(Death, Heaven, Purgatory, Hell)
Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults
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The Perpetual Virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by St. Jerome
INTRODUCTION
1. I was requested by certain of the brethren not long ago to reply to a
pamphlet written by one Helvidius. I have deferred doing so, not because it is a
difficult matter to maintain the truth and refute an ignorant boor who has
scarce known the first glimmer of learning, but because I was afraid my reply
might make him appear worth defeating. There was the further consideration that
a turbulent fellow (the only individual in the world who thinks himself both
priest and layman, one who, as has been said, thinks that eloquence consists in
wordiness and considers speaking ill of anyone to be the witness of a good
conscience), would begin to blaspheme worse than ever if opportunity of
discussion were afforded him. He would stand as it were on a pedestal, and would
publish his views far and wide. There was reason also to fear that when truth
failed him he would assail his opponents with the weapon of abuse. But all these
motives for silence, though just, have more justly ceased to influence me,
because of the scandal caused to the brethren who were disgusted at his ravings.
The axe of the Gospel must therefore be now laid to the root of the barren tree,
and both it and its fruitless foliage cast into the fire, so that Helvidius --
who has never learnt to speak -- may at length learn to hold his tongue.
2. I must call upon the Holy Spirit to express His meaning by my mouth and
defend the virginity of Blessed Mary. I must call upon the Lord Jesus to guard
the sacred lodging of the womb in which He abode for ten months from all
suspicion of sexual intercourse. And I must also entreat God the Father to show
that the mother of His Son, who was a mother before she was a bride, continued a
virgin after her son was born. We have no desire to careen over the fields of
eloquence, we do not resort to the snares of the logicians or the thickets of
Aristotle. We shall adduce the actual words of Scripture. Let him be refuted by
the same proofs which he employed against us, so that he may see that it was
possible for him to read what is written, and yet to be unable to discern the
established conclusion of a sound faith.
3. His [Helvidius's] first statement was: "Matthew says, 'Now the birth of Jesus
Christ happened like this: When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph,
before they came together she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. And
Joseph her husband, being a righteous man, and not willing to make her a public
example, was minded to put her away privately. But when he thought on these
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying,
"Joseph, you son of David, fear not to take unto you Mary your wife, for that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit"' [Matt. 1:18-20]. Notice, he
[Matthew] says, that the word used is 'betrothed,' not 'entrusted' as you
[Jerome] say, and of course the only reason why she was betrothed was that she
might one day be married. And the Evangelist would not have said 'before they
came together' if they were not to come together, for no one would use the
phrase 'before he dined' of a man who was not going to dine. Then, again, the
angel calls her 'wife' and speaks of her as united to Joseph. We are next
invited to listen to the declaration of Scripture: 'And Joseph arose from his
sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his
wife; and knew her not till she had brought forth her son' [Matt. 1:24-25a]."
4. Let us take the points one by one, and follow the tracks of this impiety that
we may show that he [Helvidius] has contradicted himself. He admits that she was
'betrothed,' and in the next breath will have her to be a man's wife, even
though he has admitted her to be his betrothed. Again, he calls her 'wife,' and
then says the only reason why she was betrothed was that she might one day be
married. And, for fear we might not think that enough, "the word used," he says,
"is 'betrothed' and not 'entrusted,'" that is to say, not yet a wife, not yet
united by the bond of wedlock.
"BEFORE THEY CAME TOGETHER"
But when he continues, "the Evangelist would never have applied the words,
'before they came together' to persons who were not to come together, any more
than one says, 'before he dined,' when the man is not going to dine," I know not
whether to grieve or laugh. Shall I convict him of ignorance, or accuse him of
rashness? Just as if, supposing a person to say, "Before dining in harbor, I
sailed to Africa," his words could not hold good unless he were compelled some
day to dine in harbor. If I choose to say, "the apostle Paul, before he went to
Spain, was put in fetters at Rome," or (as I certainly might) "Helvidius, before
he repented, was cut off by death," must Paul, on being released, at once go to
Spain, or must Helvidius repent after death, although the Scripture says "In
sheol who shall give you thanks?" [Ps. 6:5]. Must we not rather understand that
the preposition 'before,' although it frequently denotes order in time, yet
sometimes refers only to order in thought? So there is no necessity (if
sufficient cause intervened to prevent it) for our thoughts to be realized.
When, then, the Evangelist says "before they came together," he indicates the
time immediately preceding marriage, and shows that matters were so far advanced
that she who had been betrothed was on the point of becoming a wife, as though
he said, "before they kissed and embraced, before the consummation of marriage,
she was found to be with child." And she was found to be so by none other than
Joseph, who watched the swelling womb of his betrothed with the anxious glances,
and, at this time, almost the privilege, of a husband. Yet it does not follow,
as the previous examples showed, that he had intercourse with Mary after her
delivery, when his desires had been quenched by the fact that she had already
conceived. And although we find it said to Joseph in a dream, "Fear not to take
Mary your wife " [Matt. 1:20]; and again, "Joseph arose from his sleep, and did
as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took unto him his wife" [Matt.
1:24], no one ought to be disturbed by this, as though, inasmuch as she is
called "wife," she ceases to be betrothed, for we know it is usual in Scripture
to give the title ["wife"] to those who are betrothed. The following evidence
from Deuteronomy establishes the point. "If the man," says the writer, "finds
the damsel that is betrothed in the field, and the man force her, and lie with
her, he shall surely die, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife" [Deut.
