Topic XX

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

and PERPETUAL VIRGINITY

I. INTRODUCTION
The doctrine of Immaculate Conception
and Perpetual Virginity of Mary has been
in a long time in the line of hurtful and
injurious attack not only against the
Catholic Church as a divine institution but
against the Blessed Mother herself. The
attack from our separated brethren is so
blasphemous to the extent that the mother
of God is being maligned for reason that
they don’t understand these privileges
from God because they think this Catholic
belief could not be proven in the bible.
Worst of all is that they are using the Tri-
Media in the propagation of their
malicious intention to poison the minds of
millions of Catholic believers in the world.
But if we could only convey to them the
basic biblical foundation in the apologetic
way of presentation in support of these
doctrines in a forceful manner in the
service of truth, I do believe they could be
neutralized and they will learn to respect
the Blessed Mother the way we Catholics
respect and praise her. On the other hand,
this spiritual battle is not new to us
because it has been foretold from the days
of old that the war between the woman
and the serpent against her descendant and
the descendants of the devil, the saints
against the spiritual forces of evil power.
Gen 3:15 “I will make you and the
woman hate each other; her offspring
and yours will always be enemies. Her
 offspring will crush your head their heel”
(GNB1)
Gen 3:15 “I will put enmities between
thee and the woman, and thy seed and
her seed. She shall crush thy head, and
they shalt be in wait for her heel” (D
Version)
Rev 12:1 “Then a great and mysterious
sight appeared in the sky. There was a
woman, whose dress was the sun and
who had the moon under her feet and a
crown of twelve stars on her head. She
was soon to give birth, and the pains and
suffering of childbirth made her cry out.
Another mysterious sight appeared in the
sky. There was a huge red dragon with
seven heads and ten horns and a crown
on each of his heads. With his tail he
dragged a third of the stars out of the sky
1
Good News Bible.
and then threw them down to the earth.
He stood in front of the woman, in order
to eat her child as soon as it was born.
Then she gave birth to a son, who will
rule over all nations with an iron rod.
But the child (Christ) was snatched away
and then taken to God and His throne.”
Rev 12:7-9 “Then war broke out in
heaven. Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon, who fought back with
his angels; but the dragon was defeated,
and he and his angels were not allowed
to stay in heaven any longer. The huge
dragon was named the devil, or Satan,
that deceived the whole world. He was
thrown down to earth, and all his angels
with him.” (GNB)
Rev 12:13, 17 “When the dragon
realized that he had been thrown down to
the earth, he began to pursue the woman
who had given birth to the boy… The
dragon was furious with the woman and
went off to fight against the rest of her
descendants, all those who obey God’s
commandments and are faithful to the
truth revealed by Jesus.
Rev 13:6-7 “And he opened his mouth to
the truth in blasphemy against God, to
blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle
(Mary is the tabernacle of God the Son
for nine months), and them that dwell in
heaven. And it was given unto him to
make war with the saints…”

In these topics, we will be dealing with

the official teaching of the Church by
tracing the roots of its biblical source in a
layman’s way of presentation that could
easily be understood by both Catholics and
fundamentalist believers. No one could
resist the truth if served scientifically in a
Bible plate which is the word of God. But
most of all, this apologetic and scientific
way of presentation in the defense of our
Catholic faith is to equip my fellow lay
evangelizers a tool that could help them
strengthen their faith especially those who
are exposed to religious dialogue and
active in the teaching ministry.
1Pet 3:15-16 “But sanctify Christ as
Lord in your hearts, always being ready
to make defense to everyone who asks
you to give an account for the hope that
is in you, yet with gentleness and
reverence; and keep a good conscience
so that in the thing in which you are
slandered, those who revile your good
behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
(NAB2)
2
New American Standard Bible.
II. DERIVATIVES
Immaculate, from Latin “immaculatus”:
“in” (meaning “not”) and “maculates”
(past participle of “maculari”, to stain;
from “macula”, spot)
Immaculatus means “not stain, not to
spot”
Conceptio, from Latin root word
“concipere” (past participle of
“conceptus”), “con”, with, and “capere”,
take - the act of conceiving or the state of
being conceived; the inception of
pregnancy.
Immaculatus + Conceptio= conceived
without sin.
Perpetual, from Latin “perpetuus”-
constant, lasting forever.
Virginity, root word “virgin”- Latin
“virgo”

III. DEFINITION OF TERM:

Immaculate - Free from spot or stain;
unspotted, spotlessly clean.3
Immaculate - Perfectly clean, without spot
or stain, pure, innocent, sinless.
Conception - Fertilization, inception of
pregnancy; the act of conceiving.
The state of being conceived.4 Being
conceived in the womb, an embryo or
fetus.
Immaculate Conception = The dogma
that the Virgin Mary was conceived
without the stain of original sin.5

3
The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, p. 663.
4
Ibid., p.278.
5
Ibid., p. 664.
 The Doctrine that Our Lady “in the first
instant of her conception was by a singular
grace and privilege of Almighty God in
view of the merits of Jesus Christ the
Savior of the human race, preserved
exempt from all stain of original sin.”
Song 4:7 - “You are altogether beautiful,
my darling, and there is no blemish in
you” (OBV6)
Song 6:9-10 - “But my dove, my perfect
one is unique, she is her mother’s only
daughter; she is the pure child of the one
who bore her. The maidens saw her and
called her blessed… who is this that
grows like the dawn, as beautiful as the
full moon, as pure as the sun, as
awesome as an army with banner?”
(OBV)

6
Open Bible Version.
Perpetual - Continuing indefinitely
without interruption; lasting, without end,
forever, does not change, constant.
Virginity - The state or fact of being a
virgin, pure, chaste, clean.
Virgin - A person, especially a woman,
who has not had sexual intercourse,
chaste, untouched, modest.
Perpetual Virginity - Means “Forever
Virgin”

Rev.14:4-5 “They are men who have

kept themselves pure by not having
sexual relations with women; they are
virgins. They follow the lamb wherever
he goes. They have been redeemed from
the rest of mankind and are the first ones
to be offered to God and to the Lamb.
They have never been known to tell lies;
they are faultless.” (GNB)
Lk 1:34 - “Mary said to the angel, ‘I am
a virgin. How then can this be?’”
Mt 1:23-25 - “Behold, the virgin shall be
with child, and shall bear a son, and they
shall call his name Emmanuel,” which
translated means “God is with us”. And
Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as
the angel of the Lord commanded him,
and took her as his wife. And kept her a
virgin until she gave birth to a son; and
he called his name Jesus.” (NAB)

WHAT IS A DOGMA?
Dogma is a specific tenet or doctrine
authoritatively put forth by the church
(Eph. 3:10/ 1 Tim. 3:15). The official
pronouncement of the church that has
something to do with the church’s
teaching for the guidance of the faithful to
follow that has something to do with
salvation. It is the official teaching
proclaimed by the church by the authority
of the Pope, the Vicar of Christ.
Mt 18:17-18 “Tell them to the church,
and if he refuses to listen to the church
treat him like a pagan”.
Mt 16:18-19 “You are Peter and upon
this rock I will build my church and even
the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom
of heaven, whatever you bind on earth
must be bound in heaven; whatever you
loose on earth must be loosed in
heaven.” (Lk 10:16; 1Tim.3:15, Eph
3:10)

Therefore, the Dogma refers to the

teaching - a firm principle declared by the
church handed down from generation to
generation (2Tim 2:2). The Dogma of
faith means a truth revealed by Scripture
or contained in tradition, and for belief
proposed by the Church through solemn
definition or arising from the Magisterium
of the Church as a teaching of divine
revelation (cf. Mt 28:19-20). Dogmatic
fact means certain truths which, while not
revealed by God explicitly yet implicitly,
are proclaimed by the authority of the
Church, as a pillar and foundation of truth
(cf. 1Tim 3:15; Jn 21:25; Mal 2:7). By
infallible authority, the Church judges and
proposes these facts for belief (Mt 16:18-
19). These facts come to us through
revelations, be it public or private
revelation (Heb 1:1-2; Jn 14:16, 26; 16:12-
13; Acts 20:28).
IV. THE DOCTRINE OF THE
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION
The Church as the pillar and foundation
of truth (1Tim 3:15) where the wisdom of
God is preached (Eph 3:10) teaches that
Immaculate Conception is the privilege
and the singular grace that divine
omnipotence bestowed upon the Blessed
Virgin Mary to preserve her from original
sin by infusing into her soul sanctifying
grace from the very instant of her
conception in the womb of her mother, St.
Anne. Through this, Mary, who was to be
the Blessed Mother of the Son of God (Lk
1:41-43), was conceived in the state of
holiness and justice. This effect, caused by
the act of God, resulted in her being free
of the consequences of original sin, such
as the slavery of the devil, subjection to
concupiscence, and darkness of intellect
(Heb 2:14). The dogma of the Immaculate
Conception was defined for the universal
Church’s belief by Pope Pius IX, on
December 8, 1854, as follows:
“We declare, announce, and define that
the doctrine which states that the Blessed
Virgin Mary was preserved, in the first
instant of her conception, by a singular
grace and privilege of God omnipotent
and because of the merits of Jesus Christ
the Savior of the human race, must be
believed firmly and with constancy by
all that faithful.”
It is significant that the declaration of the
Church through the Holy Father was made
four years before the apparition to St.
Bernadette at Lourdes, France, in 1854, in
which the Blessed Mother declared herself
to be the Immaculate Conception. Under
the Blessed Mother’s title of the
Immaculate Conception, the United States
is dedicated to her patronage. The feast of
the Immaculate Conception is celebrated
on Dec. 8 and is a Holy Day of obligation
for the Universal Church (C.1244; Sir
33:7-9, 12).7

