Why are priests called Father even though they are not my biological father? Is it referring to a "spiritual father"? Because I have only one and a priest is not it.
It's a title. Those who are priests are our spiritual fathers.
The Lord's prayer is fine. It thinking your prayers will be better heard by reciting it over and over again. That is the issue.
Thinking that we think our prayers will be better heard by reciting them over and over again is an issue. We don't. That's you judging our hearts (again)
How is that possible? Did Joseph and Mary adopt or was there a different mother?
We believe, many of us, that Joseph was previously married, and had children before he married Mary. Conversely, they are cousins, because there's no word for 'cousin' in Aramaic. But it is possible for Jesus to have siblings who were not born by Mary. The Bible never says Mary had other children, and when it does, it's another Mary.
The word "until" in the original greek was "heôs hos" Strongs Greek #2193, meaning "as far as", "to which". Thus making it the appropriate word to use.
It also does not say she was a "perpetual virgin"?
“When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took his wife, but knew her not until she had borne a son; and he called his name Jesus.” (Matthew 1:24-25)
The Greek ‘heos’ (‘until’), however, does not necessarily mean that the state before the event does not continue after the event. In other words, these words do not necessarily convey a reversal or change of the situation before the use of those prepositions. Hence, Mary’s virginity was not necessarily lost after the birth of Jesus. There are many references which vindicate the truth of this. The list presented here is a sample: Genesis 8:7, 26:13, Numbers 20:17, Deuteronomy 2:15, 34:6, 2 Kings 6:25, 1 Chronicles 6:32, 2 Chronicles 21:15, 2 Chronicles 26:15, Judith 14:8, Judith 15:5, Tobit 2:4, Psalm 57:1, Psalm 72:7, Psalm 110:1, Psalm 123:2, Psalm 141:10, Psalm 142:7, Ecclesiastes 2:3, Song of Solomon 1:12, 2 Samuel 6:23, Isaiah 14:2, 33:23, Ezekiel 24:13, 1 Maccabees 5:54, Matthew 16:28, Matthew 28:20, Romans 8:22, 1 Corinthians 4:5, 1 Corinthians 15:25, Ephesians 4:13, 1 Timothy 4:13, 1 Timothy 6:14. All of these references show that the word ‘until’ does not necessarily indicate a reversal in the main clause.
Heos hou’ is not restricted only to a continuation or reversal of the main only since it also includes the possibility of concurrence and cessation. Besides Matthew 1:25, there are 14 instances of ‘heos hou’ or ‘heos hos’ that are translated ‘until’; there are 2 instances of ‘heos hou’ that are translated ‘while’; there are 2 instances of ‘heos otou’ (equivalent in meaning to ‘heos hou’) translated as ‘until’ and 2 instances of ‘heos otou’ being translated ‘while’. They are listed here in chronological order along with a commentary as to the likely interpretation of the four possible meanings (continuation, reversal, concurrence, or cessation).
“There have been certain folk who have wished to suggest that from this passage (Matt 1:25) that the Virgin Mary had other children than the Son of God, and that Joseph then dwelt with her later; but what folly this is! For the gospel writer did not wish to record what happened afterwards; he simply wished to make clear Joseph's obedience and to show also that Joseph had been well and truly assured that it was God who had sent His angel to Mary. He had therefore never dwelt with her nor had he shared her company....And besides this Our Lord Jesus Christ is called the first-born. This is not because there was a second or a third, but because the gospel writer is paying regard to the precedence. Scripture speaks thus of naming the first-born whether or not there was any question of the second.” (
John Calvin, Sermon on Matthew 1:22-25, published 1562)
“It is an article of faith that Mary is Mother of the Lord and still a virgin....Christ, we believe, came forth from a womb left perfectly intact.” (Weimer,
The Works of Luther, English Transl. by Pelikan, Concordia, St. Louis, v.11,pp. 319-320; v. 6 p. 510.)
“He, Christ, our Savior, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb...This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that.” (Ibid.)
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The original greek word used is "menoun" G3304 greek strongs meaning "nay", "rather", or "on the contrary ". The same word used in Job 7:15, psalm 52:3, psalm 84:10, Luke 17:8, Luke 18:14 and was used in the context for correction. The original greek does not just say "more blessed".
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menoun and menounge: rather, on the contrary
Original Word: μενοῦνγε
Part of Speech: Particle, Disjunctive Particle
Transliteration: menoun and menounge
Phonetic Spelling: (men-oon'-geh)
Short Definition: nay rather
Definition: nay rather; indeed, truly, really.
HELPS Word-studies
3304 menoúnge (from
3303 /mén, "indeed";
3767 /oún, "therefore"; and
1065 /gé, "really") – properly,
therefore really indeed.
3304 (
menoúnge) is often translated,
yea rather,
indeed on the contrary.
Latin is not the issue. It is intentionally preaching in a language not everyone can understand. If nobody can understand what is being said, what is the point. Up until a few decades ago, latin was the only language used during a mass. To this day, some churches still do it. I have been to a few. The scripture is saying not to do that because it is useless. It would be better to only say 5 words that people can understand than go through an entire mass where nobody can understand anything.
What makes you think that Latin was a language not everyone can understand? It's not useless, because the Latin translation is precise. IT means the same thing everywhere, wheras translations of the Latin to the vernacular can be interpreted incorrectly.
Besides, the Mass is the same everywhere, with the exception of the homily. I spent two weeks in Spain this summer, and went to Mass nearly every day, and heard Mass in Catalunyan, Castillian, and Mallorquin. Knowing the order of the Mass, I had no problem understanding what was going on. I knew what readings were being read, and could prepare to listen to them in a different language. I daresay, if you went to Spain, and found a church for you and your family to go to, you would get very little out of it.
The Roman Catholic Church removing the Greek word "menoun" from Luke 11:28 and "heôs hos" in Matthew 1:23 are two examples.
No such thing was done. We translate them differently (see above).
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