Thursday, 20 September 2007

• Question 16 - The pedagogy of deceit denying "virgin"

  Question 16 - The pedagogy of deceit denying "virgin"

   

  Dear Robert,
  
  The pedagogy of deceit is seducing many at
  http://www.amazon.com/tag/religion/forum/ref=cm_cd_pg_oldest/105-1846241-2992433?%5Fencoding=UTF8&cdForum=Fx417AUXOWKSRN&cdPage=1&cdSort=newest&cdThread=TxTAD9HVN552OT&displayType=tagsDetail
  
  The most recent deceit denies “virgin” due to supposed superceding Hebrew translations.
  
  Do you have anything to help?
  
  It is astonishing to me how people who call themselves “Christian” can ignore so much of Jesus’ teachings only to fall for the self-exalting megalomania, paranoia, venomous hatred of Jesus, and pedagogy of deceit of the rabbis.
  
  Your work is desperately needed.
  
  Edgar
  
  

  R. Sungenis: Edgar, we cover this issue in depth in our CASB of Matthew. Here is an excerpt you can use:

   

  Both Scripture and Tradition indicate that, despite any alleged ambiguities in the wording of Isaiah 7:14, Jesus was indeed born miraculously of a virgin, namely, the Blessed Virgin Mary.

  The word “virgin” in Mt 1:23 is the Greek parqevnoV (parthenos). It is used 14 times in the NT (e.g., Lk 1:27; Ac 21:9; 2Co 11:2; Ap 14:4). When explained in Scripture, as it is in 1Co 7:28-37, it refers to an unmarried woman who has had no sexual relations with men. Thus from the New Testament understanding of “virgin,” it is clear that Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus.

  Matthew uses parthenos to interpret the Hebrew word םלע (almah) appearing in Isaiah 7:14. Some Hebrew exegetes claim that almah refers only to a girl or young woman, not specifically to a “virgin,” and therefore Jesus was neither born of a virgin nor was the Messiah. Support for this conclusion is made by claiming that Isaiah would have used the word הלת (bethulah), a more specific Hebrew term for “virgin,” if he had meant that the prophesied woman would not have engaged in sexual relations.

  However, the word almah appears only seven times in the Hebrew Old Testament (cf., Gn 24:43; Ex 2:8; Ps 68:25; Pr 30:19; Sg 1:3; 6:8; Is 7:14), thus the evidence upon which to base such conclusions is rather limited. None of the above passages suggest that almah refers to a woman who is married or has had sexual relations. Conversely, there are explicit indications that almah refers to an unmarried woman who has had no sexual relations. First, in Gn 24:43, almah is used to refer to Rebecca before she is married to Isaac. Yet in the same context (Gn 24:16), Rebecca is referred to as bethulah (“An exceeding beautiful maid, a virgin, and not known to man...”). This interchange of terms means that almah could certainly be interchanged with bethulah, and was understood to designate a virgin. In addition, Rebecca is called a “maid” in the same passage (Gn 24:16), from the Hebrew הרענ (naarah) which, similar to almah, refers in Hebrew to a young woman, but also a virgin (see naarah in Dt 22:15-29 in which the husband suspects his wife was not a virgin when they married). Identical to the interchange of almah and bethulah contained in Gn 24:16, 43, again in Dt 22:23, 28; Jg 21:12; 1Kg 1:2; Es 2:3 naarah and bethulah are interchanged. Added to these is the use of bethulah in Ex 22:16, which, in a similar context to that of Dt 22, also refers to virginity before marriage.
   The usage of almah in Pr 30:19 also refers to a virgin. In this passage, “the way of a man with a maid (almah),” who is assumed to be a virgin since she is unmarried, is contrasted in the next verse, Pr 30:20, with an “adulterous woman (isha)” who is understood as married but having sexual relations with other men.

  The usage of almah in Sg 1:3 leads to the same conclusion, since in the context the maidens are attracted to the loving man of Solomon’s Song, implying they are refraining from sexual relations with him so that the loving man can be intimate with his one and only lover.

  The above passages also show that almah refers to more than identifying a girl or young woman. Almah has procreative overtones, referring in the main to a young woman who has the potential of engaging in sexual relations but who has refrained for one reason or another. This connotation, of course, would also fit the Blessed Virgin Mary who, tradition holds, took a vow of celibacy.