KINDS OF CONCEPTION
1. ACTIVE CONCEPTION- this
Consists in the act of the parents which
causes the body of the child to be formed
and organized, and so prepared for the
reception of the rational soul which is
infused by God.
Wis 7:1-2 - “Like every human being, I
am mortal. I am a descendant of the first
man, who was made from the soil. I was
conceived from the sperm of a man, in the
pleasure of intercourse. For nine months
7
BRODERICK, Robert. The Catholic Encyclopedia. TAN Books, p.285.
my flesh took shape in the blood of my
mother’s womb.” (GNB)
2. PASSIVE CONCEPTION- this takes
place at the moment when the rational soul
is actually infused into the body by God.
Gen 2:7 - “Then the Lord God took some
soil from the ground and formed a man out
of it; He breathed life-giving breath
(spiritual soul) into his nostrils and the
man began to live.” (GNB)
It is passive, not active conception,
which Catholics have in view when we
speak of the Immaculate Conception; for
there was nothing miraculous in Mary’s
generation. She was begotten like other
children. The body, while still inanimate,
could not be sanctified or preserved from
original sin, for it is the soul, not the body,
which is capable of receiving either the
gifts of grace or the stain of sin. Moreover,
from the fact that Mary sprang in the
common way from Adam our first father,
it follows that she was the daughter of a
fallen race and incurred the “debt” or
liability to contract original sin. Adam was
the representative of the human race, he
was put on his trial, and when he fell all
his descendants fell with him, and must,
unless some special mercy of God
interposed, receive souls destitute of that
grace in which Adam himself was created.
In Mary’s case, however, God’s mercy did
interpose for the sake of him who was to
be born of her for “his merits foreseen”
grace was poured into her soul at the first
instant of its being.

Heb 2:14 - “Since the children, as He

calls them, are people of flesh and blood,
Jesus himself became like them and
 shared their human nature. He did this so
that through His death He might destroy
the devil, which has the power over
death. (GNB)
Lk 1:28 - “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is
with Thee. Blessed art thou among
women.” (DV8)
Rom 6:14 - “For sin shall not have
dominion over you: For ye are not under
the law, but under grace. (KJV9)

Christian children are sanctified at the

font: St. John the Baptist was sanctified
while still unborn.

Jn 3:4-6 - “…He certainly cannot enter

his mother’s womb and be born a second
time! “I am telling the truth,” replied
Jesus, “That no one can enter the
8
Douay Version.
9
King James Version.
kingdom of God unless he is born of
water and spirit. A person is born
physically of human parents, but he is
born spiritually of the spirit.” (GNB) (cf.
Eph 5:26-27)
Lk 1:41 - “When Elizabeth heard
Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within
her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit.
1Cor 6:11 - “Some of you were like that.
But you have been purified from sin.
You’ve been dedicated to God; you have
been put right with God by the Lord
Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our
God.” (GNB)

Mary was sanctified earlier still – in the

first moment of her conception. She
received a gift like that of Eve, who was
made from the first without sin, only the
Immaculate Conception is rightly called a
privilege, and a privilege altogether
singular, because in the ordinary course of
things the Blessed Virgin would have been
conceived and born in original sin. This
Catholic doctrine exalts the merits of
Christ. He who redeemed through the
precious blood of Christ (Heb 9:22; 1Pet
1:18-19). But Mary’s redemption is in a
preventive way to preserve her from
original sin (Rom 6:14; Lk 1:28; DV).
Rom 6:14 - “For sin shall not have
dominion over you for ye are not under the
law but under grace.” (KJV)
Lk 1:28 - “Hail full of grace, the Lord is
with thee.” (DV)
Lk 1:41-42 - “When Elizabeth heard the
salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her
womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the
Holy Spirit, and she spake out with a loud
voice and said, ‘Blessed art thou among
women, and blessed is the fruit of thy
womb.’” (KJV)
Ps 32:2 - “Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity, and in
whose spirit there is no guile.” (KJV)

God who sanctified us in baptism (cf.

Eph 5:26-27) sanctified Mary in her
conception. Catholics cannot compare
themselves of with Mary’s unique
exemption from sin. Yet her state of
sinlessness is never of the divine nature,
for such a comparison would be insane as
well as blasphemous; rather it is with the
sinlessness of Christ as man for sin was a
physical impossibility in the human soul
of Christ, which is hypostatically united to
his divinity. Mary, on the other hand, was
sinless by the grace of God. Christ by
nature as God is sinless, while Mary is
sinless only by grace.

Rom 6:14 - “For sin shall not have

dominion over you: For ye are not under
the law, but under grace.”
Lk 1:27-28 - …”And the virgin’s name
was Mary. And when the angel had
come to her, he said,” Hail full of grace,
the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
among women.”

OBJECTION 1: It’s not true that Mary is

without sin. All people in the world have
sinned according to the Bible and are far
away from God.

Rom 3:23 - “Everyone has sinned and is

far away from God’s saving presence.”
(GNB)
ANSWER 1: According to the biblical
passage given, everyone who sinned is far
away from God; therefore, on the contrary,
people who have not sinned are close to
God, isn’t it? Mary is the closest to God
among all His creatures because she is His
mother. In fact, the body and blood of
Christ necessary for the salvation of the
human race comes from Mary herself (cf.
Heb 2:14, Gal 4:4). She is the first
tabernacle of the Son of God for nine
months, how can she be so far from God?
(Lk 1:33-35). According to St. Paul, Christ
is the wisdom of God and the wisdom of
God who is God does not stay to a person
who is a slave of sin. Therefore, this is a
clear proof that Mary is free from sin.
1Cor 1:24 - “…This message is Christ,
who is the power of God and the wisdom
of God.” (GNB)
Wis 1:14 - “Wisdom will never be at
home with anyone who is deceitful or a
slave of sin.” (GNB)

ANSWER 2: By saying all people have

sinned, this must be understood according
to the teachings of the Bible and the
teaching of the Church as the pillar and
foundation of the truth (1Tim 3:15). In
every rule there is always an exemption.
God’s chosen people is justified by God
and cannot be accused of guilt.

Job 1:1 - “There was a man in the land

of Uz, whose name was Job, and that
man was blameless, upright, fearing
 God, and turning away from evil.”
(NAB)
Rom 8:33 - “Who will accuse God’s
chosen people? God himself declares
them not guilty.” (GNB)

Mary was chosen by God long before

her existence. She was prepared by God to
be the spotless tabernacle of God the Son
(cf. Wis 1:4, 1 Cor 1:24, Lk 1:44-43).

Isa 7:14 - “Therefore the Lord himself

will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin
will be with a child and bear a son, and
she will call his name Immanuel.”
(NSB10)
Songs 4:6 - “Thou art all fair, my love;
there is no spot in thee.”

10
New American Standard Bible.
Song 6:9-10 - “But my dove, my perfect
one, is unique; she is her mother’s only
daughter, she is pure child of the one
who bore her. The maidens saw her and
called her blessed.” (NSB)

OBJECTION 2: Sinless people were

already saved, but according to Mary
herself, she still needs a savior, therefore,
she is not free from all kinds of sin.

Lk 1:46-47 - “And Mary said, ‘My soul

doth magnify the Lord and my spirit
rejoiced in my Savior.’”

ANSWER: When Mary said, “and my

spirit hath rejoice in God my savior,” it
does not mean that she was conceived in
her mother’s womb a sinner that needs to
be cleansed by the blood of Christ (cf. Heb
9:22, 1 Pet 1:18-19) because it was Mary
who shared her own blood and flesh, her
human nature, so that Christ will be
manifested in flesh (see Gal 4:4, 1Pet
1:18-19; Heb 2:14, 10:5), for the world to
be saved. Mary’s spirit rejoiced in God’s
saving power of prevention, meaning, she
saved from the stain of original sin prior
(or simultaneous) to her conception. This
is a privilege of advanced salvation before
she was conceived from her mother’s
womb. This is the Immaculate
Conception.
Immaculate Conception is the privilege
and the singular grace that divine
omnipotence bestowed upon the Blessed
Virgin Mary to preserve her from original
sin by infusing her soul sanctifying grace
from the very instant of her conception in
the womb of her mother, St. Anne.
Through this, Mary, who was to be
Blessed Mother of the Son of God, was
conceived in the state of holiness and
justice. Heaven is for the blessed not for
the sinners (Rev 21:27) and Mary is the
most blessed among women on earth.