22:25-27]. And in another place, "If there be a damsel that is a virgin
betrothed unto an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;
then you shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and you shall
stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being
in the city; and the man, because he has humbled his neighbor's wife: so you
shall put away the evil from the midst of you" [Deut. 22:23-24]. Elsewhere also,
"And what man is there that has betrothed a wife, and has not taken her? let him
go and return unto his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man take
her" [Deut. 20:7]. But if anyone feels a doubt as to why the Virgin conceived
after she was betrothed rather than when she had no one betrothed to her, or, to
use the Scripture phrase, no "husband," let me explain that there were three
reasons -- First, that by the genealogy of Joseph, whose kinswoman Mary was,
Mary's origin might also be shown. Secondly, that she might not be stoned as an
adulteress in accordance with the Law of Moses. Thirdly, that in her flight to
Egypt she might have some comfort, though it was that of a guardian rather than
a husband. For who at that time would have believed the Virgin's word that she
had conceived of the Holy Spirit, and that the Angel Gabriel had come and
announced the purpose of God? And would not all have given their opinion against
her as an adulteress, like Susanna [Dan. 13]? For at the present day, now that
the whole world has embraced the [Christian] faith, the Jews argue that when
Isaiah says, "Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son" [Is. 7:14], the
Hebrew word denotes a young woman, not a virgin, that is to say, the word is
almah, not bethulah, a position which, farther on, we shall dispute more in
detail. Lastly, excepting Joseph, and Elizabeth, and Mary herself, and some few
others who, we may suppose, heard the truth from them, all considered Jesus to
be the son of Joseph. And so far was this the case that even the Evangelists,
expressing the prevailing opinion, which is the correct rule for a historian,
call him the father of the Savior, as, for instance, "And he (that is, Simeon)
came in the Spirit into the Temple. And when the parents brought in the child
Jesus, that they might do concerning him after the custom of the Law" [Luke
2:27], and elsewhere, "And his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast
of the Passover" [Luke 2:41]. And afterwards, "And when they had fulfilled the
days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his
parents knew not of it" [Luke 2:43]. Observe also what Mary herself, who had
replied to Gabriel with the words, "How shall this be, seeing I know not man?"
[Luke 1:34, literal translation from Greek], says concerning Joseph, "Son, why
have you thus dealt with us? Behold, your father and I sought you anxiously"
[Luke 2:48]. We have not here, as many maintain, the utterance of Jews or of
mockers. The Evangelists call Joseph "father." Mary confesses he was father. Not
(as I said before) that Joseph was really the father of the Savior, but that to
preserve the reputation of Mary he was regarded by all as his father, although
before he heard the admonition of the angel, "Joseph, son of David, fear not to
take unto you Mary your wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy
Spirit" [Matt. 1:20] he had thoughts of putting her away quietly; which shows
that he well knew that the child conceived was not his. But we have said enough,
more with the aim of imparting instruction than of answering an opponent, to
show why Joseph is called the father of our Lord, and why Mary is called
Joseph's wife. This also at once answers the question why certain persons are
called his brethren.
"TILL"
5. This, however, is a point which will find its proper place further on. We
must now move on to other matters. The passage for discussion now is, "And
Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and
took unto him his wife and knew her not till she had brought forth a son, and he
called his name Jesus" [Matt. 1:24-25]. Here, first of all, it is quite needless
for our opponent to show so elaborately that the word "know" has reference to
coitus, rather than to intellectual apprehension, as though anyone denied it or
any person in his senses could ever imagine the folly which Helvidius takes
pains to refute. Then he would teach us that the adverb "till" implies a fixed
and definite time, and when that is fulfilled, he says the event takes place
which previously did not take place, as in the case before us, "and knew her not
till she had brought forth a son." It is clear, says he, that she was known
after she brought forth, and that that knowledge was only delayed by her
engendering a son. To defend his position he piles up text upon text, waves his
sword like a blindfolded gladiator, rattles his noisy tongue, and ends with
wounding no one but himself.
6. Our reply is briefly this -- the words "knew" and "till" in the language of
Holy Scripture are capable of a double meaning. As to the former, he himself
gave us a
dissertation to show that it must be referred to sexual intercourse, and no one
doubts that it is often used of the knowledge of the understanding, as, for
instance, "the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and his parents knew it
not." Now we have to prove that just as in the one case he has followed the
usage of Scripture, so with regard to the word "till" he is utterly refuted by
the authority of the same Scripture, which often denotes by its ["till"'s] use a
fixed time (he himself told us so) [and] frequently time without limitation, as
when God by the mouth of the prophet says to certain persons, "Even unto old age
I am He" [Is. 46:4]. Will He cease to be God when they have grown old? And the
Savior in the Gospel tells the Apostles, "Lo, I am with you always, even unto
the end of the world" [Matt. 28:20b]. Will the Lord then after the end of the
world has come forsake His disciples, and at the very time when seated on twelve
thrones they are to judge the twelve tribes of Israel will they be bereft of the
company of their Lord? Again Paul the Apostle writing to the Corinthians says,
"Christ the first-fruits, afterward they that are Christ's, at his coming. Then
comes the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father, when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For
he must reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet" [1 Cor. 15:23-25].
Granted that the passage relates to our Lord's human nature, we do not deny that
the words are spoken of Him who endured the cross and is commanded to sit
afterwards on the right hand. What does he mean then by saying, "for he must
reign, till he has put all enemies under his feet"? Is the Lord to reign only
until His enemies begin to be under His feet, and once they are under His feet
will He cease to reign? Of course His reign will then commence in its fullness
when His enemies begin to be under His feet [cf. Luke 1:33, Rev. 11:15]. David
also in the fourth Song of Ascent [Ps. 123] speaks thus, "Behold, as the eyes of
servants look unto the hand of their master, as the eyes of a maiden unto the
hand of her mistress, so our eyes look unto the Lord our God till he has mercy
upon us" [Ps. 123:2] Will the prophet, then, look unto the Lord till he obtain
mercy, and when mercy is obtained will he turn his eyes down to the ground? --
although elsewhere he says, "Mine eyes fail for your salvation, and for the word
of your righteousness" [Ps. 119:123]. I could accumulate countless instances of
this usage, and cover the verbosity of our assailant with a cloud of proofs; I
shall, however, add only a few, and leave the reader to discover like ones for
himself.
