# Do Christians believe the Virgin Mary stayed a virgin later in life?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-the-virgin-mary-stayed-a-virgin-later-in-life/801293>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 11, 2017, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-the-virgin-mary-stayed-a-virgin-later-in-life/801293 "2017-11-11T05:45:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-the-virgin-mary-stayed-a-virgin-later-in-life/801293/101 "2017-11-15T21:08:08Z")

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> [@Hector\_St\_Clare](#):
>
> Matthew also quotes Jesus as saying “I am with you always, until the end of the age”. I _certainly_ wouldn’t conclude that Jesus intended to abandone his followers after the end of the age.
> 
> If your doctor tells you “you need to start exercising every 2 days until your resting heart rate is lowered to 60”, no one would conclude you can stop exercising after that point.

But the context of these phrases is totally different from the one involving Joseph.

In your first example the end of the age is used for emphasis. Like when I tell my wife I will love her for 100 years, that doesn’t mean I’ll stop loving her when I’m 146. But the time period we are talking about with Joseph is 9 months tops. If I told my wife I’ll love you for the next 9 months, I don’t think she would take it as a complement.

In your second example the the activity is continued until it accomplishes an effect. For example if I said I ate until I was full, then that doesn’t mean that I never ate after I was full. But unless Joseph’s steady non-consumation was what caused Mary to give birth, this doesn’t make sense.

As Shodan said. If the authors wanted to indicate that Joseph remained celibate they could have just said “Joseph didn’t consummate the marriage.” There is no reason to add the extraneous phrase “until she gave birth to a son”

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**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-christians-believe-the-virgin-mary-stayed-a-virgin-later-in-life/801293/102 "2017-11-15T21:10:45Z")

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> [@Buck\_Godot](#):
>
> As Shodan said. If the authors wanted to indicate that Joseph remained celibate they could have just said “Joseph didn’t consummate the marriage.” There is no reason to add the extraneous phrase “until she gave birth to a son”

Again, if I am correct this was only brought up in Matthew.

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