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13.0 The Promised Land At The Time of Jesus’ Birth

Let’s review the situation in at the birth of Jesus; Juda, which, after 400 years of subjugation, managed for a very brief time to re-establish itself as an independent kingdom

The Romans, under Pompey, subjected that kingdom to Roman rule Herod, an Idumean with Roman support, managed to wrest power away from the existing Hasmonean royal family while maintaining some degree of legitimacy by marrying a Hasmonean princess (Mariamne I)

When Jesus was born, King Herod, today known as During Jesus’ lifetime, Judea, , was near the time of his death. and were full of When Herod finally died (at least 2-3 years after resentment of a dynasty they Jesus’ birth), his kingdom was divided up by the considered foreign (Idumean) Romans among three of his heirs. Herod Archelaeus and its Roman overlords. There was a desire for a new, truly ruled Judea and Samaria from but was Jewish King, a Messiah from the quickly replaced by a Roman procurator. Herod line of who would end Antipas ruled in Perea as well as Galilee where Jesus foreign rule lived. ruled lands north and east of Galilee

13.1 What Groups Existed When Jesus Was Born?

Josephus mentioned three political/religious sects in the Jewish Kingdom as the Romans brought the Kingdom of Judah under their rule.

As described by Josephus, these sects were;

•

•

• Essenes

The next slides will sum up each of these three groups. A fourth group of people, the , will also be examined as will several smaller groups

Under Roman rule, the Kingdom of Judah became known as the province of Judea, a satellite province of . The Roman governor of the region lived in Damascus. The Roman Prefect/Procurator who governed Judah when Archelaus was banished did not live in Jerusalem. He lived in Caesaria Maritima. The procurator during Jesus’ time of public ministry was (26-36 CE)

13.2 Who Were the Pharisees?

• The name Pharisee (Pharisaioi in Greek, perisaye in Aramaic and perushim in Hebrew) had the basic meaning of “the separated ones”.

• They seemed to come from a group of scribes (lawyers) under Jonathan Maccabeus @ 150 BCE. They seem to have evolved from the Hassidim who supported the Maccabean revolt until the revolt took a secular turn

(torah se-biktav , הרות בש כ ת ב ) The Pharisees believed that both the written Torah • tora se-be-al peh) were normative. Their הרות לעבש הפ ) as well as the oral Torah love of the Torah and their meticulous observance of the Sabbath, ritual purity etc., helped keep Judaism intact in the face of Hellenistic polytheism and secularism. The oral Torah would be later be written down (100-300 CE???) and become the Talmud.

• The Pharisees followed in the footsteps of King Josiah, and the priest/scribe Ezra and all those who believed that the best way to ensure a good and holy nation was to ensure that the youth of the nation would be educated in the Torah including the do’s and don’ts that comprise pious behavior. Rabbinic Judaism derives from the Pharisees

13.3 Who Were The Sadducees?

• The name Sadducee (Saddoukaioi in Greek, sadduqaye in Aramaic and sadduqim in Hebrew) is related to the line high of priests that began with Zadok who shared the position of High Priest with Abiathar under David. Solomon removed Abiathar from the position leaving Zadok the lone legitimate high priest in the Temple. The line of Zadok lasted until Judah was ruled by the Seleucid kings

• Despite the link between the name of their party with a line of High Priest who historically had supported faithfulness to the Torah and the customs, rituals and practices that it taught, the Sadducees were part of the more recent version of the High Priesthood whose office holder was appointed by Hellenist and, later, Roman rulers. It is understandable then that, unlike the Pharisees who were most Hebraists, the Sadducees were mostly Hellenist Hebrews who formed the ruling class

• Religiously, the Sadducees did not want to have any part of an oral tradition of the Torah. They felt that such interpretation came from laymen interfering with things best left to priests like themselves. Unlike the Pharisees, the Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the body, or spirits according to the of Mark (Mark 12:18). They also did not believe that writings outside of the Torah were normative.

