(Perpetual Virginity)
Roman Catholics also insist that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life, even after her marriage to Joseph. "Accusation has been made by many rationalists and others attacking the perpetual virginity of Mary because of reference in the gospel to the 'brethren' of our Lord. This reference denotes solely a group of cousins. It is clear from the gospel that Mary kept her resolve and had no other children after the virginal birth of Christ." (Robert Broderick, ed., The Catholic Encyclopedia, [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1986], p. 601).
Keating asserts that, "A careful look at the New Testament shows Mary kept her vow and never had any children other than Jesus" (Keating, p. 284). This statement makes me wonder if Keating has ever read the Catholic Bible, for it says Mary did have other children! "Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary known to be his mother and James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? Aren't his sisters our neighbors?" (Matthew 13:55, New American Bible [Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1983]).
Keating also says, "It is traditional, at the conclusion of the (wedding) ceremony, for the bride to take a bouquet to a side altar and lay it at the feet of a statue of the Virgin, at the same time praying that she might emulate Mary as a wife and a mother" (Keating, p. 259). Not many men would want their spouse to "emulate Mary as a wife," if the Catholic claim of her perpetual virginity is true. It is interesting to note that if an engaged couple told a Catholic priest that they wanted to get married but intended to remain celibate the priest would not allow them to get married!
The apostle Paul tells us, "Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control" (1 Cor. 7:2-5).
"If Mary was married to Joseph and Joseph to Mary in appearance only, then they were recreant to each other and to the ordinance of God which made them one. How a Roman Catholic, to whom marriage is a sacrament can entertain such a notion is an unfathomable mystery. The fact that Mary was miraculously the mother of the Messiah has nothing to do with the question of her privilege and obligation in the holiest of human relationships. Back of this unwholesome dogma are two utterly false ideas: that the marriage relationship is incompatible with holy living, and that Mary is not to be considered a human being under ordinary obligations of human life" (James Orr, ed., International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, [Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956], Vol. III, p. 2003). (to be continued).
JBD
