Perpetual virginity of Mary

The Christian belief that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. It is affirmed in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and some other Christian traditions.

Protoevangelium of James: A second-century Christian text recounting Mary’s birth, upbringing, and the birth of Jesus. This early narrative supplies a detailed account of Mary’s lifelong virginity beyond the canonical Gospels.
Virgin birth of Jesus: The Christian belief that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary without a human father. It concerns conception and birth, while perpetual virginity also addresses Mary’s later life.
Perpetual virginity in Eastern Christianity: The Eastern Christian teaching that Mary remained ever-virgin, often explaining Jesus’ siblings as Joseph’s children from an earlier marriage. This tradition affirms the doctrine while commonly using a different account of the siblings than Western defenses.
Theotokos: A Greek title meaning “God-bearer,” used for Mary to affirm that the one she bore is God incarnate. The title places Mary’s role in the Incarnation at the center of devotion and doctrine.
Origen: An early Christian theologian and biblical scholar who wrote in the third century. Origen defended the view that Jesus’ brothers were Joseph’s children from an earlier marriage.
Mary, mother of Jesus: A Jewish woman of first-century Galilee whom the New Testament identifies as Jesus’ mother. The doctrine concerns a particular claim about Mary’s life and motherhood.
Perpetual virginity in Catholicism: The Catholic doctrine that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after the birth of Jesus. Catholic teaching affirms the belief while interpreting Jesus’ brothers as relatives rather than Mary’s children.
Consecrated virginity: A religious commitment to lifelong sexual abstinence undertaken as a form of devotion to God. The doctrine became a model for Christian ideals of lifelong virginity.
Jerome: A fourth- and fifth-century Christian scholar who translated the Bible into Latin. Jerome argued that the Gospel’s “brothers” of Jesus were relatives, not Mary’s other children.
Gospel of Matthew: A canonical New Testament Gospel that presents Jesus’ life and teachings. Its account of Joseph’s abstinence “until” Jesus’ birth is central to interpretive debate.

Linked from 5 pages