Sibling rivalries are as old as time. We all know about Cain and Abel, but what about Jesus and his brothers? Or the falling out between Jimmy and Billy Carter? Here are 6 of the most interesting examples of mismatched siblings throughout history: Jesus and Who?The New Testament mentions brothers (adelphoi in Greek) of Jesus and even names them. Yet, many Christians teach that Jesus was an only child and that the adelphoi James, Simon, Judas (different from apostles James, Simon, and Judas), and Joseph were Jesus' cousins. In fact, according to Catholic theology, Jesus' mother, Mary, never had sexual intercourse and never bore a child other than the Messiah, so adelphoi couldn't have been his brothers. Other lines of thought tell it a little differently, claiming that the Gospel writers used adelphoi literally and that Mary was a virgin until after the birth of Jesus. We don't want to take sides, but if these four guys really were Jesus' brothers, they got the seriously short end of the sibling stick. Imagine - not only is your brother God Almighty, he's also the most famous man in history. Meanwhile scholars are arguing about whether you ever even existed. Charlotte Brontë and her Five SiblingsMaria and Elizabeth Brontë couldn't help being eclipsed by younger sister Charlotte; after all, they died in girlhood in the 1820s. Sister Emily, second youngest, was the family's only poetic genius and wrote Wuthering Heights (1847). Seen in retrospect as one of the finest novels in English, it was panned in its own time and she produced no more. Youngest sister Anne's novels, Agnes Grey (1847) and especially, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1848), were popular, if literarily undistinguished. Branwell, the one brother, drank too much, smoked too much opium, and died a failure in 1848. Emily and Anne died the next year. All of which leaves Charlotte the only Bronte to achieve popular, critical and lasting success with her novels, especially Jane Eyre (1847). In the end, she was the longest-lived of the TB-plagued Bronte siblings, surviving until age 39. She was also the only one to marry (the show-off). John and Tom Fogarty: Bad Blood RisingIn 1959, Tom Fogarty, two school chums, and Tom's little brother, John, formed a band. Playing in the Fogarty garage in El Cerrito, California, they called themselves Tommy Fogarty & the Blue Velvets. Then in 1964, they landed a recording contract with Fantasy Records in nearby Berkeley, Renamed the Golliwogs, the band floundered until John suddenly emerged as both a towering talent and a control freak. As lead singer, lead guitarist, lead composer, lead lyricist, lead arranger, and lead (if not sole) band manager, he could do everything but spell. John turned the group, now called Creedence Clearwater Revival into an "overnight" sensation, cranking out top-10 singles ("Proud Mary," "Bad Moon Rising," "Down on the Corner") and No. 1 albums. Brother Tom? In 1971 he quit in disgust. Worse yet, he couldn't catch a break. He passed away in 1990 as a result of AIDS, a condition contracted from a blood transfusion. Jimmy and Billy Carter: Not Like Two Peanuts in a Shell
Twelve years younger than brother Jimmy, Billy Carter found himself cast in the role of crown prince in the late 1970s. A beer-for-breakfast kind of guy who proudly wore a "Redneck Power" T-shirt, Billy sometimes embraced the role of buffoon and sometimes tried to shake the stigma. His bid to become mayor of Plains, Georgia, close on the heels of his brother's 1976 presidential victory, failed. He also failed as manager of the family peanut warehouse. His PR makeover wasn't helped by the fact that he regularly greeted reporters while perched on a stack of beer cases in his service station. It also wasn't helped by his business initiatives: Billy once tried to cash in on celebrity, promoting a brand beer named for him. His biggest misadventure, however, came when he accepted money from the Libyan government in return for his supposed influence with his brother. Dubbed "Billygate," the episode prompted a congressional investigation and embarrassed Jimmy as his 1980 bid for reelection approached. Billy Carter died at 51 in 1988. Rajiv and Sanjay Gandhi: Who Gets Mom's Job?
Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had two son's: Rajiv and Sanjay. The elder, Rajiv, didn't want to follow in the political footsteps of his family (including Grandfather Jawaharial Nehru, founding prime minister of independent India). So, he became and airline pilot. Sanjay, on the other hand was groomed by Mom to succeed her as leader of the Indian National Congress Party. Willful and aggressive, Sanjay pushed for his Mother's 1975 declaration of state of emergency - an unconstitutional abuse of power. After Sanjay's death in a 1980 plane crash, though, Rajiv agreed, reluctantly, to run for the Lok Sabha when a suicide bomber - linked to Tamil separatists in southern India - killed him. Today his wife, Sonia, is active in Congress Party politics and continues the political legacy. Bill and Roger Clinton: Little RockLike Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton brought his own sibling of ill repute to the national spotlight. When Bill was Arkansas governor, Roger Clinton pleaded guilty to distributing cocaine and served 15 months in prison. When Bill was U.S. president, his half brother, 10 years younger, was supposedly a rock singer. After Bill left the White House, a congressional investigation in 2001 showed that much of Roger's considerable income during his brother's two terms had come from mysterious sources. His "musical gigs" overseas brought him big money from foreign governments, payments that suggest he was playing something other than rock and roll. (Clinton bashers say it was influence.) He also accepted money from organized crime figure Rosario Gambino, apparently in exchange for seeking leniency from a parole board. Hey, take "the work" when you can get it. Since Bill's White House departure, rockin' Roger's music career has fizzled. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais) |
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From mental_floss' book Forbidden Knowledge: A Wickedly Smart Guide to History's Naughtiest Bits, published in Neatorama with permission. Be sure to visit mental_floss' extremely entertaining website and blog! |
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Thomas (Tau'ma) means twin in Syriac, a form of the Aramaic which was the language of Jesus and his followers. And Didymus, a name by which the apostle is also called in the gospel of John, means twin in Greek.
