A
adam7453
Guest
My uncle recently left the Catholic church for a Baptist group. My cousin has been trying to learn his faith enough to challenge his father and bring him back home. He recently passed on a cd by John Martignoni on Mary and the Saints. My uncle passed it on to one of the Baptist leaders in our community who wrote this response. Can you help a couple of Catholic lightweights out???
(I tried emailing the Biblechristiansociety but haven’t gotten a response at this time).
Mary’s eternal virginity
The assertions made by the speaker about Mary’s eternal virginity are deceiving for many reasons.
(I tried emailing the Biblechristiansociety but haven’t gotten a response at this time).
Mary’s eternal virginity
The assertions made by the speaker about Mary’s eternal virginity are deceiving for many reasons.
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Code:
The speaker contends that there is no word in Hebrew or Aramaic for “cousin”, thus “brother” can either mean sibling or cousin. What he fails to mention is that the new testament was not written in Hebrew or Aramaic, but was written in Greek. This is an intentional deception. In Greek there are distinct words for brother “ (ah-thel-phos)” and cousin “ (ksaTHElfia)”, and they are both used in the New Testament. Examples: we know that Elizabeth is Mary’s cousin, because the Greek word for cousin is used. Luke 1:36: “Even Elizabeth your cousin is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.” We also know that Mark was a cousin to Barnabas. Col. 4:10: “My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas…” The Greek word for “brother” is correctly used in the many verses where Jesus’ earthly brothers are mentioned. Luke, who correctly used the Greek word for cousin in Luke 1:36, also correctly used the Greek word for brother in Luke 2:7, 8:19-20, and Acts 1:14 to reference Jesus’ earthly siblings in I Cor. 9:5 and Gal. 1:19. These authors knew the difference between these words, and their words were inspired by God Himself. -
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The speaker reads Matthew 13:55: “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?” He then reads Matthew 27:56: “Among them were Mary Magdelene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebadee’s sons.” He contends that these Mary’s are the same, and not the mother of Jesus. It is obvious that these are two different women, as they have children with different names. Matthew 13:55 is a reference to Mary, the mother of Jesus, as the verse specifically indicates. The other Mary whose children are named James and Joses is a different woman not mentioned as Jesus’ mother. The speaker intentionally fails to divulge that the apostle Mark also lists Jesus’ brothers by name in Mark 6:3: “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given Him, that He even does miracles! Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us? .,.” Biblical and secular writings tell us that Jesus had earthly brothers and sisters. For instance; James is historically noted as Jesus’ brother, the first bishop of Jerusalem, and an author of a book in the Bible. -
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The speaker reads Acts 1:14-15: “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)…” The speaker then states that all of the people besides the women mentioned were included in the term “brothers”, and by his earthly logic Mary would have had around 80 children. This assertion is not implied or stated anywhere. It is a certainty that this group was comprised of Jesus’ apostles and disciples, and was predominantly not His relatives. Jesus’ siblings were however in the group, with his mother Mary, as God’s inspired Word indicates. -
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While the speaker references just two Bible verses that indicate Jesus had siblings, there are eleven other verses that specifically refer to Jesus’ siblings, which he intentionally did not mention. All of these verses are written in Greek, using the word for brother meaning “from the womb” or “sibling”: Matt. 12:46-47, Mark 3:31-32, Mark 6:3, Luke 2:7, Luke 8:19-20, John 2:12, John 7:3, John 7:5, John 7:10, Acts 1:14, I Cor. 9:5, & Gal. 1:19. Five authors; Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul, precisely referenced Jesus’ siblings a total of thirteen times. The Biblical evidence alone that Jesus had earthly siblings is overwhelming. For over 600 years the Catholic Church did not teach that Mary was an eternal virgin. -
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The speaker fails to mention a 14th verse, Matthew 1:25: “But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.” This verse indicates that Joseph and Mary had sexual relations after the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born to Jewish parents who lived otherwise normal lives. -
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The speaker said Bible believers look at Mary as just an “incubator”. That is not true. Bible believers love Mary, but do not venerate her as Catholics do. She is the perfect example of how God can use everyday people to accomplish tremendous things. God is jealous (Josh. 24:19) and forbids man from venerating anyone or anything other than Himself. Catholics choose to ignore God’s command at their peril.