7. The word of God says in Genesis, "And they gave unto Jacob all the strange
gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob
hid them under the oak which was by Shechem, and lost them till this day" [Gen.
35:4]. Likewise at the end of Deuteronomy, "So Moses the servant of the Lord
died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried
him in the valley, in the land of Moab over against Beth-Peor. But no man knows
of his sepulcher unto this day" [Deut. 34:5-6]. We must certainly understand by
"this day" the time of the composition of the history, whether you prefer the
view that Moses was the author of the Pentateuch or that Ezra re-edited it. In
either case I make no objection. The question now is whether the words "unto
this day" are to be referred to the time of publishing or writing the books, and
if so it is for him to show, now that so many years have rolled away since that
day, that either the idols hidden beneath the oak have been found, or the grave
of Moses discovered; for he obstinately maintains that what does not happen so
long as the point of time indicated by "till" and "unto" has not been attained,
begins to be when that point has been reached. He would do well to pay heed to
the idiom of Holy Scripture, and understand with us (it was here he stuck in the
mud) that some things which might seem ambiguous if not expressed are plainly
intimated, while others are left to the exercise of our intellect. For if, while
the event was still fresh in memory and men were living who had seen Moses, it
was possible for his grave to be unknown, much more may this be the case after
the lapse of so many ages. And in the same way must we interpret what we are
told concerning Joseph. The Evangelist pointed out a circumstance which might
have given rise to some scandal, namely, that Mary was not known by her husband
until she had delivered [her Son], and he did so that we might be the more
certain that she, from whom Joseph refrained while there was room to doubt the
import of the vision, was not known after her delivery.
8. In short, what I want to know is why Joseph refrained until the day of her
delivery? Helvidius will of course reply, "Because he heard the angel say, 'that
which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit'" [Matt. 1:20b]. And in turn we
rejoin that he had certainly heard him say, "Joseph, you son of David, fear not
to take unto you Mary your wife" [Matt. 1:20a]. The reason why he was forbidden
to forsake his wife was that he might not think her an adulteress. Is it true
then, that he was ordered not to have intercourse with his wife? Is it not plain
that the warning was given him that he might not be separated from her? And
could the just man dare, he says, to think of approaching her, when he heard
that the Son of God was in her womb? Excellent! We are to believe then that the
same man who gave so much credit to a dream that he did not dare to touch his
wife, yet afterwards, when he had learnt from the shepherds that the angel of
the Lord had come from heaven and said to them, "Be not afraid: for behold I
bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people, for there is
born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord"
[Luke 2:10ff], and when the heavenly host had joined with him in the chorus
"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men of good will" [Luke
2:14], and when he had seen just Simeon embrace the infant and exclaim, "Now let
you your servant depart, O Lord, according to your word in peace: for mine eyes
have seen your salvation" [Luke 2:29], and when he had seen Anna the prophetess,
the Magi, the Star, Herod, the angels; Helvidius, I say, would have us believe
that Joseph, though well acquainted with such surprising wonders, dared to touch
the temple of God, the abode of the Holy Spirit, the mother of his Lord? Mary at
all events "kept all these sayings in her heart" [Luke 2:51]. You cannot for
shame say Joseph did not know of them, for Luke tells us, "His father and mother
ere marveling at the things which were spoken concerning Him" [Luke 2:33]. And
yet you [Helvidius] with marvelous effrontery contend that the reading of the
Greek manuscripts is corrupt, although it is that which nearly all the Greek
writers have left us in their books, and not only so, but several of the Latin
writers have taken the words the same way. Nor need we
now consider the variations in the copies, since the whole record both of the
Old and New Testament has since that time been translated into Latin, and we
must believe that the water of the fountain flows purer than that of the stream.
9. Helvidius will answer, "What you say, is m my opinion mere trifling. Your
arguments are so much waste of time, and the discussion shows more subtlety than
truth. Why could not Scripture say, as it said of Tamar and Judah, ' And he took
his wife, and knew her again no more' [Gen. 38:26]? Could not Matthew find words
to express his meaning? ' He knew her not,' he says, 'until she brought forth a
son.' He did then, after her delivery, know her, whom he had refrained from
knowing until she was delivered."
10. If you are so contentious, your own thoughts shall now prove your master.
You must not allow any time to intervene between delivery and intercourse. You
must not say, "If a woman conceive seed and bear a man child, then she shall be
unclean seven days; as in the days of the separation of her sickness shall she
be unclean. And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be
circumcised. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying three and
thirty days. She shall touch no hallowed thing" [Lev. 12:2-3], and so forth. On
your showing, Joseph must at once approach, her, and be subject to Jeremiah's
reproof, "They were as mad horses in respect of women: every one neighed after
his neighbor's wife" [Jer. 5:8]. Otherwise, how can the words stand good, "he
knew her not, till she had brought forth a son," if he waits after the time of
another purifying has expired, if his lust must brook another long delay of
forty days? The mother must go unpurged from her child-bed taint, and the
wailing infant be attended to by the midwives, while the husband clasps his
exhausted wife. Thus indeed must their married life begin so that the Evangelist
may not be convicted of falsehood. But God forbid that we should think thus of
the Savior's mother and of a just man. No midwife assisted at His birth; no
women's officiousness intervened. With her own hands she wrapped Him in the
swaddling clothes, herself both mother and midwife, "and laid Him," we are told,
"in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn" [Luke 2:7]; a
statement which, on the one hand, refutes the ravings of the apocryphal
accounts, for Mary herself wrapped Him in the swaddling clothes, and on the
other makes the voluptuous notion of Helvidius impossible, since there was no
place suitable for married intercourse in the inn.
