The Perpetual Virginity of Mary
UNTIL
Until - Doesn’t imply a necessary change
…
Matthew 28:20, 1 Cor. 15:
25, Matthew 13:33, Acts 25:21
FIRSTBORN
Firstborn - A special status, not necessarily a numerical
sequence … Deut.
21:17, Numbers 18:15-16, 1 Chronicles 5:1-2, Gen 41:52,
Jeremiah 31:9, Psalm 89: 21, 28
BEFORE
Before - Doesn’t imply a necessary change …
John 4:49
Answering some objections to Mary’s virginity.
UNTIL
Matthew 1:24-25
“When Joseph awoke … and took his wife into his home. He had
no relations with her
until she bore a son, and he named
him Jesus.”
Protestants will often cite this verse in their
attempt to prove that Mary did not remain a virgin after Jesus' birth. However, “until” does not imply
that Joseph had relations with her after she bore a son.
Below are a list of verses where the word “until”
is used to denote a completion of a conditional phrase. However,
it does not imply any meaning to the time period after that completion.
The word “until” is only a time marker. And it does not
necessarily imply that the situation changes or reverses after that time
period.
Matthew 28:20
“And behold, I am with you
always, until the end of the age.”
2 Samuel 6:23
“Mikal, daughter of Saul, had no children until (heôs) the days of
her death.” (The Greek translation called the
Septuagint. ) So, are we to suppose she started having children
after her death.
1 Timothy 4:13
“Until I arrive, attend to the
reading, exhortation, and teaching.”
1 Cor. 15: 25
“...must reign until he puts
his enemies under his feet.”
And clearly, Jesus still reigns after.
John 5: 9-18
“Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is at work until now, so I am at
work.’ ”
Some people have argued that there is a special
combination of this Greek word with another, “heos hou,” which
they claim does imply a change. However, the verses below show
that this is not so.
Matthew 13:33
“He spoke to them another
parable. ‘The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and
mixed with three measures of wheat flour until
[Greek: heos hou] the
whole batch was leavened.’ ” NAB
[Do you think she was to take the yeast out after
the flour was leavened ?]
Matthew 14:22
“Then he made the disciples get
into the boat and go before him to the other side, while [Greek: heos
hou] he dismissed the crowds.” RSV
[The Greek word for until is here translated as
“while.” ]
( Darby’s version)
Matthew 14:22
“And immediately he compelled the disciples to go on
board ship, and to go on before him to the other side,
until he should
have dismissed the crowds.”
Matthew 26:36
“Then Jesus went with them to a
place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, ‘Sit here, while
[Greek: heos hou] I go yonder and pray.’ ” RSV
[The Greek word for until, “heos hou,” is
here translated as “while.” ]
( Darby’s
version)
Matthew 26:36
“Then Jesus comes with them to a place called
Gethsemane, and says to the disciples, Sit here
until I go away and pray
yonder.”
Did Jesus intend that they wait for him to pray and
then wonder about ?
Acts 25:21
“But when Paul demanded to be kept
in custody until [eis] the Emperor’s verdict, I gave orders that he
should be kept in custody until [Greek: heos hou] I could send him on
to Caesar” (Anchor Bible translation, slightly amended by with the
bracketing.)
Now, when Saint Paul was sent on to Caesar surely
Paul would have surely remained in custody; for his original request was
to remain in custody “until the Emperor’s verdict.”
Therefore the use of the word “until,” “heos hou”
in the Greek, does not imply that Paul was to be set free
after he was sent on to Caesar. If anything, the implication was the very opposite.
2 Peter 1:19
“And we have the prophetic word
made more sure. You will do well to pay attention to this as to a lamp
shining in a dark place, until [Greek: heos hou] the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your hearts.” RSV
Clearly Saint Peter was not suggesting that we stop
being attentive to these truths after “the day
dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”
[Most of the verses and notes above
are from some Catholic apologist's email whose name I have forgotten.
Sorry.]
FIRSTBORN
Luke 2:4-7
“And Joseph also went … to the city of … Bethlehem … with Mary …
And she gave birth to her
first-born son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and
laid him in a manger”
Jesus is called the firstborn of Mary and some
Fundamentalists claim that Jesus could not be Mary’s “first-born”
unless there were other children that followed him. However, this term
does not imply that.
