Religion: VIRGIN MARY (The Mother of Jesus)

Christianity, religion Christianity, Christianity religion. VIRGIN MARY (The Mother of Jesus):

VIRGIN MARY

In Christianity and Islam, Mary (Judæo-Aramaic מרים Maryām "Bitter"; Septuagint Greek Μαριαμ, Mariam, Μαρια, Maria; Arabic: Maryem, مريم ) was the mother of Jesus of Nazareth who at the time of his conception was the betrothed wife of Joseph, awaiting the customary "Home-Taking" that would permit them to start living together and to consummate their marriage (cf. Matt 1:18, 20). Most Christians and Muslims understand the Gospel account in this respect to mean that Mary was a virgin when she conceived Jesus through a miracle of God. Mary is the subject of much veneration in the Christian faith, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Church, and is also highly regarded by Muslims. The area of Christian theology concerning her is Mariology.

Historicity

Most, though not all, historians accept that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure, even if they accept nothing or almost nothing of the account of his life in the Christian Gospels. Mary is mentioned by name in three of the four canonical Gospels, and the Book of Acts; the Gospel of John does not mention her by name.

Whilst the teaching of the Catholic Church that Mary was a virgin is not accepted by a number of Christian scholars who argue that the Greek term parthenos in Luke 1:27 does not necessarily have to mean "virgin [intacta]" but that there is also evidence for it signifying any "young woman", it is generally agreed that Mary was very young when she conceived Jesus. Some insight into traditions concerning her later life, e.g., that she died between three and 15 years after the crucifixion of Jesus, can be found in the New Testament Apocrypha. Assuming that Jesus died in his 30s, there is also little reason to doubt that his mother could still be alive at the time of his death, or that she could have witnessed it (cf. Jn 19:25). Beyond the accounts given in the Gospels and a few other early Christian sources, however, there is no independent or verifiable information about any aspect of Mary's life. An account of the childhood of Mary is given in the mid-second century non-canonical Gospel of James. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions built around the figure of Mary, and the centuries of Marian cult derived from the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, are based on faith, traditions of the Church Fathers (including the Gospel of James), and their interpretations of the Scriptures¹.

Mary is also directly named in the Qur'an, although this was written some six hundred years later.