Does the bible definitely teach that Mary had children? Does the bible definitely teach perpetual virginity?

Answer 1

The Bible does teach sexual repression and also stoning of people, condones slavery, animal sacrifice, killing of gays, ethnic cleansing, and genocide!

Answer 2

As I think you already know:

1) The bible does *not* claim that Mary had children other than Jesus. His "brothers" and "sisters" could, with equal accuracy, be translated "cousins". Thus, the issue is uncertain. The bible does *not* claim that Mary *or* Joseph had other children, or that Jesus had any half-brothers descended from Joseph *or* Mary.

2) The bible clearly does *not* teach perpetual virginity. However, it also does not preclude it. Personally, if an angel came to me in a dream and said "Say, Jim, that girl you're about to divorce? Yeah, well, you see, God got her pregnant. Yeah, that's God's woman there. And he says 'don't divorce her'." Knowing that God is a jealous God, and a *lot* bigger than me, I might think twice on our wedding night, if you know what I mean.

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 3

Not particularly, no. Obviously, Mary had at least one child (Jesus), but the Bible is not clear on any others. There is a bit of an edge to the perpetual virginity, though, because of Jesus asking John to care for Mary on the cross. Why would Jesus ask John to care for Mary if Jesus had siblings to care for her? There is also the theory where the 'brothers and sisters of Christ' are not blood brothers and sisters, but merely other relatives, because in the original Aramaic that the Gospels were written in, there were no words for male relations other than father and son. When they were translated into Greek, the translators didn't bother checking into the actual relationships between various people and just translated it, which made it difficult to decipher the actual relationships in places.

Basically, the Bible tends to lean towards perpetual virginity, but there's no real solid statements either way.

Answer 4

Perpetual virginity is only in Muslim Paradise, but the bible does Not teach that. Mary did have other children after Jesus.

Answer 5

Yes, the bible definitely teaches that Mary had at least one child, Jesus. It's debatable as to whether or not she had others since some passages refer to "Jesus' brothers." That may be literal or figurative. From what I understand, even the Catholic Church does not teach perpetual virginity for Mary. What the bible DOES say is that Mary was a virgin when she conceived and gave birth to Jesus.

Answer 6

Joseph is probably quite happy that she didn't remain a virgin since he would have to become an adulterer to have sex if she did!

Thus the fact that the Bible talks about Jesus' brothers and sisters makes eminent sense.

What is all this church dogma for anyway? What is the benefit of distorting the Bible's teachings this way?

Shouldn't we be interested in Bible truth instead of what the churches claim so clearly against all common sense and teaching of the scriptures.

Since when has God condemned sex between mates? Rather, he has encouraged it for procreation, for the enjoyment of life to make couples - couples.

Isn't then the marriage of Joseph and Mary a holy union? If it is holy, then their sexual intimacy is in accordance with God's will and holy within the context of their marriage.

Answer 7

Have never seen any verses that teach of perpetual virginity and yes, the Bible definitely teaches that Mary had other children. Matt 13:55-57
I
55Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

56And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things?

57And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.

Answer 8

The bible is traditionally interpreted that Mary had no other child than Jesus. At least for around 2000 years, the modern protestant innovation is very recent and is yet another proof of the failure of private interpretation.

In the catholic church it's dogma that Mary is ever-virgin even in giving birth and forever after..


All the protestant Reformers believed in the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Answer 9

Jesus' brothers are mentioned in several verses. However, it doesn't say whether or not they are Mary's children.

The answer to both of your questions is no. That is something that is up for personal interpretation.

As far as for what I personally believe: It doesn't really matter to me whether or not Mary had other children, I would guess she probably did but I don't really care enough to spend a lot of time forming a strong opinion on that topic. I don't believe she remained a virgin all her life. She was married to Joseph. Why wouldn't they have had sex? Does it say anywhere that God commanded her to not have sex with her husband?

Answer 10

Jesus’ brothers 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. The Bible tells us that Jesus had four brothers: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas (Matthew 13:55). The Bible also tells us that Jesus had sisters, but they are not named or numbered (Matthew 13:56). In John 7:1-10, His brothers go on to the festival while Jesus stays behind. In Acts 1:14, His brothers and mother are described as praying with the disciples. 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.

Obviously Mary was a God fearing Jewish young women born under Jewish laws, She had to have sex with her husband Joseph.

Answer 11

The Bible specifically states that Mary/Joseph had children other than Jesus. Therefore, she wasn't a perpetual virgin. There is a specific verse for that too though.