  The above analysis is confirmed by the fact that the LXX translates the Hebrew almah with the Greek parthenos (“virgin”) in both Gn 24:43 and Is 7:14, showing that the Alexandrian Jews understood the latter term to be identical with the former. Moreover, the LXX rendering includes the Greek article hJ in the phrase hJ parqevnoV (he parthenos) as does Matthew, following the article ה in the Hebrew of Is 7:14 המלעה (ha-almah). Hence, the “sign” is not merely “a virgin,” that is, she is not any young woman who shall conceive by normal means, but “the virgin.” The stature engendered by the article coincides with the testimony of the greatness of her offspring (cf., Mc 5:3; Is 8:8; 9:5-6; 11:1-10).

  Early Christian literature attests to the existence of Mary’s consecrated virginity (Protoevagelium of James, 120 A.D.).  Living a celibate life within marriage was not unknown in Jewish tradition. The tradition holds that Moses, who was married, remained continent after receiving the command to abstain from sexual intercourse (Ex 19:15); and that the seventy elders abstained as well after their call. Prophets are said to have become celibate once the word of the Lord was communicated to them (Midrash: Rabbah 19, 46, 3; Sifre to Numbers 99 sect. 11; Sifre Zutta 81-82, 203-204; Aboth Rabbi Nathan 9, 39; Tanchuman 111, 46; Tanchumah Zaw 13, 3; Petirot Moshe 72; Shabbath 87a; Pesachim 87b, in Babylonian Talmud).
   
  Patristics and Medievals:

   

  Ignatius: Now the virginity of Mary was hidden from the prince of this world, as was also her offspring, and the death of the Lord; three mysteries of renown, which were wrought in silence by God” (To the Ephesians, 19, 2);

   

  Origen: “Now, if a Jew should split words, and say that the words are not, ‘Lo, a virgin,’ but, ‘Lo, a young woman,’ we reply that the word almah  – which the Septuagint has rendered by ‘a virgin,’ and others by ‘a young woman’ –  occurs, as they say, in Deuteronomy, as applied to a ‘virgin,’ in the following connection: ‘If a damsel that is a virgin be betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her; then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he humbled his neighbor’s wife.’ And again: ‘But if a man find a betrothed damsel in a field, and the man force her, and lie with her: then the man only that lay with her shall die: but unto the damsel ye shall do nothing; there is in her no sin worthy of death’” (Against Celsus, Ch 34);

   

  Justin Martyr: “For if she had had intercourse with any one whatever, she was no longer a virgin; but the power of God having come upon the virgin, overshadowed her, and caused her while yet a virgin to conceive” (First Apology, 33);

   

  Ireneaus: “But that He had, beyond all others, in Himself that pre-eminent birth which is from the Most High Father, and also experienced that preeminent generation which is from the Virgin, the divine Scriptures do in both respects testify of Him ” (Against Heresies, 3, 19, 2); “in order that the Virgin Mary might become the patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin ; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience” (Against Heresies 5, 19, 1);

   

  Basil: “Since the humanity of that time had nothing to equal Mary’s purity, as to be able to accommodate the working of the Holy Spirit...the Blessed Virgin was chosen...” (On Holy Generation of Christ, 3);

   

  Tertullian: “Therefore, that Ray of God, as was ever foretold in the past, descended into a certain Virgin and was formed flesh in her womb, and was born God and man combined” (Apology, 21, 6);

   

  Hippolytus: “Let us believe, then dear brethren, according to the tradition of the Apostles, that God the Word came down from heaven into the holy Virgin Mary, in order that, taking flesh from her and taking also a soul...” (Apostolic Tradition, 17); “And an ark of incorruptible wood was the Saviour Himself, for the incorruptibility and indestructibility of His Tabernacle signified its producing no corruption of sin”(The Lord is My Shepherd, 177);

   

  Clement of Alexandria: “She is at once both Virgin and mother. As a Virgin, undefiled; as a mother, full of love” (Instructor of Children, 1, 6, 41, 3);

   

  Lactantius: “Therefore, the Holy Spirit of God came down from heaven, and chose the holy Virgin into whose womb He would enclose Himself. Filled with the presence of the Holy Spirit, she conceived; and without any contact with man, her virginal womb was suddenly fruitful” (Divine Institutions, 4, 12, 1);

   

  Athanasius (d. 373) “He took true human flesh from the Ever-Virgin Mary” (Against the Arians, 26, 2, 70);

   

  Cyril of Jerusalem: “...and took humanity of a like condition to ours, and was born of the Holy Virgin and of the Holy Spirit...neither did He pass through the Virgin as through a channel, but was truly made flesh of her...” (Catechetical Lectures, 4,9);

