Why does the thought of Jesus not being a virgin scare the fundamentalists so much.?

Question

How would people of the time have viewed an unmarried 30 year old Jewish man.


What motive could the early church have for hiding that fact as they tried to hide the Gnostic Gospels.?

Why is over half of the life of this "son" god not even mentioned in the bible?

Logical answers would be appreciated.

Answer 1

Back when I first read "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," (one of the source documents for Da Vinci Code), I found their portrayal of Jesus pretty credible. I know that one reason I was attracted to it was because that line of connection would actually draw a connection between the historical Jesus and Wicca (by way of Freemasonry).

As I looked into the more scholarly investigations of early Christianity (especially the work of Bart D. Ehrman), I found a clearer picture. Since the historical Jesus taught a version of Apocalyptic Judaism (not unlike the Essenes of the Dead Sea Scrolls), it would be very likely that, like the Essenes, Jesus and his followers would seek to abstain, not only because of purity, but because they believed that the Kingdom of God would be manifest within their lifetimes--no need to bring more children into the world.

Jed, any case of the Apostles themselves writing against the Gnostics is most likely pseudepigraphies (forgeries). Gnostic Christianity didn't arise until after they'd all died. The Pastoral letters attributed to Paul fall into this category--using vocabulary and describing events and church organization that didn't exist until after Paul's death.

xgarmstrong, many of the Gnostic Gospels we have today were hidden (such as those in the Nag Hammadi Library or the Gospel of Judas Iscariot). They're no longer hidden because we found them.

Imagine if we were able to find the missing letters of Paul that have been referenced such as the earlier letter to the Corinthians (he references it in 1 Corinthians--would that be 0 Corinthians?). What a find THAT would be. Unfortunately, that is probably not to be. Such a document would have been preserved if any existed into the 4th century (conspiracy theory: unless it was deemed heretical!).

To the original asker, there were many documents that do not survive because scribes stopped copying them. Was this some conspiracy to suppress them? In some cases, perhaps. Many of them were no longer copied or preserved because they were no longer considered significant by the sects which survived.

In trying to corroborate the Holy Blood, Holy Grail/Da Vinci Code scenario, I actually found much more about the amazing diversity of Christianity in those first centuries. Including the Jewish Christianity taught by Jesus' own apostles that was eventually transplanted by the proto-Orthodoxy of Paul and his followers. Dr. Ehrman's book refuting the claims of the Da Vinci Code was quite enlightening.

Regarding the early life of Jesus, some writers did try to rectify this, leading to the various "Infancy Gospels." We don't know if they were intended to be serious, but they're quite amusing. Perhaps they were presented as stories for children.

Answer 2

Many non-traditional views scare the mess outta' folks. It would be okay to ponder these questions but then you still have to come back to reality. The culture of the time would hae in fact looked very strangely at an unmarried 30 year old man, but they do that today with a 40 year old woman. People of the time found fault with Jesus in so many ways but they never ask a real question as to why. They would just impose their on thought process into His work.

It was not the "early church" that tried to hide the gnostic gospels either. As time moved on and the Christian way of life got to be more acceptable and real, it was the governing authorities of the times that did it. It was the "them"s and "they"s. Also The Gnostic Gospels are not hidden. You can still access them and read them for yourself. There are even volumes in print.

As with any Hebrew culture of writing, the scribes used the pertient facts of a rabbi's life. The main Scirpture that also helps us here is in Luke when after He was a boy, it says he was subject to [his mother and father]. Lk.2:51
So it is more of how things were done and not really a fact of if someone is hiding something.

God wants us to use our minds and thought process to make educated decisions, especially when it comes to Him. We have the tendency to take what we like and dismiss what we don't. When it comes to The Scriptures and the things that pertain to God, I believe we should take it as a whole. When we do, then a full picture evolves that can truley be considered the work of an Almighty God.

Hope that is logical enough. I have more but try to stay short,sweet and to the point.

God Bless

Answer 3

It doesn't scare us. It just isn't true. If He had sinned (He wasn't married, therefore it would have been sin) then He would have failed the very reason He came for. He would NOT have been God in the flesh.
Unmarried 30 year old? Common in that culture. Betrothals sometimes took place years ahead of time, the couple was recognized as being married for a year before the actual ceremony.
Motive for "hiding" the gnostic writings? They were fraudulent writings, doctrinally incorrect, made by people that used the church as a way to do horrible things for their own profit or pleasures. The Apostles themselves wrote against these gnostics. They were the cult of the day, and people in our day are too blind to see that.
We do not know why all of His life is not written about, and the atheists make much of this. The fact of the matter is, when weighing the evidence, you cannot look at what is not there, you can only go on what is presented. What is presented are eyewitness accounts.
To look at what is not there is to only speculate. There is no hard evidence.

