[metmom]

Incidentally, if you think Mary having other children is important for your salvation, and you believe in Sola Scriptura, why do you think none of these passages definitively picks one child and say, "X, the son of Joseph and Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is Jesus' younger brother according to the flesh"?

Likely because they didn't think that people were such idiots that they plain meaning of *brothers* and *sisters* and naming the brothers would be lost on them, wouldn't be enough, and that they'd need to spell it our more clearly than that.

[count-your-change]

and trying to answer every possible misunderstanding would make the Bible into a set volumes like an encyclopedia, just look at what the Talmud became.

[Quix]

off topic prep link:

http://www.bulkherbstore.com/Eden-Salve

Amish etc. herbal site with great salve and other prep products.

[annalex]

Annalex: why do you think none of these passages definitively picks one child and say, "X, the son of Joseph and Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is Jesus' younger brother according to the flesh"?

Netmom: Likely because they didn't think that people were such idiots that they plain meaning of *brothers* and *sisters* and naming the brothers would be lost on them

No, that is not it, because, regardless whether among Jesus's "brothers" were any of the same mother, the Bible contains many instances of expansive use of "brother" and "sister". Lot for example is called "brother" of Abraham, even though he is his cousin; one Mary is called a "sister" of another.

Also, like many explained before, when talking of a large company of relatives close in age, "brothers" is the plain word to use, and it applies collectively to the brothers of the same parents, cousins, adopted children, step children, etc.