Thomas Didymus means 'Twin Twin' (!)
So, Jesus has a brother called Judas, he also has a follower who is called Judas the Twin.
The gospel of Thomas was found in the Nag Hamaddi and also at Oxyrhynchus
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/thomas.html
a very interesting manuscript.
You have to be pretty ignorant to be absolutely certain that 1 (of several) modern definitions of the English "brother" is what the writers intended when they wrote "adelphoi" in Ancient Greek.
Catholic theology teaches that the "brothers" mentioned are not fellow offspring of Mary. They are either cousins of the Lord OR they are children of St. Joseph from an earlier marriage and are thus step-brothers of Christ -- the precise nature of the relationship is uncertain other than they are not children of Mary. Catholic tradition (note this is tradition, not formal theology) holds that Joseph was considerably older than Mary and a widower, probably having children from the earlier marriage.
The "Gospel of Thomas" while interesting from an historical point of view of studying early Christian beliefs, was never a part of the New Testament Canon and was probably written quite a while after the 4 accepted gospels.
We can all see how that worked out.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9kVPW_5RAU
Sligtly irreverent but funny nonetheless.
Enjoy!
You wrote: "The bible clearly states that Marry [sic] and Joseph had other children"
Please give us Chapter, Verse and what translation (King James, Douay-Rheims, whatever).
I think you will find a couple "brother of the Lord" references, but again, what is translated into English as "brother" comes from the original Greek "adelphoi", which has a pretty broad meaning. It sounds like you found something MUCH less ambiguous. Please share it with us, b/c I don't think Bible scholars in any camp have come up with something so definitive to exclude all the other possibilities I touched upon.
Not exactly. As a better-informed person noted above, the brothers mentioned in the Bible may have been step-brothers (or not) - but also note that "Immaculate Conception" doctrine does NOT mean Mary and Joseph never engaged in intercourse, even prior to said conception.
Doctrine can be odd like that. For example, you've undoubtedly heard that suicide is such a sin as to preclude burial in consecrated ground. The priest of your local parish has probably been taught this himself - or at least never been taught otherwise. But doctrinally, it is not - it is the "despair" leading to the suicide that is sinful, and going further, despair is defined as "having given up hope of being forgiven by God."
This is a pretty old thread by now, so I doubt anybody is reading, but I'd like to correct a couple things in this comment of yours:
"but also note that “Immaculate Conception” doctrine does NOT mean Mary and Joseph never engaged in intercourse, even prior to said conception. "
1. First of all, Immaculate Conception doctrine has NOTHING to do with either virgin birth or Christ. This is frequently confused by non-Catholics. What it concerns is Catholic dogma that Mary herself was born *free from the stain of original sin*. It means that because she was destined to be Christ's mother, she was given the unique (well ditto for Christ as well) privilige of not having the original sin carried down from Adam & Eve's disobeyance of God (this is what people have washed away at Baptism). Mary's parents conceived her "the old fashioned way", by the way -- nothing unusual there.
2. Actually, yes, Catholics do believe that Mary was "ever virgin" and that she and Joseph never engaged in intercourse, before or after Christ's birth. The Canon of the Mass includes phrases to this effect.
I'm not stating any of this to advance or debate Catholic theology or say "my beliefs are better than your beliefs" or whatever... just wanted to clear up misconceptions about exactly what Catholics do believe.
say what color of his skin is, it does say his hair
is like wool and hes is so bright a human couldnt look
at him, or you will die.
I dont know if he has any brothers or not but Jesus is
powerful and the healer and he forgives and is much alive in me. Praise the Lord...
Lisaf
1. The "tradition," as Sid says, that Joseph was much older than Mary, widower and had other children from a previous marriage would not corroborate with what is in the Bible. The Bible says that during the census Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem as he was from the lineage of David. If the "tradition" is true, there might have been mention of other children accompanying Mary and Joseph.
2. Rajiv Gandhi served as Prime Minister after the assassination of his mother and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1984. He was in office for a full term subsequently after getting elected. He was assassinated by a suicide bomber while campaigning for elections in May 1991 and not around 1980 as the article seems to suggest.
to teach......love oleen