Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Jesus Being Rebuked by His "Brothers": A Valid Argument that the "Brothers" of Jesus were not Younger Siblings?

On Jesus being rebuked by his “brothers” as evidence that they are not younger biological siblings in John 7:

 

This point is well illustrated by the lack of respect Jacob showed Esau and even his own father when he deceived both of them (Genesis 27). Another example from the Old Testament is that of Joseph who was rebuked by his father, Jacob, for implying that all his older brothers (and even his father) would one day bow down to him (Gen 37:5-10). Do we conclude that Moses was disrespectful because he not only gave advice to his older brother Aaron, but also told him what to do? All of these examples (which could be multiplied many times over) render Keating’s argument about Hebrew culture moot. (Eric D. Svendsen, Evangelical Answers: A Critique of Current Roman Catholic Apologists [Lindenhurst, N.Y.: Reformation Press, 1999], 236 n. 282)