11. An ample reply has now been
given to what he advanced respecting the words "before they came together" and
"he knew her not till she had brought forth a son." I must now proceed, if my
reply is to follow the order of his argument, to the third point. "FIRST-BORN
SON" He will have it that Mary bore other sons, and he quotes the passage, "And
Joseph also went up to the city of David to enroll himself with Mary, who was
betrothed to him, being great with child. And it came to pass, while they were
there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered, and she brought
forth her first-born son" [Luke 2:4ff]. From this he endeavors to show that the
term "first-born" is inapplicable except to a person who has brothers, just as
he is called only begotten who is the only son of his parents.
12. Our position is this: Every only begotten son is a first-born son, but not
every
first-born is an only begotten. By first-born we understand not only one who is
succeeded by others, but one who has had no predecessor. "Everything," says the
Lord to Aaron, "that opens the womb of all flesh which they offer unto the Lord,
both of man and beast, shall be your: nevertheless the first born of man shall
you surely redeem, and the firstling of unclean beasts shall you redeem" [Num.
18:15]. The word of God defines first-born as everything that opens the womb.
Otherwise, if the title belongs to such only as have younger brothers, the
priests cannot claim the firstlings until their successors have been begotten,
lest, perchance, in case there were no subsequent delivery it should prove to be
the first-born but not merely the only begotten. "And those that are to be
redeemed of them from a month old shall you redeem, according to your estimation
for the money of five shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary (the same is
twenty gerahs). But the firstling of an ox, or the firstling of a sheep, or the
firstling of a goat, you shall not redeem; they are holy" [Num. 18:16]. The word
of God compels me to dedicate to God everything that opens the womb if it be the
firstling of clean beasts: if of unclean beasts, I must redeem it, and give the
value to the priest. I might reply and say, Why do you tie me down to the short
space of a month? Why do you speak of the first-born, when I cannot tell whether
there are brothers to follow? Wait until the second is born. I owe nothing to
the priest, unless the birth of a second should make the one I previously had
the first-born. Will not the very points of the letters cry out against me and
convict me of my folly, and declare that first-born is a title of him who opens
the womb, and is not to be restricted to him who has brothers? And, then, to
take the case of John, we are agreed that he was an only begotten son. I want to
know if he was not also a first-born son, and whether he was not absolutely
amenable to the law. There can be no doubt in the matter. At all events
Scripture thus speaks of the Savior, "And when the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought him up to Jerusalem,
to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male
that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord) and to offer a sacrifice
according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves,
or two young pigeons" [Luke 2:22ff]. If this law relates only to the first-born,
and there can be no first-born unless there are successors, no one ought to be
bound by the law of the first-born who cannot tell whether there will be
successors. But inasmuch as he who has no younger brothers is bound by the law
of the first-born, we gather that he is called the first-born who opens the womb
and who has been preceded by none, not he whose birth is followed by that of a
younger brother. Moses writes in Exodus, "And it came to pass at midnight, that
the Lord smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of
Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in
the dungeon, and all the first-born of cattle" [Ex. 12:29]. Tell me, were they
who then perished by the destroyer, only your first-born, or, something more,
did they include the only begotten? If only they who have brothers are called
first-born, the only begotten were saved from death. And if it be the fact that
the only begotten were slain, it was contrary to the sentence pronounced, for
the only begotten to die as well as the first-born. You must either release the
only begotten from the penalty, and in that case you become ridiculous: or, if
you allow that they were slain, we gain our point, though we have not to thank
you for it, that only begotten sons also are called first-born.
"HIS BRETHREN"
13. The last proposition of Helvidius was this, and it is what he wished to show
when he treated of the first-born, that brethren of the Lord are mentioned in
the Gospels. For example, "Behold, his mother and his brethren stood without,
seeking to speak to him" [Matt. 12:46]. And elsewhere, "After this he went down
to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren" [John 2:12]. And again, "His
brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, that your
disciples also may behold the works which you do. For no man does anything in
secret, and himself seeks to be known openly. If you do these things, manifest
yourself to the world" [John 7:3-4]. And John adds, "For even his brethren did
not believe on him" [John 7:5]. Mark also and Matthew, "And coming into his own
country he taught them in their synagogues, insasmuch that they were astonished,
and said, Whence has this man this wisdom, and mighty works? Is not this the
carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and
Joseph, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?" [Matt.
13:54-55, Mark 6:1-3]. Luke also in the Acts of the Apostles relates, "These all
with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer, with the women and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and with his brethren" [Acts 1:14]. Paul the Apostle also is at
one with them, and witnesses to their historical accuracy, "And I went up by
revelation, but other of the apostles saw I none, save Peter and James the
Lord's brother" [Gal. 2:2, 1:19]. And again in another place, "Have we no right
to eat and drink? Have we no right to lead about wives even as the rest of the
Apostles, and the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?" [1 Cor. 9:4-5]. And for
fear any one should not allow the evidence of the Jews, since it was they from
whose mouth we hear the name of His brothers, but should maintain that His
countrymen were deceived by the same error respect of the brothers into which
they fell in their belief about the father, Helvidius utters a sharp note of
warning and cries, "The same names are repeated by the Evangelists in another
place, and the same persons are there brethren of the Lord and sons of Mary."
Matthew says, "And many women were there (doubtless at the Lord's cross)
beholding from afar, which had followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering unto
him: among whom was Mary Magdalen, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and
the mother of the sons of Zebedee" [Matt. 27:55-56]. Mark also, "And there were
also women beholding from afar, among whom were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary
the mother of James the Less and of Joseph, and Salome" [Mark 15:40]; and in the
same place shortly after, "And many other women which came up with him unto
Jerusalem" [Mark 15:41]. Luke too, "Now there were Mary Magdalene, and Joanna,
and Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them" [Luke 24:10].
