Virgin Mary Had 2 Husbands ?!

Posted on December 29


The scriptures reveal shocking biographical details regarding the woman that Roman Catholics venerate as the “Ever Virgin … Queen of Heaven.”

This ever-virgin baloney is fervently believed in by hundreds of millions of Bible-ignorant papists all around the world. These superstitious fanatics even insist that Mary’s virginity remained “intact” while giving birth to Christ! This bible-denying nonsense flies in the face of Luke 2:33 which says of Jesus Christ: “Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord…”

Certainly it was true that Mary was a virgin when she conceived the Lord Jesus by the power of the Holy Ghost according to the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14 (Matthew 1:23) – and she remained a virgin until Christ was born, for Joseph “…knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.” Matthew 1:25.

After bearing Christ we know that Mary had relations with Joseph, as suggested by the “till” in the preceding verse, for she bore him several children and they are named in the scriptures:

“Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?” Matthew 13:55; “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.” Mark 6:3.

This makes perfect sense because it would be inappropriate for God to command Joseph to enter into a sham marriage and not “render unto the wife due benevolence” 1 Corinthians 7:3. Neither would God  cruelly punish Mary with a loveless barrenness, contrary to the very first command which he gave mankind, “Be fruitful, and multiply…” Genesis 1:28. The Roman Catholic idealization of celibacy is a pagan anachronism they retain from their marriage-shunning ancestors – the fornicating priests of ancient Babylon. (Such teachings regarding celibacy are satanic, see 1 Timothy 4:3).

Since the verses naming Christ’s brothers flatly contradict the lies of Mariolatry, a ruse was invented claiming the word “brothers” is a generic one for male relative – and these are actually Christ’s cousins. This gimmick ignores the fact that the New Testament already makes use of the word “cousin” (see Luke 1:36,58) – had God wanted to use it in describing Christ brethren the he certainly could have – but he didn’t!

Since the “cousin” gimmick didn’t work, the papists decided to pretend that Christ’s brothers were Joseph’s children – that he was an old widower who already had several children when he married Mary. However this also fails the messianic [cf., Ps 69:9 & John 2:17] Psalm 69:8 declares, “I am become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother’s children.”

It is absolutely air-tight and there is absolutely nothing any papist can do with the passages to deny it: Christ’s mother Mary had other children named James, Joses, Simon, Judas, and at least two daughters.

See how difficult it was to get this far? No wonder nobody digs any deeper than that – it took a herculean effort to simply establish the plain truth in two verses in the New Testament naming Christ’s brothers – and yet still no devout Catholic will believe it. They don’t care what the Bible says – and they won’t accept anything else we are about to discover next either. It would be way too uncomfortable.

Now first we are going to look at one of Christ’s brothers who is named James. There are two persons named “James” in the New Testament and the first is the brother of the Apostle John: “And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder:”  Mark 3:17.

You will recall that this James was a prominent disciple, and his mother petitioned Christ for a favour, “And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.” Matthew 20:21.

Her son John later wrote, “Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” John 21:23. And indeed it turns out that John does live a long time – and ends up on the Isle of Patmos at nearly 100AD and sees in an apocalyptic vision the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ – which prophecy becomes the book of Revelation. So he lives to see the end of the kingdom.

His brother James, on the other hand, is the very first apostle to die: “Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.” Acts 12:1-2.

So these brothers – who asked to be right and left – ended up being the first to die and the last to die – and interesting fact in light of their mother’s petition.

Back to the second James; he is called “James the son of Alphaeus…” in Mark 3:18. We know that this James was a brother of Jesus Christ for Paul wrote, “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.” Galatians 1:19. Therefore the James who presided in Acts 21:18 was the Lord’s brother and a son of Mary.

James leadership role in Acts 21 has caused some to speculate that he is the same one who wrote the epistle of James, but this is undoubtedly incorrect. Recall that since Herod killed James Zebedee first (Acts 12:1-2) it is a testimony to his leadership role among the disciples. It would not have made sense for the Jews to clamour for the death of an insignificant disciple. In fact, Herod’s very next target became Peter (Acts 12:3) – who miraculously escaped from jail.

Whenever Christ took aside a few select disciples, he invariably chose as his confidants Peter, James Zebedee, and John Zebedee (e.g., Matthew 17:1; Mark 5:37; 9:2; 13:3; 14:33; Luke 8:51; 9:28). These three form a sure witness to such events as the transfiguration, for Christ said, “… in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” Matthew 18:16.

Peter and John wrote several epistles in the New Testament – and this naturally means that we should expect that James Zebedee wrote one also since he too was of their select group.

We discover in James 1:1 that James addressed his epistle only to Jews: “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.”

It is significant that James addressed himself to the Jewish diaspora, rather than to the Gentile Church, because it indicates this epistle was written very early, before the apostles became informed of Paul’s gospel of the grace of God – a revealed mystery: Romans 16:25; Galatians 1:15-16. This means the James who wrote the epistle of James was not the lord’s brother who presided in Acts 21 – but rather James Zebedee, the brother of John, who was an early leader in the Church prior to the revelation of the mystery of Paul’s gospel.

This explains why James wrote, “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” James 2:26 – which is contradictory to what Paul wrote: “But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” Romans 4:5. James was ministering in a transition period prior to the final rejection of Jesus Christ by the Jewish nation. The application of faith plus works will become relevant once again after the rapture because God will be dealing with the Jews during the tribulation.

