Mary, the mother of Jesus

In Christianity according to the New Testament, Mary (Judæo-Aramaic מרים Maryām "Bitter"; Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; Arabic: Maryem, مريم) was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth and at the time of his conception was the betrothed wife of Joseph, awaiting the customary "Home-Taking" that would permit them to start living together and to consummate their marriage (cf. Matt 1:18, 20). Most Christians and Muslims understand the Gospel account in this respect to mean that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus through a miracle of God.

Christian and Muslim Beliefs about Mary

Immaculate Conception of Mary

: Main article: Immaculate Conception

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The Immaculate Conception is the doctrine that states that Mary was filled with grace from the very moment of her conception in her mother's womb. While it might be permitted for Orthodox Christians to believe the doctrine, only the Roman Catholic Church has officially adopted this teaching, and the title "Immaculate Conception" is one used only by Catholics.

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Most Protestants reject the idea that Mary was saved by God from her very first moment, since they consider it unscriptural.

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While it is technically true to say that Orthodox believe Mary was conceived immaculately, Orthodox do not believe in the same idea of original sin as the West, and they believe all babies are born immaculate. Sin is not considered ontological in Orthodoxy, only the tendency toward it. (This tendency is referenced by the phrase, "ancestral curse," which sometimes leads to confusion on the Orthodox view of the fall.) Mary is considered sinless in the Orthodox Church because it is believed that the grace of God allowed her not to sin, thereby remaining immaculate. So in the Orthodox view, it seems Mary was conceived immaculately but her conception was not out of the ordinary in any way.

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Mary's Age

Whilst the teaching of the Catholic Church that Mary was a virgin is not accepted by a number of Christian scholars who argue that the Greek term parthenos in Luke 1:27 does not necessarily have to mean "virgin " but that there is also evidence for it signifying any "young woman", it is generally agreed that Mary was very young when she conceived Jesus. Some insight into traditions concerning her later life, e.g., that she died between three and 15 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, can be found in the New Testament Apocrypha. Assuming that Jesus died in his 30s, there is also little reason to doubt that his mother could still be alive at the time of his death, or that she could have witnessed it (cf. Jn 19:25).

Related Topics:
Crucifixion - New Testament Apocrypha

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Virgin birth of Jesus

: Main article: Nativity

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The Apostles Creed and Nicene Creed both refer to Mary as "the Virgin Mary". This alludes to the belief that Mary conceived Jesus through the action of God the Holy Spirit, and not through intercourse with Joseph or anyone else. That she was a virgin at this time is affirmed by Eastern Christianity, Roman Catholicism and by many (though not all) Protestants. Denial of this is considered heretical by Catholics and Eastern Orthodox (and Evangelicals) alike.

Related Topics:
Apostles Creed - Nicene Creed - Holy Spirit - Evangelicals

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Historic Christianity, including modern-day Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, teaches that she was a virgin before, during, and after giving birth to Jesus. Islam also takes this position, which is stated explicitly in the Quran (3:47). Some Protestants also hold this view, while many others believe that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus, but that she later was not and had other children with her husband, Joseph. Catholics and Orthodox explain references to Jesus' brothers as either cousins, or as step-brothers who were Joseph's children by a prior marriage.

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Persons who are neither Christians nor Muslims generally doubt that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. A common view by non-Christian sources speculates that Mary had relations with a Roman soldier and then married Joseph who protected her from the harsh Jewish laws of the time which would have sentenced her to death by stoning for such an act. This version is recorded by Origen in the third century and attributed to Celsus of the second century, who said he heard it from a Jew, in Origen's Contra Celsum 1.28-32. Also see: Illegitimacy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the Infancy Narratives (Biblical Seminar Series, No 28), Jane Schaberg, ISBN 1850755337.

