You are determined to make Saint James the Less a direct sibling to Jesus, citing Paul’s “the brother of the Lord”, which is meant to be a respectful reference to his Apostleship or kinship (first cousin), or fellowship in the Faith, despite other references by other inspired writers of Scripture who clearly identify him as otherwise, from citations taken from the “Jesus had Siblings?” thread we keep referencing (see below). I’m sorry your guy got it wrong, or that people sometimes look alike. So do many people of Jewish descent, Italians, Spaniards, Chinese, Irish, (insert any lineage here), look closely related at times. Likewise, in my large family of direct siblings, some of us look nothing alike, yet we have the same genes. I guess that means we are clearly not related, following your logic. Your point again?
I would also point out references in the “Siblings” thread that give the tradition that James the Less was 94 or 96 when he was martyred, which would make him 62 at the time of Jesus’s crucifixion at age 33. Older, not younger, as you allege. There is quite a discussion and backup posts to that on the thread as well. And be sure to follow it to the very end of the thread, because the posts and links are numerous about Jesus and His family.
Your few references are competently debated already on many posts. It would probably be helpful if you’d read the entire “Siblings” thread before you persist, so we don’t have to repost the whole thing to convince you further. The next posts are another source, since you chose not to debate Randy Carson’s post, which clearly covers it, or the references to post debates by Pons and PO18guy, all very good. For much more of the “Siblings” thread, we delve into descriptions and relationships of all of the so-called “brethren” to Jesus, so there can be no misunderstanding.
Re: Jesus had siblings? More about Mary of Cleophas
Thanks for your interest. Over the week I had a chance to address your concerns to the folks at the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. I received a response from Brother Andre Marie, whose full address is given below, who referenced back to the following Scriptural references (taken from an earlier response of a letter he had written):
… Mary never had other children. My response: There is no place in the Bible that says, “Mary never had other children.” Neither are there places that say that “Mary had other children.” Again, it is the Protestant (human) tradition that says she did (although not all Protestants believe this). There are passages in the Bible that you may interpret to mean that Mary had other children, but there are more sensible explanations of these passages that are consistent with all of Scripture, especially Luke 1:34 ff., where it is made obvious that Mary never intended to have normal marital relations. Also, interpreted by the authentic tradition of the Church — the “pillar and ground of the truth” — these passages clearly do not mean the Blessed Virgin had other children. St. Jerome, who, in the late fourth century, at the pope’s behest, translated the Bible into the Latin language, which was the commonly spoken western language at that time, wrote a treatise in defense of the Blessed Mother’s perpetual virginity against the novel teachings of a heretic named Helvidius.
As an example of such misappropriation, let us take the case of St. James the Less whom, no doubt, you allege was our Lord’s blood brother, since St. Paul calls him the “brother of the Lord” in Gal. 1:19. Three times the Holy Spirit inspired the evangelists to identify this Apostle as the son of Alpheus, not Joseph. (Matt. 10:3; Mark 3:18; and Luke. 6:15) The mother of this James was also named Mary, and she is identified as one of the other women, besides the Blessed Virgin, standing beneath the cross of Christ. Here she is called the “sister” of the Blessed Virgin (John. 19:25). Unless we are to assume that two girls in the same family were given the same first name, the word “sister” here used must mean “relative,” “cousin,” or, perhaps, if she were married to the brother of St. Joseph, even “sister-in-law.” Therefore, James the Less, son of Alpheus (also called, in holy scripture, by his Greek name of Cleophas), was our Lord’s cousin. This is still a common practice among the Semitic people to call one’s cousin a brother or sister. Furthermore, if Jesus had other brothers from Mary, His mother, then why did the Savior, as He was dying on the cross, give her to the care of John? For James, Simon, Jude, and Joseph are all called the Lord’s “brethren” in the Gospel. I did a more detailed study on this that I could send you, if you are interested.
In the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
Brother Andre Marie, M.I.C.M.
Saint Benedict Center
Post Office Box 627
Richmond, New Hampshire 03470
Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Homepage,
www.catholicism.org
This next is taken from the website
www.smcenter.org, the Saint Michael Center for the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church remembers the feastday of Saint Mary of Cleophas on April 9, and the following is her description from the website:
- Saint Mary of Cleophas (First Century).
She was one of the “three Marys” who followed Our Lord and stood at the foot of the Cross on Calvary when He died. She was the wife of Saint Cleophas, the brother of Saint Joseph. She was the mother of Saint Simon, Saint James the Less and Saint Jude, Apostles, and of Saint Mary Salome, the mother of the Apostles Saint James the Greater and Saint John. Saint Mary of Cleophas was put on a boat with others by the Jews in the year 47, and pushed out to sea without sails or oars. She died in France. The island in France where she landed, after her miraculous journey from Jerusalem, is called les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (“the Holy Marys of the Sea”), named for Saint Mary of Cleophas, Saint Mary Magdalen and Saint Mary Salome.
Please see my next post …
wish I could