Arianism
The Protestant argument that the use of this word
“firstborn” proves Mary had other children is not completely unlike the
heretical Arians who used this word to argue that Jesus was not fully
God.
The heresy of Arianism (AD 4th till 6th century)
used Colossians to argued Jesus was the first person created.
Colossians 1:13-15
“[H]is beloved Son … 15 He is the image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of all creation.”
Therefore, if Jesus was created He is not fully equal with God, the
Father. This heresy undermined Jesus’ role as Savior.
See
The God-Man and the Anti-Christ
The mistake that both the Protestants and Arians make is their failure
to see that the word “first” has more than one meaning. First can be a
reference to chronological order (time), however in regards to these
verses we are considering “first” is a reference to power and leadership
and the special role that Jewish culture and context placed on a title
of “Firstborn.”
For example, the person who is first in his class,
could be :
1. The first person who was first chronologically.
2. The first person on a list ascending from the lowest to the highest
score.
3. The first person on a list descending from the highest to the lowest
score.
God demanded that the Israelites consecrate to Him
all the firstborns in Exodus 13:2. And Exodus 34:20 also states that
the parents were required to redeem all firstborn. It is obvious that
they were not supposed to wait until they had for a second child to
redeem the firstborn son because it was required to take place one month
after birth as stipulated in Numbers 18:15-16. Therefore, Firstborn
does not imply a second born. Actually, Firstborn denotes a special
status and privilege and not necessarily a numerical sequence.
The Firstborn gets
a double blessing. Cf. Deut. 21:17 Exodus 34:19-20. It had special
religious and covenant significance. And so, Christ is the “First-born
of all creation” Col 1:15. In fact, the firstborn status was
sometimes specifically given to the second-born or even latter born.
It is not always consistent with their numerical sequence. See Bible references below.
Exodus 13:2
“Consecrate to me all the first-born; whatever is the first to open the
womb among the people of Israel, both of man and of beast, is mine.”
Exodus 34:20
“All the first-born of your sons you shall redeem.”
Numbers 18:15-16
“Every living thing that opens the womb, whether of man or of beast,
such as are to be offered to the LORD, shall be yours; but you must let
the first-born of man, as well as of unclean animals, be redeemed. The ransom for a boy is to be
paid when he is a
month old; it is fixed at five silver shekels...” NAB
Therefore, the fact that Jesus is called
“firstborn” does not mean that there is a second born. It is a term
that had a deeper theological significance that just a numerical
sequence.
Since the firstborn was redeemed, by law, at one
month old, this implies that we could not know if there was ever to be a
“second-born” when the first-born is labeled as such.
The term “firstborn” does not mean that there is
a second born. It refers more to the special role and blessing that a
person received than it does to a numerical sequence.
Esau's Firstborn status is given to Jacob, the
second born of Isaac, in Gen 27.
Sirach 44:22-23
“ … The covenant with all his forebears was confirmed, and the blessing
rested upon the head of JACOB. God acknowledged him as
the first-born, and gave him his inheritance.” NAB
Although Reuben is the “firstborn” of Jacob/Israel
he looses that special birthright because of his infidelity. It is
given to the sons of his brother Joseph.
1 Chronicles 5:1-2
“The sons of Reuben, the
first-born of Israel. (He was indeed the
first-born, but because he
disgraced the couch of his father his birthright was given to the sons
of Joseph, son of Israel, so that he is not listed in the family records
according to birthright. Judah, in fact, became powerful among his
brothers, so that the ruler came from him, though the birthright had
been Joseph’s.)” NAB
Ephraim is the second born of Joseph (Cf. Gen
41:52), but he receives the special blessing, Cf. Gen 48: 14, 18,
20. And, Ephraim receives the special “firstborn” status.
Jeremiah 31:9 “ ... For I am a father to Israel, Ephraim is my
first-born.”
Consider, even though King David is the youngest
son ( Cf. 1 Sam 16:10-13), he is called the firstborn.