13.4 Who Were The Essenes?

• The name Essenes (Essenoi or essaioi in Greek, possibly hasayya in Aramaic) means either “pious ones” or “healers”

• According to Pliny the Elder, they lived on the Western shore of the Dead Sea between Jericho and Engedi. Most take the site to be Khirbet Qumran

• Was an Essene? Was Jesus an Essene? Most of the information about the Essenes comes from the writings of Josephus. They are hardly mentioned in Scripture. - John the Baptist may have been an Essene in that, like the Essenes, he seemed to live apart from regular society - Jesus may well have known about the Essenes and the things that they taught and believed but He Himself was probably not an Essene. He lived as part of the general society. He drank wine. He ate with sinners etc.

• In the end, there is simply not enough information to draw a definitive conclusion concerning Jesus, John the Baptist and the Essenes

13.5 Who Were The Samaritans?

• Most historians hold to the idea that the name derives from Samaria, the capital city of the divided Kingdom of Israel. Others say the name derives from ”shamerim) meaning “keepers of the law) ַשׁ ִיִרֶמ ם the Hebrew term

• The Samaritans claimed that not all of the “Lost Tribes” of the Northern Kingdom of Israel were lost. Samaritans claim descent from Ephraim and Manasseh, the sons of Joseph. The Jewish people called Samaritans Kuthim (Cuthians) referencing people brought from the land of Cutha (in modern Iraq) by the Assyrians to repopulate the Northern Kingdom after the conquest of Israel by Assyria

• Many scholars believe that at least some of the Jewish inhabitants of the Northern Kingdom of Israel remained in the land after Israel was defeated by the Assyrians. The Samaritans claimed that they represented the original faith of Israel before the alleged changes made by Josiah were added and later codified in Babylon. The Samaritans believed that the Jewish people who returned from captivity in Babylon and lived under a Persian culture represented a change in traditional Jewish beliefs. There is still a tiny community of Samaritans in Israel today. They believe that their version of the Torah is the only true version. They hold that Mount Gerizim is the proper place of sacrifice for Israel

• Recent DNA testing which shows that the mtDNA is consistent with people who inhabit portions of modern Iraq (Cutha?) but there is other DNA that shows Jewish ancestry 13.6 Were There Other Jewish Sects?

• There Were - Considered by some to be the extreme right wing of the Pharisees - Josephus called them the fourth philosophy of Judaism (they accepted violence and murder as acceptable means to an end) - Likely started by Judas the Galilean in 6 CE (Acts 5:37) who resisted the of conducted in 6 CE. and grew after Jesus’ crucifixion - They objected to paying tax (tribute) to any foreign, pagan king - They finally revolted against Rome in 66 CE and the final confrontation of that revolt took place at Masada - There is a question concerning one of Jesus’ apostles, Simon Zelotes. Was he “zealous” for the Torah (a Pharisee or one of the Hasidim) or was he a member of the group that became “the Zealots”?

• There Were Herodians - The Herodians were mentioned in Mark (3:6 and 12:13) and Matthew (22:16) as joined with the Pharisees in attempts to entrap Jesus - Completely opposite the Pharisees in philosophy but shared their concern about Jesus

• There Were Zadokites - The Zadokites were more fundamental than the Sadducees (Written Torah only) - They felt that the Sadducees were too worldly, too Hellenistic

13.7 What Do The Christian Scriptures Tell Us About Jesus?

Despite some claims to the contrary, almost all of what is known about Jesus comes from the Christian Scriptures (the ) and those scriptures tell us these basic things;

• Jesus was born in in Judea but lived his life in Nazareth in Galilee • His mother’s name was Mary (Miriam) and His father’s name was Joseph (Yosef)

• There is very little known about His life as a child and young adult

• At some point in His adult life, He was baptized by John the Baptist in the and began to preach, teach and heal in public

• He spent most of his public ministry in Galilee, but at some point, he traveled south and entered the city of Jerusalem and was proclaimed by some to be King of the Jews

• After his entry, He was arrested and convicted by the Romans as a criminal. He was later crucified by the Romans as his punishment

• His followers claimed that He was raised from the dead after His crucifixion and that He appeared to them alive on a number of different occasions

13.8 Are There A Non-Scriptural Sources About Jesus?

There is only one source outside of the Christian Scriptures written around the time of Jesus which speaks about him directly

Josephus Antiquity of the Jews: Book 18 Chapter 3 on Jesus Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.

