Reading through part of the Summa Theologica, I realized something interesting.

[Farmer88]

In the discussion of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas quotes Ezekiel 44:2 to explain it. I then proceeded to examine certain more modern apologetics about Mary's perpetual virginity, none of which referenced Ezekiel 44:2. I was then informed by a friend that at the time the Summa Theologica was written, much allegory was used in the study of scriptures. But these days, all I seem to hear about is people pulling things from scripture literally, whether it be Catholics or Protestants. This has kind of reinforced my beliefs in a more traditional mindset of Catholicism, to not just be looking for everything literally, a mindset that seems to have developed mostly in the past 100-150 years or so. I was completely fascinated by the Summa Theologica in just that regard, even though I've read other parts of it. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

[CountrySteve]

Originally Posted by Farmer88

In the discussion of the Perpetual Virginity of Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas quotes Ezekiel 44:2 to explain it. I then proceeded to examine certain more modern apologetics about Mary's perpetual virginity, none of which referenced Ezekiel 44:2. I was then informed by a friend that at the time the Summa Theologica was written, much allegory was used in the study of scriptures. But these days, all I seem to hear about is people pulling things from scripture literally, whether it be Catholics or Protestants. This has kind of reinforced my beliefs in a more traditional mindset of Catholicism, to not just be looking for everything literally, a mindset that seems to have developed mostly in the past 100-150 years or so. I was completely fascinated by the Summa Theologica in just that regard, even though I've read other parts of it. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Well thank you for teaching me something new today i never knew the perpetual virginity of Mary was in the Bible

[Mrs Sally]

Plenty of Bible commentaries have this as one interpretation of the verse. Interestingly, even protestant commentaries mention this despite disagreeing with it.

[Nelka]