Mt 25:34 - “Then the King will say to

the people on his right, ‘Come, you that
are blessed by my Father! Come and
possess the kingdom which has been
prepared for you ever since the creation
of the world.’” (GNB)
Lk 1:41-42 - “When Elizabeth heard
Mary’s greeting, the baby moved within
her. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy
Spirit and said in a loud voice, ‘You are
the most blessed of all women, and
blessed is the child you will bear.’”
(GNB)
Ps 32:2 - “Blessed is the man unto
whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
and in whose spirit there is no guile.”
Lk 1:28 - “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is
with thee, blessed art thou among
women.”
Rom 6:14 - “For sin shall not have
dominion over you; for ye are not under
the law, but under grace.”

Christ the Son of the Blessed Virgin

Mary is the source of all blessedness or
sinlessness and Mary is the most blessed
among women opposed to the sinfulness
of Eve (Lk 1:41-43), and opposed to
sinfulness is Mary’s being full of grace
that not a single sin could dominate her
(Rom 6:14). If Mary is conceived with
original sin, then it will lead to another
debatable conclusion that Christ is also
conceived with original sin, in which even
non-Catholics will not agree aside from
being blasphemous against the Son of God
whose mother is the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Ps 51:5 - “Behold, I have been evil from

the day I was born; from the time I was
conceived, I have been sinful.” (GNB)
Mt 1:21, 23 - “She will have a son, and
you will name him Jesus because he will
save his people from their sins…”A
virgin will become pregnant and have a
son, and he will be called Immanuel!
Which means God is with us.” (GNB)

OBJECTION 3: Like any ordinary

people Mary experienced death, therefore,
she is also a sinner like us because the
wages of sin is death.
Rom 5:12 - “Sin came into the world
through one man, and his sin brought
death with it. As a result, death has
spread to the whole human race because
everyone has sinned (cf. Rom 6:23).

ANSWER: Christ also experienced death;

does it mean he is also a sinner like us?

1Cor 15:3 - “I passed on to you what I

received, which is of the greatest
importance; that Christ died for our sins,
as written in the Scriptures…” (GNB)

In every rule there is always an

exemption; and this is biblically founded
that not all who suffered or experienced
death is a slave of sin. This teaching
comes from St. Paul the apostle of Christ
in his letters to the Romans.
Rom 5:14 - “But from the time of Adam
to the time of Moses, death ruled over all
mankind, even over those who did not
sin in the same way that Adam did when
he disobeyed God’s command.” (GNB)

From all eternity, God knew that Mary

would be the mother of his Son (cf. Gen
3:15; Isa 7:14; Gal 4:4; Lk 1:41-43). Since
she was to be the mother of Him who is
God (Jn 1:1, 14, 18; Mt 1:23; Col 2:9; Phil
2:5-11), in view of the redemption which
her son would bring by his sacrificial
death and resurrection, God formed her to
His purpose and honored her at the very
first moment of existence by filling her
with the fullness of His grace (see Lk
1:28). She alone of all human beings was
preserved free from all sin, original and
actual (Lk 1:41-43; Rom 6:14). And
because Mary had been preserved free
from sin, it was not fitting that her body
should undergo corruption.

It was also fitting that she should be the

first of the redeemed to share completely
in the victory of her Son over sin and
death. At her death, then, she was taken
body and soul to heaven (Rev 12:1-2, 5).
She is the first human to share in the
resurrection of Christ. This privilege is
called the “Assumption”. If the privilege
of assumption were given to Enoch (Gen
5:24; Heb 11:5) and Elijah (2Kgs 2:11), in
the name of love and justice, it will appear
that God is unjust and so cruel to His
mother Mary if she will be left behind in
the cemetery while Christ is in heaven.
Ps 132:8 - “Advance, O Lord (Jesus) to
your resting place (heaven) you and the
ark (Mary) of your majesty.” (NAB)

Because she is full of grace, therefore, -

she is sinless, free from all kinds of sins,
as queen of heaven (cf. Jer 44:25; Rev
12:1-2, 5) from all eternity, - she will be
with Christ His beloved Son (Jn 14:1-3).
Christ conquered death through the power
of His resurrection (1Cor 15:53-57). God’s
grace is a free gift for us by faith, coupled
with good works (Eph 2:8-10). But grace
was abundantly infused to Mary by God at
the first instant in her soul (cf. Lk 1:46-48)
when she was conceived by her mother St.
Anne (Song 4:7, 6:9-10). If the first Eve
was created by God free from all kinds of
sin, the second Eve, Mary, with the role as
Mother of God, God himself will not
allow that His Son Jesus Christ will be
tainted with sin from His Mother Mary.
For how could his precious blood take
away the sins of the world if this blood
comes from a sinful mother?

Rom 5:15-17 - “It is true that many

people died because of the sin of that one
man, but God’s grace is much greater,
and so is his free gift to so many people
through the grace of the one man, Jesus
Christ. And there is a difference between
God’s gift and the sin of one man. After
the one sin, came the judgment of
“guilty”; but after so many sins, comes
the undeserved gift of “not guilty!” It is
true that through the sin of one man death
began to rule because of that one man.
But how much greater is the result of
what was done by the one man, Jesus
Christ! All who receive God’s abundant
grace and are freely put right with him
will rule in life through Christ.”

OBJECTION 4: Mary was full of grace

at the time when she conceived Jesus in
her womb, therefore, she was a sinful
woman before she conceived Jesus.

ANSWER: The angel that came from

heaven said to Mary, “Hail full of grace,
the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
among women.” He did not say, “Hail,
you are now full of grace, now that the
Lord is with thee. You are now blessed
among women.” After the fall of the first
parent, the Scripture begins with Mary.
When God cursed the serpent (Gen 3:15),
he said, “I will put enmity between thee
and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed.” As the apocalypse implies, that
the serpent was the devil (Rev 12:7-12),
and that our Lord is the promised “seed of
the woman” who was to crush the
serpent’s head, are logically bound to
understand the woman who is to be at
enmity with the serpent as Mary (Rev
12:1-2, 5, 17). The woman and her seed
are put close together (Lk 1:41-43). The
“enmity” of the one is compared with that
of the other, and to what woman is all this
applicable except to Mary and not to Eve
because she was the woman who was
deceived by the snake’s clever lies (2Cor
11:3) while Mary was prophesied with
Jesus to crush the head of the serpent (Gen
3:15). Therefore, Mary was already in the
original plan of God as the promised
woman (Gen 3:15) before she was
conceived in her mother’s womb.
Christians are sanctified by baptism (1Cor
6:11). St. John the Baptist was sanctified
while still unborn (Lk 1:4); so with the
prophet Jeremiah (1:5 - “Before I formed
thee in the belly I knew thee; and before
thou camest forth out of the womb I
sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nation.”).

Mary was sanctified earlier still. In the

first moment of her conception, she
received a gift like that of Eve, who was
made from the first moment without sin,
but only the Immaculate Conception is
rightly called a privilege (a privilege
altogether singular) because in the
ordinary course of things the Blessed
Virgin would have been conceived and
born in original sin. The Catholic doctrine
is clear on this: it is not by Mary’s power
but by God’s. The Church exalts the
merits of Christ. He, who redeemed us,
redeemed her. He who sanctified us in
baptism (Eph 5:26-27) sanctified her in
her conception. Mary’s exemption from
sin is not a sinlessness of the divine nature
for this will be making her a goddess, and
this would become blasphemous. No, hers
was a privilege given her by God. Her
privilege is seen from the viewpoint of
Christ who from eternity has willed to be
incarnated. The Son of God by becoming
man needs a stainless ark. This ark is
Mary. Her sinlessness is a God-ordained
privilege on behalf of the Son of God to be
born as man. Mary was sinless by the
grace of God.

Song 4:7 - “Thou art fair, my love; there

is no spot in thee.
Song 6:9 - “My dove, my undefiled is but
one. She is the only one of her mother;
she is the choice one of her that bore her.
The daughters saw her, and blessed her.
And they praised her.”

OBJECTION 5: There is no single verse

stating verbatim (word for word) that
Mary was immaculately conceived.

