Why the Perpetual Virginity of Mary Makes No Sense

Introduction

As with many of the things I have written here, many of the false teachings I have encountered have been on the internet, especially social media. It seems people in society feel that the battle ground for old false teachings that haven't come up very often is to head to social media to see who they can brainwash. This one is no different.

You see, to claim something so extraordinary and outlandish that Mary was forever a virgin requires extraordinary proof. I'd be willing to believe it if such proof existed in Scripture. But it doesn't, as I will explain. Hence while I technically cannot "prove" scientifically or medically that Mary was or was not a perpetual virgin, without extraordinary proof, the likely conclusion is that it did not happen. And my confidence is to the level of being willing to bet a month's wages.

Jesus Had Brothers

In Matthew 12:46-47, Jesus' mother and brothers wanted to speak to him outside of the place He was teaching. Indeed, someone in the crowd told him so.

This indicates that the crowd recognized that Jesus had brothers. But we see other indications. For example, James. In Galatians 1:19, God (through Paul) speaks of "James, the Lord's brother." No one else in Scripture is referred to with this title. Thus it is highly likely, again, that Jesus had brothers, and that one was named James.

At this point, Scripture has already definitively said that Jesus had brothers. At this point, Mary could not be a perpetual virgin, and in fact, someone would then have to prove that every time Mary had sex and then subsequently gave birth, God miraculously made her a virgin again. Not only has something like this never been done, but it's not even logical.

Mary Had Sex After Jesus

Here's another reason. Matthew 1:24-25 states (HCSB) "When Joseph got up from sleeping.... He married her but did not know her intimately until she gave birth to a son."

If I told you "I never went to the local racetrack until I bought a VW GTI," and I had told you previously (or you saw me driving it to your house) that I own a VW GTI, you'd rightly assume that I mean I have been to the local racetrack now, because I own a VW GTI.

It is very strongly implied that Joseph had sex with Mary after she gave birth, not only from the above statements of Jesus having brothers, but in this passage. Let's say hypothetically I told other Christian couples in a Bible study, "I met my wife when she was a pregnant woman with no job" (etc. insert tragic backstory) "and God told me to marry her, and we didn't have sex until after she gave birth." You'd rightly assume that I implied, since we're married, that I had sex with her after birth. It's not far-fetched because sometimes sexuality comes up in Christian Couples Bible studies. Especially if I have more than one child.

That's what's happening here. And it was culturally normative for them, as a young Jewish couple, to think this way, due to 1) the higher incidence of infant mortality (if we can assume, due to modern medicine versus that time period) and 2) Jewish teachings. For instance, Psalm 127:4-5 says sons are like arrows, and "happy is a man who has filled his quiver with them" (HCSB). To have many children was very important in order to ensure one's family heredity was preserved (especially in light of the Messianic prophecies). And as has been noted by my wife before, regarding times before we had electronics, the internet and computers, "they likely had nothing else better to do." One can see large family units even in the US period of the Wild West, which some claim is 1607-1912 AD.

Lack of Evidence Speaks Volumes

Likewise, while there's positive evidence that Jesus had brothers, and in my opinion enough evidence that we could already conclude that Mary's so-called perpetual virginity is untrue, it's also noteworthy that there's no such evidence to the contrary.

Isaiah 7:14 for example is the prophecy that a virgin will conceive and bear Immanuel. It's noteworthy that it doesn't say "and then she will become a virgin yet again." If God wanted to teach us that Mary would forever be a virgin, this would've been a great place for God to put this. But He did not.

Then there's the fact that nowhere in Scripture is it said that Mary would forever be a virgin.

And then there's the fact that nowhere in Scripture does God ever produce such a miracle as anyone becoming a virgin once again.

So to claim something extraordinary requires extraordinary proof. And there's not even a shred of evidence in Scripture for this at all.

And it's been 2000+ years so it's not like we can track down Mary and perform any sort of medical inspection of her body to prove or disprove it. It's so decayed now that it would be impossible, even IF we had her body, to prove it.

Conclusion

The so-called perpetual virginity of Mary could not have happened and there is no evidence. Evidence actually speaks to the contrary.