Josephus Antiquity of the Jews: Book 20 Chapter 9 on James, the Brother of Jesus ..so he ( the High Priest Ananus) assembled the Sanhedrim of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ (i.e. Messiah), whose name was James, and some others

Josephus Antiquity of the Jews: Book 5 Chapter 2 on John the Baptist Now some of the Jews thought that the destruction of Herod's (Antipas) army* came from God, and that very justly, as a punishment of what he did against John, that was called the Baptist: for Herod slew him, who was a good man, and commanded the Jews to exercise virtue

* had married the daughter of the King of Nabataea to seal an alliance. When Antipas divorced her to marry Herodias, her father the King went to war against Antipas.

13.9 Are There Other Sources That Mention Jesus Indirectly?

Tacitus: Roman Senator and Historian (Annals: 116 CE)

[N]either human effort nor the emperor’s generosity nor the placating of the gods ended the scandalous belief that the fire had been ordered [by Nero]. Therefore, to put down the rumor, Nero substituted as culprits and punished in the most unusual ways those hated for their shameful acts …whom the crowd called “Chrestians.” The founder of this name, Christ [Christus in Latin], had been executed in the reign of by the procurator Pontius Pilate … Suppressed for a time, the deadly superstition erupted again not only in Judea, the origin of this evil, but also in the city [Rome], where all things horrible and shameful from everywhere come together and become popular.

Pliny the Younger, a Roman governor and friend of Tacitus

Wrote about early Christian worship of Christ “as to a god.”

Suetonius, a Roman writer, lawyer and historian, wrote of riots in 49 C.E.

A riot broke among Jews in Rome which might have been about Christ. Suetonius specifically wrote that he thought the riots were incited by “the instigator Chrestus,” whose identification with Jesus is not completely certain. This does align with the information in Acts that Jews from all over heard Peter preach at Pentecost and may have been specifically moved to form a community upon their return to Rome. Paul’s letter to the Romans was written to a community that was already in existence. It was not established by Paul. A member of that community was named Aristobulus, a name not uncommon in Hasmonean royal family 13.10 What Can We Really Know About the Jesus of History? The greatest amount of information about Jesus comes from the Christian Scriptures. These Scriptures are believed to have been written by people who were eyewitnesses of the events of Jesus life before and after his death and resurrection

These writers, like the writers of the Hebrew Scriptures, are not uninvolved historians. They have an agenda. They want to write about a set of experiences that they have had with events that go beyond the natural world as we know it. For that reason, many people, especially scholars, do not trust the reliability of Christian Scriptures as a source of information about Jesus. Such people then have only two choices: 1) Trust what Josephus has to say. While there is some debate on how reliable the references are in his work, there is little doubt that Josephus wrote his work some time in the mid 90s CE

2) Speculate on what Jesus must have been like based on what is known about his contemporaries. If you have assembled your facts well and presented them in a cogent fashion, your speculation deserves some consideration so long as it is made clear that it is speculation

It is important to note, however, as Albert Schweitzer has pointed out, that the results of such speculative research often produces a Jesus that matches exactly the Jesus that the researcher was looking for. An honest person should be just as ready to question the reliability of this kind of speculative research as they are to question the reliability of the Scriptures themselves

13.11 What Are The Basic Controversies About Jesus?

Here are five very common controversies:

• The Year of His Birth

• The Date of His Birth

• The facts surrounding his conception • The facts surrounding his birth • The size and makeup of Jesus’ family

13.12 What Was the Year of Jesus’ Birth?

There real answer is that we don’t know the exact year. There are some things that we do know from Scripture that can narrow it down at least a bit