ANSWER: There is no single verse also

in the Bible, stating word for word, that
Mary was not immaculately conceived. If
you are God, Holy (1Pet 1:15-16), sinless
(1Pet 2:21-22) and Omnipotent (Rev 1:7-
8), can you afford that the woman you
created to be the mother of your son (Gal
4:4) be subject to original sin? Will you
not sanctify her at the first instant of her
life so that the flesh and blood, the human
nature of Mary that Jesus partakes to
cleanse the sin of the human race be
blameless, holy, blessed and pure? Mary
is full of grace. Sin and grace cannot go
together like dirty glass and clean water. If
Mary is sinful and Christ is sinless, then
Mary could not be His mother. It is against
the Will of God to dwell in a dirty and
sinful tabernacle for nine months.

Isa 59:2 - “It is your sins that separate

you from God when you try to worship
Him.”
Rom 6:14 - “Sin must not be your
master; for you do not live under the law
but under God’s grace.” (GNB)
Wis 1:4-5 - “Wisdom will never be at
home with anyone who is deceitful or
slave of sin. Everyone who is holy has
learned to stay away from deceitful
people. He will not stay around when
foolish thoughts are being expressed; he
will not feel comfortable when injustice
is done.” (GNB)
1Cor 1:24 - “This message is Christ,
who is the power of God, and the
wisdom of God.”
Lk 1:28, 41-42 - “Hail full of grace, the
Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou
among women... Blessed is the fruit of
thy womb.”
Isa 55:8-9 - “My thoughts, says the
Lord, are not like yours, and my ways
are different from yours. As high as the
heavens are above the earth, so high are
my ways and thoughts above yours.”

OBJECTION 6: What is the main and

demanding reason from the Bible that
explicitly or implicitly reveals the
necessity of Mary to be immaculately
conceived or free from the contamination
of original sin?

ANSWER: The biblical demand is crystal

clear. God will save mankind through the
precious blood of Christ.

1Pet 1:18-19 - “For as much as ye know

that ye were not redeemed with
corruptive things, as silver and gold,
from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers; but not with
the precious blood of Christ, without
blemish and without spot. (KJU)

It is very clear, the precious blood of

Christ must be without blemish and
without spot of sin for without the
shedding of blood there is no remission of
sin.

Heb 9:22 - “Indeed, according to the law

almost everything is purified by blood,
and sins are forgiven only if blood is
poured out.” (GNB)

The nature of God is pure spirit. Christ

the Son of God, from the beginning of
time is pure spirit and one with the Father
(Jn 17:5, Jn 1:1-2, 14, 18). Spirit is
without flesh and bones.

Jn 4:24 - “God is spirit.”

Lk 24:39 - “Behold my hands and my
feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and
see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones,
as ye see me have.” (KJU)
2Cor 3:17 - “Now the Lord is that spirit;
and where the spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty.”
Jn 20: 27-29 Then He said to Thomas,
“Put your finger here, and look at my
hands; then reach out your hand and put
it in my side…” Thomas answered Him,
“My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to
him, “Do you believe because you see
me?” (GNB)

As pure spirit, Christ was with the

Father before the world was created.
Because of the love of God, He sent His
only begotten Son into the world so that
people will be saved and be brought to
eternal life (Jn 3:16). He existed with the
Father before anything else existed.
Jn 17:5 - “Father! Give me glory in
Your presence now, the same glory I had
with You before the world was made.”

But how could Christ save us without

this precious blood? As pure spirit, there
is a need for Him to become man. In the
plan of salvation, God the Father prepared
Him a body to be offered as a living
sacrifice whose blood will be poured to
take away the sins of the world.

Heb 10: 5 - “For this reason, when

Christ was about to come into the world,
He said ‘You do not want sacrifices and
offerings but you have prepared a body
for Me.’” (GNB)
Heb 10: 29 - “What then, of the person
who despises the Son of God?” Who
treats as a cheap thing the blood of
God’s covenant which purified him from
sin?” Who insults the spirit of grace?
(GNB)

The sin offering has been a practice of

the Old Testament people through the
blood of animals. But their offering is
selective. It must be ritually clean and
blameless.

Gen 8: 20 - “Noah built an altar to the

Lord; he took one of each kind of ritually
clean animal and bird, and burned them
as a sacrifice on the altar. The odor of
the sacrifice pleased the Lord, and He
said to Himself, “Never again will I put
the earth under a curse.”

But the sacrifices of animals and blood

offering are just temporary rules that
ended when Christ come, because the
blood of animals can never take the sins of
the world but that of the Lamb of God.

Heb 10: 4 - “For the blood of bulls and

goats can never take away sins.” (GNB)
Heb 10: 1-2 “The Jewish law is not a
full and faithful model of the real things;
it is only a faint outline of the good
things to come. The same sacrifices are
offered forever, year after year. How
can the law, then, by means of these
sacrifices make perfect the people who
come to God?”
Jn 1:29 - “The next day John saw Jesus
coming to him, and said, ‘There is the
Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of
the world!’”
 The main point being stressed here is the
fact that if the offering of blood in the Old
Testament must be taken from ritually
clean animals, it is also demanded by
reason that the human nature of Christ, His
flesh and Blood, must be prepared by God
from a clean, spotless, blameless, sinless,
full of grace, the most blessed among
women in the world so that she will not be
defeated, in her spiritual battle against the
serpent (Gen 3:15, Rev 12:1-2, 5-12,17)
by the power of His son, the new Adam
(Rom 5: 14-16). They are the new Adam
and Eve.

Heb 2: 14 - “Since the children, as He

calls them, are people of flesh and blood,
Jesus Himself became like them and
shared their human nature. He did this
so that through His death, He might
destroy the devil, who has the power
over death.” (GNB)

V. THE DOCTRINE OF PERPETUAL

VIRGINITY
The virgin birth is a dogma of the
Church that Christ was born of Mary, a
Virgin, without prejudice to her virginity.
She was His only human parent. The Son
of Man had no man for his father; He was
conceived of the Holy Ghost. This is the
doctrine of the virgin birth, which must be
carefully distinguished from that of the
Immaculate Conception. It is also of
Catholic Faith that our Lady remained a
virgin throughout her life, to which Saints
Jerome, Augustine, Ambrose, John
Chrysostom, and others bear witness.
Perpetual virginity of Christ is an article of
faith, teaching that Mary lived in
perpetual, moral and physical virginity,
before, during, and after the birth of
Christ. This doctrine is evident in the
manner of expression, in the fact, and in
the interpreted meaning of the Gospel (Lk
1: 26-38). Mary was vowed to virginity;
the Angel in replying to Mary’s question
(Lk 1: 35) declares that God’s design will
not affect her vow, since the Child is to
have no father but God, that is, conceived
of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of God
not because of His temporal but because
of His external generation.

Lk 1: 37 - “Mary said to the angel, “I am

a virgin, how, then can this be?” The
angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will
come on you, and God’s power will rest
upon you. For this reason, the Holy
Child will be called the Son of God.”
(GNB)
Lk 1: 37 - “For there is nothing that God
cannot do.” (GNB)
Mt 1: 23 - “A Virgin will become
pregnant and have a son, and He will be
called Emmanuel (which means, “God is
with us”).

OBJECTION 1: It is impossible for a

woman to remain physically a virgin after
giving birth.

ANSWER: For a human being like us, it

is impossible and illogical to think that a
woman after giving birth to a child, she
still remain a virgin. But for God, nothing
is impossible, for God’s thoughts and
ways are not the same as ours. If God
made it possible for barren women like
Sarah and Elizabeth to conceive and bear
their own sons, is it not possible for God
preserve the virginity of Mary during
conception and after giving birth of His
Divine Son Jesus Christ? I repeat, for God
nothing is impossible (Isaiah 55: 8-9).

Gen 18: 10-14 - “One of them said,

“Nine months from now, I will come
back, and your wife Sarah will have a
son,”… Abraham and Sarah were very
old, and Sarah had stopped having her
monthly periods. So Sarah laughed to
herself and said, “Now that I am old and
worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And
besides, my husband is old too.” Then
the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did
Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a
child when I am so old? Is anything too
hard for the Lord? As I said, nine months
from now I will return, and Sarah will
have a son.” (GNB/Lk 1:5-18)
Gen 21:1-3 - “The Lord blessed Sarah,
as He had promised, and she became
pregnant and bore a son to Abraham
when he was old. The boy was born.
Abraham named him Isaac…” (GNB)

The perpetual virginity of Mary had been

prophesied by prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel.

Isa 7:14 - “Therefore the Lord himself

shall give you a sign; behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bear a son, and shall
call his name Emmanuel.” (KJV)
Ezek 44: 2 - Then said the Lord unto
me: “This gate shall be shut, it shall not
be opened, and no man shall enter in by
it; because the Lord, the God of Israel,
hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be
shut.” (KJV)

The virginity of Mary had been the

subject and main point of discussion
between Mary and Angel Gabriel whose
assurance of the preservation of her
virginity was made clear by the angel in
the name of God reaching her personal
decision and submission of God’s will to
be the Mother of God without prejudice to
her virginity.

