Perpetual Virginity

I was given reason today to consider the supposed perpetual virginity of Mary and consider why I don't accept such a theory. The simple reason is that I can find no good reason to accept it. I find no exegetical reason and nothing that can make a positive case for such a thing. I think a natural reading of the text would indicate that Jesus had brothers and sisters, among whom would be James and Jude.

I don't see a reason to immediately accept the idea that 'adelphos' (Greek word for brother) should automatically be taken to mean something other than 'brother' (as in two people from the same womb). I understand that it doesn't necessarily carry such a connotation all the time, but pointing to a range of meanings for a word doesn't really solve anything. It isn't logical to accept a meaning among a range of meanings without sufficient reason for making the choice.

After considering a the literary techniques used in Mark 3, the cultural background of 1st century Palestine (large families were the norm), the fact that Joseph and Mary had a real marriage (ie, a consumated one rather that a fictional and unconsumated one, which seems rather confusing anyway), the fact of James assuming the leadership of the Jerusalem church (rather than Peter, John, or another disciple), and the recent discovery of James' ossurary with the Aramaic inscription ("James son of Joseph brother of Jesus") [1], I must say that what seems to me to be the natural reading of 'adelphos' looks like it has firm support for continuing to see it as the correct reading, and there is as of yet no good reason to think otherwise. This is to say that Jesus had other brothers and sisters and so Mary did not remain a perpetual virgin.

There may be other reasons for thinking one way or another, those are just my initial thoughts.



[1] I realize this might be more controversial due to the debate over authenticity that initially surrounded the ossurary discovery. The forgery trial that ensued and lasted for 5 years has come to a close though. See:
"Strata: Forgery Trial Ends.” Biblical Archaeology Review, May/Jun 2010.
"Strata: Forgery Case Collapses.” Biblical Archaeology Review, Jan/Feb 2009.