[metmom]

No, everyone would leave. People are weak, they would much rather have some modern feel-good version of Christianity. It is a miracle that over 1 billion Catholics remain. Without God, that would not be possible. and, by the way, anyone who doubts that theCatholic Church is the very same 1 c. AD Church only needs to look at how the Catholics take everything the scripture says as literal truth, and the modern versions of Christianity invent comfortable to them convolutions to explain that food is not really food and "is" is not really "is".

Then you've changed your position on the perpetual virginity of Mary?

Scripture does say Jesus had brothers and sisters.

There is no way to read those verses as anything other than Mary's and Joseph's children after he knew her after the birth of Christ.

Likewise with her alleged sinlessness. For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and there is none greater among men born of woman than John the Baptist.

[annalex]

Scripture does say Jesus had brothers and sisters. There is no way to read those verses as anything other than Mary's and Joseph's children

The way to read these verses is to understand what "brother" and "sister" meant to the speaker, and it did not necessarily mean biological offspring as we today understand the words. This is because we see use of these words in the Bible that clearly is not about biological siblings, e.g. Lot and Abram, or the children of Mary of Cleophas.

On the other hand, that "this is my body" and "my flesh is food indeed" are insisted upon as literal meaning and the apostles understood them literally (1 Cor. 11)