Understanding the Orthodox Catholic Doctrine of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and the Identity of James and the Brothers and Sisters of the Lord
Did the Theotokos remain a virgin after the birth of Christ? Who were the “brothers and sisters of the Lord” named in the Gospels, and who was James, the brother of the Lord and first bishop of Jerusalem?
This study examines the biblical texts, the earliest Christian writings and the witness of the Fathers to explain why the Orthodox and Catholic traditions confess Mary as Aeiparthenos, Ever-Virgin. It weighs the main explanations proposed in the ancient church and by modern scholars, and shows how the doctrine fits within the wider faith of the church concerning Christ and His Mother.