Did Mary and Joseph have any more children apart from Jesus?
According to some people, Bible phrases, like: “the Lord’s brother”, prove that Mary had other children besides Jesus. Even though the Bible indicates that Mary remained a virgin with the birth of Christ (Matt. 1:23, Luke 1:27, 23:53), they claim that she had other children. Since Mary had other children, she did not remain ever-virgin. Therefore, the doctrine on her Perpetual Virginity is false, and the Catholic Church is wrong for calling her the Blessed Virgin Mary. But do such Bible phrases definitively prove that Mary had other children? The names of four brothers of Jesus are actually listed in the Gospels. According to Matthew: “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?” [Matt. 13:55-56; RSV]. A similar list of names can be found in Mark’s Gospel: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon and are not his si