• Matthew (2:1) declares that Jesus was born during the reign of Herod the Great

• Josephus states that Herod died 37 years after the Roman Senate declared him King of the Jews (41/40 BCE) and 34 years after he was able to actually (@ 37 BCE) become king. That calculates down to 4-3 BCE

• Josephus wrote that a lunar eclipse occurred shortly before Herod’s death. There was a partial eclipse in March of 4 BCE

• Matthew also states that Herod ordered the death of all male children 2 years of age or younger. This implies that Jesus must have been born at least two years before Herod’s death in 4 BCE, so around 6 BCE

• Luke states that a census took place during the year of Jesus’ birth. Josephus indicates that Quirinius was the Roman Governor in Syria when Caesar in Rome ordered a census of the world. Josephus tells us, however, that one of the reasons Quirinius was in Syria (Judea was a territory in the Roman province of Syria) was to settle the affairs of Herod Archelaeus who had been banished to Gaul and replaced with a Roman procurator. This is known to have taken place in 6 CE too late to be the census mentioned by .13 More on the Birth Year of Jesus

It is true that Luke states that a census took place during the year of Jesus’ birth. It seems true that the census referenced in Luke could not have been the census of Quirinius if Josephus’ dates are correct. It is also true that no records have been found in Rome to confirm any earlier census even though Quirinius was known to have been in the East earlier. There are three additional pieces of information to be considered.

• Egyptian records indicate that the Romans took a census in 20 BCE and that a census was normally taken every 14 years. This would correspond with at least a regional census that may have taken place around 6 BCE. The Beginnings of the Roman Census in Egypt, Roger S. Bagnall https://grbs.library.duke.edu/article/viewFile/3811/5657

• Both Justin Martyr and Tertullian (2nd Century CE) state that Roman records of the census in question did exist and were available to be reviewed in the archives of Rome during their lifetimes

• John H. Rhoads, a professor at Concordia College, wrote a paper indicating that Josephus’ dates were wrong (March 2011, Journal of the Evangelical Theology Society). If Prof. Rhoads is correct, Luke’s reference to a census could well have been one ordered by Quirinius. If Josephus’ dates are accurate, then this reference either was not the global one ordered by Quirinius but may have been the Regional census that Egyptian records mentioned.

13.14 What is the Day on Which Jesus Was Born? No Christian church has ever made a definitive claim that Jesus was actually born on December 25. Christian churches simply celebrate His birth on that day. There are many theories to explain why December 25 was selected as the day to celebrate the birth of Jesus but two garner the most interest.

THEORY ONE

Theory One has two versions;

• The Secular Version of Theory One The decision to make December 25 the official date for Christians to celebrate Christmas was made by the first Christian Emperor of Rome, Constantine. This viewpoint holds that Constantine wanted to unite the Christian faith with a popular celebration among pagan Romans, either the older Saturnalia (Dec. 17- 23) or the later Dies Natalis Solis Invicti (Dec. 25) established by Emperor Aurelian in 274 CE

• The Christian Version of Theory One So many Romans were converting to Christianity after Constantine’s conversion that the Church needed to “baptize” certain pagan festivals to allow all the new converts to experience their conversion without excessive culture shock. So, they chose the Roman holiday of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti, Dec. 25 as the day. It is interesting that words for Christmas in French (Noël), Italian (Natale), and Spanish (Navidad) are all related to the Latin word Natalis

