The Protevangelium Of James: Greek Text, English Translation, Critical Introduction: Volume 1

Description

George T. Zervos presents the first in a two-volume critical investigation of one of the earliest and most important of the New Testament Apocrypha, the Protevangelium of James, also known as the Infancy Gospel of James. Zervos challenges the prevailing view that the ProtJas is a 2nd century unitary document; finding it instead to be the product of an ongoing redactional process in which a 1st century CE “heretical” text was progressively conformed to the “orthodox” Christian doctrine of the time. Zervos tells the story of how an early apocryphal gospel provided the developing church with doctrinal material, which was incorporated into both the theology and the ecclesiastical liturgical cycle of the medieval Church, thus becoming a significant part of the standard catechism for generations of Christians. In this first volume Zervos provides a critical introduction to the text and discusses ProtJas’ publication history, scholarly investigation, compositional problems and evidence of redaction, as well as a in-depth analysis of the narrative. For the first time the readings of the vast majority of the known Greek manuscripts appear together, with a transcription of the original text of the complete copy of the ProtJas found in Papyrus Bodmer V. Cover Editorial board Title Copyrights Contents Preface Foreword James H. Charlesworth Acknowledgments INTRODUCTION: THE GENERAL BACKGROUND The Publication History of the Greek Text of the ProtJac The History of Scholarly Investigation of the ProtJac The Compositional Problem of the ProtJac The Present Study Chapter 1 EVIDENCE OF REDACTION OF THE PROTJAC The Joseph Council: ProtJac 8:03–9:12 The Veil Council: ProtJac 10:01–12:11 The Original GenMar Annunciation Story Mary’s Visit to Elizabeth The Trial of Joseph and Mary: ProtJac 13:01–16:07 The Nativity Complex: ProtJac 17–21 The Journey to Bethlehem Topographical and Archaeological Factors The Midwife The Birth Doubting Salome The Magi The Zachariah Apocryphon The Colophon CONCLUSIONS: THE “AUTHORS” OF THE PROTJAC The Redactor: The Protevangelium Jacobi The Composer: The Composer-enhanced GenMar Joseph in the ProtJac The Author: The Genesis Marias Appendices Appendix 1: Mary’s Evolving Virginity in Early Christianity Appendix 2: The Apologetic Purpose of the ProtJac The Evidence of Malcom Lowe Appendix 3: The ProtJac and the New Testament Gospels Appendix 4: The Kathisma Church The Original Cave of the Nativity Illustrations