Doesn't the Bible teach us that Jesus did have siblings??

[Nella]

It is stated in several verses of the Bible that Jesus has several brothers and does mention his sisters as well but does not go on to mention their names. It also says that Mary and Joseph did not have physical relations UNTIL after Jesus was born. There seems to be no reason to me why we shouldn’t take God’s word here literally as we do about the Eucharist. After all, the authors of Scripture could have use words that clearly meant cousin or other relative besides sibling. There is no good reason to assume that they didn’t mean brother or sister. After many verses of Scripture that clearly show the siblings of Jesus. And Mary and Joseph not having physical relations UNTIL after Jesus was born. Why would Roman Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin her whole life and Jesus did not have siblings?

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

It is stated in several verses of the Bible that Jesus has several brothers and does mention his sisters as well but does not go on to mention their names. It also says that Mary and Joseph did not have physical relations UNTIL after Jesus was born. There seems to be no reason to me why we shouldn’t take God’s word here literally as we do about the Eucharist. After all, the authors of Scripture could have use words that clearly meant cousin or other relative besides sibling. There is no good reason to assume that they didn’t mean brother or sister. After many verses of Scripture that clearly show the siblings of Jesus. And Mary and Joseph not having physical relations UNTIL after Jesus was born. Why would Roman Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin her whole life and Jesus did not have siblings?

Why don’t you quote these Biblical passages which you claim to be contradictory to Roman Catholic belief? Please list them down.

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btw, This should go to the Apologetics section.

 

[Nella]

Why don’t you quote these Biblical passages which you claim to be contradictory to Roman Catholic belief? Please list them down.

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btw, This should go to the Apologetics section.

Luke 8:19
Matt. 13:35
Mark 6:1
for starters

 

[Singinbeauty]

It is stated in several verses of the Bible that Jesus has several brothers and does mention his sisters as well but does not go on to mention their names. It also says that Mary and Joseph did not have physical relations UNTIL after Jesus was born. There seems to be no reason to me why we shouldn’t take God’s word here literally as we do about the Eucharist. After all, the authors of Scripture could have use words that clearly meant cousin or other relative besides sibling. There is no good reason to assume that they didn’t mean brother or sister. After many verses of Scripture that clearly show the siblings of Jesus. And Mary and Joseph not having physical relations UNTIL after Jesus was born. Why would Roman Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin her whole life and Jesus did not have siblings?

Really, all you will pretty much get here on this topic is that there is no ‘word’ for cousin in the hebrew language so the word for brother is used.

My only request is that someone tell me why the catholic church, in interpreting the bible, didn’t just put cousins when the time came because the KNEW that that is what was meant. Why did they choose to use ‘brothers’? Why do they keep using ‘brothers’?

 

[Nella]

Really, all you will pretty much get here on this topic is that there is no ‘word’ for cousin in the hebrew language so the word for brother is used.

My only request is that someone tell me why the catholic church, in interpreting the bible, didn’t just put cousins when the time came because the KNEW that that is what was meant. Why did they choose to use ‘brothers’? Why do they keep using ‘brothers’?

Well, it would be a wrongful interpretation of what was actually written. There were words that meant cousin and words that meant brother or sister. They chose the words that meant brothers and sisters I believe for obvious reasons.

 

[Abraxsis]

Actually the Catholic scriptures and Protestant scriptures have Jesus as an only child. What you probably read was a heretical Gnostic scripture of somekind.

 

[Singinbeauty]

Well, it would be a wrongful interpretation of what was actually written. There were words that meant cousin and words that meant brother or sister. They chose the words that meant brothers and sisters I believe for obvious reasons.

Not according to the catholic church. According to them, there is no word for cousin so the word for ‘brothers’ was used…

 

[LilyM]

Really, all you will pretty much get here on this topic is that there is no ‘word’ for cousin in the hebrew language so the word for brother is used.

My only request is that someone tell me why the catholic church, in interpreting the bible, didn’t just put cousins when the time came because the KNEW that that is what was meant. Why did they choose to use ‘brothers’? Why do they keep using ‘brothers’?

Why was Lot so frequently referred to as Abraham’s ‘brother’ even when it is abundantly clear that he is actually Abraham’s nephew? Same with Laban being referred to as Jacob’s ‘brother’?

