Catholic Word of the Day: MARY'S VIRGINITY, 02-26-13

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MARY'S VIRGINITY

The belief that the Mother of Jesus was always a virgin. Three stages of virginity are professed in this belief: "mary's conception of her Son without the co-operation of man, giving birth to Christ without violating her integrity, and remaining a virgin after Jesus was born.

The Church's faith in Mary's virginal conception of Jesus found its way into all the ancient professions of belief. In a text dating from the early second century, the Apostles' creed speaks of "Jesus Christ . . . who was born by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary." The biblical basis was traceable to the prophecy or Isaiah (7:14), which the first Evangelist applies to Mary: "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give a sign. Behold a virgin [halmah] shall conceive and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel [God with us]." From the beginning, Christians understood the passage to refer to the Messiah, since the sign had been fulfilled. Matthew thus interpreted the term in recalling the Isaian prophecy (Matthew 1:23).

All the Fathers affirm Christ's virginal conception by Mary. At the turn of the first century, Ignatius of Antioch spoke of Jesus as "truly born of a virgin." Starting with Just the Martyr (c. 100-65), ecclesiastical writers uniformly defended the Messianic interpretation of Isaiah, as given by Matthew and confirmed in the Gospel by St. Luke.

Christian tradition went a step further. Not only did Mary conceive without carnal intercourse, but her physical virginity was also no violated in giving birth to Christ. When the monk Jovinian (d. 405) began to teach that "A virgin conceived, but a virgin did not bring forth," he was promptly condemned by a synod at Milan (390), presided over by St. Ambrose. Her integrity during the birth of Jesus is included in the title "perpetual virgin," given to Mary by the fifth general council held at Constantinople (553). Without going into physiological details, ancient writers such as Ambrose, Augustine, and Jerome employ various analogies--the emergence of Christ from the sealed tomb, his going through closed doors, penetration of light through glass, the going out of human thought from the mind.

Mary remained a virgin after Christ was born, Denied in the early Church by Tertullian and Jovinian, the doctrine of virginity post partum (after birth) was strenuously defended by the orthodox Fathers and crystallized in the term aeiparthenos (ever virgin) coined by the fifth ecumenical council (second of Constantinople). From the fourth century on, such formulas as that of St. Augustine became common: "A Virgin conceived, a virgin gave birth, a virgin remained."

All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Like tom h, I had a hard time grasping the concept of "once saved always saved". You understand if I say that it is hard to understand for people who come from a Catholic upbringing. The best answer I got came from a Pentecostal preacher who came to preach a revival at our Southern Baptist church. After explaining that a saved person may sin but will not live a sinful lifestyle, he asked me about the prodigal son. While he was feeding the pigs, was he any less of a son than he was while living at home? He had walked away from his father, lived a life that the father would not have approved... but he was still his son. There are 2 important lessons in this parable, one is that a son will not be happy mingling with the pigs (a saved person will sin, but the Holy Spirit will keep on convicting him), and the second is that there was never no doubt as to the father's reaction (the son did doubt, just like many sinners doubt God will forgive them).

If anything, your criticism of "once saved always saved" makes you sound like the older brother, mad because "that was not the way it was supposed to work".

I also believe that I must live my life in line with the Commandments
Of course! We agree with that! "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15), "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works" (Eph. 2:10)... We just don't believe that our works are requirements for salvation, rather consequences of it!

"I also believe that I must live my life in line with the Commandments."

Ahh ... now you bring up another of the key distinctions between Catholicism and evangelical Christianity. Salvation by faith or by works?

None of us can "keep" the Ten Commandments. None of us. We sin each day when we lie, when we have sexual fantasies, when we curse. Even the best of us commit these sins on a regular basis. When we shade the truth to our co-workers, friends, spouses, and even the IRS we are breaking the Ten Commandments. When we are arrogant, angry, and more we are breaking them as well.

And there is no partial credit for "better than others" or "good enough." The Bible says very clearly that everyone is a sinner and that all fall short of the glory of God, except Jesus.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say we shouldn't TRY to keep the Commandments. But we never will.

And because God hates ALL sin, not just the ones that we Christians and Catholics consider heinous, then here's the painful realization: He does not hold me, as a God-fearing man who lives what most people consider an exemplary life, in higher regard than the axe murderer languishing in prison, who converted through a prison ministry. I am no more worthy of heaven than the criminal.

You will not recognize this, I know, because the Catholic Church leans definitely more toward a salvation by works philosophy. And it was a very hard thing for me to swallow 20 years ago when I became a Christian. But it's eminently clear in the Bible to me.

So how to reconcile keeping the Ten Commandments, then? We have to recognize that we are better able to keep them -- still not perfect, but less likely to break them -- if we are a believer, if our hearts are right, and if we are in constant prayer and contact with God. So keeping the Commandments becomes less the result of our personal determination to keep them, but is enabled by the Holy Spirit through our faith and daily devotion.

Being saved by faith alone -- not works, which can include time and money -- means that Christians, regardless of their circumstances, remain humble in their faith. This helps fulfill Eph 2:8-9 where Paul says that none of us should boast.

Probably more answer than you wanted, but it's been enjoyable for me to write it.

Well, I know this would just be one opinion, but my son was admitted to Furman U for the fall, and I’m just wondering what the reputation for Furman is to regular SCers.

We live in San Diego, a long way away, but my wife’s father was a Greenville native and retired there; we visited them frequently of course in summers when the kids were young. So we do have a connection to the area; also, my son is part Furman himself on that side of the family.

You can freepmail me privately if you want to respond that way.

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