14. My reason for repeating the same thing again and again is to prevent him
from
raising a false issue and crying out that I have withheld such passages as make
for him, and that his view has been torn to shreds not by evidence of Scripture,
but by evasive arguments. Observe, he says, James and Joses are sons of Mary,
and the same persons who were called brethren by the Jews. Observe, Mary is the
mother of James the Less and of Joses. And James is called the Less to
distinguish him from James the greater, who was the son of Zebedee, as Mark
elsewhere states, "And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses beheld where
he was laid. And when the Sabbath was past, they bought spices, that they might
come and anoint him" [Mark 15:47-16:1]. And, as might be expected, he says:
"What a poor and impious view we take of Mary, if we hold that when other women
were concerned about the burial of Jesus, she His mother was absent; or if we
invent some kind of a second Mary; and all the more because the Gospel of S.
John testifies that she was there present, when the Lord upon the cross
commended her, as His mother and now a widow, to the care of John. Or must we
suppose that the Evangelists were so far mistaken and so far mislead us as to
call Mary the mother of those who were known to the Jews as brethren of Jesus?
15. What darkness, what raging madness rushing to its own destruction! You say
that the mother of the Lord was present at the cross, you say that she was
entrusted to the disciple John on account of her widowhood and solitary
condition, as if upon your own showing, she had not four sons, and numerous
daughters, with whose solace she might comfort herself? You also apply to her
the name of "widow" which is not found in Scripture. And although you quote all
instances in the Gospels, the words of John alone displease you. You say in
passing that she was present at the cross, that you may not appear to have
omitted it on purpose, and yet not a word about the women who were with her. I
could pardon you if you were ignorant, but I see you have a reason for your
silence. Let me point out then what John says, "But there were standing by the
cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and
Mary Magdalene" [John 19:25]. No one doubts that there were two apostles called
by the name James, James the son of Zebedee, and James the son of Alphaeus. Do
you intend the comparatively unknown James the Less, who is called in Scripture
the son of Mary, not however of Mary the mother of our Lord, to be an apostle,
or not? If he is an apostle, he must be the son of Alphaeus and a believer in
Jesus, "For neither did his brethren believe in him." If he is not an apostle,
but a third James (who he can be I cannot tell), how can he be regarded as the
Lord's brother, and how, being a third, can he be called "Less" to distinguish
him from greater, when "greater" and "less" are used to denote the relations
existing, not between three, but between two? Notice, moreover, that the Lord's
brother is an apostle, since Paul says, "Then after three years I went up to
Jerusalem to visit Cephas, and tarried with him fifteen days. But other of the
Apostles saw I none, save James the Lord's brother" [Gal 1:18-19]. And in the
same Epistle, "And when they perceived the grace that was given unto me, James
and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars" [Gal. 2:9], etc. And that
you may not suppose this James to be the son of Zebedee, you have only to read
the Acts of the Apostles, and you will find that the latter had already been
slain by Herod. The only conclusion is that the Mary who is described as the
mother of James the Less was the wife of Alphaeus and sister of Mary the Lord's
mother, the one who is called by John the Evangelist "Mary of Clopas," whether
after her father, or kindred, or for some other reason. But if you think they
are two persons because elsewhere we read, "Mary the mother of James the Less,"
and here, "Mary of Clopas," you have still to learn that it is customary in
Scripture for the same individual to bear different names. Raguel, Moses'
father-in-law, is also called Jethro. Gideon, without any apparent reason for
the change, all at once becomes Jerub-Baal. Uzziah, king of Judah, has an
alternative, Azariah. Mount Tabor is called Itabyrium. Again Hermon is called by
the Phoenicians, Sanior, and by the Amorites, Sanir. The same tract of country
is known by three names, Negev, Teman, and Darom in Ezekiel. Peter is also
called Simon and Cephas. Judas the zealot in another Gospel is called Thaddeus.
And there are numerous other examples which the reader will be able to collect
for himself from every part of Scripture.
16. Now here we have the explanation of what I am endeavoring to show, how it is
that the sons of Mary, the sister of our Lord's mother, who though not formerly
believers afterwards did believe, can be called brethren of the Lord. Possibly
the case might be that one of the brethren believed immediately while the others
did not believe until long after, and that one Mary was the mother of James and
Joses, namely, "Mary of Clopas," who is the same as the wife of Alphaeus, the
other, the mother of James the Less. In any case, if she (the latter) had been
the Lord's mother Saint John would have allowed her the title, as everywhere
else, and would not by calling her the mother of other sons have given a wrong
impression. But at this stage I do not wish to argue for or against the
supposition that Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary the mother of James and Joses
were different women, provided it is clearly understood that Mary the mother of
James and Joses was not the same person as the Lord's mother. How then, says
Helvidius, do you make out that they were called the Lord's brethren who were
not his brethren? I will show how that is. In Holy Scripture there are four
kinds of brethren -- by nature, race, kindred, love.
BRETHREN BY NATURE
Instances of brethren by nature are Esau and Jacob, the twelve patriarchs,
Andrew and Peter, James and John.
BRETHREN BY RACE
As to race, all Jews are called brethren of one another, as in Deuteronomy, "If
your brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto you, and serve you
six years; then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you" [Deut.
15:12]. And in the same book, "You shall in anywise set him king over you, whom
the Lord your God shall choose: one from among your brethren shall you set king
over you; you may not put a foreigner over you, which is not your brother"
[Deut.17:15]. And again, "You shall not see your brother's ox or his sheep go
astray, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely bring them again unto your
brother. And if your brother be not nigh unto you, or if you know him not, then
you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall be with you until your
brother seek after it, and you shall restore it to him again" [Deut. 22:1]. And
the Apostle Paul says, "I could wish that I myself were anathema from Christ for
my brethren's sake, my kinsmen according to the flesh: who are Israelites" [Rom.
9:3-4].