13.15 What Is the Second Theory Regarding Jesus’ Birth Date?

THEORY TWO • The second theory notes that Christian groups were celebrating Jesus’ birth on December 25 long before Constantine legalized Christianity and even long before Emperor Aurelian established the holiday of Dies Natalis Solis Invicti: - Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome @220 CE, wrote that Christians were celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25 during his time as Bishop - The Donatists, a North African Christian group so scrupulous in their practices that they would hardly mimic anything Roman, were also known to have celebrated Christmas on December 25 long before Constantine was even born • Recent scholarship (Louis Duchesne, Thomas Talley) seems agree with Hippolytus that the choice of December 25 in Western Christianity and January 6 in Eastern Christianity had nothing to do with Roman festivals to their gods: - According to the , Jesus was executed on 14 Nisan in the Jewish Calendar. The Latin speaking Christian, Tertullian (@200 CE), calculated that 14 Nisan took place on 8 Kalends April in the Roman calendar (March 25) - Eastern, Greek-speaking Christians, using their own calendar instead of the Roman calendar, calculated 14 Nisan to be the 14 Artemisios (April 6) - Both Greek and Roman Christians had a tradition that the took place on the same date as Jesus’ passion and death, 14 Nisan (Hippolytus as cited above and Augustine: De Trinitatis) - Jesus’ birth date then was calculated to be nine months after the Annunciation or 9 months after March 25 or April 6 (Andrew McGowan, Biblical Archaeology Review) 13.16 Lesser Known Historical Facts About Christianity

• The “Hellenists” among the Christians mentioned in Acts 6:1 were not Gentile Christians but converts from that part of Judaism that had been assimilated into the Hellenistic culture and spoke only Greek, not Aramaic or Hebrew • Constantine did NOT make Christianity the official religion of the . Constantine did make Christianity legal by issuing the Edict of Milan in 313 CE. In the year 380 CE, Theodosius issued the Edict of Thessalonica declaring Nicaean catholic Christianity to be the only official religion of the Roman Empire. This does not mean that Theodosius persecuted non-Christians. Constantine’s Edict of Milan allowed religious freedom to all faiths. It did mean that the Empire would no longer fund traditional Roman temples and shrines and that they would fund Christianity • Judaism was recognized very early on by the Roman Empire as a legitimate religion (religio licita) and therefore was legally practiced under Roman law. At first, Christianity, seen as a Jewish sect, was deemed legal but, over time, Christianity was seen as a separate faith. It was not considered a religio but rather a superstitio • In 64 CE, Emperor Nero blamed Christians for the fire that nearly destroyed Rome. In 116 CE, the Roman Tacitus wrote that Christianity was “a mischievous superstition”. Under Roman law, Christians were atheists since they worshipped a deity not recognized under Roman law. Some even accused Christians of cannibalism. Persecutions of Christians generally began with Nero and ended with Constantine • Constantine was not baptized until shortly before his death (not uncommon for converts) but he was baptized by a heretical (Arian) bishop Eusebius (not the Church historian of the same name)

13.17 Did Christians Believe in the ?

The answer to that question is simple. It is a resounding YES! Yet there have been two controversies regarding the Virgin Birth, and they need to be understood. It is a fact that many Christians see Isaiah 7:14 (and a virgin shall bear a son) as a prediction of the virgin birth of Jesus. It is a fact that the Hebrew word used for virgin .almah). A controversy developed around that word) ָמְלַﬠ ה֗ in Isaiah was Some New Testament scholars claim that early Christians never believed that Jesus was conceived virginally. These critics claim that the virgin birth developed over time due to the mistranslation of almah, which in Hebrew simply means maiden of virginal age and makes no reference to actual virginal status. That is a true statement.

It is also true that Greek Septuagint used the word πάρθενος (parthenos) to translate the Hebrew word. It is also true that parthenos can mean virgin, HOWEVER, like the Hebrew almah, it does not have to mean virgin. It can also mean a girl of virginal age. In fact, the Greek Septuagint uses the word parthenos to describe Jacob’s daughter Dinah in Genesis 34:3 This word was used to reference Dinah after she slept with Schechem. At that point, Dinah was clearly no longer a virgin. The Greek translators of that Septuagint understood that almah was a word that could mean either virgin or young woman. They chose parthenos specifically because it had the very same meaning

Christians do not believe that Mary was a virgin because of a poor translation. They believed it because they read the first chapter of Luke’s gospel which leaves no room for doubt about what Luke was trying to say. 13.18 Did Christians Believe That Mary Remained a Virgin? (I)

That is a more debatable question. Jesus’ father (according to scripture, foster father) Yosef). Yosef is commonly thought of as a carpenter, but the) סוי ף was named Joseph Greek word used to describe Yosef’s occupation is τέκτων (tekton). (Matt: 13:55) This word could mean many things including artisan, builder or contractor

(Miriam) םָיְרִמ His mother was named Mary

Almost all Christians believe that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born. One of the great divisions in Christianity is the question of whether Mary remained a virgin after Jesus was born. The is actually unclear about that.

