St. Jerome, Helvetius, and Mary’s Perpetual Virginity - Quick Question

[Cathoholic]

St. Jerome, Helvetius, and Mary’s Perpetual Virginity - Quick Question

Hello Apologists.

Karl Keating has cited someone approaching St. Jerome in the early Church and asking St. Jerome to respond to the heretic Helvetius who was denying the Perpetual Virginity of Mary at the time.

St. Jerome called it a “novel, wicked, and daring affront to the faith of the whole world.”

St. Jerome later wrote a direct response to Helvetius.

My question is, TO WHOM did St. Jerome say Helvetius’ error is a “novel, wicked, and daring affront to the faith of the whole world.”?

I’m not doubting Karl Keating’s quote source—he is an excellent apologist. I just want to read more from the original source.

I read and re-read St. Jerome’s letter to Helvetius and it is NOT in there. So WHERE did that quote come from?

Any information and links if possible would be helpful.

Thank you.

Cathoholic

(moderator, if you think a different thread forum other than Scripture Apologetics would get me an answer faster, please move it to such a thread forum. I just thought the Catholic Apologists would be able to answer this query rapidly)

 

[AmbroseSJ]

I can’t say where exactly the quote is found, but it supposedly was said by St. Jerome before he wrote his book against Helvidius.

 

[COPLAND_3]

My guess is that Karl quoted from a different translation of that letter by St. Jerome than the one you are searching. If Karl has given a verse citation of that letter then that may narrow it down and you can compare what your translation says (though it does happen that editors sometimes develop their own numbering system). Also in Patristic writings there are different manuscript traditions just as there are in Biblical manuscripts, which means he may have taken a quote from a translation of that letter that may provide it, and the other one doesn’t. Or it could possibly be a misquote by Karl (which I doubt) and come from another letter.

 

[sirach2v4]

#1, I can’t answer the question, about who Jerome is responding to.

#2, I’ve been reading this book, Mary and the Church Fathers

see here ignatius.com/Products/MAFC-P/mary-and-the-fathers-of-the-church.aspx

This priest-author hits a grand-slam right off the bat, with his entry about Justin Martyr

Justin and other succeeding Church Fathers seemed in agreement about the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Why would that be?

It seems they were writing so much, in the first place, because there were so many heresies abounding, that they had to respond to.

Some fo the first heresies had to do with the nature of Christ, who he was. To settle the issue of his humanity, it was necessary to illustrate that Jesus was truly born of Mary. So, Mary becomes a principal figure in the doctrine of the incarnation.

To show that Jesus was divine, and conceived as stated in the scriptures, by the power of the Holy Spirit, it was necessary to show that the incarnation was NOT due to human marital relations. THEREFORE, Mary was a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. Jesus was conceived and was born in a supernatural way.

The early teaching emphasized Mary’s role, not her status or subsequent esteem by which she was held in the Church.

 

[AmbroseSJ]

My guess is that Karl quoted from a different translation of that letter by St. Jerome than the one you are searching. If Karl has given a verse citation of that letter then that may narrow it down and you can compare what your translation says (though it does happen that editors sometimes develop their own numbering system). Also in Patristic writings there are different manuscript traditions just as there are in Biblical manuscripts, which means he may have taken a quote from a translation of that letter that may provide it, and the other one doesn’t. Or it could possibly be a misquote by Karl (which I doubt) and come from another letter.

My own thought was that the statement is found in a preface to his work on Helvidius, or maybe an ancient collection of Jerome’s writings. The quote seems to be genuine, at least it is used very often. But I never find a citation for it.

 

[Cathoholic]

Thanks for the responses. Sirach2v4 I am going to order the book you recommended tonight.

Cathoholic