BRETHREN BY KINDRED
Moreover they are called brethren by kindred who are of one family, that is
patria, which corresponds to the Latin paternitas, because from a single root a
numerous progeny proceeds. In Genesis we read, "And Abram said unto Lot, Let
there be no strife, I pray you, between me and you, and between my herdsmen and
your herdsmen; for we are brethren" [Gen. 13:8]. And again, "So Lot chose him
all the plain of Jordan, and Lot journeyed east: and they separated each from
his brother" [Gen. 13:11]. Certainly Lot was not Abraham's brother, but the son
of Abraham's brother Aram. For Terah begot Abraham and Nahor and Aram,and Aram
begot Lot. Again we read, "And Abram was seventy and five years old when he
departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife. and Lot his brother's son"
[Gen. 12:2]. But if you still doubt whether a nephew can be called a son, let me
give you an instance. "And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive,
he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen"
[Gen. 14:14]. And after describing the night attack and the slaughter, he adds,
"And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his
brother Lot." Let this suffice by way of proof of my assertion. But for fear you
may make some caviling objection, and wriggle out of your difficulty like a
snake, I must bind you fast with the bonds of proof to stop your hissing and
complaining, for I know you would like to say you have been overcome not so much
by Scripture truth as by intricate arguments. Jacob, the son of Isaac and
Rebecca, when in fear of his brother's treachery he had gone to Mesopotamia,
drew nigh and rolled away the stone from the mouth of the well, and watered the
flocks of Laban, his mother's brother. "And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up
his voice, and wept. And Jacob told Rachel that he was her father's brother, and
that he was Rebecca's son" [Gen. 29:11]. Here is an example of the rule already
referred to, by which a nephew is called a brother. And again, "Laban said unto
Jacob. Because you art my brother, should you therefore serve me for nothing?
Tell me what shall your wages be" [Gen. 29:15]. And so, when, at the end of
twenty years, without the knowledge of his father-in-law and accompanied by his
wives and sons he was returning to his country, on Laban overtaking him in the
mountain of Gilead and failing to find the idols which Rachel hid among the
baggage, Jacob answered and said to Laban, "What is my trespass? What is my sin,
that you have so hotly pursued after me? Whereas you have felt all about my
stuff, what have you found of all your household stuff? Set it here before my
brethren and your brethren, that they may judge between us two" [Gen. 31:36-37].
Tell me who are those brothers of Jacob and Laban who were present there? Esau,
Jacob's brother, was certainly not there, and Laban, the son of Bethuel, had no
brothers although he had a sister Rebecca.
BRETHREN BY AFFECTION
17. Innumerable instances of the
same kind are to be found in the sacred books. But, to be brief, I will return
to the last of the four classes of brethren, those, namely, who are brethren by
affection, and these again fall into two divisions, those of the spiritual and
those of the general relationship. I say spiritual because all of us Christians
are called brethren, as in the verse, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
for brethren to dwell together in unity" [Ps. 133:1]. And in another Psalm the
Savior says, "I will declare your name unto my brethren" [Ps. 22:22] And
elsewhere, "Go unto my brethren and say to them" [John 22:17]. I say also
general, because we are all children of one Father, there is a like bond of
brotherhood between us all. "Tell these who hate you," says the prophet, "you
are our brethren" [Is. 66:5]. And the Apostle writing to the Corinthians: "If
any man that is named brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a
reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner: with such a one no, not to eat" [1
Cor. 5:11].
"THE LORD'S BRETHREN"
I now ask to which class you consider the Lord's brethren in the Gospel must be
assigned. They are brethren by nature, you say. But Scripture does not say so;
it calls them neither sons of Mary, nor of Joseph. Shall we say they are
brethren by race? But it is absurd to suppose that a few Jews were called His
brethren when all Jews of the time might upon this principle have borne the
title. Were they brethren by virtue of close intimacy and the union of heart and
mind? If that were so, who were more truly His brethren than the apostles who
received His private instruction and were called by Him His mother and His
brethren? Again, if all men, as such, were His brethren, it would have been
foolish to deliver a special message, "Behold, your brethren seek you," for all
men alike were entitled to the name. The only alternative is to adopt the
previous explanation and understand them to be called brethren in virtue of the
bond of kindred, not of love and sympathy, nor by prerogative of race, nor yet
by nature. Just as Lot was called Abraham's brother, and Jacob Laban's, just as
the daughters of Zelophehad received a lot among their brethren, just as Abraham
himself had to wife Sarah his sister, for he says, "She is indeed my sister, on
the father's side, not on the mother's" [Gen. 22:11], that is to say, she was
the daughter of his brother, not of his sister. Otherwise, what are we to say of
Abraham, a just man, taking to wife the daughter of his own father? Scripture,
in relating the history of the men of early times, does not outrage our ears by
speaking of the enormity in express terms, but prefers to leave it to be
inferred by the reader, and God afterwards gives to the prohibition the sanction
of the law, and threatens, "He who takes his sister, born of his father, or of
his mother, and beholds her nakedness, has committed abomination, he shall be
utterly destroyed. He has uncovered his sister's nakedness, he shall bear his
sin" [Lev. 18:9].
18. There are things which, in your extreme ignorance, you had never read, and
therefore you neglected the whole range of Scripture and employed your madness
in outraging the Virgin, like the man in the story who, being unknown to
everybody and finding that he could devise no good deed by which to gain renown,
burned the temple of Diana, and when no one revealed the sacrilegious act, it is
said that he himself went up and down proclaiming that he was the man who had
applied the fire. The rulers of Ephesus were curious to know what made him do
this thing, whereupon he replied that if he could not have fame for good deeds,
all men should give him credit for bad ones. Grecian history relates the
incident. But you do worse. You have set on fire the Temple of the Lord's body!