Here is what is known. Matthew 13:55 identifies Jesus as having four ‘brothers’; , , דוּהי ָ ה and Jude ִשׁ וֹעְמ ן Simon סוֹי ֵ י Joses ﬠי ַ בוֹק James

The New Testament does not give us the names of Jesus’ sisters though you might the names Mary and Salome offered as speculation.

It is absolutely true that this reference exists in Matthew and Mark 6:3 says the same. What is less clear is that the Bible does say that these four are Jesus’ brothers but never directly says that Mary is their mother. It is also true that Semitic languages have no word for such relationships as cousins or nephews. For example. Lot, clearly a nephew of Abraham is often called Abrahams brother. 13.19 Did Christians Believe That Mary Remained a Virgin? (II)

But wait. It even gets more confusing.

Matthew (10:3) and Mark (15:40) say that a woman named Mary and her husband, Alphaeus, are the parents of two men named James and Joses. Luke agrees that at least James is the son of Alphaeus. In his epistle, Jude identifies himself as ἀδελφὸς δὲ Ἰακώβου (brother of James). So at least we have the three “brothers” of Jesus named as the children of Mary and Alphaeus.

Well, if you are not confused yet, let me make you more confused. John 19:25, however, describes Mary, not as the wife of Alphaeus but a man named Cl(e)op(h)as.

Now let me give you at least one early Christian commentary on the issue. Papias was someone who was “a hearer of the Apostle John”. Papias was also the Bishop of Hierapolis. Much of Papias’ writings were lost but some fragments survive and one of those fragments addresses this issue. This passage is often called “The Four Marys”.

“Mary, the Mother of the Lord. Mary the wife of Cleophas or Alphæus, who was the mother of James and of Simon and Thaddeus (also known as Jude), and of one Joseph. Mary Salome, wife of and mother of John the Evangelist and James. ”. (Fragment 10 of Papias)

Another bit of oral tradition (small t) says that Joseph’s had a brother names Chalpai in Aramaic. That name was Hellenized by some as Alphaeus and others as Cleophas. The second Mary, his wife, was Joseph’s sister-in-law, and the four boys were Jesus’ cousins. 13.20 Theory One: The Cousins Theory

Chalpai

• So, if these four “brothers” of Christ were actually Jesus’ cousins, why didn’t Scripture say that. Most people believe that the original language of the Christian Scriptures was Greek, and Greek had the word anepsios meaning cousin. Why didn’t the Greek text just say that?

• There are two possible answers to that question.

1 While the Gospel writers did write in Greek, they still expressed themselves as Semites would. They may not even heard of the word anepsios. 2 Perhaps Greek was not the original language of Scripture. Perhaps it was Syriac (a language very similar to Aramaic). The Peshitta is the standard language of the Bible of many Middle Eastern Christians (e.g. Maronites in Lebanon). There are some that believe that Syriac was the original language of Scripture. Unfortunately, the overwhelming number of early Christian writings that survived were written in Greek. 13.21 But Wait! There’s More!

