How old was Mary when she gave birth to Jesus?

Question

When you confront Muslims about the fact that Mohammad married a 6 year old girl, they cry "BUT MARY WAS ONLY 12!" It's a hilarious rebuttal. I don't see anything in the Bible that talks about Mary's age, but I do see where Mohammad asked a little girl many years away from puberty for her hand in marriage. Then it says she got sick and her hair fell out. Sounds like a bad omen to me! I guess it's OK because he came back for her when her hair came back, and presumably was close to entering puberty.

Lets assume Mary was 12, and had undergone puberty. At least God waited until Mary was able to bear a child. Marvelous. Now let's compare that to a 53 year old man who solicits a 6 year old girl for marriage and then has sex with her when she was 9.

I don't see how you can compare the two situations for the sake of justifying one man's lust. God did what he did to fulfill prophecy. Mohammad did what he did to satisfy his sexual desires.

Am I the only one who sees the differenece?

Answer 1

I believe she was about 16 when she gave birth.

Answer 2

Depends on how much credence you give to accuracy of some of the stories.

If she was, indeed, a 'Vestal Virgin' she could have been much older. These 'virgins' were not called so because they hadn't had sex, they were so called because they were not OWNED by any man (as other women were) and lived and worked in the temple.

Indeed, some sects had the 'vestal virgins' 'entertain' (you know what I'm saying) male visitors during certain important points on the calender. The men would have been visitors to the temple - or those seeking shelter. They would be 'served' as if they were one of the gods made flesh - and then turned out from the temple (never to return on pain of death) at dawn of the next day.

If that WAS 'Mary's' role, she could have been at least 16 when 'god' came calling and got her pregnant. But almost certainly NOT pre-pubescent.

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To add to the point that Hoogte makes above, anthropologists have written of tribal marriage rites. (may have been Claude Levi Strauss - but I know that Schechner mentions it in his 'Performance Theory'). In some tribal societies the old men do marry the young girls. It is accepted practice. Then, obviously, the old men die, leaving widows who then re-marry the young boys. The old women die leaving their widowers to marry - you guessed it - the young girls. Its a cyclical thing.

This way temperament, wisdom, knowledge and respect between the genders and within the culture carries forward from generation to generation.

Look around at the current 'glut' of "BabyFathers" -they tend to not make good parents as they lack maturity, respect and experience. With the Tribal system they would get all of that and more.

At least until 'civilisation' came along and destroyed most of them because they lived in nice places that the civilised people wanted to 'own'.
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Answer 3

Christian scripture makes no mention of Mary's age. In fact, the Bible says remarkably little about her.
Most of what people believe about Mary has been created around her. The Bible doesn't not state that Mary was a perpetual virgin, or that she was bodily assumed into heaven, or that she was born without original sin. All of those things are inventions, as is the claim that she was 12 years old when she gave birth. But then, most religions taint the basic purity of their teachings with myth, magic and legend, so don't act so surprised/

Answer 4

First of all both of those characters are fictional. There never was a Mary, nor a Mohammed.

Arranged marriage between older men and children has been and continues to be practiced throughout the Middle East and other parts of the world from ancient times until today. Generally they wait until puberty to begin the actual marriage.

Also, the onset of puberty has been considered the marriageable age for girls since the dawn of time. That's what it means when a girl has her period: that's she's ready to start having babies. We are just animals after all. It doesn't mean you should wait an arbitrary number of years until she's "mature." That is merely a modern conceit.

Answer 5

no i see it 2 God is the 1 true God an muhammed was jus an old perv!yuk also God didn physically touch Mary let alone have sex wit her its totally different situation thanx 4 pointin it out here

Answer 6

I was told in France, and in French, that Mary had a child when she was 15 and that Joseph her husband was 75.

Answer 7

The Bible doesn't say. People have made up various answers through the years, so if you'd like to make up one of your own, go ahead -- there's no "definitive" answer and yours is as good as anyone's.

Answer 8

first off, mary didn't give birth to jesus, she was his wife, secondly, they had a child, which carries on the holy bloodline till today, and she wasn't a child as far as i know when she had her child.

Answer 9

Yawn.