You have defiled the sanctuary of the Holy Spirit from which you are determined
to make a team of four brethren and a heap of sisters come forth! In a word,
joining in the chorus of the Jews, you say, "Is not this the carpenter's son? is
not his mother called Mary? and his brethren James, and Joseph, and Simon, and
Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? The word all would not be used
if there were not a crowd of them" [Matt. 13:55, Mark 6:3]. Pray tell me, who,
before you appeared, was acquainted with this blasphemy? who thought the theory
worth a tuppence? You have gained your desire, and are become notorious by
crime. For myself, who am your opponent, although we live in the same city
[Rome], I don't know, as the saying is, whether you are white or black. I pass
over faults of diction which abound in every book you write. I say not a word
about your absurd introduction. Good heavens! I do not ask for eloquence, since,
having none yourself, you applied for a supply of it to your brother Craterius.
I do not ask for grace of style; I look for purity of soul: for with Christians
it is the greatest of solecisms and of vices of style to introduce anything base
either in word or action. I have come to the conclusion of my argument. I will
deal with you as though I had as yet prevailed nothing; and you will find
yourself on the horns of a dilemma. It is clear that our Lord's brethren bore
the name in the same way that Joseph was called his father: "I and your father
sought you sorrowing" [Luke 1:18]. It was His mother who said this, not the
Jews. The Evangelist himself relates that His father and His mother were
marveling at the things which were spoken concerning Him, and there are similar
passages which we have already quoted in which Joseph and Mary are called his
parents. Seeing that you have been foolish enough to persuade yourself that the
Greek manuscripts are corrupt, you will perhaps plead the diversity of readings.
I therefore come to the Gospel of John, and there it is plainly written, "Philip
finds Nathaniel, and says unto him, We have found him of whom Moses in the law,
and
the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" [John 1:45]. You
will certainly find this in your manuscript. Now tell me, how is Jesus the son
of Joseph when it is clear that He was begotten of the Holy Spirit? Was Joseph
His true father? Dull as you are, you will not venture to say that. Was he His
reputed father? If so, let the same rule be applied to them when they are called
brethren, that you apply to Joseph when he is called father.
THE "ALLIES" OF HELVIDIUS
19. Now that I have cleared the rocks and shoals I must spread sail and make all
speed to reach his epilogue. Feeling himself to be a smatterer, he there
produces Tertullian as a witness and quotes the words of Victorinus bishop of
Petavium. Of Tertullian I say no more than that he did not belong to the Church.
But as regards Victorinus, I assert what has already been proved from the Gospel
-- that he spoke of the brethren of the Lord not as being sons of Mary, but
brethren in the sense I have explained, that is to say, brethren in point of
kinship not by nature. We are, however, spending our strength on trifles, and,
leaving the fountain of truth, are following the tiny streams of opinion.
THE OPPONENTS OF HELVIDIUS
Might I not array against you the whole series of ancient writers? Ignatius,
Polycarp, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, and many other apostolic and eloquent men,
who against Ebion, Theodotus of Byzantium, and Valentinus, held these same
views, and wrote volumes replete with wisdom. If you had ever read what they
wrote, you would be a wiser man. But I think it better to reply briefly to each
point than to linger any longer and extend my book to an undue length.
20. I now direct the attack against the passage in which, wishing to show your
cleverness, you institute a comparison between virginity and marriage. I could
not forbear smiling, and I thought of the proverb, "Did you ever see a camel
dance?" "Are virgins better," you ask, "than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were
married men? Are not infants daily fashioned by the hands of God in the wombs of
their mothers? And if so, are we bound to blush at the thought of Mary having a
husband after she was delivered? If they find any disgrace in this, they ought
not consistently even to believe that God was born of the Virgin by natural
delivery. For according to them there is more dishonor in a virgin giving birth
to God by the organs of generation, than in a virgin being joined to her own
husband after she has been delivered." Add, if you like, Helvidius, the other
humiliations of nature, the womb for nine months growing larger, the sickness,
the delivery, the blood, the swaddling-clothes. Picture to yourself the infant
in the enveloping membranes [the amniotic sack]. Introduce into your picture the
hard manger, the wailing of the infant, the circumcision on the eighth day, the
time of purification, so that he may be proved to be unclean. We do not blush,
we are not put to silence. The greater the humiliations he endured for me, the
more I owe him. And when you have given every detail, you will be able to
produce nothing more shameful than the cross, which we confess, in which we
believe, and by which we triumph over our enemies.
21. But as we do not deny what is written, so we do reject what is not written.
We believe that God was born of the Virgin, because we read it. That Mary was
[carnally] married after she brought forth, we do not believe, because we do not
read it. Nor do we say this to condemn marriage, for virginity itself is the
fruit of marriage; but because when we are dealing with saints we must not judge
rashly. If we adopt possibility as the standard of judgment, we might maintain
that Joseph had several wives because Abraham had, and so had Jacob, and that
the Lord's brethren were the issue of those wives, an invention which some hold
with a rashness which springs from audacity not from piety. You say that Mary
did not continue a virgin: I claim still more, that Joseph himself on account of
Mary was a virgin, so that from a virgin wedlock a virgin son was born. For if
as a holy man he does not come under the imputation of fornication, and it is
nowhere written that he had another wife, but was the guardian of Mary whom he
was supposed to have to wife rather than her husband, the conclusion is that he
who was thought worthy to be called father of the Lord, remained a virgin.
VIRGINITY AND MARRIAGE
22. And now that I am about to institute a comparison between virginity and
marriage, I beseech my readers not to suppose that in praising virginity I have
in the least disparaged marriage, and separated the saints of the Old Testament
from those of the New, that is to say, those who had wives and those who
altogether refrained from the embraces of women. I rather think that in
accordance with the difference in time and circumstance one rule applied to the
former, another to us upon whom the ends of the world have come. So long as that
law remained, "Be fruitful, and multiply and replenish the earth" [Gen. 1:28];
and "Cursed is the barren woman that bears not seed in Israel" [cf. Ex. 23:26],
they all married and were given in marriage, left father and mother, and became
one flesh. But once in tones of thunder the words were heard, "The time is
shortened, that henceforth those that have wives may be as though they had none"
[1 Cor. 7:29], cleaving to the Lord, we are made one spirit with Him. And why?
