Who Are the Parents of Our Lord’s ‘Brethren’? If You Read the Bible You Should Know

John Heschmeyer, of Shameless Popery website, has written an excellent summation of the scriptural proofs that clearly demonstrate that our Savior was the only-Begotten Son of Mary and that the disciples who are referred to as “his brethren” are His cousins. As Catholics we know by faith and tradition that the Mother of God is “Ever-Virgin” before, during, and after the Birth of Jesus, but to see the scriptural support of that truth so cogently laid out is refreshing. Thank you, Mr. Heschmeyer, your comparative arrangement of the relative texts in defense of Our Lady’s perpetual virginity and the  logic of your deductive conclusions are irrrefutable. I also was impressed by your further elucidations in your answers in the comment queue, which enhance the objective of your article. This is a must read for Protestants who value truth over emotion.

Here’s the lede: In the New Testament, certain men are described as the “brothers” of Jesus, including “James and Joses and Judas and Simon” (Mark 6:3; and see Matthew 13:55). The Catholic position is that these men are simply male relatives: in the same way that Abraham calls Lot his “brother” (Genesis 13:8), even though he’s actually his nephew (Gen. 12:5).