Was Mary "Ever-Virgin"?

Question

The Apostle Paul wrote:

"But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's Brother." Galatians 1:19

doesnt this Verse say Jesus had a brother?


Early Christians Wrote:

"Let those, therefore, who deny that the Son is by nature from the Father and proper to his essence deny also that he took true human flesh from the Ever-Virgin Mary" (Discourses Against the Arians 2:70 [A.D. 360]).

Ambrose of Milan:
"Imitate her [Mary], holy mothers, who in her only dearly beloved Son set forth so great an example of material virtue; for neither have you sweeter children [than Jesus], nor did the Virgin seek the consolation of being able to bear another son" (Letters 63:111 [A.D. 388]).

Who is right?

Early Christians say she was a Virgin all her life.
Who is right?

Luke 8:19
And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You." 21 But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."

Answer 1

the non essential questions of history are not normally discused in detail by the scriptures precisely because they are deemed secondary to the idea that Christ came to save us,

however, despite the obvious idea that the language spoken of the time had no word for cousin(many west african languages today have no word for cousin.)

But look in the scriptures and find for me a reference to any man or woman who is said to be the son or daughter of Mary other than Jesus!

Answer 2

"In the Gospel it can nowhere be seen that those who are called there the brothers of Jesus were or were considered the children of His Mother. On the contrary, it was known that James and others were the sons of Joseph, the Betrothed of Mary, who was a widower with children from his first wife. (St. Epiphanius of Cyprus, Panarion, 78.) Likewise, the sister of His Mother, Mary the wife of Cleopas, who stood with Her at the Cross of the Lord (John 19:25), also had children, who in view of such close kinship with full right could also be called brothers of the Lord. That the so-called brothers and sisters of the Lord were not the children of His Mother is clearly evident from the fact that the Lord entrusted His Mother before His death to His beloved disciple John. Why should He do this if She had other children besides Him? They themselves would have taken care of Her. The sons of Joseph, the supposed father of Jesus, did not consider themselves obliged to take care of one they regarded as their stepmother, or at least did not have for Her such love as blood children have for parents, and such as the adopted John had for Her."
http://www.orthodoxinfo.com/inquirers/evervirgin.aspx

Answer 3

Jesus had four brothers, and at least two sisters, according to the Gospel of Matthew:

"Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother named Mary? And aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And aren't all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?" (Matthew 13:55-56)

Not every doctrine of the early church is correct, and this is one that Scripture specifically calls lacking. Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus, but she had other children afterward.

Answer 4

Mary, the Mother of Jesus, holds a very special position in Islam, and God proclaims her to be the best woman amongst all humanity, whom He chose above all other women due to her piety and devotion.

“And (mention) when the angels said, ‘O Mary! Indeed God has chosen you, and purified you, and has chosen you above all other women of the worlds. O Mary! Be devoutly obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow with those bow (in prayer).’” (Quran 3:42-43)

She was also made by God an example to follow, as He said:

“And (God sets forth the example for those who Believe) of Mary, the daughter of Heli, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into it through Our Angel (i.e., Gabriel), and she believed in the words of her Lord and His Scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.” (Quran 66:12)

Indeed she was a woman who was fit to bring such a miracle as that of Jesus, who was born without father. She was known for her piety and chastity, and if it were any different, then none would have believed her claim to have given birth while remaining in a state of virginity, a belief and fact to which Islam holds true. Her special nature was one which many miracles proved of from her early childhood. Let us recount what God revealed in regards to the beautiful story of Mary....."the rest is on:

Answer 5

Early Christian.... earlier than now, but almost 400 years after Jesus birth. Don't you think a few legends could have arisen in 400 years? That's like describing today events that happened in 1607. We might not exactly have the right picture. And in the Early Church, they didn't have printing presses or, for that matter, books.

- {♂♂} - {♂♀} - {♀♀} -

Answer 6

ever watch dogma? i like their explanation of it.

Rufus: Mary gave birth to CHRIST without having known a man's touch, that's true. But she did have a husband. And do you really think he'd have stayed married to her all those years if he wasn't getting laid? The nature of God and the Virgin Mary, those are leaps of faith. But to believe a married couple never got down? Well, that's just plain gullibility.

Edit note: i forgot to touch upon the term "brother". brother, sister and mother are terms used loosely, not as in biological, but as in equal. nuns call themselves sister, they are not each others sisters. you call a priest a father, he is obviously not your father. you cannot take those terms as they are used among non-clergy because they do not mean the same thing.

pretty much, it is unknown whether or not Mary had any other children, and it will never be known. unless we happen to master time travel.

Answer 7

mary was a virgin... virgin in thoughts she was chaste. dont believe the hype of jesus being son and all that. besides, a human can't give birth to god (GOD) why? GOD is not a person or human with vices emotions etc. my GOD is beyond
fraility be smart!

Answer 8

Basically the word "virgin" meant back then that the girl/woman had never had a baby. It didn't mean they never had sex.

Our meaning for the word virgin is a modern meaning. So by the ancient meaning yes she was a virgin until she had Jesus. Many theologians even think she had more children!

Answer 9

The problem still lie in brother and sister concept.
Old Hebrew has no word for cousin.
So , one could claim that Jame is Jesus's cousin.
It is really gray area, until someone has prove it.

Answer 10

It's probably all due to confusion over the term "virgin" which, in ancient usage, didn't refer to a woman who hadn't been defiled: it meant simply a young woman. Think of it like the word "maid" in old English - it meant a woman of a certain character, not a person who cleaned house, although that's how it's interpreted today.

It's amazing all the crazy things that we believe today based on misinterpretation of words.