Psalm 89: 21, 28
“I have chosen David, my
servant; with my holy oil I have anointed him. ... 28 I myself make him
firstborn, Most High over the kings of the earth.”
Zechariah 12:10
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication, so that, when they
look on him whom they have pierced, they
shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only
child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over
a first-born.”
There is an ancient Greek tomb inscription at Tel -
el Yaoudieh in Egypt (cf. BIBLICA 11, 1930 369-390 ) for a mother
who died at childbirth. It confirms this usage of the term firstborn.
It reads:
”In the pain of
delivering my first-born child, destiny brought me to the end of
life.”
Surely, she did not have more children after her
death. For another epitaph of the same sort,
from Leontopolis, see BIBLICAL ARCHEOLOGY REVIEW sept/oct 1992
page 56.
Therefore, the fact that Jesus is called
“firstborn” does not mean that there is a second born. It is a term
that had a deeper theological significance than just a numerical
sequence. The Firstborn status implies a certain priestly role.
See Scott Hahn's explanation of
First-Born and his role as High Priest
BEFORE
Matthew 1:18
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his
mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together she was found to be with child of
the Holy Spirit”
Does the use of the word “before” in Matthew 1:18
imply that Joseph and Mary had sexual relations after Jesus was born ?
No.
Modern Protestants did not discover a previously unknown to Catholics a
Scripture passage that is a proof against Mary’s Perpetual Virginity.
Now, it is true that Mary and Joseph would “come
together” or “lived together” after they got married, it is not true
that Mary and Joseph would have sex. While the phrase that they would
“come together” or “lived together” is vague, some modern Protestants
argue that this implies that they did have sex. However, even if this
phrase is a euphemistic way of saying “sex,” a study of the Greek usage
of the word “before” shows that it does NOT necessarily mean that the
condition or situation preceding in time “before” the event changed
afterward. Consider :
John 4:49
“The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ ”
The same Greek word for “before” is used in both
Matthew 1:18 and John 4:49.
Before –Greek
“πριν,” Transliteration “prin,” Strong’s # 4250.
And, the context clearly shows that the child did
not die.
Therefore, this passage in Matthew 1:18 also does not imply that the
virginal status of Mary would change.
Why is this issue
important ?
It is important because a denial of Mary’s
Perpetual Virginity is an insult to God. The children at Fatima (as
well as we, too) were even asked to do penance for those who deny this truth.
It is God who created Mary and by His grace made her life a
special
testimony to Him and His Greatness. And Mary was most cooperative with
this grace.
Besides the fact that Protestants get their Bible
from the Catholic Church which she painstakingly transcribed down
through the generations, it is interesting to note that the
early Protestant Reformers also affirmed Mary’s Virginity after Jesus’
birth.
This passage in Matthew 1:18 is one of the most
celebrated passages by Catholics in the whole Bible. The beginning
verse of each Gospel was often decorated with a special page in early
Catholic Bibles. This is as expected since the four Gospels are so
prominent in the New Covenant.
After these four verses, the most decorated verse was this passage of Matthew 1:18
which tells of the Incarnation of Christ. It was often accompanied by a
highly decorated “Incarnation Initial.”
See :
Lindisfarne Gospels (Latin - AD 698.
English - AD 950.)
Incarnation initial - Matthew 1:18
Book of Kells (early 9th
century)
Incarnation initial Matt 1:18
Gospels of St. Chad, (early 8th
century)
Incarnation initial Matt. 1:18
Canterbury Codex
Aureus
(mid-8th
century)
Incarnation initial Matt 1:18
The Greek letters represent our Latin and English
alphabet as follows:
X - Ch
P - R
I - I
So, XPI represents “Chri” which is an abbreviation
for “Christ.”
Also, see the faulty arguments above for “Until”
and “Firstborn.”
Until - Doesn’t
imply a necessary change …
Matthew
28:20, 1 Cor. 15: 25, Matthew 13:33, Acts 25:21
Firstborn - A special status not necessarily a numerical sequence
… Deut.
21:17, Numbers 18:15-16, 1 Chronicles 5:1-2, Gen 41:52, Jeremiah
31:9, Psalm 89: 21, 28
Before - Doesn’t imply a necessary change …
John 4:49 |