The brothers and sisters of Jesus

I've posted again on my Bible blog, this time about the brothers and sisters mentioned in tomorrow's Gospel reading.

The question of whether Jesus had biological brothers and sisters is, as far as I'm concerned, a historical question with no significant theological importance.

I've drawn heavily on the work of John P. Meier, who examines the issue from a strictly historical perspective in the first volume of his terrific series, A Marginal Jew.

You can read the post here.