Because "He that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, how he may
please the Lord: but he that is married is careful for the things of the world,
how he may please his wife. And there is a difference also between the wife and
the virgin. She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, that
she may be holy both in body and in spirit: but she that is married is careful
for the things of the world, how she may please her husband" [1 Cor. 7:32-33].
Why do you cavil? Why do you resist? The vessel of election says this; he tells
us that there is a difference between the wife and the virgin. Observe what the
happiness of that state must be in which even the distinction of sex is lost.
The virgin is no longer called a woman. "She that is unmarried is careful for
the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit" [1 Cor.
7:34]. A virgin is defined as she that is "holy in body and in spirit," for it
is no good to have virgin flesh if a woman be married in mind. "But she that is
married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her husband."
Do you think there is no difference between one who spends her time in prayer
and fasting, and one who must, at her husband's approach, make up her face, walk
with mincing gait, and feign a show of endearment? The virgin's aim is to appear
less comely; she will wrong herself so as to hide her natural attractions. The
married woman has the paint laid on in front of her mirror, and, to the insult
of her Maker, strives to acquire something more than her natural beauty. Then
come the prattling of infants, the noisy household, children watching for her
word and waiting for her kiss, the reckoning up of expenses, the preparation to
meet the outlay. On one side you will see a company of cooks, girded for the
onslaught and attacking the meat. There you may hear the hum of a multitude of
weavers. Meanwhile a message is delivered that the husband and his friends have
arrived. The wife, like a swallow, flies all over the house. "She has to see to
everything. Is the sofa smooth? Is the pavement swept? Are the flowers in the
cups? Is dinner ready?" Tell me, pray, where amid all this is there room for the
thought of God? Are these happy homes? Where there is the beating of drums, the
noise and clatter of pipe and lute, the clanging of cymbals, can any fear of God
be found? The parasite is snubbed and feels proud of the honor. Enter next the
half-naked victims of the passions, a mark for every lustful eye. The unhappy
wife must either take pleasure in them, and perish, or be displeased, and
provoke her husband. Hence arises discord, the seed-plot of divorce. Or suppose
you find me a house where these things are unknown, which is a rata avis indeed!
Yet even there the very management of the household, the education of the
children, the wants of the husband, the correction of the servants, cannot fail
to call away the mind from the thought of God. "It had ceased to be with Sarah
after the manner of women" [Gen. 18:11], so the Scripture says, and afterwards
Abraham received the command, "In all that Sarah says unto you, hearken unto her
voice" [Gen. 21:12]. She who is not subject to the anxiety and pain of
childbearing and having passed the change of life has ceased to perform the
functions of a woman, is freed from the curse of God: nor is her desire to her
husband, but on the contrary her husband becomes subject to her, and the voice
of the Lord commands him, "In all that Sarah says unto you, hearken unto her
voice." Thus they begin to have time for prayer. For so long as the debt of
marriage is paid, earnest prayer is neglected.
23. I do not deny that holy women are found both among widows and those who have
husbands; but they are such as have ceased to be wives or such as, even in the
close bond of marriage, imitate virgin chastity. The Apostle, Christ speaking in
him, briefly bore witness to this when he said, "She that is unmarried is
careful for the things of the Lord, how she may please the Lord: but she that is
married is careful for the things of the world, how she may please her husband"
[1 Cor. 7:34]. He leaves us the free exercise of our reason in the matter. He
lays no necessity upon anyone nor leads anyone into a snare; he only persuades
to that which is proper when he wishes all men to be as himself. He had not, it
is true, a commandment from the Lord respecting virginity, for that grace
surpasses the unassisted power of man, and it would have worn an air of
immodesty to force men to fly in the face of nature, and to say in other words,
"I want you to be what the angels are." It is this angelic purity which secures
to virginity its highest reward, and the Apostle might have seemed to despise a
course of life which involves no guilt. Nevertheless in the immediate context he
adds, "But I give my judgment, as one that has obtained mercy of the Lord to be
faithful. I think therefore that this is good by reason of the present distress,
namely, that it is good for a man to be as he is" [1 Cor. 7:25]. What is meant
by present distress? "Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give
suck in those days!" [Matt. 24:19, Mark 13:17]. The reason why the wood grows up
is that it may be cut down. The field is sown that it may be reaped. The world
is already full, and the population is too large for the soil. Every day we are
being cut down by war, snatched away by disease, swallowed up by shipwreck,
although we go to law with one another about the fences of our property. It is
only one addition to the general rule which is made by those who follow the
Lamb, and who have not defiled their garments, for they have continued in their
virgin state. Notice the meaning of defiling. I shall not venture to explain it,
for fear Helvidius may be abusive. I agree with you, when you say, that some
virgins are nothing but tavern women; I say still more, that even adulteresses
may be found among them, and, you will no doubt be still more surprised to hear,
that some of the clergy are innkeepers and some monks unchaste. Who does not at
once understand that a tavern woman cannot be a virgin, nor an adulterer a monk,
nor a clergyman a tavern-keeper? Are we to blame virginity if its counterfeit is
at fault? For my part, to pass over other persons and come to the virgin, I
maintain that she who is engaged in huckstering, though for anything I know she
may be a virgin in body, is no longer one in spirit.
CONCLUSION
24. I have become rhetorical, and have despotted myself a little like a platform
orator. You compelled me, Helvidius; for, brightly as the Gospel shines at the
present day, you will have it that equal glory attaches to virginity and to the
marriage state. And because I think that, finding the truth too strong for you,
you will turn to disparaging my life and abusing my character (it is the way of
weak women to talk tittle-tattle in corners when they have been put down by
their masters), I shall anticipate you. I assure you that I shall regard your
railing as a high distinction, since the same lips that assail me have
disparaged Mary and I, a servant of the Lord, am favored with the same barking
eloquence as his mother.