Jerome wrote a response to Helvidius regarding the virginity of Mary. This post is the second part of a fourth in a series of responses to what Jerome wrote.
Jerome wrote:
But when he continues, “the Evangelist would never have applied the words, before they came together to persons who were not to come together, any more than one says, before he dined, when the man is not going to dine,” I know not whether to grieve or laugh. Shall I convict him of ignorance, or accuse him of rashness? Just as if, supposing a person to say, “Before dining in harbour I sailed to Africa,” his words could not hold good unless he were compelled some day to dine in harbour. If I choose to say, “the apostle Paul before he went to Spain was put in fetters at Rome,” or (as I certainly might) “Helvidius, before he repented, was cut off by death,” must Paul on being released at once go to Spain, or must Helvidius repent after death, although the Scripture says “In sheol who shall give thee thanks?” Must we not rather understand that the preposition before, although it frequently denotes order in time, yet sometimes refers only to order in thought? So that there is no necessity, if sufficient cause intervened to prevent it, for our thoughts to be realized. When, then, the Evangelist says before they came together, he indicates the time immediately preceding marriage, and shows that matters were so far advanced that she who had been betrothed was on the point of becoming a wife. As though he said, before they kissed and embraced, before the consummation of marriage, she was found to be with child. And she was found to be so by none other than Joseph, who watched the swelling womb of his betrothed with the anxious glances, and, at this time, almost the privilege, of a husband. Yet it does not follow, as the previous examples showed, that he had intercourse with Mary after her delivery, when his desires had been quenched by the fact that she had already conceived.
Jerome's laughter is based on treating grammar incorrectly. While it is true that there are times that "before he acted" can be used when the action does not follow, Helvidius point is nevertheless correct. What governs the interpretation of a phrase like, "before he acted," is the context. In this context, of course, we have a man who waits until Jesus is born, not until Joseph himself dies. The idea that Joseph's desires for Mary were quenched by the fact that Mary had conceived is the argument we can laugh at, although we would not want to make fun of Jerome. It is simply clueless as to the nature of heterosexual desire.
-TurretinFan
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