Did Mary the mother of Jesus die a virgin?
https://www.quora.com/Did-Mary-the-mother-of-Jesus-die-a-virgin
That would depend on whom you ask.
Catholics and the Orthodox — about two-thirds of world Christianity — would say yes, that she remained a virgin for her entire life. Most Protestants would say that she had other children after giving birth to Jesus.
The Catholic belief in her perpetual virginity comes from the way they view her as the embodiment of Old Testament typography that suggests purity. For example, there are parallels between the description of the Ark of the Covenant in 2 Samuel and Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke — so much so that it seems the author of Luke was trying to draw a parallel between the two. The Ark of the Covenant was a vessel that contained the most sacred relics of God; likewise, Mary, the “New Ark of the Covenant,” was a sacred vessel chosen by God to carry his own human incarnation. And just as it would be unthinkable to defile the original Ark by, say, tossing it in your garage and using it to store tools in, so it would be unthinkable in Catholic belief to sully Mary’s purity. It would be like taking a communion chalice and filling it with 7-Up.
Protestants, on the other hand, point to the verses in the Gospels that appear to refer to Jesus’ siblings. The reason these verses don’t settle the matter once and for all is that the use of terms such as “brother” and “sister” in the time the Gospels were written could also be used to refer to extended family members. And there’s also the problem of the crucifixion scene in the Gospel of John, when Jesus leaves his mother in the care of his beloved disciple (presumably John himself). If Jesus had other brothers, culture and tradition would have demanded that he leave Mary in the care of his next oldest brother, rather than a non-family member.
I come down on the Catholic side, but I understand the Protestant view. Protestants argue that Joseph, a young, newly married man, would never have lived a chaste life. I think the Orthodox have a good explanation for that — they see Joseph as an elderly widower, who already had children from his marriage and who was chosen to be Mary’s guardian rather than a spouse in the traditional sense. That handily explains the references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as well.
But beyond that, the logistics of a family with multiple children where one sibling is literally God would be impossible.
Protestants tend to view Mary as unimportant, a young woman chosen at random to do a job who can be safely cast aside once that job was done. Catholics view her as our spiritual mother who always leads us back to her son. They’re two very different ways of looking at the same person.
https://www.quora.com/Did-Mary-the-mother-of-Jesus-die-a-virgin
That would depend on whom you ask.
Catholics and the Orthodox — about two-thirds of world Christianity — would say yes, that she remained a virgin for her entire life. Most Protestants would say that she had other children after giving birth to Jesus.
The Catholic belief in her perpetual virginity comes from the way they view her as the embodiment of Old Testament typography that suggests purity. For example, there are parallels between the description of the Ark of the Covenant in 2 Samuel and Mary’s visitation to Elizabeth in the Gospel of Luke — so much so that it seems the author of Luke was trying to draw a parallel between the two. The Ark of the Covenant was a vessel that contained the most sacred relics of God; likewise, Mary, the “New Ark of the Covenant,” was a sacred vessel chosen by God to carry his own human incarnation. And just as it would be unthinkable to defile the original Ark by, say, tossing it in your garage and using it to store tools in, so it would be unthinkable in Catholic belief to sully Mary’s purity. It would be like taking a communion chalice and filling it with 7-Up.
Protestants, on the other hand, point to the verses in the Gospels that appear to refer to Jesus’ siblings. The reason these verses don’t settle the matter once and for all is that the use of terms such as “brother” and “sister” in the time the Gospels were written could also be used to refer to extended family members. And there’s also the problem of the crucifixion scene in the Gospel of John, when Jesus leaves his mother in the care of his beloved disciple (presumably John himself). If Jesus had other brothers, culture and tradition would have demanded that he leave Mary in the care of his next oldest brother, rather than a non-family member.
I come down on the Catholic side, but I understand the Protestant view. Protestants argue that Joseph, a young, newly married man, would never have lived a chaste life. I think the Orthodox have a good explanation for that — they see Joseph as an elderly widower, who already had children from his marriage and who was chosen to be Mary’s guardian rather than a spouse in the traditional sense. That handily explains the references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters as well.
But beyond that, the logistics of a family with multiple children where one sibling is literally God would be impossible.
Protestants tend to view Mary as unimportant, a young woman chosen at random to do a job who can be safely cast aside once that job was done. Catholics view her as our spiritual mother who always leads us back to her son. They’re two very different ways of looking at the same person.
