Re: I hadnt heard the cousins thing

Taken from: http://members.aol.com/jasonte/mary.htm Catholic apologists respond that the Old Testament often referred to cousins as "brothers and sisters", since there was no Hebrew term for "cousin". New Testament Greek, however, does have a word for "cousin", and that term is used in Colossians 4:10. In Luke 1:36, another term is used to describe Elizabeth's relationship to Mary. There were terms that the writers of the New Testament could have used to describe Jesus' "brothers and sisters" as cousins, if they actually were cousins. Instead, the writers used terms that have a primary meaning of shared parentage. In Luke 21:16, Luke demonstrates that he understands the differences between these terms by using them to make contrasting references to "brothers" and "relatives". WP