Did Mary Have Other Children?

Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry ^ | Unknown | Matt Slick

[HarleyD]

One of the more controversial teachings of the Catholic church deals with the perpetual virginity of Mary. This doctrine maintains that Mary remained a virgin after the birth of Jesus and that biblical references suggesting Jesus had siblings are really references to cousins (Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 510).

As the veneration of Mary increased throughout the centuries, the vehicle of Sacred Tradition became the means of promoting new doctrines not explicitly taught in the Bible. The virginity of Mary is clearly taught in scripture when describing the birth of Jesus. But is the doctrine of her continued virginity supported by the Bible? Did Mary lose her virginity after Jesus was born? Does the Bible reveal that Mary had other children, that Jesus had brothers and sisters?

The Bible does not come out and declare that Mary remained a virgin and that she had no children. In fact, the Bible seems to state otherwise: (All quotes are from the NASB.)

• Matthew 1:24-25 - "And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son; and he called His name Jesus."
• Matthew 12:46-47 - "While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. And someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."
• Matthew 13:55 - "Is not this the carpenters son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?"
• Mark 6:2-3 - "And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, "Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?"
• John 2:12 - "After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother, and His brothers, and His disciples; and there they stayed a few days."
• Acts 1:14 - "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers."
• 1 Cor. 9:4-5 - "Do we not have a right to eat and drink? Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?"
• Gal. 1:19 - But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lords brother."

An initial reading of these biblical texts seems to clear up the issue: Jesus had brothers and sisters. But such obvious scriptures are not without their response from Catholic Theologians. The primary argument against these biblical texts is as follows:

In Greek, the word for brother is adelphos and sister is adelphe. This word is used in different contexts: of children of the same parents (Matt. 1:2; 14:3), descendants of parents (Acts 7:23, 26; Heb. 7:5), the Jews as a whole (Acts 3:17, 22), etc. Therefore, the term brother (and sister) can and does refer to the cousins of Jesus.

There is certainly merit in this argument, However, different contexts give different meanings to words. It is not legitimate to say that because a word has a wide scope of meaning, that you may then transfer any part of that range of meaning to any other text that uses the word. In other words, just because the word brother means fellow Jews or cousin in one place, does not mean it has the same meaning in another. Therefore, each verse should be looked at in context to see what it means.

Lets briefly analyze a couple of verses dealing with the brothers of Jesus.

• Matthew 12:46-47, "While He was still speaking to the multitudes, behold, His mother and brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. And someone said to Him, "Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You."
• Matthew 13:55 - "Is not this the carpenters son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?"

In both of these verses, if the brothers of Jesus are not brothers, but His cousins, then who is His mother and who is the carpenters father? In other words, mother here refers to Mary. The carpenter in Matt. 13:55, refers to Joseph. These are literal. Yet, the Catholic theologian will then stop there and say, "Though carpenters son refers to Joseph, and mother refers to Mary, brothers does not mean brothers, but "cousins." This does not seem to be a legitimate assertion. You cannot simply switch contextual meanings in the middle of a sentence unless it is obviously required. The context is clear. This verse is speaking of Joseph, Mary, and Jesus brothers. The whole context is of familial relationship: father, mother, and brothers.

Psalm 69, A Messianic Psalm

There are many arguments pro and con concerning Jesus siblings. But the issue cannot be settled without examining Psalm 69, a Messianic Psalm. Jesus quotes Psalm 69:4 in John 15:25, "But they have done this in order that the word may be fulfilled that is written in their Law, they hated Me without a cause."

He also quotes Psalm 69:9 in John 2:16-17, "and to those who were selling the doves He said, "Take these things away; stop making My Fathers house a house of merchandise." His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for Thy house will consume me."

Clearly, Psalm 69 is a Messianic Psalm since Jesus quoted it in reference to Himself two times. The reason this is important is because of what is written between the verses that Jesus quoted.

