A Textual Challenge to the “Mary and Joseph Had Later Relations” Position

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Crazy Ivan

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Yes, you are speaking of Greek.
But Matthew was written in Hebrew, and Hebrew does not have a word for 'cousins' to distingush defferent level of kinships, just the word 'adelphos'.

Matthew was written in Greek, though we have reasons to believe that a Hebrew or Aramaic version of Matthew once existed.
 

beechan

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Matthew was written in Greek, though we have reasons to believe that a Hebrew or Aramaic version of Matthew once existed.

Around 180 Irenaeus of Lyons wrote that
Matthew issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia. (Against Heresies 3:1:1)

I show you evidence of Mattew was first written in Hebrew.

Show us your evidence Matthew was first written in Greek.
 
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beechan

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Full disclosure: I grew up Roman Catholic. Don't think for a second that I'm unaware of Catholic theology or tradition or history. I certainly don't know ALL of it, but I'm not some Baptist who has never been taught any of this growing up.
You don't need to send me a religious resume, just your arguments will do.
 
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beechan

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Here is a Catholic site with 15 prayers to Mary with their unbiblical pronunciations.
The web site clearly stated that all these are spiritual guides, draw us closer to GOD. Are you always rejecting things that draw you close to GOD?
Screenshot 2026-10-03 212424.jpg
 

beechan

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LOL yeah, ok. That "tradition" that comes from the "Infancy Gospel of James", written around 150 AD, and was never remotely considered part of Scripture.
Something outside the Canon does not mean no reference value.

In Jude 1:14–15, the author explicitly cites 1 Enoch 1:9, writing: Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: 'See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone...

Even Jesus quoted non-canonical texts in his teaching.
Jesus' teaching "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12) mirrors earlier ethical inversions found in Jewish wisdom literature, including Tobit 4:15 ("What you hate, do not do to anyone")


Martin Luther Iin the preface to his translation of the Apocrypha, Luther explicitly defended keeping them bound inside the Christian Bible,: "Cui bono? What good are such books? Even if they do not have the same authority as Holy Scripture, they are nevertheless useful and good to read."


You are too poisoned by 'sola scriptura'!
 
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Crazy Ivan

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Something outside the Canon does not mean no reference value.

Totally agree. But not infallible, as Scripture is. Just because something is in an old document doesn't make it true either.

In Jude 1:14–15, the author explicitly cites 1 Enoch 1:9, writing: Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: 'See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone...

Even Jesus quoted non-canonical texts in his teaching.
Jesus' teaching "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you" (Matthew 7:12) mirrors earlier ethical inversions found in Jewish wisdom literature, including Tobit 4:15 ("What you hate, do not do to anyone")


Martin Luther Iin the preface to his translation of the Apocrypha, Luther explicitly defended keeping them bound inside the Christian Bible,: "Cui bono? What good are such books? Even if they do not have the same authority as Holy Scripture, they are nevertheless useful and good to read."


You are too poisoned by 'sola scriptura'!
 

Crazy Ivan

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Around 180 Irenaeus of Lyons wrote that
Matthew issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching in Rome and laying the foundation of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon his breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia. (Against Heresies 3:1:1)

I show you evidence of Mattew was first written in Hebrew.

Show us your evidence Matthew was first written in Greek.

I'm not going to write a dissertation on this but here's some lines of evidence:

- Matthew relies heavily on the Greek text of Mark, often using Mark's Greek phrasing.
- The Greek style of Mark is fluid and easy, and not clunky as is often the case when translating from Hebrew to Greek.
- Matthew often cites the Greek Septuagint, rather than the Hebrew.
- We haven't found any Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew, but we have numerous Greek manuscripts of Matthew.
 

beechan

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I'm not going to write a dissertation on this but here's some lines of evidence:

- Matthew relies heavily on the Greek text of Mark, often using Mark's Greek phrasing.
- The Greek style of Mark is fluid and easy, and not clunky as is often the case when translating from Hebrew to Greek.
- Matthew often cites the Greek Septuagint, rather than the Hebrew.
- We haven't found any Hebrew manuscripts of Matthew, but we have numerous Greek manuscripts of Matthew.
I rather prefer you to write a mini-dissertation than just a few simple lines without any supporting materials.
Just like firing blank shots to the air.
 

Crazy Ivan

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I rather prefer you to write a mini-dissertation than just a few simple lines without any supporting materials.
Just like firing blank shots to the air.

Why do you suspect we don't have any ancient manuscripts of Matthew in Hebrew, and that all the very earliest manuscripts of Matthew are in Greek?
 

beechan

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Why do you suspect we don't have any ancient manuscripts of Matthew in Hebrew, and that all the very earliest manuscripts of Matthew are in Greek?
We don't have any manuscripts of the Pentateuch written by Moses in proto-Sinaitic script does not mean there never have one.
 

Moonwood

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Clearly it's not stated specifically in the text... *why* she asked the question...

...her question - given all the other available data - is best explained that for some reason in her mind, she thought he meant that she would be pregnant before consummating the marriage.

