I had an interesting discussion online with a Catholic fellow the other day.  A priest had posted an opinion that a fellow Catholic was a “heretic” for saying that Mary wasn’t a perpetual virgin, that is, she had other children after Jesus was born. I mentioned that the scripture specifically says that Jesus had brothers. In fact, several are named.

If there was a “Theological Olympics” this guy would have won a gold medal in “Scripture Gymnastics”.  The leaps and stretches he had to make in order for the Bible to say that Mary remained a virgin were worthy of athletic recognition. Honestly, I don’t think he believed what he was saying.

As you can tell, I’m not a huge fan of Catholicism.  The core doctrine that Jesus is the Son of God, thereby God in the flesh, stands strong.  It is all the human add-ons that cause me problems. Praying to Mary, praying to the saints, buying “indulgences,” the infallibility of the Pope, purgatory, the assumption of Mary, and so many more, are not Biblical.  All those things are from the imagination of man, so called “human logic”. The thinking is something like this:  if the Bible says this Biblical doctrine is true, then this other thing (though not mentioned in scripture) must be true, also.  If the Bible says that Mary was a virgin, then evidently, she must have remained a virgin.  Right?