Seriously! You have to be retarded to believe that nonsense!
2006-12-27 00:26:47 · 25 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
It's a farce to believe she was a virgin. Where the myth came from is well discussed on this BBC link:
2006-12-27 01:00:05 · answer #1 · answered by American Spirit 7 · 2⤊ 6⤋
Let's think historically for a second.
I won't dispute whether on not the event occurred(I don't believe it did).
Historically, in the early first century, the lowest class of people, like the untouchables in India, for a woman was called a virgin.
An untouched woman was a maiden. There is a great distinction there. The biblical prophecies claim that the new "King of the Jews" will come from a woman from the lowest class of people they have. So he had a Virgin mother not a maiden mother.
I have also read into the 72 virgins of Muslim history; were not women, but something much rarer at the time of the Quran's writing- golden grapes. So if translated by this scholar, a jihadist, when he dies will be awarded 72 GRAPES!
Suffice it to say the Muslim world was not happy to read his findings.
2006-12-27 12:25:29 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Jesus had a most interesting family background. He was born to a virgin named Mary, thus becoming a member of the human family. According to the Bible, his life was transferred from heaven to Mary's womb through holy spirit. (Luke 1:30-35) Before the miraculous conception of Jesus was announced, Mary had become engaged to a man named Joseph, who was thus to become Jesus' adoptive father.
After Jesus' birth, Joseph and Mary had other children, Jesus' half brothers and sisters. That is evident from the question inhabitants of Nazareth later asked about Jesus: "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary, and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" (Matthew 1:25; 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3) We can conclude from this that Jesus' immediate family consisted of his parents, four brothers, and at least two sisters.
However, some today do not believe that Jesus' brothers and sisters were children of Joseph and Mary. Why? "The Church," says the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "from its earliest days taught that Mary was always a virgin. In view of this, then, there can be no doubt that Mary did not have any other children." The same reference work claims that the words "brother" and "sister" can refer to "some one or ones united in a religious or other common bond" or to relatives, perhaps cousins.
Is that really the case? Even some Catholic theologians, disagreeing with the traditional doctrine, support the view that Jesus had fleshly brothers and sisters. John P. Meier, former president of the Catholic Bible Association of America, wrote: "In the N[ew] T[estament] adelphos [brother], when used not merely figuratively or metaphorically but rather to designate some sort of physical or legal relationship, means only full or half-brother, and nothing else."* Yes, the Scriptures indicate that Jesus had brothers and sisters who were born to Joseph and Mary.
2006-12-27 08:40:04 · answer #3 · answered by Alex 5 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No offense, but you don't seem to be a very tolerant person. Anyone whose beliefs are different from yours is "retarded," you say?
Well, being "retarded" is better than being intolerant.
To answer your question: the Bible clearly tells us that Mary was really a virgin -- and not just at the time she became pregnant with Jesus.
She was, indeed, a virgin her entire life.
When the angel Gabriel announces her upcoming pregnancy, Mary asks "How can this be, since I do not know man?"
Such a question, coming from an engaged woman who otherwise would have assumed the pregnancy would result from sex with her soon-to-be husband, would make sense only if Mary had taken a lifelong virginity vow.
If she had planned on having kids with Joseph "the normal way," there would have been no need for her to ask Gabriel -- just a few months before her wedding night -- how she was to have a child.
Non-scriptural sources, such as the Gospel of St. Joseph, tell us that Joseph was a widower who was much, much older than Mary.
It was a fairly common practice at the time for young women who'd taken religious vows of virginity to marry older widowers such as Joseph. That's probably what Mary did.
.
2006-12-27 08:36:24 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 3⤋
I believe it! And I don't have to be retarded to believe it either. I mifght be retarded to believe it, but I am not.
I have never been diagnosed as being retarded, so I think that your conclusion is unfounded and false.
Do you do this often?
But look here; I believe in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Is it harder to believe in the virgin birth, or in the resurrection, after all the factors of the Resurrestion are examined?
I think that the virgin birth is a lot easier to believe than the Resurrection.
