Mary herself is already a large bone of contention between Catholics and Protestants. A somewhat smaller, but no less divisive, bone of contention is the issue of Mary's virginity; many Christians simply refuse to accept that Mary remained a virgin until the time of her Assumption into Heaven.

There are many good arguments in support of Mary's perpetual virginity, and I might cite some of them at a later date -- for now, I just wanted to post a thought I had this morning on the way to work.

We know that Joseph was of the house of David -- that is, he was descended from King David, the ancient ruler. We know that Jesus was said to be of the house of David because of the fact that He was born to the wife of Joseph, the young woman we know as Mary.

It seems to me, then, that one of the arguments in favour of Mary's perpetual virginity has to do with the line of David, and the fact that the Messiah would emerge from that line. There isn't anything in Scripture that suggests that the following is true, but I think there's a certain logic to it: would it not make sense for God to ensure that, upon the Messiah's arrival, that the line of David was closed off?

That is to say: would it not make sense for God to have moved Mary's heart to take an oath of perpetual virginity for the glory of the kingdom of Heaven (a not-unheard of ritual dedication in ancient Jewish practice, and also in keeping with Paul's teachings in 1 Cor 7) at some point prior to her being betrothed to the living descendent of David, so that after the birth of her Son -- Jesus, the Son of God -- no other children would spring forth from that tree which is David's, thus rendering the emergence of a false Messiah according to the line of David at some later date impossible?

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For those who are fans of Battlestar Galactica, there are a few articles concerning it on my website, which include a few spoilers and predictions about where the series will go. This show really seems to be shaping up to be an eschatological tale, and I like that a lot.

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I see that someone has decided to take it upon him/herself to debunk the Catholic Catechism. I'm not going to waste my time with lengthy rebuttals of his/her points -- if anyone has uncertainties about points of doctrine within the Catechism, they can PM me and I'll write up an explanation.

All I really can think to say to said someone is: Matthew 16:23. One wonders how it comes to be that a person can be filled with such passionate hatred?