Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: hwt@.bnr.ca (Henry Troup) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Mary Message-ID: Date: 5 Jun 90 03:48:32 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Bell-Northern Research, Ltd. Lines: 27 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article emory!dragon!cms@gatech.edu writes: > I have another question for Protestants in particular: Catholics believe that >Mary is ever-virgin.... I don't know what other non-Roman Catholics think, but as an Episcopelian (Scots, now Canadian) I remember being taught that one of the Apostles, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" was his brother. I've certainly never been taught that either Mary or Joseph really had a special place. -- Henry Troup - BNR owns but does not share my opinions ..uunet!bnrgate!hwt%bwdlh490 or HWT@BNR.CA [That seems sort of odd. The disciple whom Jesus loved seems to have been one of the 12, probably John. John 21:20 seems to say that the Beloved Disciple was one of 12. We have some lists of the 12, and I think we can be fairly sure Jesus' brothers aren't on the list. Mark 3:20-35 implies that his family didn't believe in him, at least early in his ministry. Acts 1:14 certainly implies that his mother and brothers were separate from the 12. James the brother of Jesus (not to be confused with the two disciples who were James: one a son of Zebedee and one of Alphaeus) became a leader in the Church very soon, but I don't see any way he could be the Beloved Disciple. At the very least, it would be an unusual theory. Mary certainly had a special place in theology through most of Christian history, for obvious reasons. Protestant deemphasis of her is probably partly a reaction against Catholic practice. It's only in the last generation that calling something "Roman" was enough to prevent most Protestants from doing it. --clh]