Lk 1: 34-37 - And Mary said to the

angel, “How can this be, since I am a
virgin? And the angel answered and said
to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon
you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; and for that reason the
holy offspring shall be called the Son of
God.” And behold, even your relative
Elizabeth, has also conceived a son in
her old age; and she who was called
barren is now in her sixth month. For
nothing will be impossible with God.”
(The Open Bible)
Mt 1: 23 - “Behold, the Virgin shall be
with Child, and shall bear a son, and they
shall call His name Emmanuel” which
translated means “God with us.” (The
Open Bible)

In a simple analogy, it is possible for the

light of a “flashlight” to pass through its
glass when switched-on. It is also true that
while the light passes through its glass, the
light itself has not destroyed or broke the
glass of the flashlight as far as the design
of the maker is concerned. So with the
analogy of a transparent glass and the light
of the sun that passes through it. How
about the true Sun of Righteousness who
is Christ Himself, the true light of the
world? (Mal 4: 2) Could He not preserve
the virginity of His own Mother? If He
enters into the virginal womb of Mary
during her miraculous conception without
prejudice of her virginity by the power of
the Holy Spirit, Christ Himself is the
power of God (1 Cor 1: 20), could He not
preserve the virginity of Mary at the
moment of His birth? God made it
possible for barren women like Sarah and
Elizabeth to conceive and bear their own
sons miraculously, is He powerless to
make the impossible possible to His own
Mother? Christ as the Light of the World
can enter and pass through in a room
behind locked doors without destroying
any part of it, can He not do it passing out
from the womb of Mary and at the same
time preserve her virginity? To oppose this
possibility is an insult to God and His
omnipotence (Ex 6: 1-4, Lk 1: 37).

Jn 8: 12 - “I am the light of the world;

he who follows Me shall not walk in the
darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Jn 20: 19 - “It was late that Sunday
evening and the disciples were gathered
together behind locked doors, because
they afraid of the Jewish authorities.
Then Jesus came and stood among them.
“Peace be with you,” he said.” (GNB)

OBJECTION 2: It might be true that

Mary remained a virgin after giving birth
to Jesus. But being religiously married to
Joseph, they have to fulfill their marital
obligation as husband and wife, therefore,
Mary is no longer a virgin.

Mt 1: 25 - “But he had no sexual

relations with her before she gave birth
to her son. And Joseph named Him
Jesus. (GNB)
Mt 1: 25 - “And kept her a virgin until
she gave birth to a son; and he called his
name Jesus.” (The Open Bible)

In different versions, the word used are

“before,” “till,” and “until,” with the same
meaning of sexual contact.

ANSWER: The words “before,” “till,”

and “until” does not prove that the
marriage of Mary and Joseph was really
consummated later on. These texts which
were adduced against the Virgin Mary by
non-Catholics were just borrowed from
“Helvidius” in the fourth century and these
were ably answered by no less than St.
Jerome who gave the Christians the first
complete Bible made by him in the year
405 A.D. In reply, there are many
passages in the Bible that prove that the
words “before,” “till,” and “until” did not
imply the subsequent occurrence of the
things in question.

Gen 8: 6-7 - “After forty days, Noah

opened a window and sent out a raven.
It did not come back, but kept flying
around until the water was completely
gone.” (GNB)

The term being used is “until” – but the

raven never returned to the ark of Noah
(cf. Gen 8: 6-9).
Dt 34: 6 - “And he buried him in the
valley of the land of Moab over against
Phogor; and no man hath known of his
sepulchre until this present day.”

For the information of our separated

brethren, until no one ever discovered
where Moses had been buried.

2 Sam 6: 23 - “And Mical the daughter

of Saul never had a child till the day of
her death.” (The Bible in Living English)

Based on this text, does it mean that

after the death of Mical she was able to
conceive and bear a child because of the
word “till?” The word “before” does not
imply that after she gave birth to her Son,
Mary and Joseph had sexual relations. If a
man did not take his medicine before he
dies, does it mean he takes his medicine
after his death? There is no single verse in
the Bible in any version proving that their
marriage was consummated sexually. But
on the other hand, is there a version of the
Bible proving that there were no sexual
relations that occurred between Mary and
Joseph after the birth of Christ? Yes!

Mt 1: 23-25 - “The Virgin will conceive

and bear a son, and He will called
Emmanuel which means: God-with-us,
when Joseph woke up, he did what the
angel of the Lord had told him to do and
took his wife with him. But he had not
had intercourse with her when the Son
was born. And he called him Jesus.”
(CCB11)

11
Christian Community Bible.
Mt 1: 23-25 - “Ang Birhen manganak ug
lalake nga nganlan niya’g Emmanuel, sa
ato pa: and Ginoo uban nato. Sa pagmata
ni Jose gituman niya ang giingon sa
anghel sa Ginoo. Gidala niya sa balay
ang iya asawa nga nanganak ug batang
lalake, apan wala makighilawas niya ang
bana.Gitawag ni Jose ang bata ug Jesus.”
(Biblia Sa Kristohanong Katilingban)

The virgin birth of Jesus Christ is

without parallel in human history. It was
by the virgin birth that God became man,
one perfect person but two natures: one
nature that of Almighty God, the other
being that of man – man without sin. The
union of the two natures became the God-
Man Christ Jesus. The first hint of the
virgin birth is found in Genesis 3: 15. The
one to defeat Satan was to be born of the
“seed” (not seeds) of the woman. This is
biological: there is no “seed” of the
woman. From this, we are to understand
that one was to be born of a woman
without a human father. The “seed” is a
singular word implying Christ to be the
only Child and St. Joseph’s role is to be
the caretaker of the Mother and the Child,
as a foster father of the child Jesus (Mt 2:
13-15, 19-23; Lk 4:22). He is a righteous
man (Mt 1: 19) and by this reason he
could not afford to transgress the angel’s
instruction that Mary shall be with a child
not children, shall bear a son not sons and
daughters.

Mt 1: 20-23 - “But when he had

considered this, behold, an angel of the
Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary as your wife; for that which
has been conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit. And she will bear a Son; and you
shall call His name Jesus, for it is He
who will save His people from their
sins… Behold, the Virgin shall be with
Child, and shall bear a Son and they shall
call His name Emmanuel.” (The Open
Bible)

Again Isaiah prophesied saying, “A

child will be born to us, a Son will be
given to us (Isaiah 9: 6). This means that
God gave His only begotten Son who was
with Him from eternity, and the Child
Jesus was born of a Virgin. God gave His
Son “to us” (Gal 4: 4). Zechariah also
prophesied Mary’s only Child and not
children to justify the teaching of the
Catholic Church.
Zec 12: 10 - “They will look at the One
whom they stabbed to death, and they
will mourn for Him like those who
mourn for an only child. They will morn
bitterly, like those who have lost their
first-born son.” (GNB)

OBJECTION 3: The virgin birth as a

dogma was borrowed by the Catholic
Church from paganism. The gods of
Mithra of Persia, Adonis of Syria, Osiris
of Egypt and Krishna of India are all
virgin born.

ANSWER: Not quite, for although there

were points of similarity between
Christianity and the various pagan
religions, the virgin birth is certainly not
one of them. This idea of the birth from a
virgin as a heathen myth which was
allegedly received by the Christians,
contradicts the entire development of
Christian tradition (History of Dogma, i.,
100). Mithra had no human mother at all,
but was invariably regarded as “rock-
born,” imaged by a conical stone which
represented the sky vault in which the
“light-god” first appeared. Adonis or
Tammuz (Ezek 8: 14) was a demi-god,
representing the light of the sun (Ezek 8:
16). Various myths make him the son of
“Cinyras,” of Phoenix, and of King Theias
of Assyria and his daughter Myrrha.
Osiris is either the son of “Seb” (The
Earth) and “Nuit,” (The Sky), or begotten
of the heart of “Atum,” the first of the gods
and of men. Krishna, the most popular of
the Avatars or incarnations of Vishnu, was
not virgin born, for the black god’s mother
had borne several children to her husband,
“Vasudeva,” before he was born. The
legends that liken him to Christ are taking
from documents that post-date the gospels
by several centuries.12

The ancient pagan myths are taken from

nature, representing the succession of day
and night, or the seasons, the mystery of
life and its transmission from one creature
to another. They are undated, and un-
located, and generally belong to a vaguely
imagined period before the coming of
man. But the account of our Lord’s birth
has the form not of myth, but of history;
place, date, and contemporary persons and
events are specified, and it is interwoven
not only with texture of general history,
but also with the events of our Lord’s life
12
Tisdall, Mystic Christs, p. 27.
in such a way as to be inseparable from
the Gospel account of them. Conscious
adaptation of the myth by the gospel
writers is a grotesque supposition,
neglected by reputable scholarship; there
was no time for an unconscious
deformation of historical events in view of
the early date now generally admitted for
the composition of the Gospel.13

OBJECTION 4: The words “She brought

forth her first-born son,” imply that Mary
had at least two children according to
Matthew.

