God has provided proficient evidence that Mary, mother of Christ, remained a virgin until her death

I agree completely with my opponent's observation, that this debate does nothing to take away from the good news of Jesus Christ. =============== Positive Argument #1 =============== It is recorded in several places of the Bible that Jesus was not an only child. Jesus' brothers are mentioned in several Bible verses. Matthew 12:46, Luke 8:19, and Mark 3:31 say that Jesus' mother and brothers came to see Him. The Bible tells us that Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55). The Bible also tells us that Jesus had sisters, but they are not named or numbered (Matthew 13:56). In John 7:1-10, His brothers go on to the festival while Jesus stays behind. In Acts 1:14, His brothers and mother are described as praying with the disciples. Galatians 1:19 mentions that James was Jesus' brother. The most natural conclusion of these passages is to interpret that Jesus had actual blood half-siblings. Since it is believed that the Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, it is undeniable that it should be considered as valid evidence for anything of which it speaks about. Therefore, God has provided sufficient evidence that Mary was not a perpetual virgin. "The belief that Mary remained a virgin until death was a staple belief system throughout the Church, despite contrary sounding scriptures." I agree that this was unfortunately the case. "Arguments against this did not come up until the mid 200's (Origen's Commentary on Matthew 2:17 [A.D. 248]). when a lot of the Church laity and a few of the pastorate were not versed in the Greek Language but Latin and were led away to gnosticism, arianism, monatism etc…." My opponent frames that the idea of Mary's non-virginity was spawned by people who were not well versed in the Bible. While this may have been true, they were not the only ones who disagreed with this belief. Nowadays, there are numerous protestant believers, who are extremely well versed, that believe in Mary's lack of perpetual virginity. My opponent's logic can be applied to both sides, and becomes non-unique. "The Majority (of the confirmed Church fathers by God) and the most powerful apologists within the early Church Fathers Believed in Mary's Perpetual Virginity." This seems very similar to his first contention... I once again agree. However, I do not agree with these early fathers. As a believer, I trust in the Bible. I would much sooner believe the Bible, with EYEWITNESSES to the scenes described, than an early father who was not at the scene. Why would God have a lie put into his word? Our God is not a God of lies, and we can then deduce that He would not lie in his word. "I will only say this concerning the "Brothers" of Jesus argument of my esteemed protestant brothers…. With so many Greek Theologians in the early Church history clearly not having any difficulty with these scriptures and holding to a belief of the perpetual virginity, and even having written commentaries on the Gospels, as well being able to read and write Greek (having memorized scripture unlike most theologians today who have to do word searches), they did not believe this to be an issue. Does that not 'raise the question' why?" It absolutely raises the question. Why on Earth would they believe that when the Bible so clearly iterates that Mary had other children? While these theologians that my opponent speaks of may well have been respected men, they are not infallible. As a follower of Christ, why would you not believe the Bible over fallible human teachings? Even great teachers have faults. However, God is a perfect God, Who does not lie. Since God's word rebukes the idea of Mary as a perpetual virgin, I rebuke it also. I would apologize to my opponent for my previous absence. Thank you for taking on this debate, and being very patient. Again, my wish is that this debate would not create schisms in the already fractured church. It is meant to be informational, and to hopefully bring understanding. http://www.gotquestions.org... http://www.biblegateway.com...