Bible Question: who was james was jesus his brother and who was james mother, if mary than mary was'nt a virgin? |
Bible Answer: According to the Bible, Mary was indeed a virgin when she becane pregnant with Jesus and until after she gave birth to him. (Genesis 3:15, Matthew 1:25) However, the Bible also tells us that Jesus was the member of a normal family...that Mary and Joseph were allowed a normal married life after Jesus' birth and it names four brothers including James, and mentions also more than one sister. (Matthew 27:56, 13:55, Mark 6:3, 15:40,47, 16:1, Galatians 1:19. The teachings that the Roman Catholic Church gave on the perpetual virginity of Mary came from a time when sex was thought of as an evil necessity...The Roman Church began to get away from the Bible and thus the idea of Mary remaining a virgin seemed cleaner and holier to those leading the Church at the time. From what we see in Scripure...the marriage bed was always considered holy and children a blessing. So, why would God put Mary and Joseph in charge of raising One so precious and restrain them from a normal and fulfilling life with the blessings of more children? Anyway...Now that The Roman Church allows its members to read the Bible, this teaching from the church has begun to be questioned. The Catholic Church maintains Mary's perpetual virginity saying, that these are "cousins" and not siblings. I would say than why do we have in the scripture that John the Baptist was Jesus' cousin. Why did they not use the same terminology for Jesus" siblings as for him if this were the case? As far as I am concerned, we will not go to hell for believing on the wrong side of this issue as long as we realize that she WAS a virgin when she became pregnant and gave birth to Jesus. Though I was raised a Roman Catholic, I believe these were Jesus' siblings. I feel to believe Mary was a virgin forever is probably false and contributes to the veneration of Mary rather than turning people to Jesus as they should. And I believe that we should form our understanding of the Lord and our concepts, doctrines and behavior by what the Scriptures tell us over the teachings of any church, Roman Catholic, Protestant or whatever. I hope this has been of some help. Itiswritten |