To get the whole context, here is Psalm 69:4-9, "Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head; Those who would destroy me are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies, What I did not steal, I then have to restore. 5O God, it is Thou who dost know my folly, And my wrongs are not hidden from Thee. 6May those who wait for Thee not be ashamed through me, O Lord God of hosts; May those who seek Thee not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel, 7Because for Thy sake I have borne reproach; Dishonor has covered my face. 8I have become estranged from my brothers, and an alien to my mothers sons. 9For zeal for Thy house has consumed me, And the reproaches of those who reproach Thee have fallen on me."

This messianic Psalm clearly shows that Jesus has brothers. As Amos 3:7 says, "Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets." Gods will has been revealed plainly in the New Testament and prophetically in the Old. Psalm 69 shows us that Jesus had brothers.

Did Mary have other children? The Bible seems to suggest yes. Catholic Tradition says no. Which will you trust?

Of course, the Catholic will simply state that even this phrase "my mother's sons" is in reference not to his siblings, but to cousins and other relatives. This is a necessary thing for the Catholic to say, otherwise, the perpetual virginity of Mary is threatened and since that contradicts Roman Catholic tradition, an interpretation that is consistent with that tradition must be adopted.

The question is, "Was Jesus estranged by His brothers?". Yes, He was. John 7:5 says "For not even His brothers were believing in Him." Furthermore, Psalm 69:8 says both "my brothers" and "my mother's sons." Are these both to be understood as not referring to His siblings? Hardly. The Catholics are fond of saying that "brothers" must mean "cousins." But, if that is the case, then when we read "an alien to my mother's sons" we can see that the writer is adding a further distinction and narrowing the scope of meaning. In other words, Jesus was alienated by his siblings, His very half-brothers begotten from Mary.

It is sad to see the Roman Catholic church go to such lengths to maintain Mary's virginity, something that is a violation of biblical law to be married and fill the earth.

[don-o]

I don’t believe God would have left Mary without other children.

Why did Jesus commend Mary to John's care as he was hanging on the cross, if she had other children to take care of her?

[Salvation]

I laugh every time a thread like this comes up, for your founders believed in the perpetual virginity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Virgin Birth—or Prophetic Slip?
The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary
Aeiparthenos (An Anglo-Catholic Priest on Mary's Perpetual Virginity)
[Why I Am Catholic]: Because of the Protestant Reformers Beliefs On Mary
Catholic Biblical Apologetics: Mary: Virgin and Ever Virgin
Luther, Calvin, and Other Early Protestants on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary
Luther, Calvin, and Other Early Protestants on the Perpetual Virginity of Mary
The Protestant Reformers on the Virgin Mary
Zwingli’s’ Mariology: On Mary “Full of Grace”

[sigzero]

You mean like for 2000 years refusing to allow Bishops to marry when the Bible clearly teaches they can be and should be if they can’t bridle their lusts? Yeah, I think they missed this one too. The plain reading of it is, yes, he had brothers and sisters and Joseph knew his wife Mary.

[Natural Law]

"As the veneration of Mary increased throughout the centuries, the vehicle of Sacred Tradition became the means of promoting new doctrines not explicitly taught in the Bible."

Again, another problem with the Protestant doctrine of Scriptural exclusivity that suggests that all that was revealed by God, for all purposes, is contained in one handy-dandy book. Let's examine the Bible, not by a dissection of each word and verse, but at the level of its intended scope and purpose.

The Bible was not intended to be a science or a history book, it is a religious book, and consequently one cannot obtain information about the natural sciences or history from it. In the words of (then) Cardinal Ratzinger; "Holy Scripture in its entirety was not written from beginning to end like a novel or a textbook. It is, rather, the echo of God's history with his people. It arose out of the struggles and the vagaries of this history, and all through it we can catch a glimpse of the rises and falls, the sufferings and hopes, and the greatness and failures of this history. The Bible is thus the story of God's struggle with human beings to make himself understandable to them over the course of time; but it is also the story of their struggle to seize hold of God over the course of time."

