Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

4 Comments

1. 

   Timothy

   December 25, 2014 at 8:51 am

   Merry Christmas to all celebrating the feast according to the Catholic Calendar!

   I’d like to ask our Calvinist friends here if it is true John Calvin believed in and defended the perpetual virginity of the Mother of God? I have read this in several Orthodox places. Thank you, dear friends!

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     robertar (Post author)

     December 28, 2014 at 9:11 am

     Timothy,

     I’ve excerpted a paragraph from Calvin’s commentary notes on Matthew 1:25 in Biblehub.com:

     And knew her not — This passage afforded the pretext for great disturbances, which were introduced into the Church, at a former period, by Helvidius. The inference he drew from it was, that Mary remained a virgin no longer than till her first birth, and that afterwards she had other children by her husband. Jerome, on the other hand, earnestly and copiously defended Mary’s perpetual virginity. Let us rest satisfied with this, that no just and well-grounded inference can be drawn from these words of the Evangelist, as to what took place after the birth of Christ. He is called first-born; but it is for the sole purpose of informing us that he was born of a virgin. [115] It is said that Joseph knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son: but this is limited to that very time. What took place afterwards, the historian does not inform us. Such is well known to have been the practice of the inspired writers. Certainly, no man will ever raise a question on this subject, except from curiosity; and no man will obstinately keep up the argument, except from an extreme fondness for disputation.

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     Erik

     December 29, 2014 at 4:53 pm

     Other Reformers, such as Luther and Zwingli, defended the doctrine more expressly. Bullinger even codified it in the Second Helvetic Confession of Faith – “We also believe and teach that the eternal Son…was most chastely conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the ever virgin Mary”

     Francis Turretin, a heavyweight defender for Calvinism in the 17th century, I think provides a very succinct and more direct statement of what is mostly likely Calvin’s overall view – “This is not expressly declared in Scripture, but is yet piously believed with human faith from the consent of the ancient church. Thus it is probable that the womb in which our Savior received the auspices of life (whence he entered into this world, as from a temple) was so consecrated and sanctified by so great a guest that she always remained untouched by man…Hence Helvidius and the Antidicomarianites (so-called because they were opponents of [antidikoi] Mary) are deservedly rebuked by the fathers for denying that Mary was always a virgin”.

     Reply
2. 

   Timothy

   December 30, 2014 at 5:36 pm

   Dear Robertar & Erik:

   Thank you so much for the enlightening responses!
   A blessed and joyous New Year to all!

   Reply