man. And why? Because she felt her calling was to serve God 100%. Do you think I am making this up? Would you believe her? Is it un-natural for her? Is it impossible in today’s world?
Why did she have to be celibate? Would it have made her an the less the wonderful mother of Jesus? No.

I think the woman you know is quite a woman. It’s wonderful for a person to be celibate for the glory of God. Mary was married.
 
people living today who really believe it is so un-natural for Mary to have only one child or not have sexual relations is beyond my comprehension.
I find it ironic that these folks are also the one’s who, with their pastor’s blessing, generally limit themselves to 2.2 kids.
 
Why did she have to be celibate? Would it have made her an the less the wonderful mother of Jesus? No.

I think the woman you know is quite a woman. It’s wonderful for a person to be celibate for the glory of God. Mary was married.
Well I never asked her why she chose celibacy,but nonetheless, I give her a lot of credit.It is not very common today to remain celibate. Again, as you know Dokimas,I must respect others religious beliefs.Happy 4th of July and may God Bless you and your loved ones.

Be safe!
 
"MartinJordan:
I believe if one is truly sincere with charity and love in their hearts (not pointing fingers at anyone), will accept Mother Mary had only one child.
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Dokimas:
This is quite a statement.
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Roman_Catholic:
Yes think of the implications for you!

God bless
Care to elaborate?
The ā€œimplicationsā€ of you not accepting Mary having only one child meant, according to MartinJordan, that you were (obviously 😃 ) not sincere. Oh nor do you have charity or love in your heart. I was trying to lighten the mood. It was, like you said, ā€œquite the statementā€. I failed. šŸ˜‰

God bless you
 
It’s NOT impossible in today’s world. In fact, I read within the last year or so about two women who are over 100 years old and are still virgins. And they aren’t even religious! They simply chose not to marry, and not to have relations with men.

What I want to know is:
  1. Why did Mary seem so shocked to find out she would give birth to Jesus, if she was planning on having marital relations with Joseph? Jesus would just be a baby they had together, and the soul would be that of the holy spirit (biologically, he would be Mary and Joseph’s son so he’d look like them).
  2. Why did the angel Gabriel visit Joseph to tell him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because she would be pregnant by the holy spirit? If he was going to have relations with her, Mary’s being pregnant would not be a surprise and would not need a warning from an angel.
I think that Joseph was an older man who was appointed to be a sort of protector for Mary. He already was married before and had children (Jesus’s brothers and sisters). That also explains why Jesus assigned one of his apostles to look after Mary when he died: Joseph was older and had already passed on by the time Jesus was in his thirties.

I don’t see why the Catholic Church would teach that Mary was an eternal virgin if it wasn’t true. To make people leave the Church from disagreement? No, they want people to stay in the Church, and encourage new people to join as well.
  1. People who are married to each other can have marital relations without committing a sin.
  2. Mary was married to Joseph.
  3. Mary would not have sinned by having relations with Joseph.
Would Mary have been less great of a person if she had relations with Joseph? No.
Would Mary still be worthy of respect if she had relations with Joseph? Yes.
Mary having relations with her husband is not a sin, nor would it negate the fact that she gave birth to Jesus.

So why teach that she didn’t have relations with Joseph, unless that is the truth?
 
(Sorry if I’m repeating someone. Just answering without reading any responses.) Mary was a virgin. In mass last week our priest said that Mary went into Heaven a virgin. In order to have another child besides Christ she couldn’t be a virgin.
However, it is said that St. James the Less and his brother St. Jude Thaddaeus were related to Jesus. This does not necessarily mean that they were brothers. Meaning that they were cousins or uncles or something like that. (Look in Catholicism for Dummies that is where I found out about St. James and St. Jude.)
Once again sorry if someone already said this. :blushing:
Good points S.Emily! Welcome to CAF,a nd to the thread. The testimony of history seems to have no influence on some of these people.
 
This is interesting, how do you know this? It makes sense that Mary would need someone to provide for her when Jesus was gone, but I’ve never heard that a woman could not live alone.
In that day and age, women did not have rights as legal persons. They were considered the property of the men. A woman was under the jursidiction of the eldest male relative, until she was given by him to the care of another. That is why Jesus explained that, if a man divorced a woman, she was forced to commit to adultery. She would have to move in with another man.

The only women who did not have a male guardian (or husband) were prostitutes.

this is also why Mary could not travel alone to see her Son, but had to go in the custody fo male relatives. This tradition is still practiced in very strict Palestinian and Arab cultures.
Also, did Mary ever remarry when Joseph died?
No, she considered herself the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
 
If we’re correct, the Holy Spirit.
You are right, of course. The problem here is that the HS does not contradict Himself. He does not reveal a doctrine to some several individuals 2000 years after he revealed the opposite to the Early Church. Therefore, someone got their wires crossed.

Do you honestly believe that the HS was too weak to correct this mistake until the Modern Evangelical Movement came along?
 
This is quite a statement.
Yes, and not accurate, as we can see. You are a very good example of a sincere person who is just unable to accept the Apostolic Teaching on this point. It is what happens when the Holy Scriptures are separated from the Apostolic Tradition that produced them.
 
Main Entry: 1unĀ·til
Pronunciation: \ən-ˈtil, -ˈtel; ĖˆÉ™n-ˌ, -təl
Function: preposition
Etymology: Middle English, from un- (probably from Old Norse *und up to; akin to Old Norse unz up to, until, Old High German unt, Old English ende end) + til, till till
Date: 13th century
1 chiefly Scottish : to
2 —used as a function word to indicate continuance (as of an action or condition) to a specified time
3 : before 2 <we don’t open until ten>

I think this definition helps my understanding. Notice #2. Implies there could be a change after said time.

Notice #3. ā€œwe don’t open until tenā€ implies opening after ten. Joseph did not know Mary until Jesus was born.
The problem with this approach is that the use of the word in context is a Hebraism. The meaning of a Hebraism is best understood from the time in which it was commonly used. It is not used in that manner today.

The other problem is making doctrines based upon ā€œimplicationsā€ of the text. Doctrine is to be received from those who are authorized to preserve it, not gleaned out of the text by ā€œimplicationā€ 2000 years after the fact!
 
… she considered herself the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
I don’t think that this claim can be substantiated.

It is modern Latin Catholics who tend to consider her the spouse of the Holy Spirit, but there is nothing in Tradition to show the early church ever considered that. It is more of a ā€˜reading back’ of modern ideas (with big implications) into history.
 
You’re deceived on this matter and many with respect to what some non-catholics have said on this forum. I wonder how much of what you believe is also not exactly correct. Maybe there’s a pattern.
Is he wrong? Why are you rejecting the Strongs def? Why are you substituting a modern language use for the ancient one?
 
**And you STILL haven’t pointed us to any Biblical verse, Church tradition or extrabiblical source that says Mary gave birth to *****other ***children, have you?

**Yeah - *that’s ***what I thought . . . :rolleyes:
But he has! He has repeatedly listed the verses that he believes refer to the children of Mary. The fact that they don’t SAY these people are the offspring of Mary, the mother of Jesus, is irrelevant.😃
 
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