What is the Protoevangelium of James?
Title: Protoevangelium (or Infancy Gospel) of James
Date: c. A.D. 150–180
Author: Unknown (claims to be James, the “brother” of Jesus, but that’s pseudonymous)
Status: Apocryphal – never part of the biblical canon, and rejected by most early church fathers as non-inspired. Lacking Apostolic authority. Influenced later beliefs and Marian dogmas.
Summary:
- It expands on the early life of Mary and the birth of Jesus.
- It portrays Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anna, as elderly and barren until an angel announces Mary’s conception (similar to Old Testament patterns).
- It claims Mary was dedicated to the Temple as a child and raised there.
- It insists that Mary remained a perpetual virgin — even during and after Jesus’ birth.
- It describes a miraculous, pain-free birth of Jesus.
- Joseph is depicted as an older widower, chosen to be Mary’s guardian, which explains his “brothers” as children from an earlier marriage.
So the book’s main theme is to exalt Mary’s purity and holiness.
🕊️ Influence on Marian Dogmas
Though the Protoevangelium of James was never accepted as Scripture, it strongly influenced later traditions in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.
Its ideas shaped:
-
Mary’s perpetual virginity
– The notion that she remained a virgin before, during, and after Christ’s birth is first found here.
– Later early writers (e.g., Origen, Ambrose, Jerome) repeated these ideas, often clearly borrowing from this apocryphal source. -
Mary’s presentation in the Temple
– The story of her being dedicated to God as a child is from this text.
– The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (celebrated November 21) is based directly on this legend.
So, while not authoritative, it fed the stream of Marian piety that eventually became formal doctrine.
Reasons for Non-Inspired Status:
- Late Authorship: The text’s mid-2nd-century origin, long after the apostolic era, raised doubts about its authenticity and apostolic connection.
- Theological Elaborations: Its detailed stories about Mary’s life and Jesus’ birth, absent from canonical Gospels, were seen as legendary or speculative. For example, the account of Mary’s temple upbringing or the midwife’s verification of her virginity lacks corroboration in earlier texts.
- Pseudepigraphical Nature: The claim of authorship by James was widely doubted, as the text’s style and content suggest a later author, reducing its credibility as inspired Scripture.
- Inconsistencies with Canon: Details like Joseph’s portrayal as an elderly widower or the cave as the birthplace of Jesus differ from or expand on canonical accounts, leading to questions about its reliability.
📜 Dates the Marian Dogmas Were Officially Defined
| Dogma | Definition / Council / Pope | Date | Summary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mary as “Mother of God” (Theotokos) | Council of Ephesus | A.D. 431 | Affirmed that Jesus is one divine Person, truly God and truly man; therefore Mary may be called “Mother of God.” |
| Perpetual Virginity | Taught in early Church, reaffirmed by Lateran Council | A.D. 649 | Declared Mary “ever virgin before, during, and after the birth” of Christ. |
| Immaculate Conception | Pope Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus | Dec. 8, 1854 | Declared that Mary was preserved from original sin from the first moment of her conception. |
| Assumption of Mary | Pope Pius XII, Munificentissimus Deus | Nov. 1, 1950 | Declared that Mary was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory at the end of her earthly life. |
⚖️ Summary
- The Protoevangelium of James is an early legendary expansion about Mary and Jesus’ birth (2nd century).
- Though non-canonical, it seeded ideas that later became part of Catholic Marian tradition—especially the perpetual virginity and presentation in the temple.
- The formal dogmas came centuries later, culminating in the 19th and 20th centuries.
EXCERPT from Protoevangelium of James:
XIX
1I And behold a woman coming down from the hillcountry, and she said to me: Man, whither goest thou? And I said: I seek a midwife of the Hebrews. And she answered and said unto me: Art thou of Israel? And I said unto her: Yea. And she said: And who is she that bringeth forth in the cave? And I said: She that is betrothed unto me. And she said to me: Is she not thy wife? And I said to her: It is Mary that was nurtured up in the temple of the Lord: and I received her to wife by lot: and she is not my wife, but she hath conception by the Holy Ghost. And the midwife said unto him: Is this the truth? And Joseph
said unto her: Come hither and see. And the midwife went with him.
2 And they stood in the place of the cave: and behold a bright cloud overshadowing the cave. And the midwife said: My soul is magnified this day, because mine eyes have seen marvellous things: for salvation is born unto Israel. And immediately the cloud withdrew itself out of the cave, and a great light appeared in the cave so that our eyes could not endure it. And by little and little that light withdrew itself until the young child appeared: and it went and took the breast of its mother Mary. And the midwife cried aloud and said: Great unto me to-day is this day, in that I have seen this new sight.
3 And the midwife went forth of the cave and Salome met her. And she said to her: Salome, Salome, a new sight have I to tell thee. A virgin hath brought forth, which her nature alloweth not. And Salome said: As the Lord my God liveth, if I make not trial and prove her nature I will not believe that a virgin hath brought forth.
XX
1 And the midwife went in and said unto Mary: Order thyself, for there is no small contention arisen concerning thee. Arid Salome made trial and cried out and said: Woe unto mine iniquity and mine unbelief, because I have tempted the living God, and lo, my hand falleth away from me in fire. And she bowed her knees unto the Lord, saying: O God of my fathers, remember that I am the seed of Abraham
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