A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives

A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives
Author: James Keith Elliott
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2016-03-11
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004311203

Early Christians built on the stories of Jesus' and Mary’s birth and childhood. Their later accounts, many of them found nowadays among collections of non-canonical ('apocryphal') texts, are important and interesting. They give insights into the growth of Christian theology, especially concerning the role and status of Mary, and also the way in which the earliest stories were elaborated and interpreted in popular folk religion. A range of the earliest accounts is presented here in fresh translations. This second edition contains some texts originally in a variety of different languages such as Armenian, Ethiopic, Coptic and Irish, not available at the time of the first edition. The texts are arranged in small units and synoptically, in order to permit readers to compare texts and to see the differences and similarities between them. J.K. Elliott has selected and arranged the texts, and he provides introductory and concluding chapters. He also includes a full and helpful bibliography to benefit readers who may wish to pursue this comparative study more deeply.

A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives

A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives
Author: James Keith Elliott
Publisher: New Testament Tools, Studies a
Total Pages: 634
Release: 2006
Genre: Religion
ISBN:

This synopsis sets out in a clear and readily understandable way the principal early Christian texts, most of them apocryphal, that reveal the growth and changes in a range of influential stories about Jesus' birth and upbringing.

A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives

A Synopsis of the Apocryphal Nativity and Infancy Narratives
Author: James Keith Elliott
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2016
Genre: Apocryphal infancy Gospels
ISBN: 9789004311190

This synopsis contains a range of accounts in English about the birth and infancy of Mary and of Jesus. They are set out in small units to demonstrate the development of these stories in non-canonical literature found in differing languages and cultures.

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha
Author: Andrew F. Gregory
Publisher:
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2015
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 019964411X

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Apocrypha addresses issues and themes that arise in the study of early Christian apocryphal literature. It discusses key texts including the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Mary, the Gospel of Peter, letters attributed to Paul, Peter, and Jesus, and acts and apocalypses written about or attributed to different apostles. Part One consists of authoritative surveys of the main branches of apocryphal literature (gospels, acts, epistles, apocalypses, and related literature) and Part Two considers key issues that they raise. These include their contribution to our understanding of developing theological understandings of Jesus, the apostles and other important figures such as Mary. It also addresses the value of these texts as potential sources for knowledge of the historical Jesus, and for debates about Jewish-Christian relations, the practice of Christian worship, and developing understandings of asceticism, gender and sexuality, etc. The volume also considers questions such as which ancient readers read early Christian apocrypha, their place in Christian spirituality, and their place in contemporary popular culture and contemporary theological discourse.

Ancient Apocryphal Gospels

Ancient Apocryphal Gospels
Author: Markus Bockmuehl
Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2017-01-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1611646804

In this reader-friendly guide, Markus Bockmuehl offers a sympathetic account of the ancient apocryphal Gospel writings, showing their place within the reception history and formation of what was to become the canonical fourfold Gospel. Bockmuehl begins by helping readers understand the early history behind these noncanonical Gospels before going on to examine dozens of specific apocryphal texts. He explores the complex oral and intertextual relationships between the noncanonical and canonical Gospels, maintaining that it is legitimate and instructive to read the apocryphal writings as an engagement with the person of Jesus that both presupposes and supplements the canonical narrative outline. Appropriate for pastors and nonspecialists, this work offers a fuller understanding of these writings and their significance for biblical interpretation in the church.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible

The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Books of the Bible
Author: Michael D. Coogan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1226
Release: 2011-12-08
Genre: Bibles
ISBN: 0195377370

This is the first in this series of specialised reference works, each addressing a specific subfield within biblical studies. Books of the Bible is in depth, with articles on all of the canonical books, major apocryphal books of the New and Old Testaments, important noncanonical texts and some thematic essays.

Joseph the Carpenter

Joseph the Carpenter
Author: Philip Walker Jacobs
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2019-05-21
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004397523

In this ground-breaking examination of responses to Joseph the Carpenter, Dr. Jacobs offers fresh insight into the historic understanding and perception of this often forgotten figure. Challenging assumptions about the ways Joseph was understood and perceived in the first several centuries of Christianity, Jacobs begins his study with a thorough review of the earliest narrative portrayals of Joseph in the New Testament. Subsequently, he carefully traces the diverse responses to Joseph through the analysis of numerous works of art and narratives. In the process, he documents the presence of two trajectories: one, the most dominant, which affirms the roles of Joseph presented in the nativity accounts and highlights his significance and, another, which diminishes these roles and, consequently, Joseph's significance. While Jacobs's study documents the presence of tensions with respect to understanding and perception of Joseph within this period of Christianity, it also reveals that Joseph had much more importance than has previously been acknowledged.

Late Antique Images of the Virgin Annunciate Spinning

Late Antique Images of the Virgin Annunciate Spinning
Author: Catherine Gines Taylor
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 254
Release: 2018-03-12
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004362703

In Late Antique Images of the Virgin Annunciate Spinning: allotting the scarlet and the purple, Catherine Gines Taylor traces the way early Christians assimilated the symbolism of spinning into images of the Annunciation. Taylor offers an art historical and interdisciplinary look at the earliest images of Mary spinning, underscoring the iconographic model of idealized matronage consistent with lay piety and the cult of Mary. The personal and domestic nature of this motif is evidence toward popular Mariological devotion that preceded the exclusive, semi-divine presentation of the Theotokos, and stands in contrast with traditional ascetic models for Mary.

Secret Scriptures Revealed

Secret Scriptures Revealed
Author: Tony Burke
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2013-12-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0802871313

Throughout history, Christians have expressed their faith through story. They created texts featuring important early Christian figures, like Jesus, Peter, Paul, Mary Magdalene, and Judas, to express their relationships to God and to the world around them. Some of these texts are found in today's New Testament, but there is a wide assortment of other texts that are not included in the Bible. Secret Scriptures Revealed answers, in clear accessible terms, many frequently asked questions about the Christian Apocrypha. It describes and explains the key texts and includes a much-needed discussion.

Joseph's Dilemma

Joseph's Dilemma
Author: Matthew J Marohl
Publisher: James Clarke & Company
Total Pages: 100
Release: 2015-02-26
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0227903226

The story of the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew is told in eight verses. Embedded in this short narrative is "Joseph's dilemma". Listeners are told that: "When Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit" (1:18). What happens next has long been debated. We are made to assume that Joseph discovers that Mary is pregnant, but that he does not know that she is with child from the Holy Spirit. This information is made known to Joseph later by an angel of the Lord who appeared to him in a dream. In the meantime, Joseph must decide what he will do with Mary. We are told: "Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly" (1:19). The discussion of this verse generally focuses on two questions. First, did Joseph suspect Mary of adultery? Second, if he did suspect Mary of adultery, what where his options? While there is some diversity in the way that these questions are answered, the majority of modern interpreters envision only one option - that of divorce. The dilemma, then, is whether Joseph will divorce Mary "publicly" or "privately". While these questions are important, neither adequately addresses Joseph's dilemma. In this book, Matthew J. Marohl argues that early Christ-followers understood Joseph's dilemma to involve an assumption of adultery and the subsequent possibility of the killing of Mary. Worded differently, Joseph's dilemma involves the possibility of an honor killing. If Joseph reveals that Mary is pregnant she will be killed. If Joseph conceals Mary's pregnancy, he will be opposing the law of the Lord. What is a "righteous" man to do?