I believe that Mary did have other children. The Bible clearly states it:
Mark 3:31
31Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.
Luke 8:19
19Now Jesus' mother and brothers came to see him, but they were not able to get near him because of the crowd.
John 2:12
12After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days.
Acts 1:4
4They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Mary was a virgin when Jesus was concieved and born. but afterwords she clearly had a normal marriage with her husband and bore some sons.
2007-10-20 11:23:03 · 13 answers · asked by apple1821 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
the reason is ask is because i never understood why people call her the virgin mary. to me it was totally normal for her to have children. totally abnornmal not too. So I am trying to understand why people think she didnt have more kids when it seems like in the Bible she did.
2007-10-20 11:33:28 · update #1
Yes I agree. I think the bible is very plain on this matter. I don't mean to criticize Catholicism, but I have never been able to figure out why they need to insist Mary was always a virgin.
2007-10-20 11:26:32 · answer #1 · answered by Esther 7 · 5⤊ 2⤋
Well she was virgin when she had Jesus (God works in weird ways sometimes) but yes, as the Bible states she did have other kids, and they all didn't come about the same way Jesus did. Mary didn't stay a virgin.
2007-10-20 11:36:03 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Matthew 13:55 , Mark 6:3
2007-10-20 13:00:18 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No Mary NEVER gave birth to other children, but Mary was step mother to Josephs children from a previous marriage, he had 6, they were all older then Jesus.
When forty years of age, Joseph married a woman called Melcha or Escha by some, Salome by others; they lived forty-nine years together and had six children, two daughters and four sons, the youngest of whom was James (the Less, "the Lord's brother"). A year after his wife's death, as the priests announced through Judea that they wished to find in the tribe of Juda a respectable man to espouse Mary, then twelve to fourteen years of age. Joseph, who was at the time ninety years old, went up to Jerusalem among the candidates; a miracle manifested the choice God had made of Joseph, and two years later the Annunciation took place.
Early Christian Writings
2007-10-20 13:56:21 · answer #4 · answered by tebone0315 7 · 0⤊ 4⤋
This sure is sufficient evidence...I have never read the Bible in its entirity, and I have never thought about this concept, but I guess it makes perfect sense for Jesus to have brothers. I mean, Mary wouldn't, being a married woman, never have sex for her whole life. I don't think they even had birth control, so...well, you get it.
2007-10-20 11:35:27 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely not ... and you are "absolutely" wrong in your interpretation of scripture.
To place Mary in the care of St. John, which Jesus did while he was hanging on the cross, would have been a direct and intentional insult to any and all of his supposed "brothers and sisters" and Jesus didn't operate that way.
The Catholic church was there with Jesus, Mary, and the apostles from the beginning. The Catholic church does not get it's information some 1500 years later, from a flawed interpretation of "scripture alone".
All the original protestant reformers also clearly understood this. Anything else is simply a creeping, late day heresy.
The Catholic church knows that any mention of "brothers" or "sisters" refers in fact, only to cousins and other close relatives.
Mary was consecrated to God as a virgin, almost from birth, she remained a virgin even while giving birth to Jesus, and Mary remains a virgin today.
Once dedicated to God, sacred "vessels" are never allowed to be used for profane purposes.
To attempt to infer anything else from scripture alone is not only presumptuous, but it is also profoundly disrespectful of Jesus and his mom.
2007-10-20 15:13:14 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 4⤋
when she had Jesus she was a virgin, but after Jesus she had many children, the Bible is very clear on that. Why the Catholic Church refutes that evidence is beyond me. You are exactly right.
2007-10-20 12:54:00 · answer #7 · answered by victor 7707 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
You justify good points, but keep in mind that the Bible in the English language is translated from the Greek language. I don't know much about the Greek language, but it is very probably that the word "brother" is the closest English word to his "friend". Using the word "brother" may have implied that Jesus had very very close friends who were not blood-related.
2007-10-20 11:28:24 · answer #8 · answered by sept0988 2 · 2⤊ 2⤋
It does not clearly state this. She had no other children. If you were Joseph and the Angel of the Lord came to you in a dream and told you whose child your bride was carrying would you even consider having relations with her after that? He absolutely knew what was expected of him after that---he knew all about the Kings eunuchs in the book of Esther---he was to care for her only. You know many people could have Jesus born in their soul if only they would let the Virgin Mary in but, they are like all the Inns in Bethlehem that are too full of themselves and the World and consequently Jesus is born somewhere else---in a humble person who does not think God has to live up to human standards of sex all the time.
2007-10-20 11:39:38 · answer #9 · answered by Midge 7 · 0⤊ 5⤋
It only makes sense if Joseph was married before and was a Widower and had sons of his own,Mary was and remained virginal after the holy birth of Jesus.
2007-10-20 11:31:32 · answer #10 · answered by Sentinel 7 · 0⤊ 5⤋