What Did the Early Church Believe Regarding the Holy Family?

Christmas time tends to get people focused on the Holy Family.  That is to say; Joseph, Mary, and Jesus.  The Nativity Narratives tell of their travails moving from Nazareth, to Bethlehem, to Egypt, and back.  But it doesn’t get too specific regarding what happened afterward.

One question that arises frequently today is whether Jesus had any biological brothers and sisters. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches famously say "no".  They hold that Mary remained a virgin throughout her whole life, rendering Jesus and only-child. 

Many arguments can be made regarding the clues left to us in the Bible.  But today I wanted to explore what the earliest Christians believed on the matter.  Did they believe Jesus had biological half-siblings, as is common today? 

So let’s dive in.

The Shock of the Nativity... and Kangaroos.

One of my students asked me recently, “I was working with a girl who said she thought the Eucharist was totally stupid. Like, she couldn’t possibly believe that it really is the flesh and blood of Christ.  How do I respond to that?”

“Is she a Christian?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied.

I couldn’t help but laugh. 

Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Door - Part II

Today we'll finish what we started yesterday with a couple of historical questions. [LINK]  

[*As a bonus, due to their shared belief in the Great Apostasy, these two arguments work with Mormons as well.]

Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Door - Part 1

A few folks have asked me to address this, so here goes. 

Perhaps you’ve had the experience of opening up the door to two individuals carrying pamphlets from the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.  These two upstanding individuals are part of a quasi (but not really) Christian group known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Who are these folks?  What do they believe?  And how do we respond?  We'll look at three tactics one can take.

How did the Early Christians Worship? - Part 2

In the previous note [LINK] I asked two questions:  When did the earliest Christians worship?  What did they do when they gathered together?

I started with some Biblical evidence, but conceded that my conclusions could simply be the result of bias on my part.  So today we’ll look at three written works from the early Church in an attempt to flesh out the picture…

How did the Early Christians Worship? - Part 1

Today I wanted to ask some questions about Christian worship:  How did the early Christians worship?  Specifically, on what day did they gather?  What did they do when they gathered?  Those are the questions I want to explore today.

The Catholic Church and Homosexuality - Part I

About a year ago, one of the seniors at my Monday night discussion group pointed out that in 4 years she'd never heard a word at the larger OLMC Youth Ministry gatherings (on Thursdays) about the one issue she's asked about more than anything else at school: The Catholic Church's teaching on homosexuality.

And she was right. The Thursday night gatherings have covered everything under the sun, but has never ever said a word about the matter. Seeing as how THE thing their peers (and society as a whole) want to talk about, it seemed neglectful to let them twist in the wind while avoiding the controversy ourselves.

So I took up the task of wring a curriculum. And after nearly a year of work, we've finally begin a 3-part series on the matter. The first two presentations are my work. You can hear and see the first one on Youtube [ here ].