Theory Two. The second theory holds that Jesus’ brothers and sisters were Joseph’s children from a previous marriage. A popular (but non-canonical) work that circulated in early Christian communities was the Protoevangelium of James (a sort of a prequel to the ). This work tells how Mary was born to Anna and Joachim. The story claims that Mary was a dedicated Temple virgin and was determined to preserve her virginity throughout her lifetime. As she approached the age of 12 however, she could no longer serve in the Temple due to the ritual uncleanliness of her approaching menstrual cycle. It was decided, to preserve Mary’s virginity, that one of the older men of the village of Nazareth would be selected to act as her guardian. One version of this story says that, to make the decision, all the older men in the village were to have their walking staffs collected and the one chosen at random would be Mary’s betrothed. Joseph was a widower with older sons and daughters, when his staff was collected, something miraculous took place. Joseph agreed to be Mary’s ‘husband’. Jesus’ brothers and sisters were children from Joseph’s first marriage. Statues of Joseph in Catholic Churches often depict Joseph with a walking staff that is flowering on the upper end

Both theories are ancient (very early 2nd Century CE) and both have scriptural support. Scripture describes how Jesus’ “brothers” had other parents. Both theories point to John 19:26-27 to show that Jesus gave the care of his mother to the beloved disciple, John. If Jesus had brothers, they claim, this would never have happened. Christian tradition does claim that Mary spent her remaining years protected by the Apostle John

13.22 Theory Two: The “Brothers of Jesus” as Jesus’ Step-Brothers (from the Protoevangelium of James)

Suddenly, an of the Lord stood in front of her, saying, "Anna, Anna, the Lord God has heard your prayer. You will conceive and give birth and your child will be spoken of everywhere people live." (2) And Anna said, "As the Lord God lives, whether I give birth to either a male or a female child, I will bring it as an offering to the Lord my God and it will be a servant to him all the days of its life. (Chapt.4:1-2) The child Mary was sent to the Temple to act as a dedicated Temple virgin.

(3) When she turned twelve, a group of priests took counsel together, saying, "Look, Mary has been in the temple of the Lord twelve years. (4) What should we do about her now, so that she does not defile the sanctuary of the Lord our God?“ (Chapt. 8:3-4) And the priest ….prayed about her. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood before him, saying, "Zachariah, Zachariah, depart from here and gather the widowers of the people and let each one carry a staff. (8) And the one whom the Lord God points out with a sign, she will be his wife.. When he was finished with the prayer, he took the rods and went out and gave them to each man, (5) but there was no sign among them. Finally, Joseph took his rod. (6) Suddenly, a dove came out of the rod and stood on Joseph's head. (7) And the high priest said, "Joseph! Joseph! You have been chosen by lot to take the virgin into your own keeping." (8) And Joseph replied, saying, "I have sons and am old, while she is young. I will not be ridiculed among the children of Israel.“ (Chapt 8:7 and 9:4-8)

https://www.asu.edu/courses/rel376/total-readings/james.pdf 13.23 Which Theory Regarding Mary’s Perpetual Virginity Is True?

Wait! There is one more theory to be considered: Theory Three: Ockham's Razor. The best way of understanding Matthew 13:55, and the several other references to Jesus’ brothers and sisters in the NT is the least complicated way, namely, to believe that Mary had other children.

Catholics and Eastern Orthodox are more likely to support Theory One or Theory Two while today’s Protestants largely support Theory Three. I was interested to find, though, that many of the early reformers supported Mary’s perpetual virginity;

• The Latin text of the 1537 Smalcald Articles written by Martin Luther used the term "Ever Virgin" to refer to Mary. Luther never wavered from that belief. • Huldrych Zwingli directly supported perpetual virginity and wrote: “I firmly believe that [Mary], ... forever remained a pure, intact Virgin.” • John Wesley wrote: "... born of the blessed Virgin Mary, who, as well after as before she brought Him forth, continued a pure and unspotted virgin” • John Calvin was less emphatic in his open support of the idea, and neither flatly accepted or rejected it but he did caution against the idea of "impious speculation" on the topic of perpetual virginity and believed that the mention of the brothers and sisters of Jesus did not necessarily imply that Mary had other children