   

  Ambrose: “...the Virgin conceived and the Virgin bore, so that you might believe that He was God who restored nature...” (The Holy Spirit, 6, 54);

   

  Jerome: “We believe that God was born of a Virgin, because we read it. We do not believe that Mary was married after she brought forth her Son, because we do not read it....You say that Mary did not remain a Virgin. As for myself, I claim that Joseph himself was a virgin, through Mary, so that a Virgin Son might be born of a virginal wedlock” (Against Helvidius, 19);

   

  Augustine: “A Virgin conceiving, a Virgin bearing, a Virgin pregnant, a Virgin bringing forth, a Virgin perpetual. Why do you wonder at this, O man? It was fitting for God to be born thus, when He deigned to become man” (Sermons 186, 1);

   

  Chrysostom: “A virgin drove us out of paradise; through a Virgin we have found eternal life” (Commentary on the Psalms 44, 7);

   

  Pseudo-Chrysostom: “Rejoice, therefore, and dance for joy; rejoice, and tread upon the serpent's head. Rejoice, full of grace. For the curse has come to an end; corruption is taken away; sadness has passed; happiness is flowering; the blessing ever foretold by the prophets of old has come to pass. You are the one to whom the Holy Spirit referred, speaking through the mouth of Isaiah: ‘Behold, the Virgin shall conceive in her womb and bear a son’ [Is 7.14]. You are that virgin. Rejoice, therefore, O full of grace. You are pleasing to the Demiurge; you are pleasing to the Maker; you are pleasing to the Creator; you are pleasing to Him who delights in the beauty of souls. You have found a Spouse who will protect your virginity instead of corrupting it; you have found a Spouse who wants to become your Son because of His great love for men. The Lord is with you! He who is everywhere is in you; He is with you, and He comes from you, the Lord in heaven, the Most High in the abyss, the Creator of all, Creator above the cherubim, Charioteer above the seraphim, Son in the womb of the Father, Only-begotten in your womb, the Lord –  He knows how –  entirely everywhere and entirely in you. Blessed are you among women!”;

   

  Theodoret: “‘Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word’ to build after an ineffable fashion a temple out of her for Himself, and to unite this temple to Himself by her conception...” (Dialogues: The Eranistes or Polymorphus of the Blessed Theodoretus);

   

  John Damascene: “It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God.”
   
  Popes, Councils and Catechisms:

   

  Council of Ephesus: Canon 1: “If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the Holy Virgin is the Mother of God (for according to the flesh she gave birth to the Word of God become flesh by birth), let him be anathema” (DS 113);

   

  Council of Chalcedon: “But there are those who are trying to ruin the proclamation of the truth, and through their private heresies they have spawned novel formulas: some by daring to corrupt the mystery of the Lord's economy on our behalf, and refusing to apply the word God-bearer to the Virgin”;

   

  Council of Lateran (649): Canon 3: “If anyone does not properly and truly confess in accord with the holy Fathers, that the holy Mother of God and ever Virgin and immaculate Mary in the earliest of the ages conceived of the Holy Spirit without seed, namely, God the Word Himself specifically and truly, who was born of God the Father before all age, and that she incorruptibly bore Him, her virginity remaining indestructible even after His birth, let him be condemned” (DS 256).

   

  Council of Florence: “It [the Council] firmly believes, professes and proclaims that the Son of God in the assumed humanity was truly born of the Virgin....It, moreover, anathematizes, execrates, and condemns every heresy that suggests contrary things. And first it condemns Ebion, Cerinthus, Marcion, Paul of Samosata, Phontinus, who...denied that our Lord Jesus Christ was true God....It anathematizes also Manichaeus...who, thinking vainly that the Son of God had assumed not a true but an ephemeral body...and also Valentinus who asserts that the Son of God took nothing from the Virgin Mary....Arius also, who asserted that the body assumed from the Virgin lacked a soul, and would have the Godhead in place of the soul. Also Apollinaris, who...posited only a sensitive soul, but held that the Godhead of the Word took the place of a rational soul. It also anathematizes Theodore of Mopsuestia and Nestorius who assert that humanity was united with the Son of God through grace, and hence there are two persons in Christ...since they were unable to understand that the union of humanity with the Word was hypostatic...” (DS 709-710).

   

  Catechism: “The Church sees here the fulfillment of the divine promise given through the prophet Isaiah” (¶ 497). “The Church has always understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin Mary” (¶ 500).

   

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