How do we know this "fact"?cwcsmc said:...... Everyone knew that Joseph married a woman who was going to have a child by someone else......
How do we know this "fact"?cwcsmc said:...... Everyone knew that Joseph married a woman who was going to have a child by someone else......
Sorry Steve, I've gotta disagree there.steve said:But it had nothing to do with adultery on the part of Mary. Her participation was involuntary.
It was voluntary, she accepted what the angel said and agreed that it should happen.And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
Because Joseph was unaware that the child that was in her was of God, and he assumed she had had sex with someone else since she hadn't had it with him. A valid assumption for him to make at the time.cwcsmc said:FollowingHim2 said:God did not have sex with Mary, hence she was still a vigin, hence neither of them had broken any laws. The impregnation was supernatural, something we can't really understand.
There most have been some type of law broken because Joseph was ready to divorce, put her away. If there wasn't a law broken this would have been unnecessary, and it would also mean that the angel's message to Joseph was just one to correct a doctrinal issue that Joseph had and not one to inform him that the current situation was of God.
So she was a virgin when she conceived, then Joseph was told that the child was conceived by the holy spirit (so supernaturally, by a spirit) and he should take her as his wife as he'd planned.Matthew 1:20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”(which means, God with us).
Besides, since Joseph didn't have relations with her until after the baby was born, there is no way to know her state of virginity after the fact. And I don't support he Catholic version that she was a virgin perpetually.
She was a virgin when she conceived, Joseph took her as his wife, then didn't have sex with her until after Jesus was born. (I too don't agree with her remaining a virgin her whole life.)24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.