0

The current top answer to this question (the answer given by SLM) asserts as a matter of fact that

  1. Mary and Joseph consummated their marriage

  2. Mary never took a vow of chastity

  3. Jesus was born in the normal, "human" way (meaning that the birth destroyed Mary's physical virginity)

This question is about points 1 and 2. If these statements are true, why is Mary surprised when the angel tells her she will conceive and bear a son? "How can this be, seeing I am a virgin?" Luke 1:34 NIV.

Mary was already betrothed when the angel came to her. I imagine that if my wife had been visited by an angel a few weeks before our wedding and told she would conceive and bear a son, she would not be surprised (she may have been surprised by the visit itself, but not by the idea that she would become a mother). Indeed, we both expected pregnancy to result sometime after consummating our marriage and living together as husband and wife. So why did she respond this way?

The question submitted by Geremia as a possible duplicate is worth reading through, as is its top answer, but this is asking the opposite. The older question is asking Catholics how this phrase could mean that Mary is a perpetual virgin, whereas my question is asking Protestants why Mary would be surprised that she would bear a son, given that, according to them, she was already betrothed and planning on becoming a mother to Joseph's natural children.

jaredad7
  • 3,692
  • 1
  • 14
  • 41
  • @Geremia no, that is asking the opposite question. – jaredad7 Feb 09 '22 at 18:49
  • @Geremia I have edited. Your suggested question is definitely worth a read for anyone who wants to answer this question. – jaredad7 Feb 09 '22 at 18:57
  • The answer to this question is the same as the answer to this question. And that answer is here. – Nigel J Feb 09 '22 at 19:50
  • @NigelJ thank you. I take the same issue as Sola Gratia did with your answer, as the question over the Greek word being related to sequences of time seems irrelevant to the question. However, my question is clearly a duplicate of that one. – jaredad7 Feb 09 '22 at 19:57
  • "Physical virginity" isn't a thing. Your third point is meaningless. Protestants believe Mary was still a virgin after the birth of Jesus. Just not forever after. – curiousdannii Feb 09 '22 at 21:27
  • Is there any indication that the Angel had a specific time in mind when he said "thou shalt conceive in thy womb"? Also, is there any indication that Mary's betrothal was soon over, that her marriage was immanent? If there was immanence in the angel's message and much time left in the betrothal then Mary's confusion is explained. – Mike Borden Feb 10 '22 at 14:29
  • @MikeBorden I've never seen anything to suggest one way or the other on a timeline. Even if my wife had been told by an angel the day after our engagement that she would conceive and bear a son, I don't think she would ask how that's possible. If a woman is planning to get married, generally that means she expects to get pregnant. – jaredad7 Feb 10 '22 at 14:37
  • @curiousdannii physical virginity is a euphemism for saying her hymen remained intact. I didn't want to speak crassly. – jaredad7 Feb 10 '22 at 14:38
  • @jaredad7 It's not explicit in the angel's words but we know that Mary became pregnant in short order because the angel visited Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy and John the Baptist was six months older than Jesus. The angel's literal words refer to an act in the unspecified future. It is reasonable to think that an immediacy may have been apparent to Mary and caused her to ask, "How can this be", especially if she had even two months left in her engagement period. – Mike Borden Feb 10 '22 at 17:15
  • 1
    @MikeBorden I suppose we will have to disagree as to how reasonable it is to think that an immediacy may have been apparent to Mary. This would rely on assuming something not recorded in Scripture happened during their exchange, which I would imagine you yourself would be loath to assume. – jaredad7 Feb 10 '22 at 18:19
  • 1
    From Mtt 1:18 - 25 it is clear that Joseph, had planned for a conjugal life befitting a couple. Was it possible that Mary planned to stay a virgin without telling her would- be- husband ? That would amount to breach of trust . Unfortunately, Luke is the only Evangelist who elaborately describes the Annunciation, on account of which we may not have a record of the conversation verbatim, and in a perfectly sequential order . Suppose the Angel had said in the fist instance :"You are about to conceive ...", the rest would have made perfect alignment. – – Kadalikatt Joseph Sibichan Feb 11 '22 at 11:21
  • @KadalikattJosephSibichan Matt 1:18-25 does not at all say that Joseph planned a conjugal life, merely that he was going to divorce Mary because she got pregnant and not with him, hence the logic conclusion that she had been with another man. Then the angel told him what was really going on. It's rather surprising to me that Protestants are now supposing extra-biblical conversations occurred between people and angels just to rationalize their unbiblical belief that Mary and Joseph had marital relations after Christ's birth. – jaredad7 Feb 11 '22 at 15:01

0 Answers0