After all the back and forth, I'm still confused. Was or was not Mary's womb holy after the birth of Jesus? I can not find a single scripture that supports either, so the only thing we have is the definition of holy to work from. From dictionary.reference.com/browse/holy we have a comprehensive definition.
[h=2]ho·ly[/h] [hoh-lee] Show IPA
adjective, ho·li·er, ho·li·est. 1. specially recognized as or declared sacred by religious use or authority; consecrated: holy ground.
2. dedicated or devoted to the service of God, the church, or
religion: a holy man.
3. saintly; godly; pious; devout: a holy life.
4. having a spiritually pure quality: a holy
love.
5. entitled to worship or veneration as or as if sacred: a holy relic.
6. religious: holy rites.
7. inspiring
fear, awe, or grave distress: The director, when angry, is a holy terror.
noun, plural ho·lies. 8. a place of worship; sacred place; sanctuary.
Origin:
before 900; Middle English holi, Old English hālig, variant of hāleg, equivalent to hāl
whole + -eg
-y[SUP]1 [/SUP]; cognate with Dutch, German heilig, Old Norse heilagr
Can be confused:
holey, holy,
wholly.
Synonyms
1. blessed. Holy, sacred, consecrated, hallowed imply possession of a sanctity that is the object of religious veneration. Holy refers to the divine, that which has its sanctity directly from God or is connected with Him: Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Something that is sacred while sometimes accepted as entitled to religious veneration, may have its sanctity from human authority: a sacred oath. Something that is consecrated is specially or formally dedicated to some religious use: a life consecrated to service. Something that is hallowed has been made holy by being worshiped: a hallowed shrine. 4. spiritual.
Antonyms
3, 4. corrupt, impious.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2014.
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Link To
holy
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World English Dictionary
[TABLE]
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holy (ˈhəʊlɪ) [/TD]
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[TD="colspan: 2"] [/TD]
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[TD="class: td2, colspan: 2"]—
adj ,
holier ,
holiest [/TD]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"]1. [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]of, relating to, or associated with God or a deity; sacred [/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"]2. [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]endowed or invested with extreme purity or sublimity [/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"]3. [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]devout, godly, or virtuous [/TD]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"]4. [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]
holier-than-thou offensively sanctimonious or self-righteous:
a holier-than-thou attitude [/TD]
[/TR]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"]5. [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]
holy terror [/TD]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"] [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]a. a difficult or frightening person [/TD]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"] [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]b.
informal (
Irish ) a person who is an active gambler, womanizer, etc [/TD]
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[TD="class: td2, colspan: 2"]—
n ,
holier ,
holiest ,
-lies [/TD]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"]6. [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]a. a sacred place [/TD]
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[TD="class: td3n1, width: 1%, align: right"] [/TD]
[TD="class: td3n2"]b. (
functioning as plural )
the holy persons or things invested with holiness [/TD]
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[TD="class: td5, colspan: 2"][Old English
hālig, hǣlig; related to Old Saxon
hēlag, Gothic
hailags, German
heilig; see hallow ] [/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History
holy
O.E. halig "holy," from P.Gmc. *khailagas (cf. O.N. heilagr, Ger. heilig, Goth. hailags "holy"), adopted at conversion for L. sanctus. Primary (pre-Christian) meaning is not impossible to determine, but it was probably "that must be preserved whole or intact, that cannot be transgressed or violated,"
I can find enough there to justify either position, but I believe that the bulk of the definition leans toward "It was not". The mere fact that she had children with Joseph after Christ was born, supports my position. She was a human vessel to bring Christ into the world. The fact that she was a virgin before, during, and through Christ's birth was to erase any doubt that Christ was not the Holy One. Should we worship Mary, or pray to her? Absolutely not! Use the Lord's Prayer as an example. We should pray directly to God. It begins "Our Father". Jesus went on to tell us to ask in His name in several scriptures.
This is the best that I can do.