One cannot get from Holy Scripture a scientific explanation of how the world arose or a detailed historical account of irrelevant happenings. Again n the words of Cardinal Ratzinger; "one can only glean religious experience from it. Anything else is an image and a way of describing things whose aim is to make profound realities graspable to human beings. One must distinguish between the form of portrayal and the content that is portrayed. The form would have been chosen from what was understandable at the time -- from the images which surrounded the people who lived then, which they used in speaking and in thinking, and thanks to which they were able to understand the greater realities. And only the reality that shines through these images would be what was intended and what was truly enduring."

The Holy Scripture is ambiguous on this issue but the Holy Tradition holds that Mary was otherwise childless and that is good enough for me.

[carton253]

Luke 2:7 calls Jesus her first-born son. To me that means she had other children.

[Natural Law]

"You mean like for 2000 years refusing to allow Bishops to marry when the Bible clearly teaches they can be and should be if they can’t bridle their lusts?"

What perverted cult are you referring to, because that is not the teachings of the Catholic Church.

[sigzero]

People are forever going to argue this one *and* it makes no difference what-so-ever.

[Blood of Tyrants]

I am going to go ahead and say it, the Catholic worship of Mary is heresy.

[wildbill]

I’m reminded of my grandmother, a staunch Baptist, explaining the references to wine in the Bible. According to her, the many refrences weren’t about any alcoholic wine, but simply a Jewish version of Welch’s grape juice.

The controversy about the family members of Jesus is discussed in great detail and with lots of scholarly references in the book, “The Jesus Dynasty” by Dr. James Tabor, head of the Dept of Religion at U North Carolina.

You can’t read this book without coming away with the conclusion that the “perpetual virginity of Mary” theory is much like my Grandmother’s Jewish grape juice theory—something that was invented much later to meet the required tenets of a theological matter of faith.

[tophat9000]

The essay does make a great case for Joseph having children who were his by another wife, who perhaps died in childbirth prior to Joseph’s betrothal with Mary.

Then by that logic why are not Joseph "earlier" children from a first marriage traveling with there Father and Stepmother "Joseph & Mary" at Jesus birth?...

[sigzero]

lol...that is funny. So all those poor schucks arguing that the RC church should allow its priests to marry....what a waste of time arguing something that doesn’t exist. Please.

[Rashputin]

"But there are still those who think a smoking gun lurks somewhere . . ."

If there's a smoking gun anywhere it'll turn up and blow the tush off of those folks who think five hundred years of carnal BS is superior to two thousand years of Christ directing His Church. Of course, they'll either reinterpret it or otherwise discount it as fact the same way they do everything else that doesn't agree with their own carnal understanding.

The same appeal Satan made to Eve works all the time these days as well. People want to be as god and place their own understanding above what they're commanded which is to take up their cross and follow Him. They're not commanded to reinterpret or rewrite everything to suit their own carnal understanding and then carry any little wood chips that remain after they're done carving everything up to suit themselves rather than accepting what has been Christian knowledge for two thousands years.

[Mach9]

Trick question? Maybe you should let us know where the New Testament, or the Old for that matter, refers to Bishops and the conditions of their ordination, consecration . . .

[freedumb2003]

>>The Bible was not intended to be a science or a history book, it is a religious book<<

You gonna GET IT NOW!

[Mach9]

Yo, bro!

[freedumb2003]

>>I am going to go ahead and say it, the Catholic worship of Mary is heresy.<<

It isn’t “worship,” but I will now stand back and watch the result of your tossing a skunk into this particular punch bowl...

[sigzero]

1 Timothy 3 gives the qualifications for Bishop.

[Grunthor]

“Did Mary Have Other Children?”

James, Joseph, Simon and Judas.

[wmfights]

Thanks for the ping. It was a good read.

[ken in texas]

If Scripture does not tell us definitively one way or the other, we should not spend our time on speculation.

GOD directed what would be written in what we know today as the Bible. If we needed more details, they would have been provided.