medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
I would like to add here a thought on symbolic thinking that might help
with understanding the thinking of patristic translators of the Bible.
There are patristic texts describing Mary as prefigured by the Ark of
the Covenant. That the Ark was not to be touched was recorded in the
Bible. There is room for an extrapolation that Joseph would not have
touched the Ark sexually even after the birth of Jesus.
Tom Izbicki
Thomas Izbicki
Collection Development Coordinator
Eisenhower Library
Johns Hopkins
Baltimore, MD 21218
(410)516-7173
fax (410)516-8399
>>> [log in to unmask] 07/06/05 11:19 AM >>>
medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and
culture
In my previous posting, I'm afraid I did not quite complete my thought:
Jerome and the early Christians who asserted the perpetual virginity of
Mary _knew_ that they were interpreting an inconclusive text. They were
not assuming that this text itself "actually says" that Mary was a
perpetual virgin. So, when we scholars today expressed fascination with
the "fact" that this (and similar doctrines) were "were ostensibly built
on texts that don't actually say what they're thought to say," this
would come as a complete surpise to Jerome, since he was _not_ claiming
that he had a clearcut proof text but that he had a supporting text
which, when interpreted together with other texts and other evidence,
confirmed the doctrine of perpetual virginity. Our knowing, almost
condescending attitude when we claim that these people built their
beliefs on texts that did not "actually say" what the doctrines required
the texts to say is actually a misinterpretation of ancient and medieval
people's attitudes--they knew very well that this one text did not
"actually say" Mary was perpetually a virgin. They believed that this
text combined with other evidence, both scriptural and ecclesial,
together provided a trustworthy basis for believing in Mary's perpetual
virginity.
Dennis Martin
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