Jesus's siblings

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Julius_Caesar:
Human nature.
Not good enough.
Agreed. Human nature isn’t good enough for the job.

Then again, we have people who claim COVID is fake, in the face of a worldwide pandemic.

There are people who refuse to take the recommended precautions, in the face of rising numbers of infections.

Humans can be pretty darn stupid at times. Fear leads to irrational behavior. Why would we expect that it would have been any different 2000 years ago?
 
James the leader of Jerusalem was known as James the Less and was the son of Alphaeus
 
“Brother” in Hebrew was a wide range of words. Also there’s the explanation that James was Joseph’s son from a previous marriage so that’s another proof that adelphos isn’t always from the same womb.
Sigh… That might be relevant if Paul wrote in Hebrew. But he did not.

Yes, I agree (as I have repeatedly said), that the step-brother theory from the Protoevangelium is consistent with both the texts we have and Catholic tradition.
 
James the leader of Jerusalem was known as James the Less and was the son of Alphaeus
Hmm. So now I am confused what your point is. I thought you were saying they were different people.
 
So Paul can’t translate a Hebrew expression into Greek?

In my culture I refer to people who are cousins as my brothers. I don’t have to translate into English as cousins.
 
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James the leader of Jerusalem was known as James the Less and was the son of Alphaeus
Yes, that is what the Catholic Church teaches. We need to bear in mind that the historical facts may perhaps be different.
 
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You claim it was the eleven apostles who said “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” (Lk. 24:34).
The first word of v. 34 is λέγοντας, “saying.” It is a present participle in the accusative masculine plural, agreeing with the object of the verb εὗρον, “they found,” in the previous verse. That object is τοὺς ἕνδεκα καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτοῖς, “the eleven and those with them.”

The Greek grammar shows that the words about Simon and the risen Lord were spoken by the people who had stayed behind in Jerusalem and were found there, not by Clopas and his companion who arrived from Emmaus and found them.

https://www.newadvent.org/bible/luk024.htm
 
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So Paul can’t translate a Hebrew expression into Greek?

In my culture I refer to people who are cousins as my brothers. I don’t have to translate into English as cousins.
Sorry, that makes no sense. It seems to me the argument is that in Aramaic the word brother was used idiomatically to also refer to cousins. Why would a native Greek speaker writing in Greek use a translated Aramaic idiom, and do so just in this one instance to refer to James?
 
I think that is what Scripture shows however, Scripture isn’t meant to teach history. If it is different from history, I want to see evidence.
 
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I can offer an alternative view of Paul’s reference to “James, the brother of the Lord.”

Note that he didn’t call him the brother of Jesus. Also, Paul refers to others as Brethren of the Lord who obviously weren’t all His brothers. We really don’t know for sure which James he is referring to as Paul gives no other clues here. It could have been one of the many disciples named James that was a Brother of the Lord as a title or commonly used reference for their faith community. People just often assume it is that James which honestly, is an assumption. It’s actually unclear who James, the Brother of the Lord is.
 
t seems to me the argument is that in Aramaic the word brother was used idiomatically to also refer to cousins. Why would a native Greek speaker writing in Greek use a translated Aramaic idiom, and do so just in this one instance to refer to James?
And other instances like in Acts like when Paul or Peter address Hebrews.
 
Scripture isn’t meant to teach history. If it is different from history, I want to see evidence.
Ah, but Scripture can teach history. Do you want to see evidence? Try this. The name James occurs 27 times in the Gospels. In 17 of those occurrences, it clearly designates James the son of Zebedee, known as James the Greater, and in eight of them it clearly designates James the son of Alphaeus, known as James the Less. That leaves two verses unaccounted for:



This James, here listed among Jesus’ “brothers,” did not believe in him during his lifetime on earth. This is also supported by a passage in John, though here the “brothers” are not named:


After the Crucifixion, however, James was one of the earliest witnesses to the Resurrection:


Paul met him in Jerusalem:


After Peter’s arrest and miraculous escape at Passover, the leadership of the Jewish Christian community in Jerusalem passed to James. Luke hasn’t previously mentioned his name until this moment:


And then, of course, comes Acts 15 and the Council of Jerusalem.
 
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Ah, but Scripture can teach history.
I didn’t say that it didn’t teach history. I said the purpose wasn’t to teach history. I could list history myself. What the Catholic Church teaches is truth.
 
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This James, here listed among Jesus’ “brothers,” did not believe in him during his lifetime on earth. This is also supported by a passage in John, though here the “brothers” are not named:
The unbelievers in Jesus’s family are unnamed. If it’s James the Less who is this James, we have doubting James.
 
What happened to “ Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joses, and Salome” in Mk 15:40 and 16:1? Is this the son of Zebedee? Of Alpheus?

And we should mention Luke mentions the death of James he Greater in Acts 12, just before James the brother of the Lord shows up.
 
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