Out of Wedlock

Child born out of wedlock means a child begotten and born to a woman who was not married from the conception to the date of birth of the child, or a child that the court has determined to be a child born or conceived during a marriage, but not the issue of that marriage.

Was Joseph and Mary married before the Immaculate Conception?

According to ancient Jewish custom, Mary could have been betrothed at about 12.

Some apocryphal accounts state that at the time of her betrothal to Joseph, Mary was 12–14 years old, and he was ninety years old, but such accounts are unreliable. Newer theories places Joseph’s age at 18.

In Jewish weddings during Talmudic times (c.1st century BC – 6th century AD), the two ceremonies of betrothal (erusin) and wedding usually took place up to a year apart; the bride lived with her parents until the actual marriage ceremony (nissuin), which would take place in a room or tent that the groom had set up for her.

There are no marriage licenses to proof check when or if this ever happened.

Who was Jesus’ father?

He could be known as Joseph the Carpenter. He was probably Yoseph ben Yakob, or Joseph, son of Jacob, to most people. Legally, he was the son of Heli, Jacob’s brother, so some may have called him “son of Heli”.

In the Apocrypha, Joseph was the father of James, Joses, Jude, Simon, and at least two daughters.

While many Christians believe in the ‘virgin birth’ of Jesus, it is principally Roman Catholics who believe in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception.

Conception occurs when a sperm cell from a fertile man swims up through the vagina and into the uterus of a woman and joins with the woman’s egg cell as it travels down one of the fallopian tubes from the ovary to the uterus.

For a woman with a regular period, conception typically occurs about 11-21 days after the first day of the last period. Most women do not know the exact date of conception because it can be challenging to know exactly when ovulation occurs.

Some women may notice symptoms as early as 5 DPO, although they won’t know for certain that they are pregnant until much later. Early signs and symptoms include implantation bleeding or cramps, which can occur 5–6 days after the sperm fertilizes the egg. Other early symptoms include breast tenderness and mood changes.

The Immaculate Conception is commonly confused with the virgin birth of Jesus, the latter saying that Jesus was conceived and born by his mother Mary without a human father.

In Roman Catholic Christian theology, the Immaculate Conception is the conception of the Virgin Mary free from ‘original sin’ by virtue of the merits of her son Jesus. The Catholic Church teaches that God acted upon Mary in the first moment of her conception, keeping her “immaculate”.

Although the belief that Mary was sinless, or conceived without ‘original sin’, has been widely held since Late Antiquity, the doctrine was not dogmatically defined in the Catholic Church until 1854 when Pope Pius IX, declared ex cathedra, i.e., using papal infallibility, in his papal bull Ineffabilis Deus, the Immaculate Conception to be doctrine. 

Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, illegitimacy (or bastardy) has been the status of a child born outside marriage, such a child being known as a bastard, love child or illegitimate when such a distinction has been made from other children.

The term ‘single mom’ is thrown around like so much wrapping paper these days. A burden placed on the mother and child being born out of wedlock. In some countries shunned by family or worse.

The theologians can transcribe and reinterpret ancient writings that were verbally passed down for generations. There are no photographs or legal documents declaring a date or time or participants, which leaves us to beliefs.

If Jesus or Mary or Joseph walked the earth cannot be verified but like other stories in ‘the book’ it is worth a read, fact or fiction.

To have a date put aside for all people, great and small, to be kind and give gifts to one another is a nice way to spend a winter day.

To pass people on the street wearing ugly sweaters and stocking caps smiling and saying “Merry Christmas” is unusual daily behavior. One of the most stressful days of the year with screaming children, relatives and friends barging in, we somehow can find the will to be kind to each other for one day.

Maybe we can have Christmas tomorrow too?