Why are ALL of the hundred and twenty odd people in the Upper Room at Pentecost called Jesus’ ‘brothers’?? Surely THEY weren’t His siblings too! (We’d have to invent a new title for Mary for that one!)

None of those cases uses any word for ‘cousin’, ‘friend’ ‘relative’ or anything other than ‘BROTHER’. Clearly it has a broader meaning in the original language.

It makes a bit more sense if you realise that the people of Nazareth didn’t believe in the Virgin Birth - they thought Jesus was Joseph’s son (‘is this not the carpenter’s son?’). In that context OF COURSE any children of Joseph from a previous marriage, for example, would be thought to be His half-siblings and referred to as such.

 

[Singinbeauty]

Why was Lot so frequently referred to as Abraham’s ‘brother’ even when it is clear that he is actually Abraham’s nephew?

Why are ALL of the hundred and twenty odd people in the Upper Room at Pentecost called His ‘brothers’?? Surely THEY weren’t His siblings too! (We’d have to invent a new title for Mary for that one!)

It makes sense if you realise that the people of Nazareth didn’t believe in the Virgin Birth - they thought Jesus was Joseph’s son (‘is this not the carpenter’s son?’). In that context OF COURSE any children of Joseph from a previous marriage, for example, would be thought to be His half-siblings and referred to as such.

Forgive me but this just sounds like trying to fit a square peg in a circular hole… It just doesn’t fit… To weak of an argument. Again, why would it be interpreted as ‘brothers’ if they knew that the word actually should have been ‘cousins’?

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

Ahhh, The Great God of War, Guan Yu had two sworn brothers Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. They addressed each other by the name “Brother”. The grew long beards and were mighty generals. They would even share the same bed when shelter was hard to come by during the war. They made an oath in the peach garden swearing that they would die side by side in battle for they were brothers. They were very close, so close that everyone called them the “3 Brothers”.

Yet they were NOT biological brothers.

Okay this is not in anyways related to the Bible…

 

[Nella]

Ahhh, The Great God of War, Guan Yu had two sworn brothers Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. They addressed each other by the name “Brother”. The grew long beards and were mighty generals. They would even share the same bed when shelter was hard to come by during the war. They made an oath in the peach garden swearing that they would die side by side in battle for they were brothers. They were very close, so close that everyone called them the “3 Brothers”.

Yet they were NOT biological brothers.

Okay this is not in anyways related to the Bible…

uhhhhh, What?!

 

[LilyM]

Forgive me but this just sounds like trying to fit a square peg in a circular hole… It just doesn’t fit… To weak of an argument. Again, why would it be interpreted as ‘brothers’ if they knew that the word actually should have been ‘cousins’?

Again, why was and is the word used for Abraham and Lot, and Laban and Jacob, translated or interpreted as ‘brothers’ even when it was ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that it should have been ‘nephew’ and ‘uncle’???

 

[Nella]

Forgive me but this just sounds like trying to fit a square peg in a circular hole… It just doesn’t fit… To weak of an argument. Again, why would it be interpreted as ‘brothers’ if they knew that the word actually should have been ‘cousins’?

my point exactly. They said what they meant. If we can say that they said brother but really meant cousin without a single shread of proof that this is what they actually meant, then we can go ahead and make the assumption that when Jesus said this is my body, he may actually have meant this means my body. God’s word is God’s word. You can’t take some of it at face value and determine another value for other parts, sorry.

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

Ahhh, The Great God of War, Guan Yu had two sworn brothers Liu Bei and Zhang Fei. They addressed each other by the name “Brother”. The grew long beards and were mighty generals. They would even share the same bed when shelter was hard to come by during the war. They made an oath in the peach garden swearing that they would die side by side in battle for they were brothers. They were very close, so close that everyone called them the “3 Brothers”.

Yet they were NOT biological brothers.

uhhhhh, What?!

Ahh, And there were the two famous Xiahou’s of the rival, Cao Cao’s army of the Wei Kingdom: One named Xiahou Dun and the other Xiahou Yuan. They supported Warlord Cao Cao’s conquest of the land. They too addressed each other as “Brother”. When Xiahou Yuan was slain by General Huang Zhong on the slopes of Ding Jun, he called the heavens and said " Brother [Xiahou] Dun, I leave the rest to you".

