Mary’s Perpetual Virginity . . . Summing Up
By RAYMOND DE SOUZA, KM Part 8 The Gospels mention Jesus’ brothers and sisters (Matt. 13:54-57; also Mark 6:2-3 et alia), and anti-Catholic bigotry sees in this a supposed “argument” against the Catholic teaching of the perpetual virginity of our Lady. But bigotry ignores that in the Hebrew and Aramaic languages, there was no clear distinction between “blood-brother” and “cousin.” Their culture was not centered on the “nuclear family” as we have it today, but the extended family, in which cousins were known as brothers and sisters. The New Testament was not written in English. In Hebrew and Aramaic, “brethren” does not mean only brothers and sisters from the same father and mother, as in English, but also near kinsmen.…Continue Reading