Mt 1: 25 - “And knew her not till she

had brought forth her first-born Son:
And he called His name Jesus.” (KJV)
13
Martindale (Ed.). The History of Religion, i. Hinduism; Egypt, ii.; Ancient Greece; Mithra.
ANSWER: Not at all. The Mosaic Law of
the first-born holds that “firstborn” refers
to a mother’s son as soon as she had given
birth to a son, whether he was the only
one, or whether he was succeeded by other
children. The Jews frequently spoke of a
mother dying, when bringing forth her
first-born son, thus, first-born and only
son.

Ex 34: 19-20 - “Every first-born son and

first-born male domestic animal belongs
to Me.” (GNB)
Ex 34: 19-20 - “All that openeth the
matrix is mine; and every firstling
among thy castle whether or sheep, that
is mine.” (KJV)
Zec 12: 10 - “They will look at the One
whom they stabbed to death, and they
will mourn for Him like those who
mourn for an only child. They will
mourn bitterly, like those who have lost
their first-born son.” (GNB)

OBJECTION 5: Mary was not always a

virgin because the Scriptures often speak
of the brethren of Jesus. Therefore Mary
has many children so the dogma of
perpetual virginity is just an invention of
the Catholic Church.

Mk 6:3 - “Isn’t he the brother of James,

Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his
sisters living here? And so they rejected
him.” (GNB)
Mt 13:55-56 - “Isn’t he the carpenter’s
Son? Isn’t Mary his mother, and aren’t
James, Joseph, Simon and Judas his
brothers? Aren’t all his sisters living
here?” (GNB)
Lk 8:19 - “Jesus’ mother and brothers
came to him, but were unable to join him
because of the crowd.” (GNB)
Jn 7:3-5 - So Jesus brothers said to him,
“Leave this place and go to Judea, so that
your followers will see the things that
you are doing. No one hides what he is
doing if he wants to be well known.
Since you are doing these things, let the
whole world know about you.” Not even
his brothers believed in him.” (GNB)
Acts 1:14 - “They gathered frequently to
pray as a group, together with the
women and with Mary, the mother of
Jesus and his brothers.” (GNB)
Mt 12:46-47 - “Jesus was still thinking
to the people when his mother and
brothers arrived. They stood outside
asking to speak with him. So one of the
people there said to him, “Look, your
mother and brothers are standing outside,
and they want to speak with you.”
(GNB)

ANSWER A: The dogma of the virgin

birth was defined as an article of faith by
the Fifth General Council of the Church
(the Holy Mother Church serving as the
Pillar and Foundation of Truth - 1Tim
3:15; Eph 3:10; Lk 10:16) held at
Constantinople under Pope Vigilius in 553
A.D., and again by the Lateran Council
held by Pope Martin I at Rome in 640
A.D. It is a dogma held unanimously by
the Fathers of the Church (1Cor 4:15; Jn
16:13) from the very beginning, and
taught explicitly in both Old and New
Testaments. The Prophet Isaiah foretold of
Jesus Christ from a virgin Mother. He
says, “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and
bear a son, and his name shall be called
Emmanuel” (cf. Isa 7:14). The word he
uses for Virgin, Almah in the Hebrew
language, is always equivalent to Virgin in
the Old Testament (Gen 24:43; Songs 1:2,
6:8; KJV). The Jews in their Septuagint
version of the OT (286-246 B.C)
translated “Almah” as “Parthenos”, the
Greek equivalent for an Inviolate Virgin.
The NT teaches the virgin birth in the
Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke.

Mt 1:20 - “Fear not to take unto thee

Mary thy wife, for that which is
conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost”.
Mt 1:23 - “A Virgin shall conceive and
bear a son”.
Lk 1:26-27 - “The angel was sent from
God to a Virgin espoused to a man
whose name was Joseph.”

ANSWER B: Isn’t he the brother of

James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t
his sisters living here? These passages are
not a declarative sentence but
interrogative. It is an interrogation and not
a declaration of such.

ANSWER C: If the said brethren of Jesus

were children of Mary and Jesus, then the
following arguments need to be answered:

1) The argument that her virginity was

implied by her answer to the angel, who in
response assured her miraculous virginal
conception because nothing is impossible
with God.
 Lk 1:34 - “How can this be, since I am a
virgin?”
Lk 1:35-37 - “The angel answered, “the
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the
power of the Most High will over-
shadow you,”…”Even your relative
Elizabeth has also conceived a Son in her
old age; and she who was barren is now
in her six month. For nothing is
impossible with god.” (OVB)

2) If Mary had other children, why is Jesus

so emphatically called the called “the Son
of Mary?” and not, “One of the Sons or
Children of Mary?” Why Mary is never
called the mother of the brethren of the
Lord?

Mk 6:2 - “Is not this the carpenter, the

Son of Mary…”
3) If Mary had other children, why should
Jesus, when dying on the Cross, not have
entrusted his Mother to one of his brothers
or sisters instead of the apostle John?

Jn 19:26-27 - When Jesus therefore saw

his mother, and the disciples whom he
loved standing nearby, he said to his
mother, “Woman, behold your Son!”
Then he said to the disciples, “Behold,
your mother!” And from that hour the
disciple took her into his own
household.” (OBV)

4) As a customary practiced of the Holy

Family, they are used to go to Jerusalem
every year at the Feast of the Passover. If
Christ has biological brothers and sisters,
why then that every feast day only three of
them were present?

Lk 2:41-42 - “And his parents used to go

to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of
the Passover. And when he becomes
twelve, they went up there according to
the custom of the feast.” (Parents and
Jesus only)
Lk 2:43-44 - “The boy Jesus stayed
behind in Jerusalem. And his parents
were unaware of it, “but supposed him to
be in the caravan, and went a day’s
journey; and began looking for him
among their relatives and
acquaintances.” (No mention of brothers
and sisters with him).
Lk 2:48 - “And his mother said to him,
“Son, why have you treated us this
way?” Behold your father and I have
been anxiously looking for you.” (Only
the three of them, Jesus, Mary &
Joseph).
Lk 1:51-52 - “And he went down with
them, and came to Nazareth; and he
continued in subjection to them; and his
mother treasured all these things in her
heart. And Jesus kept increasing in
wisdom and stature…” (These passages
clarifies that Mary has no biological
children except Jesus Christ living in
Nazareth).

ANSWER D: There was multiple mention

of Mary in the Bible, which among the
following has many children?

a) Mary the mother of Jesus.

Mt 1:18 - “Now the birth of Jesus Christ
was as follows. When his mother Mary
had been betrothed to Joseph, before
they came together she was found to be
with child by the holy Spirit.” (OBV)
Mt 1:23 - “Behold, the Virgin shall be
with child, and shall bear a Son, and they
shall call his name Emmanuel”… which
is translated, “God is with us.” (OBV)
Zec 12:10 - “And I will pour out on the
House of David and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of
supplication, so that they look on me
whom they have pierced and they will
mourn for him, as one mourns for an
only Son, and they will weep bitterly
over him, like the bitter weeping over a
first born.” (OBV)

Who is this first born and at the same

time the only Son who side was pierced
with a lance? In the NT, He is Jesus
Christ, the only Son of the Blessed
Mother.

Jn 19:23-37 - “But coming to Jesus,

when they saw him he was already
dead… but one of the soldiers pierced
his side with a spear… and again another
Scripture says, “They shall look on him
whom they pierced.” (OBV)

Who is this first and only born son

associated by Prophet Zechariah to King
David in his prophesy? It is Christ himself
whose mother is the Blessed Virgin Mary
overshadowed by the power of the spirit of
grace, the Holy Spirit.