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The Gospel of Matthew describes Mary as a virgin who fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14. The Hebrew word almah that appears in this verse, and the Greek word parthenos that Jews used to translate it in the Greek Septuagint that Matthew quotes here, have been the subjects of dispute for almost two millennia. This disagreement is related to the question of whether Isaiah 7:14 is a prophecy of Jesus' birth. Regardless of the meaning of this verse, it is clear that the authors of the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke asserted that Mary had "no relations with man" before Jesus' birth.

Related Topics:
Gospel of Matthew - Isaiah - Gospel of Luke

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Virgin Birth of Jesus in the Qu'ran

The Qur'an quite decisively declares that Jesus was the result of a virgin birth, but that neither she nor her son were divine, but merely "honoured servants" (21.26). The most detailed account of the annunciation and birth of Jesus is provided in Sura 3 and 19 of The Qur'an wherein it is written that Allah/The-God sent an angel to announce that she could shortly expect to bear a son, despite being a virgin:

Related Topics:
Qur'an - Annunciation - Jesus - Sura

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(Remember) When the angels said O Mary! Allah Gives thee Good News of a son through a Word from Him! His name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honoured in this world and in the next, and of those who Are Granted Nearness to Allah! (3.45)

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And he shall speak to the people in the cradle, and when of middle age, and he shall be of The Righteous (3.46)

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She said My Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me ? He Said, That is as it shall be. Allah Creates what He Pleases. When HE decrees a thing HE says to it "Be" and it is! (3.47)

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The Qur'an also declares that one of the reasons (amongsts many listed) for the punishments of The-God upon the People of The Book -- "Allah has sealed their hearts" (4.155) -- is for their "uttering a monsterous lie against Mary" (4.156). This is generally understood to refer to the accusations of wanton unchastity which was directed by some against Mary in her lifetime and which remain recorded in the Talmud.

Related Topics:
Qur'an - People of The Book - Talmud

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Sura 5 Signs 116-119 of The Qur'an includes the Prophecy of the Judgement Day where "Jesus son of Mary" will be questioned by Allah as regards to those who worship him and Mary, and that Jesus will deny them:

Related Topics:
Sura - Signs - Qur'an - Prophecy - Judgement Day

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And when ALLAH will say O Jesus, son of Mary, didst thou say to men: Take me and my mother for two gods beside ALLAH ? He will answer Holy art Thou! I could never say that which I had no right. If I had said it, Thou wouldst have surely known it. Thou knowest what is in my mind, and I know not what is in Thy mind. It is Thou alone Who Art the Knower of all hidden things

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I said nothing to them except that which Thou didst command me - Worship Allah (The-God), my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I remained among them, but since Thou didst cause me to die, Thou, hast been the Watcher over them, and Thou art Witness over all things

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If Thou punish them, they are Thy servants; and if Thou forgive them, Thou surely art the Mighty, the Wise.

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Allah Will Say This is a Day when only The Truthful shall profit by their truthfulness. For them are Gardens beneath which streams flow; therein shall they abide forever. Allah Is well Pleased with them, and they are well pleased with HIM! That indeed is the Supreme Triumph!

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Theotokos ("Mother of God")

: Main article: Theotokos

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At the Third Ecumenical council, the Council of Ephesus (against the Nestorians), A.D. 431, it was decided that it was entirely appropriate to refer to Mary as the Theotokos, to emphasize that Mary's child, Jesus Christ, was in fact God (Denziger §111a). That Council clarified that the Church Fathers "did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God" (ibid.), thus affirming what had always been held as true: e.g. St. Ignatius of Antioch, ca. A.D. 110 (Jurgens §42); Alexander of Alexandria, A.D. 328 (Jurgens §680); among other references from similar sources. She is often referred to as "Theotokos" in Eastern Orthodox hymns.

Related Topics:
Ecumenical council - Council of Ephesus - Nestorians - Theotokos

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The Qur'an quite decisively declares that neither Mary nor her son Jesus were divine, but merely "honoured servants" (21.26).

