Jonathan Mathews
Well-Known Member
It doesn't matter because it's not written, and it's not written because it doesn't matter.
Upvote
0
Starting today August 7th, 2024, in order to post in the Married Couples, Courting Couples, or Singles forums, you will not be allowed to post if you have your Marital status designated as private. Announcements will be made in the respective forums as well but please note that if yours is currently listed as Private, you will need to submit a ticket in the Support Area to have yours changed.
Roman Christians believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary. This is the doctrine that not only was Mary a virgin at the time she conceived Jesus, but that she remained a virgin throughout her life.
Why believe this?
I understand that the Roman Church teaches this doctrine, and that this reason alone is enough for assenting Catholics to accept it. But there doesn't seem to be any basis for this belief in Scripture and I don't understand what is gained by believing it.
To me it seems rooted in a medieval error that virginity or even celibacy is somehow holier than sex and marriage.
Not between married couples as God intended.
Cousins and other close relatives were called brothers back then. It's also used in a spiritual sense as in Christians are the brothers and sisters of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I really don't know. I could take a guess that it was because of the pagan culture all around them at the time. Temple prostitution, young boys and men used a paramours, it was an over sexual environment. The Catholic church being in it's early stages of development and new believers coming out of this type of cultural may have made him overly aggressive in his teachings in order to clean things up.What do you think was the cause of Augustine's theology? Guilt from sin? Gnosticism?
Roman Christians believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary. This is the doctrine that not only was Mary a virgin at the time she conceived Jesus, but that she remained a virgin throughout her life.
Why believe this?
I understand that the Roman Church teaches this doctrine, and that this reason alone is enough for assenting Catholics to accept it. But there doesn't seem to be any basis for this belief in Scripture and I don't understand what is gained by believing it.
To me it seems rooted in a medieval error that virginity or even celibacy is somehow holier than sex and marriage.
In brief, we know no such thing.I dont believe by not Celebrating Mary we (Protestants) do not appreciate the amazing circumstances in how God the Father brought about Jesus. We fully realize the implications of Mary being a Virgin for Jesus. We fully realize hiw important it was for Jesus to be unblemished and without Sin. What we can not recognize is that anyone other than God can be perfect. Mary was not God in Flesh. Mary was a faithful servant who was chosen as the vessel to bring forth the Savior.
We know through scripture and Church history that Jesus had brothers.
The Catholic Church agrees. She did need a savior. And she has one.Mary knew she was imperfect and needed a Savior.
The Holy Spirit's indwelling of believers is kinda sorta totally different from the Incarnation.And a child of God is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit . . .
I'm skipping the rest because it's pretty obvious you either didn't read my post or else that you completely missed the point. Please reread it and try to stay on topic if you reply again. Thanks!
I really don't know. I could take a guess that it was because of the pagan culture all around them at the time. Temple prostitution, young boys and men used a paramours, it was an over sexual environment. The Catholic church being in it's early stages of development and new believers coming out of this type of cultural may have made him overly aggressive in his teachings in order to clean things up.
Was Mary Incarnate as Jesus was? If so, why would she need a savior?The Catholic Church agrees. She did need a savior. And she has one.
Oddly enough, Sacred Scripture gives no direct indication that she ever lost her virginity.
Separately, Our Lady's womb was the dwelling place of Our Lord. Cyril of Alexandria described her as a temple of God.
I should also say that Origen, Hilary of Poitiers and St. Athanasius all thought Our Lady was ever-virgin. Where did they get that idea?
1 Cor. 7 points to celibacy as the ideal so it's not like the Catholic Church is inventing something out of whole cloth. There's nothing "medieval" about that.
The reality is that God clearly took the Incarnation very seriously. One quibble I have with Protestantism is that many of them don't have a complete appreciation for how miraculous the Incarnation really is. The steps required to effectuate Our Lord's birth free of the stain of sin are rather extensive and I think Protestants deny (perhaps unwittingly) the beauty, scope and grandeur of God's plan in allowing Our Lord to be born without a sin nature. These required special circumstances for Our Lady and thus the Catholic Church recognizes and celebrates her and the special circumstances which allowed her to give birth to Our Lord.
I really don't know. I could take a guess that it was because of the pagan culture all around them at the time. Temple prostitution, young boys and men used a paramours, it was an over sexual environment. The Catholic church being in it's early stages of development and new believers coming out of this type of cultural may have made him overly aggressive in his teachings in order to clean things up.
Oddly enough, Sacred Scripture gives no direct indication that she ever lost her virginity.
I should also say that Origen, Hilary of Poitiers and St. Athanasius all thought Our Lady was ever-virgin. Where did they get that idea?
1 Cor. 7 points to celibacy as the ideal so it's not like the Catholic Church is inventing something out of whole cloth. There's nothing "medieval" about that.
The reality is that God clearly took the Incarnation very seriously. One quibble I have with Protestantism is that many of them don't have a complete appreciation for how miraculous the Incarnation really is. The steps required to effectuate Our Lord's birth free of the stain of sin are rather extensive and I think Protestants deny (perhaps unwittingly) the beauty, scope and grandeur of God's plan in allowing Our Lord to be born without a sin nature. These required special circumstances for Our Lady and thus the Catholic Church recognizes and celebrates her and the special circumstances which allowed her to give birth to Our Lord.
I don't think I would say "heretical". But they were wrong.
Jesus isn't named directly in the Old Testament. But he is mentioned a lot of times in it indirectly through prototypes and other subtle references.
The same is true for the Virgin Mary.
I don't think I would say "heretical". But they were wrong.
Yes. The reason I point at temples is because those temples were dedicated to gods whom they worshiped. They had a pagan view of god/gods and sexual immorality was a part of those religions.why did you mention temple prostitution? Didn't that occur everywhere in society and not just in temples?
Doesn't it say that Jesus had several brothers and sisters (and I mean that in the biological sense)?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?