Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus Christ. An account fully covered by the gospel. But anything beyond “virginity” is an exclusively Catholic narrative and fable.
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Eternal Virgin – A Catholic specialty
The fact that the Roman Catholic Church rejects the teachings of the Gospel across a wide spectrum and replaces them with its own opinions and traditions became known to a broad public at the latest after the beginning of the Reformation in the 16th century. Until then, the Church of Rome threatened people with severe sanctions should they have their own Bible, and this possibly in their own mother tongue. The sanctions of this church ranged from “embarrassing interrogation” to death by burning alive at the stake. Thanks to the printing press, which had already been invented, the Bible translated by Martin Luther spread quickly in Germany and was also affordable for a much broader level of society. A Bible previously copied in handwriting cost a large fortune.
Catholic dogmas were (are) compulsory
One of these idiosyncratic teachings of the Roman Catholic Church is the tale of an “ever staying” Virgin Mary. The “Mother of God”, or “Our Lady”, as Pope John Paul II liked to put it, remained a virgin even after the birth of Jesus until the end of her life. Auxiliary Bishop Dominikus Schwaderlapp has now revived this legend in the ongoing series on the Catholic catechism in the magazine “Die Tagespost“.
“Mary remained a virgin when she conceived her son, a virgin when she gave birth to him, a virgin when she carried him, a virgin when she nursed him in her breast – always a virgin,” the “Saint” Augustine quoted by the bishop. Maria became a mother uniquely. The Mother of the Son of God, who is true God and true man and unique in the history of salvation.
It is very easy for people to imagine that they can simply go back to business as usual afterward, lead a normal life and also have more children. But from the “beginning” there was a “clear tradition” that Maria remained unmarried. The bishop classifies Jesus as a member of a family, but Mary was exclusively his mother.
What does the gospel say about this?
As short and concise as the auxiliary bishop did justice to the detailed history of an “eternal virginity”, the statements in the Bible can be just as concise.
Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born
In Luke 1:34 we find that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel visited Mary and announced to her that she would give birth to a son. Maria was surprised.
“Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?”
The statement that Mary had a virgin conception is therefore correct.
Joseph “knew” Mary after Jesus was born
When Joseph, at that time not married to Mary but engaged, found out about this pregnancy, he thought (of course) of infidelity on the part of Mary. In a dream, however, Joseph learned of God’s great and already announced plan (Isaiah 7:14). The following statement can be found in Matthew 1:24-25:
“Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”
From this statement, it can be seen that Mary was not “touched” (“and knew her not”) by Joseph UNTIL she had given birth to Jesus Christ. The conclusion from this is that after the birth of Jesus Christ, there was indeed a marital relationship between Joseph and Mary.
Jesus had 4 brothers and at least 2 sisters
After returning from Egypt, Joseph and Mary, along with the very young Jesus, settled in Nazareth. That’s where Jesus Christ grew up. The family was therefore known locally. “You knew each other”.
Jesus Christ once returned to Nazareth on His journey together with His disciples to preach there in the synagogue on the Sabbath (seventh day of the week, Saturday). The Nazarenes still knew Jesus Christ and also His parents. In addition, the inhabitants had already heard about the salvific work of Jesus. But they remained skeptical and unbelieving, as in Mark 6:3:
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.”
The people present thus numbered four brothers and an undisclosed number of sisters of Jesus.
Conclusion:
Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Joseph begot other sons and daughters with Mary and thus also (half) siblings of Jesus. A “perpetual virginity” is therefore out of the question.
Alone with the connection of four verses of the Bible, Luke 1:34, Matthew 1:34-35 and Mark 6:3, the statement about an “eternally virgin and unmarried” Mary is refuted.
The church testifies to its own teachings
A pure comparison between Catholic catechism and the gospel, instead of a refutation, would only come into question if this church did not claim to stand on the foundation of the gospel and to represent the Bible with its dogmas. Instead, the past shows that those who stood on the foundation of the Bible were bitterly persecuted by it. It is about the Catholic faith, but not about the Christian faith.
In pos. 499 and 500 of its catechism (CCC), this church expresses the fact that this is an individual Catholic teaching and not the Bible.
The “ever-virgin” Mary is therefore exclusively the “understanding” of this church. “To each his own,” one might say. But not when countless people did not bow to these dogmas, remained faithful to the gospel and lost their lives because of it. This characterizes the “traditional charity” of this institution.
More Osiris fable than gospel
The Catholic Church itself points out that its teachings cannot be reconciled with the Gospel. The dogmas are based on the intuitions of “church fathers” and the traditions that have been passed since then. This applies to “perpetual virginity” as well as to the teachings about an “immortal soul” and the “uselessness of Jesus’ bloodshed” on the cross.
The “always virgin” Mary is a purely Catholic doctrine, as is her ascension and her immaculateness (freed from “original sin”). The Catholic teaching on the image of Mary with her child Jesus shows far more parallels with the ancient Egyptian mythology about Osiris, Isis, Horus and Seth than with the gospel.
Bible verses from King James Version
