Competing interpretations emerged during the fourth century about the relationship between Jesus and those referred to in Mark 6:3 as His brothers and sisters.

Lorne Zelyck, the associate professor of Biblical Studies at St. Joseph’s College in Edmonton, will present the pros and cons of the different hypotheses and expound on how the debate accentuates the enduring tension between Scripture and tradition during his Sept. 26 presentation.

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“The Brothers and Sisters of Jesus in the Early Church” will feature Zelyck in dialogue with Newman Theological College interim president Jo-Ann Bradley as his respondent. The in-conversation seminar is a hybrid event showcased online via Zoom and in person within the St. Joseph’s College boardroom starting at 3:30 p.m. MT.

Zelyck intends to principally present how St. Jerome (347-420) and St. Epiphanius of Salamis (310-403) comprehended this Gospel verse. Their respective elucidations are known as the Hieronymian view and Epiphanian view.

“Jerome says that they are cousins or relatives,” said Zelyck. “Epiphanius, a bishop at this time, writes that they are stepbrothers of Jesus. They are children of Joseph from a previous marriage.” He added that it is compelling that there are “two faithful churchmen, both clergy, and they are disagreeing.”

A vocal proponent of the perpetual virginity of both Mary and Joseph, St. Jerome surmised that the “brothers of Jesus” — referred to in ancient Greek as the “adelphoi” — were his cousins, the progeny of Mary, the wife of Clopas.

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Paragraphs 499 and 500 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church pronounce that Mary was the “ever-Virgin” and that the "brothers of Jesus" are the sons of whom St. Matthew calls “the other Mary.”

Conversely, Epiphanius, drawing from the apocryphal text The Protoevangelium of James, a book condemned by Pope Innocent I, espoused that Joseph was an old widower who fathered four sons with his earlier wife. The Eastern Orthodox Church embraces this interpretation and names Joseph’s first wife Salome.

The Protestant view of Mark 6:3 is significantly influenced by a written work penned before 383 AD by a scholar named Helvidius (lifespan unknown). The Helvidian view advocated that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were half-siblings born to Mary and Joseph following Christ’s birth, thus he did not believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary.

During his St. Joseph’s College lectures on Mark 6:3, Zelyck said his Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant students champion what their denomination preaches.

“For the classroom, pedagogically, trying to clarify each of the arguments is how I got started with this (scholarship),” said Zelyck. “Perhaps what kept me going is that the sisters of Jesus are often left out of this discussion. Even in the Catechism and Jerome's arguments, no one's talking about the sisters of Jesus.

“Does the Bible refer to sisters as in this kind of kinship general relative category that Jerome places the brothers into?” continued Zelyck. “There isn’t clear evidence in the Biblical text that these female relatives are called sisters in the same way that Jerome wants to say that these male relatives are called brothers. So, it just brings up kind of some issues and problems of how we interpret Scripture, and how we understand words, right? Specific words and how we define them.”

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Beyond receiving insight into the strengths and pitfalls of Biblical interpretation, Zelyck said it would be valuable for Catholics to “be introduced to the history of these debates that have shaped key aspects of Christianity for Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox” believers.

To attend the Brothers and Sisters of Jesus in the Early Church” through Zoom, register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0uc-CsqD0sH9GjOYUFvUL1Ju7jlUL8OhqV#/registration