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Perpetual virginity

: Main article: Perpetual Virginity of Mary

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That Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus is a doctrinal stance of the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Of the early fathers of the Church, only Tertullian seems to have questioned the teaching.

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The question of Mary's virginity is related to the interpretation of the New Testament references to Jesus' "brothers". Those who defend the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity point out that Aramaic, the language spoken by Christ and his disciples, lacked a specific word for "cousin," so that the word "brother" was used instead. This is also true in Hebrew, and there are several places in the Old Testament that use the word "brother" to mean nephew or cousin. Others argue that Jesus' "brothers" were sons of Joseph by a previous wife - and thus Jesus' stepbrothers, who would have been regarded as his half-brothers by the people Jesus and Mary lived alongside, who were unaware of Jesus' divinity and assumed him to be the son of Joseph. (For more details, see this section of the article on James the Just.)

Related Topics:
Aramaic - This section

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The most prominent leaders of the Reformation, Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin also defended the perpetual virginity of Mary against those who questioned it. But by the 17th century, the Catholic and Protestant churches came to see Mary as a major point of division, and Protestant theologians began arguing that Mary did not remain a virgin and that the "brothers" of Jesus were indeed his half-brothers, sons of Mary and Joseph. Today most Protestants reject the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity.

Related Topics:
Reformation - Luther - Zwingli - Calvin

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Islam teaches that Mary conceived Jesus as a virgin, but that Jesus had a single parent (Mary) and was not the Son of God. Muslims also believe that Mary remained a virgin for her entire life.

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Dormition and Assumption

: Main article: Assumption of Mary

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For Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholics alike, Mary's assumption, i.e., the lifting up of her body into Heaven after her death, is seen as a concrete and present instance of the resurrection of the body, a belief integral to Christian theology and found in the creeds.

Related Topics:
Mary's assumption - Resurrection

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The doctrine in Roman Catholicism

The belief in the corporeal assumption of Mary was formally declared to be dogma by Pope Pius XII in 1950; Roman Catholics must therefore hold the doctrine as true. Pope Pius XII states in Munificentissimus Deus http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P12MUNIF.HTM: "e pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith." This is an example of an invocation of papal infallibility. The Feast of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15.

Related Topics:
Dogma - Pope Pius XII - Papal infallibility - August 15

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The promulgated dogma is not worded so as to force the issue as to whether she experienced death prior to her Assumption, as there is no theological basis for doing so. Ludwig Ott (Bk. III, Pt. 3, Ch. 2, §6) states that "the fact of her death is almost generally accepted by the Fathers and Theologians, and is expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church," to which he adduces a number of helpful citations, and concludes that "for Mary, death, in consequence of her freedom from original sin and from personal sin, was not a consequence of punishment of sin. However, it seems fitting that Mary's body, which was by nature mortal, should be, in conformity with that of her Divine Son, subject to the general law of death." In keeping with the historical consensus of the Church, Pius XII himself almost certainly rejected the notion of Mary's "immortality" (the idea that she never suffered death) in favor of the more widely accepted understanding that her assumption took place after her physical death.

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The doctrine in Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy

The tradition of the Eastern Orthodox Church holds that Mary died, and that after her death and burial, she was not resurrected but that her body was miraculously transposed into heaven, as was the body of Enoch, Moses and Elijah. This two-fold event is celebrated as the Dormition ("falling asleep") of the Theotokos. The Feast of the Dormition is celebrated on August 15, and is preceded by a fourteen day fast from meat and dairy products, the third longest fast of the liturgical year after Great Lent and Winter Lent. Despite the great importance of this feast in the Orthodox liturgical calendar, it is not considered a matter of dogma as in the Catholic Church (dogmatization of the Dormition for the Roman Catholic Church was formalized by a Roman Catholic pope after the Great Schism, whose authority Eastern Orthodox did not recognize).

Related Topics:
Liturgical year - Great Lent - Winter Lent - Great Schism

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