Jerome wrote a response to Helvidius regarding the virginity of Mary. This post is the twenty-fourth (and final!) in a series of responses to what Jerome wrote.
Jerome wrote:
I have become rhetorical, and have disported myself a little like a platform orator. You compelled me, Helvidius; for, brightly as the Gospel shines at the present day, you will have it that equal glory attaches to virginity and to the marriage state. And because I think that, finding the truth too strong for you, you will turn to disparaging my life and abusing my character (it is the way of weak women to talk tittle-tattle in corners when they have been put down by their masters), I shall anticipate you. I assure you that I shall regard your railing as a high distinction, since the same lips that assail me have disparaged Mary, and I, a servant of the Lord, am favoured with the same barking eloquence as His mother.
Yes, Jerome has indeed waxed rather rhetorical. Whether Helvidius ever responded in kind, we do not know (or at least, I do not). On the other hand, while I may be willing to grant Jerome his intent to defend Mary, he has defended her by picturing her as a mere ward, not the wife she was. He has painted her as though she were a 5th century nun, rather than a first century bride. Jerome placed his own values above the words of Scripture, and in doing so did not defend Mary.
-TurretinFan
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