Yet it was clearly stated by the author that Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were cousins and not brothers.​

MORAL OF THE STORY: Whenever, you read text, ALWAYS MAKE IT A POINT TO TAKE THE TEXT IN UNISON WITH THE PASSAGE.

 

[Singinbeauty]

Ahh, And there were the two famous Xiahou’s of the rival, Cao Cao’s army of the Wei Kingdom: One named Xiahou Dun and the other Xiahou Yuan. They supported Warlord Cao Cao’s conquest of the land. They too addressed each other as “Brother”. When Xiahou Yuan was slain by General Huang Zhong on the slopes of Ding Jun, he called the heavens and said " Brother [Xiahou] Dun, I leave the rest to you".

Yet it was clearly stated by the author that Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were cousins and not brothers.​

MORAL OF THE STORY: Whenever, you read text, ALWAYS MAKE IT A POINT TO TAKE THE TEXT IN UNISON WITH THE PASSAGE.

See, I have no problem with Jesus either having siblings or not. It makes no never mind to my salvation nor my relationship with God. So to argue the point is pointless in my opinion. The question I stated is more out of curiousity than anything…

 

[Nella]

Ahh, And there were the two famous Xiahou’s of the rival, Cao Cao’s army of the Wei Kingdom: One named Xiahou Dun and the other Xiahou Yuan. They supported Warlord Cao Cao’s conquest of the land. They too addressed each other as “Brother”. When Xiahou Yuan was slain by General Huang Zhong on the slopes of Ding Jun, he called the heavens and said " Brother [Xiahou] Dun, I leave the rest to you".

Yet it was clearly stated by the author that Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan were cousins and not brothers.​

MORAL OF THE STORY: Whenever, you read text, ALWAYS MAKE IT A POINT TO TAKE THE TEXT IN UNISON WITH THE PASSAGE.

ok, Point well taken. When Jesus’ brothers and sisters were mentioned in the Scriptures, many times they were all together with Mary and Joseph. It would seem odd that Jesus’ cousins would be with him and Mary and Joseph that often as opposed to his siblings.

 

[GuanYuWarGod]

Simple Question:
So you take Sacred Scripture literally then?

 

[Abraxsis]

I just thought I’d step in because you dont undderstand how cousin is now brother.

The Bible wasnt written in English. It wasnt translated directly from Aramaic/Coptic into English. It went into Greek or Latin first. Then French/Spanish and who knows how many other translations before English. Somewhere along the way the original meaning of the word got lost in translation. Thats all people are trying to say. You make a good point in asking why dont more Bibles get translated directly into English from Aramaic though.

 

[Singinbeauty]

I just thought I’d step in because you dont undderstand how cousin is now brother.

The Bible wasnt written in English. It wasnt translated directly from Aramaic/Coptic into English. It went into Greek or Latin first. Then French/Spanish and who knows how many other translations before English. Somewhere along the way the original meaning of the word got lost in translation. Thats all people are trying to say. You make a good point in asking why dont more Bibles get translated directly into English from Aramaic though.

Really, all I am asking is why (if they were cousins and the people interpreting the word know they were) wasn’t the word just interpreted as ‘cousins’?

 

[LilyM]

my point exactly. They said what they meant. If we can say that they said brother but really meant cousin without a single shread of proof that this is what they actually meant, then we can go ahead and make the assumption that when Jesus said this is my body, he may actually have meant this means my body. God’s word is God’s word. You can’t take some of it at face value and determine another value for other parts, sorry.

No - Jesus said ‘this is my body’. Plain and simple. He never said ‘these are my biological brothers’. And again, God’s word is awfully clear about Abraham and Laban calling their nephews ‘brother’. Why are you assuming the folk of Nazareth wouldn’t do the same?

And WHO do you think could tolerate being a half-sibling of their own Lord and God??? You imagine trying to live with a brother who NEVER did anything wrong! Who could calm the seas and raise the dead? I dont’ think Joseph and Mary would inflict that on anyone!

And where were these other children while Joseph and Mary were searching for Jesus for three days in Jerusalem? Not a mention, not a peep. Why did Mary say ‘your father and I were sorrowing’, and not that his siblings missed him too? They surely would have, and it would’ve added to her argument.