What we notice is that the argument about Mary and perpetual virginity begins when Christianity becomes the religion of empire or you could say of state in Rome during the 3rd Century.

What we notice is that the argument about Mary and perpetual virginity begins when Christianity becomes the religion of empire or of state in Rome during the 3rd Century.
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That the brothers were children of both Mary and Joseph was held by some people of the early centuries; The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church claimed that Tertullian (c. 160 – c. 225) was one of them.^[7] The 3rd-century Antidicomarianites ("opponents of Mary") maintained that, when Joseph became Mary's husband, he was a widower with six children, and that he had normal marital relations with Mary, but they later held that Jesus was not born of these relations.
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But, our faith is not in Mary. She did not die for our sins and rise again.  She did not perform the miracle but she certainly believed. If we argue about what we cannot ascertain 400 years after his Resurrection when Constantine adopted the faith, then we are dividing the influence of not only the faith but of the empire that adopted it. As we argue, then who is influenced to believe? If it is about accepting the peace of Christ, then we can see that most Christians have founded a belief and doctrine that gives reason for argument while some have taken a very simple belief based on scripture and have left argument to others.   I can believe Mary had one child and never copulated with Joseph after Jesus' birth but the point is this argument about her perpetual virginity did not begin until 400 A.D.  It is best to agree on what is consequential since our salvation is not on accepting perpetual virginity. Any Catholic confirms this. It is based on accepting the lamb of God as the sacrifice of your sins. He is the Mass of Christ. He is Lent. He is Easter. He is the Resurrection and the savior.  The miracle of Christianity in spite of denomination will be the miracle of community that practices the saving of life.  Moses parted the red sea. Jesus raised the dead. We are called to save a life. It is you.   Mary told us to do what He tells us.If you do, you will see your community and the opposite is to render Christ void and the practice vain.  He said the Sabbath was made for man. Man was not made for the Sabbath so that the purpose of all the scripture is human life such that there is no law against saving any human being or life. No machine, no mechanized labor, no technology and no renegotiation of the scripture by Babylonian or Assyrian approximators after the exile and occupation  who wished to present themselves as perfect in seeking the authority of the Patriarchs can remove the evident intention of the scripture; that is saving and serving the needs of life. See the ministry of Abraham and of Christ.  The Nicene Creed is a good summary for any believer regardless of denomination. But, we can summarize the simple truth that says Jesus was born, he lived, witnessed, died and rose again for something very important and that was the propagation of the law and the prophets in addition to the essential intention in the word being to save life.  The intention is not to seek attention and authority or position. It is to worship and serve the community in which you live. It is to be the good Samaritan.   It is to be salt and light. It is recognizing the frailty of human nature and the necessity for such ministry, for such governmental legislation that perpetuates the importance of human life and for such a community of believers regardless of denomination. So, if someone has given you the power to save a life, what have you done for the perpetual Virgin Mary or for your Lord Jesus lately in the power you have been given? Save a life in honoring your faith.  The legislation already safeguards human life and the integrity of education and the business community. However, there will be situations where  the frailty of human nature and its tendency to degrade and challenge the obvious answer will cause our mutual societal expectations of safety in the various spheres of life to succumb to disappointment. Those who challenge the obvious answer of safety in repeated acts of harassment and mischief in seeking personal attention  contrary to the criminal law are terrorists.   They may do this in the mistaken notion that they are aiding their identity as English or maybe Guyanese; maybe both. They could be the antichrist dna  of a Herod. In any event, this is when we are called upon to address the breach of fiduciary duty of a Treasurer of a Business bureau; the mistreatment of a child, an adult human being, a professional, an employee, a mother of one, and there are a myriad of situations on a daily basis. But, the question who are you and what have you been called to do behind the wall and mote of safe Christendom?  Some denominations wish to purport the right to do whatever is necessary to make money; that there is no law against anything if it means they can earn money to "have" and feed their children. As to argument, they also seem to want to martyr people who are not arguing with their belief in being able to have sex for cash to eat during the phenomena of fully mechanized labor and may have happened before during the 1920's and 30's when seamstresses and bakers were displaced by iron seamstresses and the mechanized bakery. But, has someone contacted you as an established congregation to be a member in good faith as there seems to be a phenomenon that says there are no rules to protect a legitimate mathematician, a plumber, a pilot who flies without auto pilot and who does not rely on "spell check" or a legitimate English graduate who does not plagiarize. These are examples that demonstrate some kind of deficit has ensued that is causing grey areas that some individuals hope to exploit. It does not seem to change the final answer but maybe they will be able to get Granddad's attention for an hour and say "...I took the photo" but why not take your own photo?   It could inspire someone to save a life!!   What we know from the church history and the church fathers as it is recorded in the scriptures that  salvation is based on accepting Christ's sacrifice on the cross.  We are not saved by the virgin birth or the perpetual virginity of Mary. The virgin birth and the perpetual virginity are understood as tenets of Catholic faith.  Pentecostals and Baptists may not believe  in the perpetual virginity necessarily but they believe that Christ died on the cross and rose again to save the world from sin.  The bible and the gospel is the definitive basis of faith for the Catholic.  There is additional teaching from the Gospel of St. James but even so, the gospel of St. James confirms the basis of the faith that remained unaltered for 300-400 years before the Roman Empire adopted the faith as the official religion of the empire.  The virgin birth does not save us. Christ could have failed his three temptations in the wilderness. He could have ran away when tempted in the Garden of Gethsemane!    The word teaches that the temptations in the wilderness and in the garden of Gethsemane were real temptations.   We are saved by Christ's decision in the power of the Holy Spirit to say "not my will but thy will be done" in the will of the father.  Some Christians choose to believe that the red sea was not parted. Some deny the miracle at Cana. But, it is the abominable sin to deny that God 's power can do anything.  Perpetual virginity is not a miracle. It would have been a very personal matter between a husband and wife.  It did not become an issue of belief or theology until after Roman influence. If she was a perpetual virgin, it would also mean Joseph and Mary were not legally married as they would not have consummated!!   An argument on this issue could result in divorce or divide households.    Perpetual virginity is not the basis of your salvation and the discussion on this non-foundational belief should not lead to a breakdown in brotherly love or familial peace in the home or in the church. It does not appear in the Nicene Creed.  But, you must believe it if you wish to have the acceptance in communal Catholic progression although it is not the basis of your salvation.  What would it matter if you believed it?  Would you be more of a Christian? Would you be less sanctified if you did not believe it?   Did you help someone  when you had the power to help them?   Are you a Babylonian? Are you a child of Abraham? Are you a child of Christ? Are you a Catholic? Are you a child of Christ? Are you a child of  a Catholic?   Are you a child of Abraham? Are you a child of Isaac? Are you a child of Jacob? Are you a child of Ephraim? Are you a child of David? Are you a child of Christ? Are you a child of Jehovah?  Christ's death and Resurrection is the basis of your salvation as He is the lamb of God.   Believe in what saves and do not deny the power of God to heal, to part the waters, to walk on water, to turn water into wine or to turn five loaves of bread into enough bread to save and feed a multitude.