He's Catholic too , no? To say Jesus had actual brothers and sisters would destroy the eternal virgin stuff, and discredit the teachings of his church.
Heck, according to scripture, (if taken literally) the temple of God is within you. That would tear down the walls of the church as well, because huge gold filled buildings would mean nothing.
What we need here is an unbiased source to find the answers. Neither Catholic, nor straight Biblical.
How about the Amish? They take every word literally. I'll ask them. They've kept the same teaching forever, without influence to change anything.
Correct. Actually, I think Constantine sort of helped along the 'virgin' business when trying to get pagans to convert. Same when he changed the day of worship to Sun Day, in honor of the 'venerable day of the sun'. *rolling eyes*
'Let all judges and all city people and all tradesmen rest upon the venerable day of the sun. But let those dwelling in the country freely and with full liberty attend to the culture of their field; since it frequently happens that no other day is so fit for the sowing of grain or the planting of vines; hence, the favorable time should not be allowed to pass, lest the provisions of heaven be lost.' Quoted in Blakely, p. 269Or if you prefer the Codex Justinianus:
'On the venerable Day of the Sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. (Given the 7th day of March, Crispus and Constantine being consuls each of them for the second time [A.D. 321].)' Source: Codex Justinianus, lib. 3, tit. 12, 3; trans. in Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church, Vol. 3 (5th ed.; New York: Scribner, 1902), p. 380, note 1.
Doesn't anyone have a problem with Constantine changing one of God's Commandments?
Heck, according to scripture, (if taken literally) the temple of God is within you. That would tear down the walls of the church as well, because huge gold filled buildings would mean nothing.
Agreed. Think the Vatican kind of forgot about that while amassing their 'earthly treasures'? Oooops!
What we need here is an unbiased source to find the answers. Neither Catholic, nor straight Biblical. How about the Amish? They take every word literally. I'll ask them. They've kept the same teaching forever, without influence to change anything.
My post was meant to show that what we have from the Greek may not have been what was originally in the Aramaic!
If you do find out anything from the Amish, I would be curious as to what they say. Have kind of wondered about their thoughts myself.
No, just some of the teachings of some of His church.
He's Catholic too , no? To say Jesus had actual brothers and sisters would destroy the eternal virgin stuff, and discredit the teachings of his church.
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IIRC, the Pope of the critical era needed more income for some conquests or some such . . . and he or someone came up with the whole Marian thing as another way to boost income through a diversity of . . . add-ons related to Mary. Clever. Not very Biblical. But clever. Worked. Still works.
I wonder how much cash the Vatican has made off of Marian curios over the last 1500 years--or whatever it is.
It's interesting to me . . . The Father said--THIS IS MY !SON! IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED. Left out Mary.
The Mount of Transfiguration . . . left out Mary.
Were those God's bad hair days? Did He forget to take His memory pills? How could HE have left out Mary? Come to think of it--He left her out of the whole rest of the New Testament. Guess God Almighty knew something the Popes didn't.