Mary: A Perpetual Virgin?

One of the dogmas of the Catholic Church is that Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a virgin her entire life. To quote from the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church:

“Mary remained a virgin in conceiving her Son, a virgin in giving birth to him, a virgin in carrying him, a virgin in nursing him at her breast, always a virgin.” (page 128)

“And so the liturgy of the Church celebrates Mary as Aeiparthenos, the ‘Ever-virgin.’” (page 126)

The idea that Mary was “the Ever-virgin” is loudly proclaimed by the Catholic Church – and it is entirely wrong. In fact, it is so obviously wrong that one wonders why they haven’t abandoned it in embarrassment. After all, the Catholic Church claims to be the infallible One True Church of God:

“This is the sole Church of Christ, which in the Creed we profess to be one, holy, catholic and apostolic” (page 214)

“In fact, this is [the] one and only Church of God…” (page 216)

Yet we find out that, in reality, the Catholic Church is very fallible indeed. There are actually many Scriptures that disprove the perpetual virginity of Mary. For example:

Matthew 1:24: “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:
25 And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.”

These verses tell us that Mary remained a virgin until Jesus was born. Notice that verse 25 does not say “And Joseph never knew her, ever, for her entire life.” The Catholic Church likes to pretend that verse 25 says that, but it actually says quite the opposite. This passage tells us that Joseph waited to consummate his marital relationship with his wife until she gave birth. After she gave birth he stopped waiting. That’s what the verse says.

Matthew 1:25 is not the only evidence we have of this. For example, there is this incident:

Mark 6:1: “And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him.
2 And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands?
3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.”

This passage tells us of a time when Jesus returned to His hometown and tried to teach in the synagogue. Despite the fact that Jesus had done many notable miracles, the people of Nazareth refused to listen to him. Verse three tells us something very interesting – that Jesus (identified as the “son of Mary”, just to make it extra-clear) had four half-brothers and a number of half-sisters as well. In other words, Jesus was not an only child. Mary – the very same Mary that gave birth to Jesus, as verse 3 points out – had at least 6 other children after giving birth to Jesus. In fact, Jesus’ half-brother James later became one of His apostles:

Galatians 1:19: “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.”

Notice how clear Paul is about this! James, the apostle, was also James, the half-brother of Jesus. The book of Acts also mentions the fact that Jesus had brothers:

Acts 1:13: “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”

As does the book of Matthew:

Matthew 12:46: “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.”

It’s not at all difficult to see that Mary did not remain a virgin for the rest of her life. There is a tremendous amount of evidence that says otherwise! This is not a difficult subject that requires a lot of in-depth, arcane knowledge to figure out – it’s right there, plain as day.

The reason this matters is because of two things. First, the Catholic Church claims that the only people who have the right to interpret the Bible are the leadership of the Catholic Church – and whatever they say is right, 100% of the time. To quote their catechism again:

“The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him.” (page 30)

In other words, Catholicism teaches that you, a common person, have no right to read the Bible and decide for yourself what it says. If the Church decides that Mary was a perpetual virgin then that’s how it is, and you are required to believe it and accept it – no matter what the Bible itself might say.

Second, the Catholic Church claims that the Pope is infallible when it comes to matters of doctrine and faith:

“In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a supernatural sense of faith in the People of God, under the guidance of the Church’s living magisterium, unfailingly adheres to this faith.” (page 235)

“The Roman Pontiff…enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful – who confirms his brethren in the faith – he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals…This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.” (page 235)

So, not only does the Catholic Church believes that only their leadership has the right to interpret the Bible, they also believe that when the Pope “proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals” then he is absolutely infallibility right, 100% of the time. In fact, the last sentence even states that the Pope can create entirely new doctrines! Yes, you read that right. The Catholic Church teaches that if the Pope comes up with some new teaching that isn’t in the Bible (or even contradicts it!), you still have to believe it because the Pope is always right.

Popes have been quite busy exercising this authority, too. Not only have they come up with the idea that Mary was a virgin for her entire life (despite what the Bible has to say about it), but they also teach that Mary never sinned:

“By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.” (page 124)

That Mary is the source of holiness:

“From the Church he learns the example of holiness and recognizes its model and source in the all-holy Virgin Mary…” (page 490)

That Mary ascended into Heaven at the end of her life and is now the Queen over All Things:

“Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things.” (page 252)

Oh yes – and that Mary is also a co-redeemer with Christ, bringing salvation to all of mankind:

“Taken up to heaven she [Mary] did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation…” (page 252)

“Being obedient she [Mary] became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race.” (page 125)

These doctrines are not Christian; they are blatantly pagan! Mary is the Queen of Heaven? Mary is the savior of our souls? Mary ascended into Heaven and is now the source of all holiness? All of those claims are ridiculous and laughable, and the Bible directly contracts every single one of them. Yet the Catholic Church continues to teach them as infallible truths.

As you can see, anyone who looks to Catholicism in order to learn how to interpret the Bible is going to find themselves in deep theological trouble. I have written extensively about this subject elsewhere, so I will not repeat myself here. But I urge any Christian who has no problem with Catholicism to take some time to examine their doctrines closely. Any church that condemns the idea that you are saved by grace through faith (as Catholicism does) has no right to be called a Christian church. It is time for Christians to step up and learn to exercise discernment. Jesus did not come to Earth to get along with everyone and make people feel good about themselves; He came to seek and to save them which were lost – and a big part of that was preaching the truth. We would be wise to do the same.