Sorry.. I still don't understand are you saying that Jesus had an actual brother.. where Mary was the mother?

'Isn't this [Jesus] Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?”' 'Mary the mother of James and Joses' Well that's what it says. 'That' being the Bible. I suppose they could have been his step-siblings, the children of Joseph, but that isn't what the Bible says.

Hi Ashley,
There are very few documentations regarding Jesus family. The Christian Church claims these brothers and sisters were Jesus half brothers and sisters from Joseph's first wife. But these are all speculations that the Christian Church tried to rationalize the status of Mother Mary.

May God bless us all,

Thank you Unes

Hi PDM,
I agree with you, there are lots of deficiencies with the Christian Church positions. But apparently these deficiencies make no difference!

May God bless us all,

Thank you for this information.

Mind you, there isn't much about Mary Magdalene either, yet there is evidence to suggest that she was very close to Jesus and may have been the person he chose to lead his followers after his death.

Just because we don't actually have evidence does not necessarily mean that it never existed.

I'm not at all convinced that the Resurrection took place as described in the Bible. However, although I understand what you mean, I'm not fully convinced by your theory either.

As Lisa said, it might have been for their own protection. There is the legend that they fled to Europe (Probably France; possibly England).

I would like to know when the Virgin Mary did take on the significance that she now has within the church. Do you know? Does anyone?

Yes it would seem VERY odd that Joseph had a wife before Mary but that there is no documentation of her at all, especially as she is apparently the mom of Jesus' half siblings. If there really was this other woman, and she had mothered children who were to grow up with the divine Jesus, she certainly should have been rememebered and respected for that ...

Never mind that most Christians don't even have any idea that Jesus maybe *did* have siblings of any sort - either half or full. Somehow religion erased everyone else except Jesus and his male companions. Even poor Mary M was lost from the picture for centuries.

I do not understand.. if there is no documentation of Jesus having siblings where are you getting this from. I do not believe it is true..

Well, Ashley, I think that this item, from the Bible, which I quoted earlier, is one place where people are getting this idea from: "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon" Mark 6:3 (NIV) "they asked. “What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, [ Greek Joses, a variant of Joseph] Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?” Matthew 27:56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons. Note also this website: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2002/141/11.0.html Here's a relevant quote: "Acts 15 records that James rendered judgment at a church council that met to adjudicate issues raised by Paul and Barnabas. He was also probably the author of the New Testament book that bears his name. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus says that around A.D. 62 the high priest Ananus arranged for the death of "one James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ/Messiah"."

[quote]Originally posted by Ashley: [b] I do not understand.. if there is no documentation of Jesus having siblings where are you getting this from. I do not believe it is true.. [/b][/quote]I have found an essay on this subject, which I quote from below. One point I would like to make is this; if James was Joseph's child but not Mary's, then he would not be Jesus' half-brother; he would be his step brother. http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Chilton_James.htm An excerpt from: 'James, Jesus' Brother' By Bruce Chilton (Bernard Iddings Bell Professor of Religion, Bard College) "Interest in Jesus’ brother Ya‘aqov, Anglicized as "James," is flourishing." "Recovery of interest in James is a useful corrective in both historical and theological terms, in that his place within primitive Christianity had been all but eclipsed by the influence of Paulinism in its many forms." "Was James really Jesus’ brother? "The point of departure for considering this question is Mark 6:3 (cf. Matthew 13:55-56), where James is actually named as Jesus’ brother, along with four other men; at least two unnamed and unenumerated sisters are also mentioned. Until recently, Roman Catholic opinion has been dominated by the position of St. Jerome (in his controversial work, Against Helvidius), who argued that although "brothers" and "sisters" are the terms used in Greek, the reference is actually to cousins. Dispute has focused on the issue of whether that view can be sustained linguistically, and on the whole the finding has been negative. Before Jerome, Helvidius himself had maintained during the fourth century that the brothers and sisters were just what their name implies—siblings of Jesus: although he had been born of a virgin, their father was Joseph and their mother was Mary. That view clearly played havoc with the emerging doctrine of Mary’s virginity after Jesus’ birth, and that issue occupied the center of attention. In a recent work which received the Imprimatur, John P. Meier has endorsed the Helvidian theory, to some extent on the basis of support from second century Fathers.10 During that century, a group referred to as the Ebionites even denied Jesus’ virgin birth in the technical sense; his "brothers" and "sisters" were implicitly that in the full sense of those words (see Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1.26.1-2). "Richard Bauckham has given new currency to the view of Jesus’ relationship to James developed by Epiphanius during the fourth century (Panarion 1.29.3-4; 2.66.19; 3.78.7, 9, 13), and supported by the second-century Protoevanglium of James 9.2 and perhaps the Gospel of Peter (according to Origen’s Commentary on Matthew 10:17):11 Mary was Jesus’ mother, not James’, since Joseph had a wife prior to his marriage to Mary. Joseph’s relatively advanced age is traditionally held to account for his early departure from the narrative scene of the Gospels..... James’ seniority relative to Jesus might be reflected in the parable of the prodigal (Luke 15:11-32). The story of those with Jesus seizing him in the midst of exorcism (Mark 3:21; cf. 3:31-35) reflects the kind of almost parental concern an older brother might feel for a younger brother. "Another, more pragmatic consideration provides support for Epiphanius’ theory, although in a modified form. As mentioned, Joseph disappears from the scene of the Gospels from when Jesus was about twelve years old. His death at that time has been the traditional surmise, and such a chronology has implications for understanding Jesus’ relationships with his siblings. On the Helvidian view, Mary must have given birth to at least seven children in twelve years (Jesus, his brothers, and two or more sisters). Assuming that not every child she gave birth to survived infancy, more than seven labors would be required during that period, all this within a culture that confined women after childbirth and prohibited intercourse with a woman with a flow of blood, and despite the acknowledged prophylactic effect of lactation and Joseph’s age. "Although the consideration of a likely rate of fertility provides some support to the Epiphanian theory, in its unadulterated form it strains credulity in its own way. A widower with at least six children already in tow is not perhaps the best candidate for marriage with a young bride. A modified form of the theory (a hybrid with Helvidius’ suggestion) would make James and Joses the products of Joseph’s previous marriage, and Jesus, Simon and Judah the sons of Joseph with Mary. The latter three sons have names notably associated with a zealous regard for the honor of Israel, and may reflect the taste of a common mother. Absent their names, or even a count of how many were involved, no such assignment of marriages can be attempted for Jesus’ sisters. "On the Helvidian view, James was Jesus’ younger and full brother, in a family quickly produced whose siblings were close in age. On the Epiphanian view, James was older, and Jesus’ half brother, it seems to me that, suitably modified, Epiphanius provides the more plausible finding."