1st century Early Christian writings from the late first and early second centuries offer only sparse and sometimes unclear hints about virginity and celibacy, and in the
Gospels Mary’s virginity is mentioned only briefly, in a way that keeps the focus on the virginal conception rather than on any later state of her life. The infancy narratives in
Matthew and
Luke present Mary as a virgin at the time she conceives Jesus, a conception that does not involve sexual relations with a man, but this fact by itself does not require the further claim that she remained a virgin in childbirth or afterward. Only in later doctrinal reflection do Christians explicitly describe Mary as virgin before, during, and after the birth of Christ, with the second-century
Protevangelium of James providing the earliest surviving text that clearly supports this view. The increasing acceptance of Mary’s perpetual virginity, together with theological formulations shaped by the text, came to serve as a marker of emerging ascetic tendencies in later centuries. The
Odes of Solomon have been interpreted as implying that Mary was a virgin even during childbirth as well as stating that Mary did not have pain during childbirth. Similar statements exist in the
Ascension of Isaiah; for example, the passage "And after her astonishment had worn off her womb was found as (it was) at first, before she had conceived" is described by scholars as an "extraordinary process".
2nd century The virgin birth of Jesus is found in the
Gospel of Matthew and possibly in
Luke, but it seems to have little theological importance before the middle of the 2nd century. Church fathers
Irenaeus and
Justin Martyr, though mentioning the virgin birth, nowhere affirmed explicitly the view that Mary was a perpetual virgin. This idea, however, appears in at least three works: the
Gospel of James, the
Gospel of Peter and the
Infancy Gospel of Thomas. All of these early sources independently assert that the so-called
"brothers of the Lord" were children of Joseph's first marriage. The 8th book of the Christian
Sibylline Oracles, which may have been composed in the late 2nd or early 3rd century, describe Mary as "always virgin" (αἰεὶ κούρῃ) and that she received God in her "intact bosom" (ἀχράντοισι ... κόλποις).
Hegesippus's writings are not clear on this subject, with some authors arguing that he defended the doctrine, while others arguing that he disputed the perpetual virginity of Mary. The
Ebionites denied the virgin birth and Mary's perpetual virginity.
3rd century Clement of Alexandria is counted among the early Greek Fathers who held that Jesus' brothers were the children of Joseph by a previous marriage, a view Schaff describes as "the general opinion of the early Greek Fathers" and "best attested by ecclesiastical tradition". Luigi Gambero presents Clement as explicitly witnessing to the Church’s faith in Mary’s perpetual virginity, including the report that Mary was examined by a midwife after the birth and found to be a virgin, and he cites Clement’s claim that "These things are attested to by the Scriptures of the Lord." Hunter adds that, although the Protevangelium of James is first mentioned by Clement of Alexandria, Clement "does not pursue any of its themes".
Origen used the Protoevangelium's explanation of the brothers to uphold the perpetual virginity of Mary ("There is no child of Mary except Jesus, according to those who think correctly about her"). Origen also mentioned that the
Gospel of Peter affirmed the perpetual virginity of Mary, saying that the "brothers" of Jesus were from a previous marriage of Joseph. Helvidius argued that
Victorinus believed that Mary had other children. According to
Jerome Helvidius was misinterpreting Victorinus.
Epiphanius invented a name "
Antidicomarians" for a group of people who denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, which Epiphanius attacked. Their same views were also mentioned earlier by
Origen, although he too rejected them as heretical. They were active from the 3rd to the 5th century. According to Epiphanius the Antidicomarians claimed that
Apollinaris of Laodicea or his disciples denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, though Epiphanius doubted the claim.
Eusebius (260/265–339/340) and
Epiphanius (c. 310/320–403) defended the perpetual virginity of Mary.