Answer 4

Jewish men often did not marry until they were 30 or 40 years old. This is clearly recorded in the Bible.

If you read the Bible, you would know this.

If Jesus was married, the Bible would have told us He was in very clear and plain language.

The parts of Jesus live which God wanted recorded in the Bible have been.

Matthew as written within 5 years of Jesus life time.

Mark and Luke were written within 40 years.

John might have written his gospel as much as 60 years later.

The Gnostic gospels were all written more than 100 years later and are forgeries.

I'm sorry you've been deceived by Dan Brown and his book.

To learn more listen to the 8 teaching messages on the 2nd link below.

Pastor Art

Answer 5

1 Unmarried 30 year old Jewish man would not have been unusual if he was poor. Wives were expensive to run..
2 The Gnostic Gospels were ignored - not hidden - because they were thought to be untrue. Read some - they are deadly boring.
3 The term Son of God is interesting because of the way Paul set up Christianity in opposition to the Roman Emperor who had the same title but to answer your question, the gospel writers assembled the story to suit what they wanted to portray and that was the ministry of Jesus from his baptism from John to his death. Where he was and what he did before them didn't interest them They weren't writing a modern biography.

Answer 6

The Gnostic Gospels and the Coptic scrolls do not say anything about Jesus being married, but they do support the NT. The Dead Sea scrolls are exact copies of the modern OT. All the writings of the early church leaders (Eusebius, Tertullian, etc.) support the teachings of the NT, and do not mention anything about Jesus being married.
The ideas presented in "The DaVinci Code" are based on the teachings of Arias, who lived c. 325 AD. He was going around teaching people that Jesus wasn't God, and that He was married. The Council of Nicea voted against him 300-2, and found him to be a false teacher. The Jehovah's Witnesses of today get their doctrine from him.
Jesus' mission when He was on this Earth was not to get married, have a family and enjoy Himself. He was here for one purpose only - to give His life as a sacrifice for our sins. If he were to knowingly do that and leave behind a wife and children, that would be selfish, wouldn't it?

Answer 7

I dont know anything about Jesus being a virgin, but he was never married so since he is spotless he had to be a virgin.

Regarding the virgin birth,

Christianity requires a virgin birth to exist. You cant be a Christian and not believe this. Romans 3:23 said ALL have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You are a sinner at birth, there is nothing you can do about it. You could technically live a perfect life and you would still go to hell because you are a sinner at birth. The fact that God placed a baby in the womb of Mary and no sexual intercourse was performed meant that Jesus was perfect when born.

Answer 8

Logically:

1. It does not scare us, but there is zero proof to contradict extant documentation that He was unmarried an nonsexual.

2. There is no motive. you ask your question out of pure speculation and/or ignorance, since the gnostic gospels have been historically verified to be from the 2nd and 3rd century AD.

3. It is not mentioned because there is no need. He grew up in Nazareth as a son of a carpenter ... its not like a lot happened in a hick town in Judea in the 1st century.

Logically answered,

Ath

Answer 9

Jesus himself answered that question in Matthew chapter 9. He spoke about how he had a calling to remain a "enuch" (that is a word for one who has no sexual relations) so that he could totally dedicate himself to the work of God. He had no time to entangle himself with a wife, family, etc.

To have relations outside of a marriage was a sin, so that was not an option for him.

And if you read through the Bible, at the time Jesus lived where woman were unable to hold a job or own porperty, to be widowed as considered a curse. Knowing that at the age of 33 he was going to depart earth, leaving any wife, child, lover, etc. unsupported and in poverty would have been a cruel and abusive things to do.

So he remained a virgin.

Answer 10

Good question, Jesus was a virgin , and He never married. Until the movie, The Devinci Code , came out, no one thought of Jesus being married. The author of that book and movie admits it was made up. Christians aren't afraid of Jesus being married, we just like the truth being told. There is nothing to gain by spreading rumors. The bible tells the account of Jesus and it doesn't say He was ever married. It wouldn't mean anything if He was, but He wasn't.