All of these
individuals believed and taught the perpetual virginity of Mary (i.e. that Mary
remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus) except:
THE ANSWER IS …….E. That’s right, all of the founders
of the Protestantism taught that Mary remained a virgin for life. Some
Protestants are surprised to learn that most Protestant founders, including
Martin Luther, also taught the Immaculate Conception (Mary conceived in St.
Ann’s womb without original sin)
Martin
Luther wrote:
"It
is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected
without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also
purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul
infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from
all sin." [Martin Luther;
"Sermon On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God", 1527]
Luther
also wrote: “It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and
still a virgin….”
Calvin
wrote: “There have been certain folk who have wished to suggest from this
passage [Matt 1:25] that the Virgin Mary had other children than the Son of
God, and that Joseph had then dwelt with her later; but what folly this is! For
the gospel writers did not wish to record what happened afterwards….”
Zwingli
wrote: “I firmly believe that Mary, according to the words of the gospel as a
pure Virgin brought forth for us the Son of God and in childbirth and after
childbirth forever remained a pure, intact Virgin.”
Luther: “Christ . . . was the only Son of
Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . 'brothers' really
means 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers. “ (Sermons
on John, chapters 1-4, 1537-39)
Luther: “Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and
the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . 'brothers' really means
'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers. “ (Sermons
on John, chapters 1-4, 1537-39)
Luther: “God says . . . :'Mary's Son is My
only Son.' Thus Mary is the Mother of God. “(Ibid.)
Luther: “The infusion of Mary's soul was
effected without original sin . . . From the first moment she began to live she
was free from all sin. (Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of
God," 1527)
Augustine
agreed with the Early Church that Mary was free from sin. He wrote:
"Now with the exception of the holy Virgin
Mary in regard to whom, out of respect for the Lord, I do not propose to have a
single question raised on the subject of sin -- after all, how do we
know what greater degree of grace for a complete victory over sin was conferred
on her who merited to conceive and bring forth Him who all admit was without
sin -- to repeat then: with the
exception of this Virgin, if we could bring together into one place all
those holy men and women, while they lived here, and ask them whether they were
without sin, what are we to suppose that they would have replied?"
(St.Augustine, De natura et gratia PL 44:267, from Carol Mariology, volume 1, page 15)
Augustine
also wrote: “We must except the
Holy Virgin Mary, concerning whom I wish to raise no question when it touches
the subject of sins, out of honour to the Lord; for from Him we know what
abundance of grace for overcoming sin in every particular was conferred upon
her who had the merit to conceive and bear Him who undoubtedly had no
sin." (St. Augustine of Hippo: Nature and Grace, 42[36] (A.D.415), in
NPNF1,V:135)
Read more:
http://ic.net/~erasmus/RAZ460.HTM
http://mariology.com/sections/reformers.html
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/a27.htm
http://www.bringyou.to/apologetics/a115.htm
For more
info, see
http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/fallaway.html
http://www.catholic.com/library/Assurance_of_Salvation.asp
http://www.catholic.com/library/Grace_What_It_Is.asp
http://www.cin.org/users/james/files/pastpres.htm
http://www.catholic-defense.com/saved.htm
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