Lk 1:31-35 - “And behold, you will

conceive in your womb, and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus. He will be
great, and will be called the Son of the
Most High; and the Lord will give him
the throne of his Father David; and he
will reign over the house of Jacob
forever… the Holy Spirit will come on
you, and God’s power will rest upon
you.” (GNB)

b) Mary of Magdala (or Mary Magdalene)

She was one of the women who followed
and supported Jesus (Mk 15:41); from
Magdala in Galilee, the woman whom
Jesus expelled seven demons (Mk. 16:9,
Lk 8:2) and one among who ministered to
Jesus’ needs (Lk 8:2); a key witness to
Jesus’ crucifixion (Mt 27:56), death (Mt
27:56; Mk 15:40), burial (Mt 27:61; Mk
15:47), the empty tomb (Mt 28:1-10, Lk
24:10; Mk 16:1), and was the first to
encounter the risen Christ (Jn 2:1-18).
She was being identified as a sinful
woman, perhaps a prostitute, perhaps even
the “sinful woman” of Lk 7:36-50,
although there is no biblical evidence to
support this.

c) Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha

of Bethany
Jesus stayed in their house more than
once, Mary was listening to the words of
Jesus (Lk 10:38-39); Both Mary and
Martha sent for Jesus when their brother
Lazarus fell ill and died and was
resurrected by the Lord (Jn 11:1-45); Mary
later anointed the feet of Jesus with
perfume (Jn 12:3-8). The name of the
woman was not given in Mt 26:6-13; Mk
14:3-9.
d) Mary mother of Jamesthe Younger,
Joses (Joseph), and Salome
Along with Mary Magdalene, this Mary is
identified as an eyewitness to the death,
burial and resurrection of Jesus (Mt 27:56-
28:1; Mk 15:40-16:1; Lk 24:10). She was
a Gelileean and a supporter of the ministry
of Jesus (Mk 15:40-41).

e) Mary the wife of Clopas

This Mary was also a witness to the
crucifixion of Jesus (Jn 19:25).

f) Mary mother of John Mark

When Peter was freed from prison in Acts
12:12, he went to the house of Mary, the
mother of John Mark, where the disciples
were meeting. This home was apparently a
gathering place for the believers. John
Mark was later associated with the
missionary work of Paul, Barnabas, and
Peter.

g) Mary A Christian in Rome and helper

of St. Paul
She was a believer from Rome who was
greeted by Paul (Rom 16:6), who noted
her hard work on behalf of believers.

Now, which among the seven Mary’s of

the New Testament have many children?
Why they were called brethren of the Lord
but never called “Sons or Children of
Mary and Joseph?”

Mt 13:55 - “Isn’t he the carpenter’s (St.

Joseph) Son? Isn’t Mary his mother…?
(GNB)
Mark 6:3 - “Isn’t he the carpenter
(Jesus), the Son of Mary…” to force the
issue that “the brethren of the Lord” are
really biological brothers and sisters of
Jesus and they were children of Mary and
Joseph is impossible if reasoning will be
based on the bible. For those who teach
literally that the brothers and sisters of
Jesus are his brethrens in blood and flesh,
then it will appear that Mary the wife of
Joseph had begotten more than five
hundred children coming from her
womb.”
1Cor 6:3 - “For I delivered to you as of
first importance what I also received, that
Christ died for our sins according to the
Scriptures…after that he appeared to
more than five hundred brethren at one
time…” (NAB)
1Cor 15:3, 6 - “For I delivered unto you
first of all that which I also received, how
that Christ died for our sins according to
 the scriptures;… after that he was seen of
above five hundred brethren at once;…”
(KJV)
1Cor 15:6 - “Then he appeared to more
than five hundred brethren at one time,
most of whom are still alive, though
some have fallen asleep.” (OAB14)
1Cor 15:6 - “Then he was seen by more
than five hundred brethren at once: of
whom many remain until this present,
and some are fallen asleep.” (DV)

To those bible believers who are on their

right senses will never believe that Mary
the mother of Jesus had begotten more
than five hundred children. Even in the
“Guinness Book of Record”, there was no
record that a single mother had given birth
of fifty children. How impossible to give
14
Oxford Annotated Bible.
birth for more than five hundred children
for a single mother. The following
passages are problematic:

Lk 1:31-32 - “And behold, you will

conceive in your womb, and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus. He will be
great, and will be called the Son of Most
High; and the Lord God will give him the
throne of his Father David.” (NAB /
KJV)
Mt 1:20 - “But when he had considered
this, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, Son of David, do not be afraid
to take Mary as your wife; for that which
has been conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit.” (NASB/ KJV)
Lk 1:31-32 - “Behold thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring
for a Son; and thou shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be called the Son of the
Most High; and the Lord God shall give
him the throne of David his father; and
shall reign in the house of Jacob for
ever.” (DV)
Mt 1:20 - “But while he thought on this
things, behold the angel of the Lord
appeared to him in his sleep, saying;
“Joseph, Son of David, fear not to take
unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is
conceived in her, is of the Holy Spirit.”
(DV)

Both Catholic Bible and Protestant

versions are telling us that Christ the Son
of Mary, has David as his father. Does it
mean to say that King Solomon, the Son
of King David, is blood brother of Jesus?
Or does it mean that King David and St.
Joseph the husband of Mary are one?
More complicated is the passage of Mt
1:20 that St. Joseph, the husband of Mary,
is also “Son of David”. Does it mean that
St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus, is his
own brother and they have one biological
father, King David? This relationship
should be understood well. Jewish
customs of language usage and its
application is different from the manner
of our thought today. When the angel
addresses St. Joseph and Jesus as sons of
King David, it means to say they are both
descendant of David (Mt 1:16-17; Lk
3:23-31). In Hebrew language there is no
exact term to denote the word “brother or
cousin”. The word “brother” in Hebrew is
“Ah” and for “sister” is “Alioth”. Also in
Hebrew usage, the word “brethren”,
“brother” or “sister”, is applicable to
distant relatives:

Lk 10:14 - “And Moses called Mishael

and Elzarphan, the Sons of Lizziel the
uncle of Aaron, and said unto them,
come near carry your brethren from
before the sanctuary out of the camp.”
(KJV /DV)

Relatives are also called brethren:

Rom 9:3-6 - “For I could wish that
myself were accursed from Christ for my
brethren, my kinsmen according to the
flesh: who are Israelites; to whom
pertained the adoption…” (DV)

First cousins are called brethren for the

Jews:
1Chr 23:22 - “And Eleazar died, and had
no sons, but daughters; and their brethren
the sons of Kish took them.” (DV)

Nephew is also a brother of his uncle in

Jewish custom:
Gen 29:10 - “And it came to pass, when
Jacob saw Rachel the daughter of Laban
his mother’s brother, and the sheep of
Laban his mother’s brother, that Jacob
when near, and rolled the stone from the
well’s mouth, and watered the flock of
Laban his mother’s brother.” (DV)
Gen 29:15 - “And Laban said unto Jacob,
because thou art my brother, shoudest
thou therefore serve me for nought?”
(DV)
Gen 12:5 - “And Abram took Sarai his
wife, and Lot his brother’s son and all
their substance that they had gathered…”
(K50/Doway)
Gen 13:8 - “And Abram said unto Lot,
let there be no strife, I pray thee, between
me and thee, and between my herd men
and thy herd men; for we are brethren.”
(DV)

Christ is a Jew (Rom 9:3-7; Gal 4:4)

therefore it is not hard to accept the fact
that “brethren” of our Lord, in the Gospel
of Mk 6:3 and Mt 13:55-56, includes his
more than five hundred brethren recorded
by St. Paul to his first letter to the
Corinthians 15:3-6, denoted solely a group
of cousins. It is clear from the Gospels that
Mary kept her resolve and had no other
children after the virginal birth of Christ.
Moreover, Christ is named as the “only
child” (Lk 2:41-52; Zec 12:10) and was
known in the Nazareth as the “Son of
Mary” (Mk 6:3). Further indication is
given that Christ, in dying on the cross,
gave his mother to the care of St. John.

Jn 19:26-27 - “Then he said to the

disciple, “she is your mother; from that
time the disciple took her to live in his
home.” (GNB/DV)

If the Blessed Virgin Mary had many

children in flesh where are they when
Jesus was dying on the cross? If James,
Judas, Joseph, and Simon are really
biological brothers of Jesus, why did
Christ entrusted his mother to the care of
St. John, his disciple? If they were brother
of Jesus in flesh, then because Christ is the
first-born son, it will appear that they are
younger brothers of Jesus? But why then
that when Jesus was twelve years of age,
they (James, Joseph, Judas and Simon as
his younger brothers) were not recorded
by St. Luke as part of the family of Mary
and Joseph in their usual and yearly
Passover Festival celebration? For the
Jews, to celebrate the yearly Passover
Festival is very significant to all members
of the family (cf. Ex 12:1-4). But every
year, only Jesus and his parents went to
Jerusalem. By common sense, if it is true
that they were younger brothers of Jesus,
then the more they need the attention of
Mary and Joseph than the older brother
Jesus. Moreover, when Jesus, Mary and
Joseph return home to Nazareth, there is
no mention of St. Luke regarding James,
Joseph, Judas and Simon waiting for them
in Nazareth. There was no record also that
Jesus and his brothers grew in both body
and wisdom but centered on Jesus alone.
This is a clear manifestation that the
brethren of the Lord are not his biological
brothers and sisters but solely a group of
cousins and believers.

