Jesus had brothers and sisters?

Question

Interesting programme on Channel 4 that states that Jesus had 4 brother and 2 sisters. The church mafia tried to rub out all mention of James and the Jesus family church. Also came up with a story that Mary was Joseph's second wife and remained a virgin all her life (yeah, right!) - the siblings were therefore half brothers and sisters. All sounds rather like the bible, made up and altered to suit the church as they went along. What is the opinion of the religious lot about this?

To clarify:
1)Where I got my information from? Read the question again!
2)Apparently the Greek orthodox church insists Mary was always a virgin, thus no siblings were Mary's. Even Christians can't agree with eachother!
3)Luke makes no mention of the family but James does of course. Texts from which the bible was supposedly written from show that in the original it states that he went places with brothers and sisters, the current bible makes no mention.
As stated - this is new to me as I am quoting the programme. That is why I asked for viewpoints.

"Television does appeal to the lazy and foolish scholar who doesn't want to think for himself"

...and religious people think for themselves? If you did you would be an atheist.

Answer 1

its true

Answer 2

Jesus did have 4 brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas.It mentions it in Matthew 12:46 and 13:55-56 ;Luke 8:19;Mark 3:31. He also had 2 sisters, in Matthew 12-56, but it didn't mention their names. The Roman Catolics teachings were that they were all cousins,but this isn't true. Also, they believed that Joseph was married before and had 6 children and was a widower at the time he met Mary, and alot older than her too.. They also,believed that Mary stayed a Virgin and did not have sex with Joseph. They were Jesus blood brothers. In Acts 1:14 it mentions Mary and Jesus's brothers praying with his disciples If Joseph already had children, it would've said something about them on one of their many trips they made. So, with all this said Mary DID NOT remain a virgin. Jesus DID have blood siblings

Answer 3

I think I've seen the documentary to which you are referring. I've also seen similar programs on A&E and PBS.
Truely, I dont think we'll ever really have any conclusion one way or the other. Too much time has passed and more importantly the translations of the original texts have been essentially scrambled.

In one documentary, scholars actually believe that the current notions of Mary being a virgin stem from the fact that the word they used in Aramaic at the time more accurately translated meant, "young maiden"..not virgin in the sense we know it.

Also, from what I understand of the family dynamics of the time was that it was not uncommon for various family members to all live together and that often cousins would be referred to as "brothers or sisters". One big happy family...etc.
So those are just a few thoughts from a few documentaries I've seen on the subject.

As for church mafia, and cover-ups...Well...It wouldnt surprise me. If you had an entire faith based upon certain beliefs and those beliefs were shattered..Well you wouldn't have a religion for very long. Either you believe or you don't.

Answer 4

Yes, Jesus had brothers and sisters. The Bible refers several times to such at Matthew 12:46, 47; 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3; Luke 8:19, 20; John 2:12; 7:3, 5. The New Catholic Encyclopedia states that the Greek words used to designate the relationship between Jesus and these relatives have the meaning of full blood brother and sister.

Mary and Joseph had a normal marriage and had sexual relations after Mary gave birth to Jesus. This normal sexual union resulted in other children.

Hannah J. Paul

Answer 5

The bible and the gnostic gospels as well as a number of the letters are clear on this, Jesus had two unnamed sisters and 4 brothers; James the Just (repaetedly refered to as The Brother of Jesus in the bible and letter of Paul), Jude, Joses and Simon

Different churches have a different stance on this:

A local tradition of eastern Syria identifies Jude with the Apostle Thomas, also known by them as Jude Thomas, who they believe is the twin brother of Jesus Christ.

Protestants believe Jude is the uterine half-brother of Jesus Christ.

The Eastern Orthodox Church views Jude as a stepbrother of Jesus by a previous marriage of Joseph that was never mentioned in the canonic Gospels

The Roman Catholic Church holds the belief, first expressed by Jerome, that Jude is a first cousin of Jesus, a son of Clopas the brother of Joseph, or Mary the sister of Jesus' mother Mary.

Answer 6

I don't know about Joseph having been married before, but I do know for a fact that after Jesus was born, Mary and Joseph did have other sons and daughters. The girls are not mentioned by name, but James, the one who wrote the Book of James of the Bible is one of Jesus's half brothers.

Answer 7

Channel 4 is not exactly known for scholarship of integrity !

Television does appeal to the lazy and foolish scholar who doesn't want to think for himself.

What preposterous and foolish claims they make. It doesn't sound like the Bible at all but rather like a television programme. Why don't you read the Bible for yourself, for, not surprisingly, it tells you the true facts. Christ's brothers and sisters are mentioned. Your ignorance makes it hard to take you seriously.

Take care that after watching television you do not also appear preposterous and foolish.

Answer 8

lf that story is true, l don't see anything wrong with that. Joseph was married when he fathered those kids so they would naturally be Jesus' half siblings.
The important thing is they were really a family - Joseph, Mary and Jesus.
There are so many versions that it only confuses the majority. Everyone claims theirs is the truth only to find out another writer claiming the same thing.
As for me, my faith wouldn't falter. The many miracles that happened in all these centuries are proof that there is really a God.

Answer 9

This is one clear example of the fanciful interpretations people can come up with when they try to interpret the Bible on their own, with no knowledge of the times when the Bible was written, or the customs of the time. Mary was a consecrated temple virgin, who had taken a solemn vow of lifelong chastity. This is why, when the angel told her she would carry God's Son, she said "how is this possible, since I know not man?". She was already betrothed to Joseph, so if she had not taken such a solemn vow, she would simply have assumed that she would become pregnant with God's son after her marriage, and with Joseph's help. But, knowing that she had already taken a vow to forsake sexual relations for life, she was understandably confused, and asked "how can this be?".

Such consecrated virgins would often marry an older man, most often a widower, and thereby receive a level of security and protection, while the older man would receive companionship and domestic service, but the solemn vow of chastity would still be fully in effect. This is why, when Mary was found to be "with child", Joseph had to answer to the Temple authorities, since it appeared he was guilty of violating a consecrated virgin. The vocation of consecrated virginity still exists in the Church today, and I personally know three women who have chosen this lifestyle, and have been consecrated by the bishop. Therefore it is categorically impossible that Mary ever had any children resulting from sexual intercourse.

It is possible that the "brothers and sisters" of Jesus were children of Joseph's previous marriage, but not likely. Any such offspring of Joseph would have already been adults at the time Jesus was born. It is quite obvious that these "brothers and sisters", more properly called "brethren", were simply members of the Christian community. This become clear when we look at the original Greek. In mentioning "the brothers of Christ", the Greek word for brothers is "adelphoi". This word can indeed be translated to mean "siblings". But, when we look at the significance of this word throughout the rest of Scripture (an elementary and essential part of any valid biblical exegesis) we find that the word is frequently used in reference to non-siblings, either related by blood or not related by blood. Thus, when we read that after His Resurrection Jesus appeared to "more than five hundred brothers (adelphoi; brethren) at once, we don't assume that Mary had five hundred other children. Therefore, when we read "they said to Him, your brothers (adelphoi; brethren) are outside", there is no reason to try to force this unwarranted interpretation upon the exact same word.
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Answer 10

Hmm, to me it would make no difference if Jesus had brothers and sisters, I do not see why the church would want to hide that. I have heard that as well, but it really has no bearing on my faith.

The silly thing is that Mary and Joseph were humans and they were married, so I dont see why they would not have had more children.

Answer 11

There's no cover up.

Matthew chapter 13

55 Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
56 And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this [man] all these things?