Christianity was re-invented in 1500 AD.Hi Mary,
I do want to say this to you...
Many times I've said that Christianity was changed with the reformation in 1,500 AD.
That's true. It was invented by a reformer, John Calvin.I say that when it is changed for the INCORRECT and unbiblical reason.
For instance, double predestination. THIS was never taught by the early church.
The PVofM was a development of kernel scriptural truths over time, it didn't pop up out of thin air like sola scriptura.As far as the PV of Mary, we can say that PERHAPS the original church as teaching something incorrect? Like indulgences, for instance.
I've yet to meet a hostile anti-Catholic that understood what an indulgence is.Indulgences were not biblical and were not accepted by the reformed church.
No where in the Bible do we find that Jesus or Paul lost/retained their virginity. The Bible is about Jesus, not about the sex life, or lack thereof, of any secondary character. You are raising the bar to absurd heights. A Protestant Defense of Mary’s Perpetual VirginityNo where in the bible can we find that Mary and Joseph did not have a normal relationship after marriage.
Mathew 1:25
It's very applicable. The memories and beliefs of the early church is what formed the Bible, the Bible didn't produce a church. And if you think everything Jesus taught could fit into a book, you're deluding yourself.So relying on what the early church MIGHT have taught for 1,500 years, in this case, is not applicable.
The Prot. of James is not official Church teaching, but that does not mean it is worthless. It is a valuable historical document. Protestantism is compelled to ignore or dispense with church history because there is nothing Protestant about it.Also, I've asked for something written that the early fathers believed.
No one here has been able to come up with something. Except the Prot. of James, which is very suspect.
ECF on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary:
Jerome: New Advent Encyclopedia
Tertullian, On Monogamy, 8 (A.D. 213).
Origen, Commentary on John, I:6 (A.D. 232).
Athanasius, Orations against the Arians, II:70 (A.D. 362).
John Chrysostom, Gospel of Matthew, V:5 (A.D. 370).
Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity, 13 (A.D. 371).
Epiphanius, Well Anchored Man, 120 (A.D. 374).
Basil, Homily In Sanctum Christi generationem, 5 (ante A.D. 379).
Jerome, The Perpetual Virginity of Mary Against Helvedius, 21 (A.D. 383).
Ambrose, To the Christian at Vercellae, Letter 63:111 (A.D. 396).
A Biblical Basis For Mary's Perpetual Virginity?IOW, JUST BECAUSE something was taught for a long time, does not make it correct.
Being taught for a long time is not the point. Being in the deposit of faith is the point. And you need to stop barking Protestant myths about indulgences, trying to discredit the Church with a straw man fallacy.Indulgences was not a correct teaching.
The pious use of indulgences dates back into the early days of the Church, and the principles underlying indulgences extend back into the Bible itself. Primer on Indulgences
Myths about Indulgences
Jesus' "Brothers" and Mary's Perpetual Virginity

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