Mary’s Perpetual Virginity, the Sabbath, and the Weight of Tradition
I do not believe in the doctrine of Mary’s perpetual virginity. When I read the New Testament, a straightforward interpretation of certain passages seems to preclude it. The Gospels repeatedly refer to Jesus’s brothers and sisters (e.g., Matt. 13:55–56; Mark 6:3), and Matthew says that Joseph “knew her not until she had given birth to a son” (Matt. 1:25). I think the simplest reading of these texts is that Mary remained a virgin “until” the birth of Jesus and that afterward Mary and Joseph lived as a normal married couple and had other children.
Of course, people are welcome to disagree with me on this issue, but my belief is hardly controversial among modern Protestants. In fact, those Protestants who still affirm Mary’s post-partum virginity appear to be a minority today.[1] Nevertheless, many of my fellow Protestants may be surprised to learn that the belief that Mary remained a virgin throughout her life, even after giving birth to the Messiah, is a very early and longstanding Christian tradition.
For instance, the earliest unambiguous evidence for Mary’s continuing virginity appears in the second-century Protoevangelium of James, which portrays Joseph as an older widower with children from a previous marriage. By the third century, Origen explicitly defended Mary’s continuing virginity. He accepted the tradition that Jesus’s brothers were Joseph’s children by a previous wife and spoke approvingly of Mary remaining a virgin “to the end” (Commentary on Matthew 10.17). By the fourth century, Athanasius could refer to Mary as the “Ever-Virgin” (Discourses Against the Arians 2.70). Epiphanius defended her perpetual virginity (Panarion 78), and Jerome wrote an entire treatise also defending it (Against Helvidius). To be sure, there were some dissenting voices (e.g., Tertullian, Helvidius), but they were increasingly outside the Christian mainstream.
Perhaps most surprisingly, the Protestant Reformation did not immediately reject this view. Luther and Zwingli continued to affirm Mary’s perpetual virginity,[2] and Calvin rejected the standard biblical arguments used to disprove it (Calvin, Commentary on Matthew 1:25).
Indeed, if you had taken a poll of Christians around AD 400, 800, 1200, or even 1500, the overwhelming majority would probably have told you that Mary remained perpetually a virgin. Yet today, most Protestants do not affirm that doctrine. Over the course of the modern period, Protestants increasingly came to regard the most natural and straightforward reading of Scripture—particularly its references to Jesus’s “brothers and sisters”—as incompatible with the idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity. I am among those Protestants who do not believe Mary remained a virgin after giving birth to Jesus.
Why am I bringing up this history of the early and widespread acceptance of Mary’s perpetual virginity and its later rejection by much of Protestantism? Because I think it offers an instructive parallel to the question of Sabbath observance. Let me explain.
What does this have to do with the Sabbath?
I believe the seventh-day Sabbath remains relevant for Christians today. It is clearly commanded in the Hebrew Scriptures, the New Testament portrays the earliest Christians as continuing to observe it, and several passages indicate an ongoing expectation that Sabbath observance would continue.[3] Nowhere does the New Testament plainly state that the seventh-day Sabbath has been abolished, nor does it ever command Christians to transfer the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first day of the week. Even modern critics of Sabbath observance, such as R. L. Solberg, admit that “Scripture nowhere explicitly overturns the keeping of the weekly Sabbath or states it has come to an end.”[4]
Nevertheless, one common objection to my belief is that the majority of Christians after the time of the apostles have disagreed with me. It is indeed true that Christians began moving away from Sabbath observance very early in Church history. For instance, by the middle of the second century, prominent figures like Justin Martyr argued that Christians were not required to observe the Sabbath (Dialogue with Trypho 18, 21), and he also described Christians gathering together for worship on Sunday (First Apology 67).
To be sure, the history is more complicated than the simple claim that Christians immediately replaced the Sabbath with Sunday.[5] As with Mary’s perpetual virginity, there were Christians who dissented from the emerging majority view. Justin himself acknowledged Christians who continued observing the Sabbath, even though he disagreed with them (Dialogue with Trypho 47). Centuries later, the Christian historian Socrates Scholasticus reported that churches throughout much of the Christian world continued to hold services on the Sabbath (Ecclesiastical History 5.22). Other sources, such as the Apostolic Constitutions, likewise attest to continued Christian Sabbath observance (Apostolic Constitutions 2.36; 8.33). Nevertheless, mainstream Christianity gradually moved away from seventh-day Sabbath observance, and Sunday became the primary day of worship.
