Helvidius
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Helvidius (sometimes Helvetius) was the author of a work written prior to 383 against the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Helvidius maintained that the biblical mention of "sisters" and "brothers" of the Lord constitutes solid evidence that Mary had normal marital relations with Joseph and additional children after the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. He supported his opinion by the writings of Tertullian and Victorinus. Helvidius is sometimes seen as an early proto-protestant, along with Vigiliantius, Jovinian and Aerius of Sebaste.
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Within Vinony's link graph, Helvidius is referenced by 21 other articles, and connects out to Jesus, New York and Washington.
It is catalogued under topics including 4th-century Christians, Christian writers and Proto-Protestants.
Its subject is documented across 10 Wikipedia language editions.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 18th cent.
- Works
- 3
Top works
- A free Briton's advice to the free citizens of Dublin
- A free Briton's advice to the free citizens of Dublin
- Free Briton's advice
via Open Library + Wikidata
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Ancient Rome
- Occupation
- theologian
Show 3 more facts
- date of birth
- 0340-01-01
- date of death
- 0390-01-01
- time period
- Low Roman Empire
Sources (1)
via Wikidata · CC0
~2 min read
Encyclopedic overview
3 sectionsContents
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Helvidius (sometimes Helvetius) was the author of a work written prior to 383 against the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. Helvidius maintained that the biblical mention of "sisters" and "brothers" of the Lord constitutes solid evidence that Mary had normal marital relations with Joseph and additional children after the miraculous conception and birth of Jesus. He supported his opinion by the writings of Tertullian and Victorinus. Helvidius is sometimes seen as an early proto-protestant, along with Vigiliantius, Jovinian and Aerius of Sebaste.
Jerome, in reply, wrote a treatise known under the title The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary, where he vigorously takes the other side, and argues that the "sisters" and "brothers" spoken of were either step-brothers, children of Joseph by a former marriage (cf. Protoevangelium of James), or first cousins, children of Mary's relative/relation/kinswoman Elizabeth and siblings of John the Baptist. When Jerome wrote this treatise both he and Helvidius were in Rome, and Damasus was Bishop of Rome.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Helvidius” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.