Mt 12: 48-50 - “Jesus answered, “Who is

my mother? Who are my brothers?”
Then he pointed to his disciples and said,
“Look, here are my brothers. Whoever
does what my Father in heaven wants
him to do, is my mother, my sister, and
my mother.” (GNB)

OBJECTION 6: How about James,

Joseph, Judas and Simon? Are they really
“sons or children” of the Blessed Virgin
Mary and St. Joseph?
ANSWER 1: Never in any Bible text
were they called “sons” or “children” of
Mary and Joseph. It does not mean to say
that because James, Joseph, Judas and
Simon were called “brethren of the Lord”
they were blood of Jesus and their parents
were Mary and Joseph. As a proof, James
who is called “brethren” is one of the
twelve apostles but his father was not St.
Joseph.

Gal 1:19 - “But I did not see any other of

the apostles except James, the Lord’s
brother.” (NASB)

In the Bible there are twelve apostles

originally appointed by Christ. The two of
them were named James. Who among the
two apostles named James is called
brother of the Lord and why?
Mt 10:2-4 - “Now the names of the
twelve apostles are these: the first,
Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew
his brother, and James the Son of
Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and
Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the
taxcollector; James the Son of Alphaeus;
and Thadeus; Simon the Zealot, and
Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed
him.” (NASB)

The father of James the greater is

Zebedee while James the less is Alphaeus.
As we have proven from Gal 1:19 that
James called “brethren of the Lord” is one
apostle named James not one of them is
the husband of Mary the mother of Jesus.
This biblical evidence disprove the attack
that James the apostle, Joseph, Simon and
Judas who were called “brethren of the
Lord” are blood brothers of Christ and
“sons” of Mary and Joseph. This also
proves that even his apostles and disciples
are also called brethren of the Lord
because it is the will of Christ that Mary
will became their mother too by his
declaration. As a proof, one of his apostle,
St. John the brother of James the greater
and sons of Zebedee was declared by
Jesus “Son of Mary” although he was not
the son of St. Joseph his foster father.

Mk 3:16-17 - “And he appointed the

twelve: Simon and James the Son of
Zebedee, and John the brother of James.
(NASB)
Jn 19:26-27 - “when Jesus therefore saw
his mother, and the disciple whom he
loved standing nearby, he said to his
mother, “Woman, behold your Son.”
Then he said to the disciple, “Behold,
your mother.” And from that hour the
disciple took her into his own
household.” (NASB)

ANSWER 2: Joseph or Joses, the brother

of James with their mother named Mary
(not the mother of Jesus) are followers and
helpers of Jesus. Joseph was the brother of
James the less, one of the twelve apostles.
Their father was Alphaeus, of Semitic
derivation. According to tradition
Cleophas and Alphaeus are but one and
the same person and that Mary his wife is
the sister of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
They are called the brethren of the Lord
because they were first cousins of Jesus. In
the Jewish language, the word “brethren or
brother” is also address to first cousin and
relatives. (cf. Gen 29:10, 15; 12:5, Gen
13:8; 1Chr 23:22; DV)

Mk 15:40-41 - “And there also some

women looking on from a distance,
among whom were Mary Magdalene,
and Mary the mother of James the less
and Joses and Salome. And when he was
in Galilee, they used to follow him; and
there were many other women who had
come up with him to Jerusalem.”
Jn 19:25 - “Now there were standing by
the cross of Jesus his mother and his
mother’s sister, Mary of Cleophas, and
Mary Magdalene.” (DV)

Another Joseph known in the Bible

history was Joseph of Arimathea, a
prominent member of the council, who
was waiting for the kingdom of God. He is
not a blood brother of Jesus but
courageous enough before Pontius Pilate
asking for the body of Jesus (cf. Mk
15:43-47).

ANSWER 3: Regarding Simon and Judas,

are they also blood brothers of Jesus and
sons or children of Mary? The answer is
no! Consider below the many Simons
during Jesus’ time and none of them was
blood brother to the Lord:

1. SIMON - the son of Jonas and

brother of Andrew, a fisherman who
became a disciple and apostle of Christ,
surname Peter (Mt 16:17-18).
2. SIMON - another disciple of Christ
called the “Cananaean, a member of
the party late called “Zealots”, became
 one of the apostles of Jesus (Mt
10:4,Lk 6:15).
3. SIMON - a leper of Bethany in
whose house Jesus head was anointed
(Mt 26:6; 14:3).
4. SIMON - a man from Cyrene,
Father of Alexander and Rufus, who
was compelled to carry the cross of
Jesus (Mt 27:32).
5. SIMON - a Pharisee in whose house
Jesus feet were anointed by sinful
woman (Lk 7:40-44).
6. SIMON - father of Judas Iscariot
(Jn 6:71).
7. SIMON - Magus, a sorcerer of
Samaria (Acts 8:9-13).
8. SIMON - a tanner who lived at
Joppa with whom St. Peter stayed for
many days (Acts 9:43).
 There are persons named Judas in the
New Testament but not one of them is
called “son” of Joseph and Mary the
mother of Jesus.
1. JUDAS - a Galilean insurrectionist
(Acts 5:37).
2. JUDAS - one who had a guest-
house in the street in the city of
Damascus and with whom St. Paul
lodged (Acts 9:11).
3. JUDAS - one of the leading
brethren in the church of Jerusalem at
the council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:25-
27).
4. JUDAS - Judas Iscariote, the arch-
traitor apostle of Jesus who betrayed
our Lord, whose father was Simon. Jn
6:71 - “Now he meant Judas the Son of
Simon Iscariote, for he - one of the
twelve - was going to betray him.”
 5. JUDAS - Judas Thaddeus, called
brother of James, Joseph, and Simon,
but he was the son of another James.
Lk 6:16 - “Judas the son of James”

THE USAGE OF THE TERM

“BRETHREN OR BROTHER” IS NOT
LIMITED OR CONFINED ONLY TO
FAMILY MEMBERS ACCORDING TO
THE BIBLE:

Inhabitants of Allied Nations are called

brothers:
Dt 23:7 - “You shall not detest an
Edomite, for he is your brother; you shall
not detest an Egyptian, because you were
an alien in his land.” (KJV/NASB)

King and servants are brothers:

1Kg 20:31-32 - “And his servants said to
him, “Behold now, we have heard that the
kings of the house of Israel are merciful
kings, please let us put sackcloth on our
loins and ropes on our heads, and go out to
the kings of Israel, perhaps he will save
your life.” So they girded sackcloth on
their loins and put ropes on their heads,
and came to the king of Israel and said,
“Your servant Ben-hadad says, “Please let
me live.” And he said, “Is he still alive?”
He is my brother. (KJV /NASB)

Fellow slaves are brothers in the eyes of

God:
Mt 18:28, 31-35 - “But the slave went out
and found one of his fellow slaves who
owed him a hundred denarii’s; and he
seized him and began to choke him saying,
“pay back what you owe”… so when the
fellow slaves saw what had happened,
they were deeply grieved and came and
reported to their Lord all that had
happened…and his Lord, moved with
anger, handed him over to the torturers
until he should repay all that was owed to
him.” So shall my Heavenly Father also do
to you, if each of you does not forgive his
brother from your heart”.

All people in the world are all brothers

or brethren of Christ – referring to
saintly people.
Mt 25:31-32, 40 - “But when the son of
man comes in his glory, and all the angels
with him, then he will sit on his glorious
throne and all the nations will be gathered
before him; and he will separate them
from one another, as the shepherds
separates the sheep from the goats…and
the king will answer and say to them,
“truly I say to you, to the extent that you
did it to one of these brothers of mine,
even the least of them, you did it to me.”
(C/NASB)

Blood relatives are brothers – Gen 29:1,

4, 10, 13-15
Uncle and nephew – Gen 12:5, Gen 13:8
(KJV)
First cousin are brothers (1Chr 23:22;
KJV)
Distant relatives are brothers (Rom 9: 2-4;
KJV)

Followers of Christ are his brothers and

sisters – Mt 12:48-50
Christ’s chosen apostle are his brothers –
Gal 1:19; Jn 19:26-27
Jn 20:17-18 - Jesus said to her, “Stop
clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended
to the father but go to my brethren, and
say to them, I ascend to my father and
your father, my God and your God.” Mary
Magdalene came, announcing to the
disciples, “I have seen the Lord.” And that
he had said these things to her.” (KJV
/NASB)

The Bible says that Christ had more than

five hundred brethren. Do you believe that
they are children of Mary and Joseph?
Impossible isn’t it, and the
Fundamentalists are simply bigoted on
forcing something obvious into what it can
never be.

1Cor 15:3, 6 - “For I delivered to you as

of first importance what I also receive,
that Christ died for our sins according to
the scriptures… after that he appeared to
more than five hundred brethren at one
time…” (K50/NASB)

CONCLUSION:
We have proven scientifically,
analogically, logically and biblically, that
the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception
and Perpetual Virginity of the mother of
God is not a mere invention of the
Catholic Church. Moreover, the virgin
birth of Christ and common objection
against these teachings has been
substantially answered based on the bible.
We are part of that generation who call her
blessed! (Lk 1:28, 41-43, 48)