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“The Perpetual Virginity of Mary”​—Its Impact

SOME readers may be surprised, even shocked, to see the subject of “the perpetual virginity of Mary” considered under the general theme “The Catholic Church​—Its View of Sex.” Our purpose is certainly not to offend Catholics nor to denigrate Mary. In fact, we have the greatest respect for her as one of Christ’s faithful disciples.

Moreover, we thoroughly agree that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. (Matthew 1:18-23) The question is, Did Mary remain a virgin throughout her earthly life?

Many Catholics Are in Doubt

Catholic reference works reveal that Catholic scholars have had doubts that Mary remained a virgin all her life. The Bible itself several times mentions Jesus’ “brothers” and “sisters.” (Matthew 12:46, 47; 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3; Luke 8:19, 20; John 2:12; 7:3, 5) Some Catholics, however, claim that these words designate “relatives,” such as cousins. Is this true?

The New Catholic Encyclopedia states: “The Greek words . . . that are used to designate the relationship between Jesus and these relatives have the meaning of full blood brother and sister in the Greek-speaking world of the Evangelist’s time and would naturally be taken by his Greek reader in this sense.” Also, The New American Bible, a Catholic translation, admits in a footnote on Mark 6:1-6, where Jesus’ brothers and sisters are mentioned: “The question of meaning here would not have arisen but for the faith of the church in Mary’s perpetual virginity.”

The Bible clearly shows that Mary had other children besides Jesus; the Catholic Church’s teaching that she did not is what has created a controversy. Catholic author J. Gilles, who thoroughly examined all the Scriptural evidence on the subject, concluded: “Briefly and in measured language, out of faithfulness to the [Catholic] Church, I believe I can sum up my investigation as follows. . . . The FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS provide concordant evidence . . . that Jesus had real brothers and sisters in his family. . . . In the face of this coherent block of proof the traditional position [of the Catholic Church] seems vulnerable and fragile.”

So if the Bible provides no proof of “the perpetual virginity of Mary,” where did this belief originate?

Origins of the Belief

“In several ancient religions,” observes Jesuit priest Ignace de la Potterie, “virginity had a sacral value. Certain goddesses (Anath, Artemis, Athena) were called virgins.” Yet, what does that have to do with Mary? Catholic priest Andrew Greeley explains: “The Mary symbol links Christianity directly to the ancient religions of mother goddesses.”

Professor of church history Ernst W. Benz comments on this link with ancient pagan religions. “Veneration of the mother of God,” he wrote in The New Encyclopædia Britannica, “received its impetus when the Christian Church became the imperial church under Constantine and the pagan masses streamed into the church. . . . [The peoples’] piety and religious consciousness had been formed for millennia through the cult of the ‘great mother’ goddess and the ‘divine virgin,’ a development that led all the way from the old popular religions of Babylonia and Assyria . . . Despite the unfavourable presuppositions in the tradition of the Gospels, cultic veneration of the divine virgin and mother found within the Christian Church a new possibility of expression in the worship of Mary.”

But what moved the Roman Church to adapt and adopt the “great mother” goddess and “divine virgin” cult? For one thing, the “pagan masses” coming into the church wanted it; they felt at home in a church that venerated a ‘great virgin mother.’ “In Egypt,” Professor Benz notes, “Mary was, at an early point, already worshipped under the title of the bearer of God (Theotokos).” So the “divine virgin” cult was adopted to accommodate the “pagan masses” that were streaming into the church.

Impetus to the veneration of Mary was provided at the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea in 325 C.E. How so? Well, the Trinity doctrine was there made an official Catholic teaching, the Nicene Creed declaring Jesus to be God. This supposedly made Mary the “bearer of God,” or “mother of God.” And as Professor Benz said: “The Council of Ephesus (431) raised this designation to a dogmatic standard.” The next step was to make Mary a “perpetual virgin.” This occurred when the title “eternal Virgin” was given to Mary at the second Council of Constantinople in 553 C.E.

Consequences of Teachings

Yale Professor J. J. Pelikan writes: “The growth of the ascetic ideal in the church helped to give support to this view of Mary as the model of the lifelong virgin.” This “ascetic ideal” was also apparent in the development of monasticism and celibacy in the centuries following Nicaea. Hundreds of thousands of Catholic priests, monks, and nuns have striven​—some successfully, many unsuccessfully—​to lead continent lives because their church has taught that sex and holiness are incompatible.

Significantly, the leading church authority, “Saint” Augustine, “identified original sin with sexual concupiscence.” True, most modern-day Catholic theologians no longer subscribe to this interpretation. But does not the doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary and the law on compulsory celibacy for priests create the impression that sex is unclean? And has not the Vatican’s reiterated policy on divorce and birth control compounded the problem for millions of Catholics?

More important, what is the Bible’s view on matters of sex?

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“The FOUR CANONICAL GOSPELS provide concordant evidence . . . that Jesus had real brothers and sisters.”​—Catholic author

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‘The Mary symbol links Christianity with ancient religions of mother goddesses’