Hippolytus of Rome (170–235) held that Mary was "ever-virgin"
4th century By the early 4th century the spread of
monasticism had promoted celibacy as the ideal state, and a moral hierarchy was established with marriage occupying the third rank below life-long virginity and widowhood. Eastern theologians generally accepted Mary as Ever-virgin (
Aeiparthenos), but many in the Western church were less convinced. Helvidius objected to the devaluation of marriage inherent in this view and argued that the two states, of virginity and marriage, were equal. His contemporary
Jerome, realising that this would lead to the Mother of God occupying a lower place in heaven than virgins and widows, defended her perpetual virginity in his immensely influential
Against Helvidius, issued c.383. In the 380s and 390s the monk
Jovinian denied Mary's virginity during childbirth, writing that if Jesus did not undergo a normal human birth, then his body was something other than a truly human one. As reported by
Augustine, Jovinian "denied that the virginity of Mary, which existed when she conceived, remained while she gave birth." Augustine goes on to say that the reason for Jovinian's denial of Mary's virginity was that the doctrine was too close to the Manichean view that Christ was simply a phantom. According to Ambrose, Jovinian maintained that Mary had conceived as a virgin, but she had not given birth as a virgin. Jerome wrote against Jovinian but failed to mention this aspect of his teaching, and most commentators believe that he did not find it offensive. Jovinian also found two monks in Milan,
Sarmatio and
Barbatian, who held similar views as Jovinian.
Ambrose,
Archbishop of Milan, was a prominent defender of Mary's virginity
in partu and became a principal target of contemporary accusations of Manicheism. In 391, in his treatise
Concerning Virginity, he argued that both the physical birth of Jesus from Mary and the baptismal rebirth of Christians from the Church had to be wholly virginal, including during birth, in order to remove the stain of original sin, of which the pains of childbirth were, in his view, the bodily sign. It was due to Ambrose that
virginitas in partu came to be included consistently in the thinking of subsequent theologians.
Bonosus of Sardica also denied the perpetual virginity of Mary, for which he was declared a heretic. His followers would survive for many centuries, especially among the
Goths. Additionally, the perpetual virginity of Mary was denied by some
Arians. Jovinian was condemned as a heretic at a
Synod of Milan under Ambrose's presidency in 390 and Mary's perpetual virginity was established as the only orthodox view. Further developments were to follow when the Second Council of Constantinople in 553 formally gave her the title
Aeiparthenos, and at the Lateran Synod of 649 Pope Martin I emphasised the threefold character of the perpetual virginity, before, during, and after the birth of Christ.
Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 393) declared Mary
Aeiparthenos, and the liturgy of James the brother of Jesus likewise required a declaration of Mary as ever-virgin. This view was defended by
Augustine,
Hilary of Poitiers,
Didymus the Blind, among others. The
Apostles' Creed taught the doctrine of
virginitas in partu.
Middle Ages In the Middle Ages the perpetual virginity of Mary was commonly accepted, however the
Paulicians denied her perpetual virginity, even saying that Christ denied her to be blessed.
Protestant Reformation The
Protestant Reformation saw a rejection of the special moral status of lifelong celibacy. As a result, marriage and parenthood were extolled, and Mary and Joseph were seen as a normal married couple. It also affirmed the Bible alone as the fundamental source of authority regarding God's word (
sola scriptura). Mary's perpetual virginity was upheld by
Martin Luther (who names her ever-virgin in the
Smalcald Articles, a Lutheran
confession of faith written in 1537),
Huldrych Zwingli,
Thomas Cranmer,
Wollebius,
Bullinger,
John Wycliffe and later Protestant leaders including
John Wesley, the co-founder of
Methodism. In the
Evangelical Lutheran faith, in addition to being taught in the Smalcald Articles, the
Formula of Concord upholds the perpetual virginity of Mary. The Lutheran divine
Melanchthon lambasted
Osiander for his denial of the perpetual virginity of Mary. As such, many Lutheran divines have taught the perpetual virginity of Mary. Other
Calvinists affirmed Mary's perpetual virginity, including within the
Second Helvetic Confession—stating that Mary was the "ever virgin Mary"—and in the notes of the
Geneva Bible. Some reformers upheld the doctrine to counter more radical reformers who questioned the divinity of Christ; Mary's perpetual virginity guaranteed the
Incarnation of Christ despite the challenges to its scriptural foundations. Modern nonconformist Protestants, such as the
Plymouth Brethren, have largely rejected the perpetual virginity of Mary on the basis of
sola scriptura, and it has rarely appeared explicitly in confessions or doctrinal statements, though the perpetual virginity of Mary remains a common belief in
Lutheranism and
Anglicanism. Among the
Anabaptists,
Hubmaier never abandoned his belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary and continued to esteem Mary as
theotokos ("mother of God"). These two doctrinal stances are addressed individually in Articles Nine and Ten, respectively, of Hubmaier's work,
Apologia. ==Doctrine==