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Originally Posted by House of David:
She is not the FORMER Virgin Mary. She is the PERPETUAL Virgin Mary.

Originally Posted by Seeweed

Uh, she had several children after Jesus, with Joseph  being their father.  She is no longer a virgin, sorry .

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The New Testament speaks of two men called James who were close followers of the Lord. One is James the Greater, the son of Zebedee (see Matt. 4:21, 10:2, 26:37, Mark 1:19-20, 3:17, 10:35, Luke 5:10, John 21:2).

 

This James and his brother, John, were nicknamed Boanerges by Jesus; the nickname means "sons of thunder."

 

The second James, known as the Less because of his short stature, was the son of Mary, the wife of Cleophas (a man whose name is also rendered as Clopas and Alphaeus).

 

He is the one mentioned in Matthew 13:55 (see also Matt. 10:3, Mark 3:18, Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13). The problem for those who insist that James the Less was Jesus' literal brother is that both of these Jameses are identified as sons of other men and women, not sons of Mary and Joseph.

 

Some biblical concordances give the impression that there were three different men named James in the New Testament: James, son of Zebedee; James, son of Cleophas; and James, the "brother of the Lord."

 

This distinction is not accurate because the James who is called the "brother of the Lord" in Matthew 13:55 is identified in Matthew 27:56 as the son of Mary, the wife of Cleophas.

 

If the Father would be so flip about the Mother of his Son, I doubt he

would have need for the Holy Spirit and virginal birth. The Father did

honor the request of an adolescent Mary when she prayed  saying, I

wish to serve you only and I wish to never know man.

  

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Far too many Christians beliefs come from what they were told and accepted rather than what they discovered in their own studies and readings.  One of my favorite passages of Scriptures is about the Bereans and is:

Acts 17:10-11 (New Century Version) {10}

 

 That same night the believers sent Paul and Silas to Berea where they went to the Jewish synagogue. {11}  These Jews were more willing to listen than the Jews in Thessalonica. The Bereans were eager to hear what Paul and Silas said and studied the Scriptures every day to find out if these things were true.

Many people listen to preachers and teachers but how many pull out their Scriptures and actually study and research what they are told to see if it's Biblical and consistant with Scriptures and the Teachings of Christ.   Far too many take the word of their Pastors as Gospel and never have reason to doubt it or the Pastor.   Far too many also become disenchanted when their Pastors are proven to be just ordinary sinners just like everyone else in the congregation as they are caught up in some publically revealed sin(s).

 

People should realize that a Pastor is only another Christian who happened to be gifted by God's Holy Spirit to be a Minister.  The Minister/Pastor is only a Pastor because God gave them that gift and not because they studied in some Seminary or happened to obtain a degree or title from some School.  Sadly though many people deify Pastors and often we pay them as if they were in some way better than everyone else.  Also (sadly) some Pastors assume far more power and responsibility than they ever should have had or were given and demand far more than Scriptures ever allow of them.

 

For some it's really an easy profession, if they are a good speaker, and it should be understood that some people are there only for a profession and aren't really "called of God" or have that Gift.  Our responsibility, as Christians, is to hold those who claim to be Christians accountable that they represent truthfully Christ and that the "Cause of Christ' is not harmed or profaned.  We are also to KNOW what and why we believe so that we cannot and will not be easily led astray.

 

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