13.24 Theory Three: The “Brothers of Jesus” as Jesus’ Actual Brothers

Chalpai

Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? (Matt. 13:55) Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us? (Mk. 6:3) Roman Catholic and Eastern Christianity maintained the doctrine of Early Christianity that Mary was a perpetual virgin, so this theory is rejected by them. Early Protestant leaders, including founder of the Lutheran Churches, Martin Luther and Reformed theologian Huldrych Zwingli, also held this view, as did John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism. Eine Christliche Lehrtafel (A Christian Catechism), issued by Anabaptist leader Balthasar Hubmaier, teaches the perpetual virginity of the Virgin Mary as well. The original Protestant Reformers had a hard time believing that Jesus would tell John at the foot of the cross, And Jesus, seeing his mother there, and the disciple, too, whom he loved, standing by, said to his mother, Woman, this is thy son. Then he said to the disciple, This is thy mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own keeping. (john 19:26-27)

Nineteenth century Protestantism began to move away from the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary and so began to accept Theory Three 13.25 While We Are On The Subject of Mary……

The big question in more recent times involves not Mary the Mother of Jesus but Mary of Magdala. Did she or did she not marry Jesus and bear him children? YES!

If you believe Dan Brown and other modern fiction writers. Otherwise, a resounding NO.

The fact that Jesus gave the care of his mother to the Apostle John at the foot of the cross is important for two reasons. First, it shows that John (and his brother James) had some influence with the Sadducees since he was allowed to enter the courtyard of the High Priest while Peter had to remain outside (John 18:15-16). Second, why would Jesus give care of his mother to John if she was also the mother of his four brothers. It is scripturally and culturally unlikely.

The fact that Jesus gave the care of his mother to the Apostle John but not his alleged wife and child is suspect. It is also suspect that there was no direct descendant of Jesus that claimed leadership of the Jerusalem church. It was Jesus’ extended family that led the Church until all Jews were banished from Jerusalem in 132 CE after the Second Jewish War

There may well have been branches of Jesus’ extended family that survived and prospered in the Roman Empire after 132 CE but they are lost to history (at least to verifiable history) and exist now only in legend and, of course, fiction. 13.26 Were There Other Controversies Concerning Mary?

Yes. Two Controversies Quickly Come to Mind:

Mary the Mother of God (Theotokos)

Theotokos is an expression from two Greek words that mean “God Bearer”. The Council of Ephesus, the fifth of the seven great Church councils that most Christians accept, declared that Mary was indeed the Mother of God. Oddly enough, this declaration was less about Mary and more about Jesus. The Council made it clear that Jesus was fully human and fully divine from the moment of his conception, two natures, human and divine, perfectly united in one person. So, when Mary gave birth to Jesus, she was the mother of both the human and divine nature within that one person

Mary the Immaculate Conception

Speaking of conception, the declaration by the Roman Catholic Church concerning the Immaculate Conception had more to do about Mary and less to do about Jesus. This is often a point of confusion, even among Catholics. The belief holds that Mary, from the moment of her conception in her mother Anna’s womb, by a completely normal process via her husband, Joachim, Mary was preserved from the taint of Adam’s Sin, called Original Sin by most Western Christians. This is a uniquely Catholic doctrine and was declared an infallible teaching by Pope Pius IX in 1854. Catholics point to Luke’s use of κεχαριτωμένη (kecharitomene, perf. part. pass, ‘having been completely engraced’ Lk. 1:28) to support their view

13.27 A Final Thought Regarding The Christian Scriptures

As modern Christians consider the Christian Scriptures, they will come face to face with a basic question. Whom should I believe?

The modern biblical scholar has many tools at his or her disposal including a greater understanding of language and a couple of centuries of serious archaeological discoveries. Allegedly, modern biblical scholars have no personal agendas. Ironically, one of the things that modern scholarship (and Albert Schweitzer) has taught us is that just the opposite is true. Almost everyone has a personal agenda.

Ancient sources have the advantage of being closer in time to the events. Many were themselves eyewitnesses or were taught directly by those who were eyewitnesses. They, too, had personal agendas but they make that clear right from the start. What they do not have are hidden agendas. In fact, many of them condemned themselves to horrible deaths because they refused to deny what they had seen and/or what they came to believe

As I mention some of these controversies throughout this course, I ask you to keep this question in mind.

13.28