Posted on 10/16/2008 8:58:00 AM PDT by presidio9
For as long as man has worshipped a god, there have been forgers, crafty hucksters who seize on a believer's desire to possess material proof of the divine. In Jerusalem, it is a bountiful trade. The old adage is that if all the splinters of the True Cross were gathered from across Christendom, it would yield a wooden crucifix the size of a Manhattan skyscraper. Even back in the Middle Ages, pilgrims visiting Jerusalem told of hawkers who sold counterfeit bones and relics of saints.
But indisputable historical evidence that Jesus Christ, or any of the other Biblical prophets, truly existed is something that eludes religious scholars. There was therefore much excitement in 2001 when a reclusive Tel Aviv collector, Oded Golan, announced that a stone reliquary had come into his possession inscribed with the words "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus." The discovery of the ossuary was hailed in some quarters as a spectacular archeological find - solidly circumstantial proof, at last, of Christ's existence. For it would have held the remains of the Apostle James, who was killed in 62 A.D. and is described in the Bible as Jesus' brother.
When the James ossuary toured Canada in October 2002, it attracted thousands of the curious and faithful. Some visitors kneeled in quiet prayer. But back in Israel, police detectives, along with a growing posse of Biblical scholars, were growing skeptical of the ossuary's authenticity. After a two-year investigation,
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Jesus’ brothers are mentioned; Mary’s children are not.
If we’re going to read “as written.”
That really wasn’t my question, but since you brought it up, I’ll bite. None of the books of the New Testament are actually The Word. Two may be first hand accounts of the last days of Christ, and things that he said during that time. One definitly claims not to be. The writer of Acts was a constant companion of Saint Paul, and Saint Paul is creditied for having written most of the epistles. Saint Paul, of course, had as much or more contact with the Risen Crist as any of the other Apostles. Therefore, his contributions are at least as important as the rest of the New Testament. As you know, there were many accounts of Christ’s life and death available at that time, and Saint Paul could easily have addend his own account of Christ’s life or death, but he had more important things to do. He spoke direstly with the Holy Spirit and his letters reflect what he heard. Sorry if I am being pedantic. I’m sure you agree with me on every point. Occasionally you meet people here who have the strangest notions of Christianity.
Thanks for your comments. I was in a Bible Study group a few years back and we read through Acts (after reading through John). What struck me was how animated the apostles and Paul were about Christ. Their entire lives were based on the powerful message that Jesus left with them.
You can argue left and right about Jesus, the historical Jesus, faked crucifixions and the like, but we are still left with the fact that Jesus left a spark with the apostles, and later Paul that is still going two millennia later. When I think of the Word, I think less about the Gospels, most of which came after the fall of the Temple, than the fact that Jesus’s central messages so animated the Apostles, Paul, and the early Christians (and was the subject of debate in many synagogues) that we have have been delivered the New Testament, which basically records their efforts to respond to the Word as disciples of Christ, and Christianity, which is mostly a creation of Paul as I see it.
I believe it was Aquinas who argued that the transformation of the disciples following the resurrection and subsequent time Jesus spent with the Apostles before rising up into heaven which show the astonishing proof of the resurrection.
Try to explain away these passages, which clearly put Jesus, Mary, the brothers and sisters as all part of one family, of which Jesus was the firstborn of many.
Matthew 13:55
* “Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?”
Matthew 27:56
* “Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s children.”
Mark 3:31
* “There came then His Brethren and His Mother, and standing without, sent unto Him calling Him.”
Mark 6:3
* “Is not this the carpenter, the Son of Mary, the Brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.”
* “There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;”
Mark 16:1
* “And when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the Mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him.”
Matthew 1:24-25
* “Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him HIS WIFE:
* And knew her not Until she had brought forth her firstborn Son: and he called His name, Jesus!”
Matthew 12:46
* “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.”
John 2:12
* “After this He went down to Capernaum, He, and His Mother, and His Brethren, and His disciples: and they continued there not many days.”
Matthew 12:46
* “While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.”
John 2:12
* “After this He went down to Capernaum, He, and His Mother, and His Brethren, and His disciples: and they continued there not many days.”
Acts 1:14
* “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”
Galatians 1:19
* “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.”
Acts 1:14
* “These all continued with one accord in Prayer and supplication, and with the women, and MARY the Mother of Jesus, and with HIS Brethren.”
The threads on this board discussing the distinctions between “philos” and “anepsios” and their respective usages in koine are legion.
The fact that Mary’s own sister by John 19:25 seems to be named Mary as well should caution us from assuming that we can be perfectly clear on the precise relationships entailed by the general usage in the Gospels of “philos” in any event.
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