When Dr. McGrath asked us the question if Jesus had brothers and sisters, my immediate thought was of course not. I had never even considered the question if Jesus had siblings, because it always seemed that he was an only child. It surprised me when he showed us Bible verses that appear to mention that he has siblings. It’s debated, however, if these are just half siblings since Joseph had been married before, or maybe they are just cousins. Then this led to the discussion of the bone box that is inscribed with “Jesus brother of Joseph son of James” and the importance of having the proper credentials and documentation in order to take something like this into consideration. This goes with the major theme of the whole class: not just taking information at face value, but really digging into the legitimacy and expertise of the person giving you this information.
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