Jesus’ Siblings

I cannot understand the shortsightedness of religious leaders arguing about biblical details (“Catholics Raise Contrary Views on Jesus’ Siblings,” Dec. 20). Christianity has too many divisions caused by nit-picking the Scriptures. By doing so they are missing the simplicity of Jesus’ teachings.

Until we, all people who believe in God, can unite in spirit, we will never have the universal peace that Jesus desired for the world. Go back and read the Sermon on the Mount and the last part of Matthew 25, where Jesus states that if we have not fed the hungry, helped the poor, given a drink to the thirsty, visited the sick, we have not shown our love for him.

DAVID S. EICHER

South Pasadena

* “Brother” is a Jewish idiom that refers to any male relative from whom you are not descended. Many passages could be cited to show that “brother” has a wide variety of meanings in Scripture, including blood brother, half-brother, sister, brethren, kinsman, friend, ally and yes, even cousin. Because neither Hebrew nor Aramaic (the language of Jesus and his disciples) had a specific word for cousin, Greek biblical translators preferred to use the word “brother” or a circumlocution. Our English translations continue to hold on to this translating tradition. Therefore, Catholics need not be concerned with the opinions of scholars, even from within the Catholic Church, who dissent from the unchanging and constant, traditional teachings of the Catholic faith.

THE REV. CARL D. TRESLER

Associate Pastor

Resurrection Catholic Church

Los Angeles