However, in modern times, just as Protestants came to reconsider the longstanding tradition of Mary’s perpetual virginity on exegetical grounds, many Christians have also challenged the majority view of the Sabbath. From the post-Reformation period to the present, Seventh Day Baptists have defended seventh-day Sabbath observance, while in more recent decades Messianic Judaism has similarly promoted Sabbath observance among believers in Jesus. These Christians argue that a straightforward reading of the New Testament never abolishes the seventh-day Sabbath or transfers it to Sunday. Certainly, passages such as Colossians 2:16–17 and Romans 14:5 are commonly understood as teaching that Sabbath observance is no longer binding. But whether these passages actually teach that is ultimately an exegetical question, and a growing number of Christians have concluded that they do not.
It’s Okay to Challenge Tradition
So why am I drawing this comparison? My point is that Mary’s perpetual virginity was taught very early and remained the mainstream Christian position for well over a thousand years. Yet most Protestants today are perfectly comfortable saying, “That tradition is ancient and widely held, but I do not believe it represents the best reading of Scripture.”
If Protestants are willing to reconsider such a longstanding Christian tradition on exegetical grounds, why should it be controversial for Christians today to apply the same reasoning to the Sabbath?
Yes, Christians began moving away from Sabbath observance very early, just as Mary’s perpetual virginity emerged as a very early Christian tradition. And just as perpetual virginity became the prevailing Christian position for centuries, so too did the belief that Christians no longer had to keep the seventh-day Sabbath.
I am not suggesting that the antiquity or widespread acceptance of these views is entirety irrelevant to the discussion. But neither antiquity nor majority opinion settles the question. Ultimately, what matters most is what Scripture actually teaches. And on both issues, Christians throughout history have challenged the prevailing view, just as Christians continue to reassess longstanding traditions today.
Of course, I may be wrong about the Sabbath remaining relevant to Christians, just as I may be wrong about Mary not remaining a virgin after the birth of Jesus. But if I am to be convinced that I am wrong about either issue, it will take more than simply pointing out that most Christians throughout history have disagreed with me. Ultimately, the case must be made from Scripture.
[1] As Dorian Llywelyn observes, “In today’s Protestant churches...those who believe in the post-partum virginity of Mary are probably a substantial minority.” Llywelyn, “Mary and Mariology,” in Oxford Handbook Topics in Religion (online edn, Oxfor Academic, 3 Feb. 2014).
[2] As Llywelyn writes, “Luther and Zwingli believe that Mary did not have any children after Jesus and that she did not have marital relations with Joseph.” Llywelyn, “Mary and Mariology.”
[3] For more on this, see David Wilber, “A New Testament Case for Christian Sabbath Observance,” in An introduction to Pronomianism: Essays on One Torah theology in modern Christianity(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 2026), 159–185. See also David Wilber, Remember the Sabbath: What the New Testament Says About Sabbath Observance for Christians (Clover, SC: Pronomian Publishing, 2022).
[4] R. L. Solberg, Divergence: Examining Jewish-Christian Relations in the Early Church (Franklin, TN: Williamson College Press, 2021), 48.
[5] See, e.g., Justo L. González, A Brief History of Sunday: From the New Testament to the New Creation (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2017).
About David Wilber
David Wilber is an author, Bible teacher, and CEO of Pronomian Publishing LLC. He has written several books and numerous theological articles, with his work appearing in outlets such as the Christian Post and the Journal of Biblical Theology. David has spoken at churches and conferences across the nation and has served as a researcher and Bible teacher for a number of Messianic and Christian ministries…
Mary’s perpetual virginity was taught very early and remained the mainstream Christian position for well over a thousand years. Yet most Protestants today reject it because they believe Scripture clearly shows that Mary did not remain a virgin after giving birth to Jesus. I think this history offers an instructive parallel to the question of Sabbath observance. How much weight should longstanding Christian tradition carry when it seems to conflict with a straightforward reading of Scripture?