Did it ever occur to you that Joseph was older and may have had other children by a previous wife?
Thus these borthers and sisters could have been step-brothers or half sisters.
That’s a good point but there are several Biblical citations of Jesus, Mary, and his brothers and sisters. Church history has it that Joseph lived long enough to be apprentice to Jesus in carpentry but did not live long enough to witness his death and resurrection, as did Mary.
Without further context, therefore, when Mary is mentioned with Jesus’ brothers and sisters (Mark 6:3 comes to mind) we can only assume that they were biological. Occam’s Razor even applies to Bible study — the simplest explanation is probably the best.
Now I’ll ask you for the Bible verse which validates Mary’s perpetual virginity.
And for the Bible verse which validates that Mary didn’t die but ascended to heaven.
It’s quite clear that certain Biblical characters did not die — Enoch and Elijah come to mind — so the notion that only the “holiest” among us don’t suffer death is merely a tradition and not Biblical. It’s also quite clear that Jesus was not the only man resurrected from the death who walked the earth after his resurrection. Lazarus and the soldier’s daughter come to mind.
So it continues to boggle my mind as to why the Catholic Church felt it had to create this tradition that Mary was spotless and pure her entire life. The virgin conception and birth was clearly foretold in several parts of the Old Testament, including Isaiah 9. But other than describing her as a “virgin” or a “maiden” in the OT there is nothing about the mother of Jesus after his birth.
And the NT is filled with references to her family, children, Jesus’ brother and sisters; also to Joseph having known (in the Biblical sense) his wife.
So the logical and simple conclusion is that Mary’s major contribution beyond traditional matters of motherhood was virgin conception and virgin birth.
It makes me ill to think that the Catholic Church spent years debating whether she was still biologically a virgin in her private areas even after the delivery of her baby. Uggh. Senseless and pointless.
The Bible is our authority, not any conference of the Catholic Church nor church tradition dating back 1700 years.