Getting back to James Alphaeus, we see that he was less prominent than the James Zebedee, and hence this description of two woman who stood watching the crucifixion: “There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses, and Salome;” Mark 15:40.

So James Alpheus was also called “James the less” and his mother was Christ’s mother Mary, and she was also the mother of Joses and Salome. The name “Joses” is correctly listed as one of Jesus’ brothers in Mark 6:3: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.”  Therefore we learn that one of Jesus’ sisters was actually named Salome.

In Matthew 27:56 of the same account is given but with some additional detail (which is typical between the gospel accounts) – it lists three woman who beheld the crucifixion: “Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedees children.” That confirms that “James the less” was not James Zebedee.

The name of the third woman, Zebedee’s wife, is probably Joanna as is found by reading the same account of the watching women in Luke 24:10: “It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.”

We note that although this is the exalted “Virgin Mary” of Roman Catholic superstition, the scripture hardly ever misses an opportunity to slight her – listing her second to Mary Magdalene, and not even identifying her as Jesus’ mother! Jesus Christ did likewise, only calling her “woman” every time he spoke with her.

“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!” John 19:25-26.

So John alone correctly identifies Mary as Jesus’ mother in his account of the watching woman. He includes a fourth woman named Mary the wife of Cleophas, who was Jesus’ aunt. Therefore one of the two disciples that Christ met after his resurrection on the road to Emmaus – named “Cleopas” – was probably his uncle! (Luke 24:18).

Apparently Mary needed to be taken care of and that duty is assigned to John. This suggests that her other children were still too young – perhaps James the less was still a teenager.

In the disciple lists James is called the son of Alphaeus:

  • “Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” Matthew 10:2-4.
  • “And Simon he surnamed Peter; And James the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of James; and he surnamed them Boanerges, which is, The sons of thunder: And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Canaanite, And Judas Iscariot, which also betrayed him: and they went into an house.” Mark 3:16-19.
  • Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor. Luke 6:14-16.
  • “And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.” Acts 1:13.

The name Alphaeus turns up as the name of the disciple Matthew’s father as well: “And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.” Mark 2:14.  We can tell that Levi is another name for Matthew by the identical passage given in Matthew’s gospel: Mt. 9:9.

Interestingly, Matthew’s name always appears next to Thomas’ who was called “Didymus” which means a twin. It causes one to wonder whether or not Matthew and Thomas were twin brothers. There names always appear right before James, who was also a son of Alphaeus.

Whether or not Thomas is also a brother, we have reason suspect that at least Matthew and James are brothers because they are both sons of an Alphaeus.

The 12 disciples included one named Judas (not Iscariot) and he too is identified as a brother of James. He also had the names Lebbaeus and  Thaddaeus – perhaps taken to avoid confusion with Judas Iscariot. The author of the epistle of Jude also identifies himself in the same manner: “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James…” So it appears that the disciple Judas-Thaddaeus wrote Jude. He is the brother of James – but which one? Since both James and Juda are listed as Christ’s brethren – it is reasonable to assume that this Judas Thaddaeus is their brother.

It is beginning to look like all the disciples are related to one another!

But back to the question of Alphaeus. What were his dealings with Mary, the Lord’s mother? Mary is the mother of James the less – and his father was Alphaeus – so the implication is rather obvious. Mary got remarried and had more children after Joseph.

When Christ was 12 years old Joseph was still alive: “And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.” Luke 2:43.

That is the last time we hear about Joseph in the gospel narrative; about 18 years later when Jesus is conducting his ministry, his mother Mary shows up without Joseph. A divorce seems unlikely – (but not impossible) – most likely Joseph died sometime after 12 AD and left Mary a young widow with children to feed. Those societies had no welfare system – a young widow was expected to get remarried to a husband:

“But the younger widows refuse: for when they have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry; … I will therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.” 1 Timothy 5:11,14.

So Mary married a second time to a gentleman named Alphaeus, and he apparently already had some children of his own too. This explains their extended family. However the two of them produced children as well – including James the less, who was son of both of them. Nevertheless, Alphaeus was not around at the time of the crucifixion for John took Mary into his house, “Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.” John 19:27. Perhaps Alphaeus had also died by that time, leaving Mary a widow a second time.

Their son James the less presided over the meeting in Acts 21 that welcomed the gospel of the Grace of God from Paul the Apostle.

Since James the Lord’s brother was not the son of Joseph he was not under the curse on the royal line that Joseph had through Coniah:

“Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah.” Jeremiah 22:30.

Therefore James the Lord’s brother can sit on a throne in Israel, being the son of Alphaeus instead of Joseph:

“And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” Luke 22:29-30.

This is rather interesting for throughout the Bible the lives of the characters involved very often teach theological lessons. In this case, Mary’s life history – like the story of her ancestor Ruth – is a young widow who is not left desolate – but marries a second time and has children by her new husband.

“So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” Romans 7:3-4.

Theologically this means our old flesh suffers death by the crucifixion of Christ; but our soul need not suffer death – it can move on to be married to a new body – that of the risen Christ.

“(Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Luke 2:35.

Coincidently the name Alphaeus means “changing.”

“In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Corinthians 15:52.

“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the LORD.” 2 Corinthians 3:18.

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Nope, you’ve never heard any of this before anywhere else … and you probably never will. But it is all right there in the pages of the Book for anyone who will care to read it and believe it.

Hopefully this study will encourage you to your own further studies diligently mediating upon the words of God in the AV 1611 – the holy scriptures in English – the King James Bible.

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