ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Do Protestants Believe Jesus Had Brothers?

Updated on August 10, 2014
Albrecht Durer's woodcut, "Christ Taking Leave of his Mother"
Albrecht Durer's woodcut, "Christ Taking Leave of his Mother" | Source

In the New Testament, Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55, describe James, Joseph, Judas and Simon as being the brothers (in the original Greek, "adelphoi") of Jesus. In Galatians 1:19, the Apostle Paul mentions "James, the Lord's brother." Some facets of Christianity believe that Jesus' brothers were biologically related to him, that they were his mother's sons. Other facets say that "brothers" in this sense means "half brothers" or "cousins."

Ironically, the question of whether Jesus had brothers historically has been less about Jesus and his brothers and more about Mary and whether she would have had any other children besides Jesus. In the answer to the question we see shifting attitudes toward Mary as well as toward women and childbearing.

Virginity of Mary

What is at stake in this dispute is the nature of Mary, Jesus' mother. The author of the Gospel of Luke makes it clear that Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. In the third and fourth centuries, Christian theologians extended the doctrine of the virgin birth to include the perpetual virginity of Mary. In other words, they believed that Mary remained a virgin for the rest of her life after Jesus' birth. The rationale behind this belief was the fact that Mary was the theotokos, the one who gave birth to Jesus, who was God. According to Father John Hainsworth of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, it was common for people in the first century who had experienced a close encounter with God to separate themselves sexually from their spouses. Since Mary carried the God-man in her womb, for her to go on to have other children would have been unlikely if not inappropriate. Therefore, the "brothers," of Jesus must have been cousins, neighbors, or Joseph's children by a previous marriage.

Variety of Belief

Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church believe in the perpetual virginity of the Virgin Mary. The Catechism of the Council of Trent, published in 1566, claims that not only was Jesus conceived without a human father, he was born without pain and "without injury to [Mary's] maternal virginity." The catechism also affirms Mary's choice to remain a virgin for the rest of her life.

Reformers

The Protestant Reformers of the 15th and 16th century did not seem to call into question the medieval doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity. In the Lutheran Smalcald Articles, Mary is referred to as "the pure, holy and always Virgin Mary." The Swiss Reformer Ulrich Zwingli said, "I firmly believe that Mary. . . forever remained a pure, intact Virgin." John Calvin affirmed the doctrine as well.

Modern Protestants

Modern Protestants tend to reject the doctrine of Mary's perpetual virginity. Protestants, when compared with Catholics and the Orthodox, give Mary a less exalted place in liturgy and devotion. According to Paul F. Palmer, author of "Mary in the Documents of the Church," Protestants see Mary as a fallen human being who was obedient to God when she accepted the role God gave her. They site Matthew 1:25, "[Joseph] did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son," as evidence that he and Mary were eventually sexually intimate and, therefore, could have had children after Jesus. Consequently, most modern Protestants have no reason to translate the word "adelphoi" as anything but "brothers."

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)