You wrote:

"Clearly it's not stated specifically in the text..."

and:

"her question - given all the other available data - is best explained that for some reason in her mind, she thought he meant that she would be pregnant before consummating the marriage."

I understand that you think Mary inferred a pre-consummation conception. You've already acknowledged that Luke does not explicitly state this and that you're proposing it as the explanation that best accounts for why Mary asked the question.

My question, then, is why that should be considered the most natural inference. Gabriel merely says, "You will conceive and bear a Son," not that She conceive immediately or before consummation of marriage, and you've already argued that Mary expected a normal marriage with Joseph, including ordinary marital relations.

So why wouldn't the more natural inference be that the announced conception would occur through those expected marital relations? In other words, why should Mary infer from Gabriel's announcement that the conception would occur before consummation rather than through the ordinary marital relations you say She expected with Joseph?
 
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Crazy Ivan

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We don't have any manuscripts of the Pentateuch written by Moses in proto-Sinaitic script does not mean there never have one.

Agreed. I never said as much. It's just one piece of evidence against it existing.

Court cases - like trying to figure out the past - isn't generally done by "proof". It's done by gathering pieces of evidence, and generally speaking, each individual piece doesn't *prove* the case, but put it all together and it adds up. You get this, right?
 

Crazy Ivan

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You wrote:

"Clearly it's not stated specifically in the text..."

and:

"her question - given all the other available data - is best explained that for some reason in her mind, she thought he meant that she would be pregnant before consummating the marriage."

Correct. And I'm right about this. It IS best explained this way.

I understand that you think Mary inferred a pre-consummation conception. You've already acknowledged that Luke does not explicitly state this and that you're proposing it as the explanation that best accounts for why Mary asked the question.

Luke doesn't specifically say either way. You don't get to start with the presumption that Mary was ever virgin, a view only to be overturned if the text says something specific against it.

My question, then, is why that should be considered the most natural inference. Gabriel merely says, "You will conceive and bear a Son," not that She conceive immediately or before consummation of marriage, and you've already argued that Mary expected a normal marriage with Joseph, including ordinary marital relations.

Because:

(1) The expectation for couples was that they would consummate the marriage, and "be fruitful and multiply" as a married couple, and there's quite literally no reason to believe that Mary and Joseph expected to not consummate their marriage.

(2) Because her response is a giveaway that this is what she likely thought. And

(3) Because as it turns out - AND YOU KEEP IGNORING THIS - she would have been 100% correct, because this is EXACTLY what did, in fact, HAPPEN.

So why wouldn't the more natural inference be that the announced conception would occur through those expected marital relations?

The fact that she asked it itself indicates that she expected something quite out of the ordinary.

In other words, why should Mary infer from Gabriel's announcement that the conception would occur before consummation rather than through the ordinary marital relations you say She expected with Joseph?

See above.

Listen, you keep asking the same questions over and over and over as if I haven't already answered them over and over and over, doesn't make your case stronger. It just shows that you simply either don't get it, or WON'T get it.
 

Dryhn

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I am a Souther Baptist and we have our own version of cathechism and Magisterium. But the bible clearly teaches Mary and Joseph abastained from sex until after Jesus was born. that is the meaning of the passage.

James, Joses, Simon and Judah as well as his sisters are called adelphos and adeplphoi when the well known and near universally used terms for cusins was either syngens or anepsios. It is you and worm wood that need to produce empirical evidence for her perpetual virginity, and support it from the Inspired and infallible Word of God!
Ty RN :)
Sex AFTER the birth of Jesus ? YES
There are NO verses that teach otherwise
 

beechan

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Ty RN :)
Sex AFTER the birth of Jesus ? YES
There are NO verses that teach otherwise
Toxication by 'sola scriptura'!

If a doctrine isn’t explicitly spelled out with step-by-step anatomical blueprints in a 21st-century English proof-text, it must be false.

But the ancient church didn't operate on modern literalist checklists. From the earliest centuries of Christianity embraced unanimously by the ancient Church Fathers, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and even the founders of the Reformation (including Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli)—historic Christianity universally upheld the doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.

So, it is you guys here that have run off the track.
 

Dryhn

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Toxication by 'sola scriptura'!

if a doctrine isn’t explicitly spelled out with step-by-step anatomical blueprints in a 21st-century English proof-text, it must be false. But the ancient church didn't operate on modern literalist checklists. From the earliest centuries of Christianity embraced unanimously by the ancient Church Fathers, Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Catholicism, and even the founders of the Reformation (including Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Huldrych Zwingli)—historic Christianity universally upheld the doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary.
Which is correct, HE or SHE in Gen 3:15 ?

Vulgate .................she shall crush your head
RSV- Catholic ... he shall bruise your head
 

beechan

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(1) The expectation for couples was that they would consummate the marriage, and "be fruitful and multiply" as a married couple, and there's quite literally no reason to believe that Mary and Joseph expected to not consummate their marriage.
The Protoevangelium of James tells us that Joseph and Mary are not normal couple.
You do more readings and see a bigger picture.