The Perpetual Virginity of Mother Mary

²⁵ But he had no sexual relations with her before she gave birth to her son. And Joseph named him Jesus.
-Matthew 1:25

There are some people who obviously think the above verse indicates that St. Joseph and Mother Mary had normal sexual relations after the birth of Jesus. This post is in defence of the Perpetual Virginity of Mother Mary.

Firstly, there is no proof that St Joseph and Mother Mary ever consummated their marriage. I know, the trouble is with the 'brothers of Jesus' mentioned in the Bible. One occurrence is at John 7:5, where it says

(⁵ Not even his brothers believed in him.)

http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/7-5.htm

If you look at the link above where you have the verse in Koine Greek, you will find that the Greek word used is adelphoi. Here it is written as ἀδελφοὶ. You will find the same Greek word at Matthew 12:46, the more famous verse of the two.

⁴⁶ Jesus was still talking to the people when his mother and brothers arrived. They stood outside, asking to speak with him. ⁴⁷ So one of the people there said to him, “Look, your mother and brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak with you.”
⁴⁸ Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” ⁴⁹ Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers! ⁵⁰ Whoever does what my Father in heaven wants is my brother, my sister, and my mother.”

http://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/12-46.htm

You will also find the same Greek word in Acts 1:14
¹⁴ They gathered frequently to pray as a group, together with the women and with Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

http://biblehub.com/interlinear/acts/1-14.htm

But if you look at Matthew 4:18, the word used to describe Simon and Andrew is adelphous or ἀδελφούς, which is not quite the same. This is not a lone error on the part of Matthew, if you look at Matthew 1:2, where its says 'Judah and his brothers', the word used is again ἀδελφοὺς, not ἀδελφοὶ, the word used when referring to the brothers of Jesus.

¹⁸ Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He saw two brothers. They were Simon (his other name was Peter) and Andrew, his brother. They were putting a net into the sea for they were fishermen.

http://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/4-18.htm

^2-6 From Abraham to King David, the following ancestors are listed: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah and his brothers; then Perez and Zerah (their mother was Tamar), Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother was Ruth), Jesse, and King David.

http://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/1-2.htm

Another meaning of the Greek word ἀδελφοὶ is kinsman, and so when it says brothers of Jesus, it is a reference to his relatives. Matthew used two different words to differentiate between the two, so they can't mean the same thing. It is one of the constraints of the English language. Did you know that there are two different word words for love in the Bible? One is ἀγαπᾷς or agape (unconditional love, like God's love for man) and the other is φιλῶ or philo (brotherly love). John 21:15-16 bears this out. But in the English translation, we have only love. Jesus asks 'Agapas me?' and Simon replies 'Philo se'. In English it is "(Simon son of John) do you love me?" and Peter's reply is "(Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that) I love you". See what I mean?

¹⁵ After they had eaten, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these others do?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my lambs.” ¹⁶ A second time Jesus said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered, “you know that I love you.”
Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”


But if you look at the original Greek text, there are two different words, as can be seen from the following links
http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/21-15.htm
http://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/21-16.htm

⁵⁵ Isn't he the carpenter's son? Isn't Mary his mother, and aren't James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas his brothers? 
-Matthew 13:55
http://biblehub.com/interlinear/matthew/13-55.htm

Here also the word used is ἀδελφοὶ, not ἀδελφοὺς which was used to describe brothers as in Simon and Andrew, and  also Judah and his brothers.

In Luke 22:32, again we have ἀδελφούς, and not ἀδελφοὺς
³¹ “Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. ³² But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers.”
http://biblehub.com/interlinear/luke/22-32.htm
Just in case you are wondering - Could James, Joseph, Simon and Judas be the cousins of Jesus? Well, if you look at Colossians 4:10
¹⁰ Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have already received instructions to welcome Mark if he comes your way.)
http://biblehub.com/interlinear/colossians/4-10.htm

The word used here is anepsios or ἀνεψιὸς. So does that signify anything? The brothers of Jesus were His kinsmen.

By the 4th century, the doctrine of perpetual virginity had been well attested. For example, references can be found in the 3rd century writings of Hippolytus of Rome, who called Mary "the tabernacle exempt from defilement and corruption," and the 4th century works of Athanasius, Epiphanius, Hilary, Didymus, Ambrose, Jerome, and Siricius continued the attestations to perpetual virginity  – a trend that gathered pace in the next century.

John Chrysostom (347–407) defended perpetual virginity on a number of grounds, one of which was Jesus' commands to his mother in Calvary: "Woman, behold your son!" and to his disciple "Behold, thy mother!" in John 19:26-27. Since the second century these two statements of Jesus from the cross had been the basis of reasonings that Mary had no other children and "from that hour the disciple took her unto his own home" because after the deaths of Joseph and Jesus there was no one else to look after Mary, and she had to be entrusted to the disciple.

Not only Catholics, even Protestants believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Martin Luther believed that Mary did not have other children and did not have any marital relations with Joseph. The Latin text of the 1537 Smalcald Articles, written by Martin Luther, used the term "Ever Virgin" to refer to Mary. The perpetual virginity of Mary was Luther's lifelong belief, even after he rejected other Marian doctrines.

Huldrych Zwingli directly supported perpetual virginity and wrote: "I firmly believe that [Mary], ... forever remained a pure, intact Virgin." Luther and Zwingli's support of perpetual virginity was endorsed by Heinrich Bullinger and was included in the 1566 Second Helvetic Confession.

John Calvin "was less clear-cut than Luther on Mary's perpetual virginity but undoubtedly favored it". He cautioned against "impious speculation" on the topic.

The Anglican reformers of the 16th and 17th century supported perpetual virginity "on the basis of ancient Christian authority". In the 18th century, John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, also supported the doctrine and wrote that: "... born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin."