Helvid

The origin of Helvidius is not exactly known. It is not clear who Helvidy was, a layman or a priest. Gennady in chapter 32 of the book “De viris illustribus” calls him a pupil of Auxentius , an Arian bishop in Mediolanus , and an epigone (descendant) of Symmachus , a native of Cappadocia . For this reason, Helvidius is considered a Cappadocian (a haggard Armenian). Helvidy became famous thanks to his work on the Virgin Mary , written before 383. The work itself was not completely preserved (only a few citations of this work were preserved), but the ideas expressed in the book of Helvid influenced the development of mariology .

The teachings of Helvidy consisted in the fact that, like the Ebionites and anti- Dicomarians , he claimed that the Virgin Mary, after his miraculous birth, entered into a real marriage with Joseph and gave birth to children known by the gospel as brothers of the Lord. Unlike his predecessors, Helvidy scientifically substantiated his doctrine, supplied it with numerous quotes and presented it in a book. The book of Helvid was widely distributed in the capital of the Western Roman Empire, in the city of Rome, where Helvid lived.

Helvidy was convinced of the superiority of marriage to virginity, this conviction appeared in him as a result of his aversion to monasticism, which from the East began to spread in the West at that time. Developing his teaching, Helvid wrote: “Are virgins better than Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who lived in a marriage? Is it not by the hands of God that children are created daily in the womb? And by what right will we be ashamed of the fact that the (Most Holy) Mary married her after Christ was born? If this seems shameful to anyone, then it remains to them not to believe that God was born through the virgin forest. ”

Helvid primarily referred to Matt. 1: 18,24,25 as places meaning that Joseph knew his wife not before, but after the birth of the Lord; on Matt. 1:25 , Luke 2: 7 , which speaks of Jesus Christ as the “firstborn”; then to many places from the Gospel that speak of the brothers and sisters of Jesus, finally to the opinion of Tertullian and Quiz . Helvid believed that the word "first-born" means that Jesus was only the first child with Mary and does not mean at all that Mary did not have other children. In his opinion, Mary repeatedly entered into a relationship with Joseph and gave birth to Jesus brothers and sisters from him.

Helvidius was opposed by Jerome Stridon , who wrote the composition of the lat. “De Virginitate Beatae Mariae. Adversus Helvidium " (" On the Bridal Mary's Evergod. Against Elvidia "). Jerome in his work explains the superiority of virginity over marital cohabitation and justifies the . Aurelius Augustine in his treatise Lat. “De Haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum Liber Unus” ^[1] (“Heresy, by the mercy of God, in one book”) mentions heretics as followers of Helvidius, calling them “Gelvidians” ( lat. “Helvidiani” ); Augustine writes that the doctrine of Mary of the Gelvidians is similar to the doctrine of the anti- dicomarianites, which was described in the Panarion by Epiphanius of Cyprus .

The teaching of Helvid that Mary after Jesus gave birth to children from Joseph was shared by Bonoz ( Latin Bonosius ), bishop of Sardica , in Illyria .

• Alexey Petrovich Lebedev. “Brothers of God” Review and analysis of ancient opinions on the issue. II. Opinions of Helvid and Bl. Jerome of Stridon.
• Philip Schaff. “The history of the Christian church. Volume III Nicaean and Plenicene Christianity. From Constantine the Great to Gregory the Great. 311-590 according to R. Kh. ”; The Bible for all. St. Petersburg. 2011; p. 161
• Jerome of Stridon. “About the Blessed Mary’s Evergrimony. Book against Elvid "
• Augustinus. "De Haeresibus ad Quodvultdeum Liber Unus." LXXXIV. Helvidiane
• Hieronymus "De Virginitate Beatae Mariae. Adversus Helvidium »
• Hieronymus "De Virginitate Beatae Mariae. Adversus Helvidium »