Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Jewish
History and Religion
Mary Not a Virgin? Why is Belief in the Virgin Mary Falling?

Mary Not a Virgin? Why is Belief in the Virgin Mary Falling?

Last updated on: November 4, 2026 at 9:05 pm by Rebecca Wallace Keene

Mary Not a Virgin? Why is Belief in the Virgin Mary Falling? 2026-11-04T21:05:36-05:00 Rebecca Wallace Keene

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mary Not a Virgin? Why is Belief in the Virgin Mary Falling? created by Rebecca Keene with chatgpt

Mary Not a Virgin? Why is Belief in the Virgin Mary Falling?

According to The American Bible Study’s State of the Bible, American Christian belief in the Virgin Mary has fallen below 50% for the first time. Why is American belief in the Virgin Mary falling? Perhaps it is a sign that education is finally winning the battle with blind faith in the US, because the fact is Mary was not a virgin. That belief rose out of a mistranslation of the text.

Mary Not a Virgin but a Parthenos?

When the author of Matthew writes that Mary is a virgin, he is quoting the Greek Septuagint version of Isaiah 7:14. The Greek Septuagint uses the word parthenos to describe Mary. The word parthenos can mean virgin, but it can also mean young, unmarried woman without reference to previous sexual experience. Turningtogod.com explains:

“This word, as they point out, only has a secondary meaning of “virgin.” Its primary meaning is simply a young woman. In fact, in Greek literature, there are numerous uses of this word going all the way back to Homer to refer to young women who decidedly are not virgins. The possible meaning “virgin” develops because young women were assumed to be chaste, but chastity is not an essential characteristic of this concept. As a result, the use of parthenos to refer to Mary is not alone sufficient evidence for textual support of the virgin birth.”

Mary Not a Virgin But an Almah?

Further, the word parthenos is itself a translation. The original Hebrew of Isaiah 7 uses the word almah. Almah is a bigger problem for the New Testament claim, because almah can mean only young maiden. Whether a woman is a virgin or not, she can be an almah if she is a young woman of marriageable age. As Bible Hub explains, Christians have tried to argue against this pointing to other places in scripture where the word is used, such as in reference to Rebekah, before marriage. They argue the word is used to show purity. However, their argument does not hold up. Rebekah was also a young maiden.

Why not Bethulah?

They further try to argue that the Hebrew word Bethulah which translates as virgin was not used because it can also refer to a widow while almah is suggestive of someone who is unmarried and innocent. However, even that loose reading of the word almah does not help their case that Mary was a virgin. Unmarried is not necessarily the same as virgin. That brings us to our next point.

Mary Not a Virgin? History Recorded The Truth

Leaving the linguistics behind, we are forced to look at history. Celsus wrote “The True Doctrine (Alethēs Logos),” between 175-180 CE. That source has been lost to time, but we know what Celsus said about Jesus’ parentage in it, because Origen, writing in 248 CE, responds to Celsus and quotes him in “Against Celsus (Contra Celsum).” Origen quotes Celsus saying, “…when she was pregnant, she was turned out of doors by the carpenter to whom she had been betrothed, as having been guilty of adultery, and that she bore a child to a certain soldier named Panthera.” Thus, Celsus not only argued Mary wasn’t a virgin but also that she was pregnant by a Roman soldier and he named the father of Jesus, Panthera.

The Sages’ Testimony

The Jewish sages agreed with this. Hullin 2:22–23 in The Tosefta refers to Jesus as Jeshua ben Pandira or Jesus of Pandira. Thus, they are saying Jesus’ father was Pandira. The text reads:

“22. The case of R. El’azar ben Damah, whom a serpent bit. There came in Jacob, a man of Chephar Sama, to cure him in the name of Jeshua’ ben Pandira, but R. Ishmael did not allow it. He said, “Thou art not permitted, Ben Damah.” He said, “I will bring thee a proof that he may heal me.” But he had not finished bringing a proof when he died. 23. R. Ishmael said, “Happy art thou, Ben Damah, for thou hast departed in peace and hast not broken through the fence of the Sages!” For whoever breaks through the fence of the Sages, punishment comes upon him, as it is written: “Whoso breaketh through a hedge, a serpent shall bite him.” (Ecclesiastes 10:8).”

The Tosefta was written in the third century but it is likely this is a much older oral tradition.

The Talmud

Then in the 5th century we see that the Babylonian Talmud repeats the same claim. Shabbat 104b states:

“It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer said to the Rabbis: Didn’t the infamous ben Stada take magic spells out of Egypt in a scratch on his flesh? They said to him: He was a fool, and you cannot cite proof from a fool. That is not the way that most people write. Incidentally, the Gemara asks: Why did they call him ben Stada, when he was the son of Pandeira? Rav Ḥisda said: His mother’s husband, who acted as his father, was named Stada, but the one who had relations with his mother and fathered him was named Pandeira. The Gemara asks: Wasn’t his mother’s husband Pappos ben Yehuda? Rather, his mother was named Stada and he was named ben Stada after her. The Gemara asks: But wasn’t his mother Miriam, who braided women’s hair? The Gemara explains: That is not a contradiction. Rather, Stada was merely a nickname, as they say in Pumbedita: This one strayed [setat da] from her husband.”

Together, these sources show us that there is a long-recorded history of Jesus’ biological father being a man named Pandera or Panthera. Only in the New Testament does Mary become a virgin.

The New Testament Problem

Even in The New Testament, the virgin birth seems to be something of uncertainty. The oldest gospel, Mark, has no virgin birth. John also has no virgin birth. Only Matthew and Luke mention a virgin birth. Luke himself admits that he is relying on things he has studied, read, and heard handed down to him rather than giving an eyewitness account. He states:

“1Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

Thus, out of four versions of the story, only one, Matthew, is traditionally attributed to a person who knew Jesus personally and may know if Mary was a virgin. That account quotes the Greek Septuagint, which caused a mistranslation of the word for young maiden. Mary was not a virgin.

So, why is American Christian belief in the Virgin Mary falling? While the scholarship discussed in this article used to be a secret held only by scholars, the internet has broken down the barrier between scholar and layman, allowing the average person to examine this information for themselves. Further, many more people have gone to college and taken Biblical classes than in the past. So, it is only natural that America has begun to question the church’s version of events. This gives me hope that there is light at the end of the long tunnel of ignorance and brainwashing that has long plagued the average American. Sign up for our newsletter and stay tuned as our Ark Series and Spooky Judaism continue soon. You don’t want to miss a thing.

General Christian

Education and Religion

Jewish/Christian Relations

Previous Post

November 2, 2026

How Did Ethiopia Get Both Arks?

Next Post

November 8, 2026 Death Makes a Mistake?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Abortion Appalachia Arks of the Covenant Bible Christianity Christmas conversion Cosmology Creation Curses demons Dietry Laws Easter Ecology Eden Egypt family Gender Gender equality Genesis Hannukah Hell Holidays Holocaust homosexuality Hospitality Code Hygiene Idolatry Immigration Islam Israel Jacob Jesus Jewish law Jewish/Christian Relations Job Lilith Lost Books Love marriage martyr New Testament parenting Passover Peace pedophilia Politics Prayer proof Purim quran rape reviews Rosh Hashanah Sabbath Science sex laws sexuality slavery Synagogue technology Torah transgender Uncategorized War witch women worship Yom Kippur

Select a Month November 2026 October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 March 2026 February 2026 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Barabbas" mean in Aramaic?

Select your answer to see how you score.

The Chosen One The Betrayer Son of the Father Warrior