Perpetual virginity of Mary
The perpetual virginity of Mary (ἀειπαρθενεία aeipartheneía , from ἀέι "always" and παρθενεία "virginity") is a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Churches, which states that Mary was a virgin before, during and after the birth of Jesus . The Catholic Church has dogmatized this teaching ; it is part of Mariology . The doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary includes that of the virgin birth .
New Testament and Old Church
The sources for the life of Mary can be found primarily in the New Testament , but also in non-canonical writings such as the Proto-Gospel of James . In the NT, both the four Gospels and the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles tell of the mother of Jesus. It does not make a statement about an "everlasting" virginity of Mary. The apocryphal proto-gospel of James, written around 120–150, speaks of her virginity before and after the birth of Jesus in addition to a detailed account of Mary's youth. According to chapters 19-20, Mary vowed to remain a virgin as a child.
The church writer Origen represented around 200 the unharmed virginity of Mary before, during and after the birth of Jesus. Pope Siricius highlighted the perpetual virginity of Mary in 392:
"Jesus would not have chosen the birth of a virgin if he had to regard her as so little abstinence that she desecrates that birthplace of the body of the Lord, that hall of the eternal King, through human copulation."
Peter of Alexandria and Epiphanius of Salamis used the honorary title aeiparthenos ("ever-maiden") for Mary. Even John Chrysostom represented by 400 the view Maria remained lifelong virgin. The church father Augustine expresses himself in three sermons (sermo 186.1; 192.1; 196.1) about the perpetual virginity of Mary. 196.1 serve as an example:
"Virgo concepit, miramini: virgo peperit, plus miramini: post partum, virgo permansit."
“The virgin received; amazed: the virgin gave birth; is even more astonished: even after the birth she remained a virgin. "
The teaching was expressly recognized at the Second Council of Constantinople in 553.
Catholic and Orthodox teaching
According to Catholic and Orthodox doctrine, Mary was a virgin and remained so during and after the birth of Jesus, since she was with St. Josef did not consummate the marriage. For this reason, St. Joseph usually referred to as the bridegroom or companion of Mary. The term " Joseph's marriage " is derived from the marriage of Mary and Joseph .
Virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven is valued as a particularly praiseworthy virtue in the Catholic and Orthodox churches .
Protestant attitude
Regarding the perpetual virginity of Mary, the churches of the Reformation come to different views in their confessions . While Martin Luther , Johannes Calvin and Ulrich Zwingli represented the doctrine, others took a negative stance. The Lutheran confessional writings as the binding doctrinal basis of the Lutheran churches speak, for example, in the concord formula Article 8 (From the Person of Christ, p. 1024) as follows: “That is why she (Mary) is truly the Mother of God and nevertheless remained a virgin.” However, not all Lutheran invoke Churches on the formula of concord.
Other Reformation churches are of the opinion that the New Testament mention of the brothers and sisters of Jesus (four brothers and at least two sisters of Jesus) means that Joseph and Mary had children together after the birth of Jesus ( Mt 12.46 EU and other passages). That Joseph did not have sexual intercourse with Mary is reported in Mt 1.25 EU only for the time before the birth of Jesus. The basis of the argument is the Sola scriptura principle . The reformers themselves, however, were partially convinced of the lifelong virginity of Mary.