Please read through the thread. There's at least these:
Clement of Alexandria.
Africanus
Hegesipius
Origen
Tertullian
Cyril of Jerusalem
Helvidius.
Read the quote above your post from Ireaneus about the virgin Eve. He knew she had 3 sons, yet called her the virgin Eve. So, it means nothing as to her perpetual state, if someone back then says, the virgin Mary.
But this isn't about the EV. It's about the gnostic, contradictory PoJ.
If the PoJ didn't address Mary's ever-virginity, would it have even been brought up? It seems that is the primary reason you have taken an interest in it.
So let's take a look at these then:
St. Clement of Alexandria:
"But, as appears, many even down to our own time, regard Mary, on account of the birth of her child, as having been in the puerperal state, although she was not.
For some say that, after she brought forth, she was found, when examined, to be a virgin. Now such to us are the Scriptures of the Lord, which gave birth to the truth and continue virgin, in the concealment of the mysteries of the truth. '
And she brought forth, and yet brought not forth' says the Scripture; as having conceived of herself and not from conjunction. ("The Stromata, or Miscellanies" in
The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. II, ed. Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson)
[FONT=arial, helvetica, geneva, sans-serif]Origen[/FONT]
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"The Book [the
Protoevangelium] of James [records] that the brethren of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former wife, whom he married before Mary. Now those who say so wish to preserve the honor of Mary in virginity to the end, so that body of hers which was appointed to minister to the Word . . . might not know intercourse with a man after the Holy Spirit came into her and the power from on high overshadowed her. And I think it in harmony with reason that Jesus was the firstfruit among men of the purity which consists in [perpetual] chastity, and Mary was among women.
For it were not pious to ascribe to any other than to her the firstfruit of virginity" (
Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]).
Tertullian
Turning now to the law, which is properly ours that is, to the Gospel by what kind of examples are we met, until we come to definite dogmas? Behold, there immediately present themselves to us, on the threshold as it were, the two priestesses of Christian sanctity, Monogamy and Continence: one modest, in Zechariah the priest; one absolute, in John the forerunner: one appeasing God; one preaching Christ: one proclaiming a perfect priest;....For who was more worthily to perform the initiatory rite on the body of the Lord, than flesh similar in kind to that which conceived and gave birth to that (body)? And indeed it was a virgin, about to marry once for all after her delivery, who gave birth to Christ, in order that each title of sanctity might be fulfilled in Christ's parentage, by means of a mother who was both virgin, and wife of one husband. (On Monagamy 8)
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
And whenI( i.e. Cyril) had burned his books, I said unto him 'Who...[One leaf wanting]...He to Whom no form can be assigned was born [in the form of] a son. He was the Beginning, and He Who had no beginning was brought forth. Now there was a beginning to that humanity, but the Godhead had no beginning, and was without form. Andno addition took place to the Trinity in such wise that the Trinity, which consisteth of Three [Persons], became Four [Persons]. One
sunodoV entered one who was of two natures, and one son was brought forth, a unity of the flesh without any diminution. For He was neither changed in His nature, nor reduced in His strength, nor was He separated from His Ancient Begetter, that is to say, the Beginning. But the oneness of the flesh of God received one Nature. As for the coming to us of the Blessed Offspring God the Word, it is the miracle that was hidden in God from eternity, I mean the miracleof God Who made Himself man. An impenetrable mysteryis the Nature that abolished the curse and destroyed the sentence of death, [p. 640] and taught us concerning the foundation, which had no beginning, of the Only-begotten One, Jesus the Christ, our Lord, the production, accordingto the flesh, of the womb of
SaintMary, the perpetual Virgin, in whose holy house we are I gathered together this day to commemorate the day of her death
. If thou wilt confess these things with a true and sincere belief then we will prepare to receive thee into the fold of all the sheep of the loving Shepherd Christ. Have no doubt about the matter; thou must either follow the words which I have taught thee or thou must get outside this place.' And Annarikhus opened his mouth and anathematized the heresy of Ebion and Harpocratius, saying, 'Anathema be every heresy; the things which thou [Ebion] hast said unto me are not to be believed. And now, O my father, receive thou me into good fellowship with thyself.' And when I knew that his mind had received the light I baptized him in the name of the Lady of us all, Saint Mary, whose day is this day. Finally he went to a monasteryintheMount ofOlives,andhebuildeduponthefoundationoftheApostles untilthedayofhisdeath... (Cyril of Jerusalem,
Homily on the Dormition).
So I pullled up quotes from the most notable writers that you mentioned (very quickly I might add; and I haven't even looked at the other's yet). And I found them all to assert that Mary remained a virgin. What do you think the chances are that if i investigate the other alleged claims, they will be without foundation as well? I expected better research than this...
