Are John and James the brothers of Christ?

[quasimodo]

Achatius:

Recent discovery has enabled us to say that the Gospel of Thomas is not the product of the Gnostics. This is due to the fact that earlier dated fragment of the Gospel have been found, that pre-date the Gnostics. Though this is not an area i really know much about so…

Gnosticism pre-dates Christianity. It is/was more of a pre-existing world view that penetrated Christianity. It is still around in various guises.

 

[rhymer2]

quasimodo:

Jesus is called THE son of Mary, never A son of Mary
Nobody else is ever called a or the son of Mary or Joseph.

The semantic range of “brother” in that part of the world is (and was) too broad to conclude that Mary had other children just because some are called the “brothers” of the Lord. The term “brother” was used for extended family and even neighbors to express closeness, friendship, and kinship. In that part of the world, if you want to tell your cousin you are mad at him, you call him “cousin” to express the distance between you. Otherwise you call him “brother” to emphasize the kinship. It was this way then and today.

Mat 13:54-57 & Mar 6:1-4

Two more for the road.

Rom 1:3 Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;

Rev 22:15 For without [are] dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.

 

[Pillar_of_Cloud]

rhymer2:

Mat 13:54-57 “And when he was come into his own country, he taught them in their synagogue, insomuch that they were astonished, and said, Whence hath this [man] this wisdom, and [these] mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this [man] all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.”

Mar 6:1-4 “And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the sabbath day was come, he began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing [him] were astonished, saying, From whence hath this [man] these things? and what wisdom [is] this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.”

I don’t mean to be offensive, but talk about throwing all your eggs in one basket. All you have done for the last several posts is throw those two verses back at people without even considering their arguments

Since they’ve already stated that brothers can be used for so much more than blood relations, how can you still rely on these verses as credable to your argument?

My own two cents to this is the fact the verses read: “The son of Mary” and then state “the brother…and are not his sisters here with us?”, giving no relation between the supposed brothers and sisters to Mary, or even to Joseph. And besides that, if Jesus had such a large blood family…why did Jesus entrust his mother to someone not even related to him?

If you’re not going to listen to the arguments…then, please stop arguing.

God bless

 

[quasimodo]

Rhymer2

Your proof text responses do not address the the issue at hand which is the use of the word “brother” in the culture in question.

Some of what you bolded in your response to me (A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house." ) is a well known pre-existing saying from the prevasive Hellenistic (pagan) culture that Jesus drew upon to make his point. He was saying something to them in words with which they were all familiar - something which carried a meaning they could relate to immediately.

Mary and the others were there because they feared from him. They all came from a very small village. Everyone would have been like family and would have been concerned for him.

 

[Strider]

rhymer2,

If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem is a nail.  If you're re-read my post # 13 ( the bouncing ball), I begin with Mat 13:55, which you repeat as a mantra, as if it proves your point.
 **If** you read my entire post # 13, it Scriptually destroys the interpretation of that verse and Mk 6:1 as meaning Jesus had siblings. 
 Simply repeating those two passages does not enhance your contention and, frankloy, comes off as a litte boorish. 
 You would do your case much good if you would respond directly to the case(s) against your argument.  That's what apologists do, unless, of course, their arguments hold no water.