2006-12-27 08:37:57 · answer #5 · answered by Christian Sinner 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Well I must be retarded because I believe Mary was a virgin
God Bless You
2006-12-27 08:33:39 · answer #6 · answered by ? 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Retarded is not the word I would use :-)
Ok, here is an other version:
Mary was a very young teenager maried to a nice guy called Joseph who was old enough to be her father. She met a cute and athletic young guy called Gabriel one evening. Hormones did the rest and after a fantastic evening, when the dust settled, she was pregnant. (remember, no condoms at this time.) She had to come up with a story to explain. Joseph was a good guy and since he loved her he sais he did not care and he raised the kid as his own. It happens everyday even today... But for some reasons some people pretend to believe the tale Mary came up with to explain the whole thing. So it's not retarded, it's sort of cute...
A few technical precision. "Virgin birth" is called parthenogenesis. It is sometimes observed in nature but not in mamals. When it does occure, it generates females only.
Jesus was openly gay but not female according to the various legends of the time.
2006-12-27 08:35:58 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
[He is] The Originator of the heavens and Earth. When He decides on something, He just says to it, "Be!" and it is. Praise belongs to God Who created the heavens and the Earth and appointed darkness and light. Then those who do not believe make others equal to their Lord! It is He Who created the heavens and the Earth with truth. The day He says "Be!" it is. His speech is Truth. The Kingdom will be His on the Day the Trumpet is blown, the Knower of the unseen and the visible. He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware.Their Messengers said: "Is there any doubt about God, the Bringer into being of the heavens and the Earth? He summons you to forgive you for your wrong actions and to defer you until a specified time."
God keeps a firm hold on the heavens and Earth, preventing them from vanishing away. And if they vanished no one could then keep hold of them. Certainly He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving. O humanity! You are the poor in need of God whereas God is the Rich Beyond Need, the Praiseworthy. God is my Lord and your Lord so worship Him. This is a straight path. That is because God - He is the Truth, and what you call upon besides Him is falsehood... The creation of the heavens and Earth is far greater than the creation of humanity. But most of humanity do not know it.That is God, your Lord. There is no god but Him, the Creator of everything. So worship Him. He is responsible for everything. If you ask them: "Who created the heavens and the Earth?" they will say: "God." Say: "So what do you think? If God desires harm for me, can those you call upon besides God remove His harm? Or if He desires mercy for me, can they withhold His mercy?" Say: "God is enough for me. All those who truly trust put their trust in Him."
my answer:from this verse you just know that i believe what my holy book tell me and my religion tell me;mary was still a virgin.
2006-12-27 08:41:27 · answer #8 · answered by qz 3 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Mary was a virgin to show that Jesus wasn't a product of Joseph and Mary. That's because Jesus was a 'spirit being' before, and was made into a perfect 'human being'. Everyone else that is born desends from Adam and Eve, and therefore inherits sin.
Romans 5:12
That is why, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned
Luke 1:35
In answer the angel said to her: “Holy spirit will come upon you, and power of the Most High will overshadow you. For that reason also what is born will be called holy, God’s Son.
John 17:5
So now you, Father, glorify me alongside yourself with the glory that I had alongside you before the world was.
2006-12-27 08:42:43 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
As I understand it, the original word used to describe Mary in the original texts, had a specific meaning. That is of an Unmarried woman, who had sex. There was a completely different word used for unmarried women who were virgins.
I first heard this at University in the USofA, from a Bible Scholar who was being grilled by some Campus Crusaders. He had studied Aramaic, Ancient Aramaic and Ancient Greek. He was well qualified for his post.
I have since read the same in a number of references, and seen several programs on TV stating the same.
So Mary, by the original text, was not a virgin.
However, what ever you do, don't tell a Muslim that, as it is against their religion and they will Fatwa you.
The New Testament has been translated many times, and inaccuracies have been added each time. For instance, the oldest Hebrew translations of the Old Testament, state said that "you will not suffer a poisoner to live."... Except it got mistranslated into "Thou shall not suffer a witch to live." So thousands of women over hundreds of years have been horribly tortured and killed, over a mistranslation.
Likewise, Christians and Muslims have gotten this Virgin Birth idea, from a mistranslation.
Sad really.
2006-12-27 08:34:11 · answer #10 · answered by whatotherway 7 · 2⤊ 5⤋
That's what the Bible says, so I believe it to be true. Its rude of you to say someone is retarded because of what they believe and you should respect what others believe. I may not agree with someones beliefs, however I do not believe they are retarded or wrong, that is there right as a human being to their opinions. That is part of being an American
2006-12-27 08:32:12 · answer #11 · answered by tnbadbunny 5 · 2⤊ 3⤋