They were a married couple, right? SO, why is she called "Virgin" Mary?
This is a serious question, requiring sensible answers, please.
2006-10-06 07:15:23 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I don't think anyone really knows. The Catholic church teaches that they did not, but again noone was in the bedroom wih them as far as I know.
2006-10-06 07:19:06 · answer #1 · answered by MUD 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The Bible never gives an exact count, but Jesus’ siblings are mentioned in several Bible verses. Matthew 12:46, Luke 8:19, and Mark 3:31 say that Jesus’ mother and brothers came to see Him. Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55). Jesus also had sisters, but they are not named or numbered (Matthew 13:55-56). In John 7:1-10, His brothers go on to the festival. In Acts 1:14, His brothers and mother pray for Him. Later in Galatians 1:19, it mentions that James was Jesus’ brother. The most natural conclusion of these passages is to interpret that Jesus had actual blood siblings. There is no Biblical reason to believe that these siblings are not the actual children of Mary and Joseph. They were obviously born after Jesus, because Jesus was born of a virgin (Isa 7:14; Luke 1:26-38).
2006-10-06 07:38:32 · answer #2 · answered by nana_viki 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
No they did not. Joseph fully understood what was expected of him after having the vision in the dream where the Angel told him who Jesus was to be. He knew he was to be a protector and provider just like the eunuchs in the Old Testament book of Esther. The other children spoken of in the New Testament were close family relatives of the same blood line as Joseph. There were no Aramaic words for cousin so they were in fact called brothers and sisters. This world would have people think that one could not get along without sex all the time that's why they have come up with Viagra and every other type of thing to encourage it, but there are people who do very well as a celibate.
2006-10-06 07:27:13 · answer #3 · answered by Midge 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Most Protestants in the US believe that they had sex after Jesus was born. Most Catholics so not.
Protestants like to point to two passages in the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible to support this. In one, it says that Mary and Joseph had no relations until Jesus was born. In the other, it refers to James ans the brother of Jesus.
Both of these passages suffer from bad translations. The Greek word that is translated as "Brother" actually just means "close relative" and can be used to describe a cousin. As for the "Until Jesus was born" -- the Greek word implies they had no sex before his birth, and -- unlike the English phrase -- implies nothing about after his birth.
Catholics never used the KJV, so would not have fallen into the trap of believing something due to these particular bad translations.
However, there is another reason why Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin. In the Catholic Bible there is a passage where Mary talks about getting married. She frets about this, because she had taken a vow to God that she would remain a virgin. Catholics believe that the logical conclusion of this statement is that she would remain a virgin -- since the mother of Jesus would not break a vow to God.
Protestants would not make this conclusion, because this passage is in one of the books of the Bible that Martin Luther decided should be edited out of the Bible.
As an agnostic, I believe that they had sex before Jesus was married.
2006-10-06 07:25:20 · answer #4 · answered by Ranto 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Joseph and Mary did not have sex after the birth of Jesus. She remained a virgin until she was taken up into heaven. Joseph was her chaste spouse who protected her and raised the infant Jesus. In the time of Jesus, the word brother meant cousins, not literal blood brothers. You must remember the era when Jesus was born and what the cultures and traditions were. Marriages were arranged between families and extended families existed: grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc. To this day, people in Africa call their cousins their brothers or sisters. It is a cultural thing.
2006-10-06 11:43:06 · answer #5 · answered by judirose2001 5 · 0⤊ 2⤋
Yes. Jesus had siblings. She is the Virgin Mary because she became pregnant with Jesus while a virgin. She did not remain one after she was married.
2006-10-06 07:19:42 · answer #6 · answered by MishMash [I am not one of your fans] 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
the Bible mentions the brothers of Jesus several times, so Joseph and Mary MUST have had sex after the birth of Jesus
2006-10-06 07:17:45 · answer #7 · answered by kapute2 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
yes Jesus had half siblings.. Joseph and Mary were TO BE married right before she found out she was pregnant... they had not had sex yet.. that's why Joseph was going to leave her cuz he thought she was tainted until the angle came to him in a dream to fill him in on GODS plan...
2006-10-06 07:19:42 · answer #8 · answered by panda 6 · 2⤊ 1⤋
They were espoused to be married when Mary became pregnant.
Yes, they had children of thier own after Jesus was born. James, His brother is the only one mentioned.
2006-10-06 07:19:16 · answer #9 · answered by Linn E 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Jesus had half brothers and sisters, so they certainly did.
She is called virgin Mary because she is the only woman in all of history that ever had a child when she was a virgin.
Mat 12:47 Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee.
2006-10-06 07:22:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Probably. I do not dispute the possibility of virgin birth, but also do not believe a virgin birth is REQUIRED for Jesus' philosophy to have complete validity.
The virgin birth is a meme in various Middle Eastern religion systems, and its non-uniqueness leads me to believe it was syncretized (borrowed) into Christianity.
2006-10-06 07:21:06 · answer #11 · answered by manabovetime 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