And while we're on the subject

One of our RE teachers leaned towards the theory that the word 'virgin' in those days meant a girl whose periods hadn't yet started, so that Jesus would in all probability have been Joseph's son - the Son of God story being invented only after his healing abilities became well known.

As a Christian it certainly wouldn't bother me if it were proved that Jesus was married - as for his fathering children, wouldn't it be wonderful if somewhere in this world there were people whose DNA contained some small remnants of His DNA?

Of course Joseph and Mary had a sexual relationship, what I think is forgotten is that the Bible was written by men, interpreting the word of God as it fitted in with their existing beliefs, which is why women are only now being given positions in the established churches. (Not before time in my opinion)

I recall reading an article some time ago in which the theory was put forward that Jesus had intended for Mary Magdalene to carry on his church rather than Peter but because the men of that time couldn't contemplate a woman running the church they decided it had to be Peter. Another topic for discussion!

I try to look past the input of men and to reach the real meaning.

Petallus

Greeting cards in a shop window yesterday. On the front of one was:

'What if the hokey cokey IS what it's all about'

Life expectancy would have been very limited 2,000 years ago, so 14 would not have been an unusually young age to be married. Juliet was 13.
I asked my Dad what 'Sez you' meant when I was about 8. He replied that it was what Joseph said to Mary!

I heard somewhere that the word which is generally translated as "virgin" was in fact one which, at the time, meant a girl who had not yet seen a period. I suppose that at a time when girls were married as soon as they reached that age the two meanings merged into one.

Lilygran you're right; some Christians probably don't mind at all if Jesus was married. I should have said 'some'.

However, it is suspicious to me that the issue of Jesus's sex life is never mentioned by the Church. Similarly, nothing is ever said about the relationship between Joseph and Mary which is likely to have been sexual at least some of the time.

Not to mention the fact that God chose a 14 year old to bear his child.

I suppose that last remark was a bit naughty but I've often wondered.

I get a lot of my information on Christianity from a good friend of mine who is not only a committed Christian but also an Anglican priest.

We are never short of something to argue about!

No, he was Jewish but he is said to have had business in the tine mines of Cornwall.

Why Joseph of Arimithea would have anything to do with Glastonbury is difficult to understand – or is Arimithea in the West Country?

The theory that Jesus married Mary Magdalene has been around for ages – long before Dan Brown wrote that appallingly third-rate book. His being married is not a big deal, but would, of course, upset some, but the idea that he might have fathered children would almost certainly be.

Oh, Greatnan

Good heavens, Lily, what are you suggesting?

Who knows, indeed? I expect there were quite a lot of things in their lives that have never been mentioned.

And Dan Brown ripped off the whole idea from may have been influenced by a book called 'Holy Blood and Holy Grail' by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln. Some people think it would have been strange if Jesus hadn't been married by the age of 30. On the other hand, there's no mention of John the Baptist being married either. So who knows?

The myths abound,
The myths abound....

Joseph of Arimathea is supposed to have taken Jesus to the West Country, posssibly Glastonbury. Hence 'Did those feet.......'.

There is another School of Thought that suggests that Jesus was taken by his friends, secretly to another country, possibly here, in the UK.

I'm only saying that this I read some years ago. Can't remember where I read it!

Granny23 very well put

Sounds like the beginning of another Turin Shroud situation!

Granny23 Wonderful. I do admire your clear and straightforward post. Thank you!

Here is a link. www.euronews.com/2012/09/19/papyrus-fragment-suggests-jesus-married/

I would say that piece of papyrus looks uncommonly neat and clearly written to be that old. It has been cut or torn into a near-perfect rectangle with no chewed corners or insect holes, and the fact of the fragment happening to contain the magic words "My wife says..." is suspiciously fortuitous.

Dan Brown has a lot to answer for.

Petallus which Christians?

Christians don't like to think that Jesus was married so it must matter somehow.