BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

The Prequel Gospels

Apocryphal tales of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Jesus carries water in a cloth to Mary. Depicted in the 14th-century Gospel translation Klosterneuburger Evangelienwerk. Credit: Public Domain

Among other things, the Christmas season is often synonymous with movies and television specials. Sprinkled among the plethora of Christmas classics, one is sure to find an on-screen telling of the Nativity story, such as Netflix’s new epic biopic Mary. Viewers will quickly realize that it is unlike the typical Nativity story, as it begins with Mary’s miraculous birth to childless parents Joachim and Anne. Soon after, the film goes into Mary’s early childhood as a virgin dedicated to service in the Jerusalem Temple before being chosen to bear the Christ-child.

While one might chalk this up to Hollywood creating a bit of Christian fan-fiction to flesh out the life of Mary, they might be surprised to learn that much of this account is derived from the apocryphal Proto-Gospel of James—a work supposedly written by James the brother of Jesus that was most likely crafted in the late second century. Much like a work of fan-fiction is written to fill in a beloved character’s backstory, the Proto-Gospel of James provides more information about Mary’s life and the events surrounding the Nativity. Since only two of the four Canonical Gospels give somewhat conflicting accounts about the birth of Jesus, many early Christians were left wanting further details and explanations. And much like a modern film adaptation of the Nativity, the Proto-Gospel of James attempts to weave the two separate birth narratives together, smooth out plot holes and inconsistencies, and flesh out missing details, albeit with a clear theological agenda concerning the Virgin Mary.

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This early Christian need to expand on the gospel stories can also be seen in the so-called Infancy Gospels, the best-known and earliest being the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Also likely composed in the late second century, the Infancy Gospel describes various events from the childhood of Jesus, ending with a parallel account of the story in Luke’s Gospel about the 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple. Many of the stories involve Jesus coming to terms with his miraculous powers in often alarming ways. Jesus breathes life into birds made of clay, curses fellow children to death and blinds their parents, and heals his brother James of a snake bite, just to name a few. It also contains episodes of religious teachers failing in their attempts to teach Jesus, who ends up befuddling and teaching them instead.

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While some might take issue with adding to the biblical canon, it is a practice that existed long before the books of the New Testament were written. Judaism during the Second Temple period was ripe with apocryphal accounts that added to and expounded upon the narratives of key biblical figures found in the pages of the Hebrew Bible, many of which found their way into the Dead Sea Scrolls. Early Christians were no different than their Jewish counterparts when it came to accounts of Jesus and his family. These apocryphal traditions circulated for centuries and often became the basis for church traditions that have persisted for almost 2,000 years. Many episodes from these non-canonical books even found their way into Islamic tradition and appear in the Quran, such as the boy Jesus giving life to clay birds (Surah 5:110). While ultimately not considered part of the biblical canon, these tales served a much-needed purpose in the lives of early Christians and added to the corpus of stories used to teach moral lessons and ethics, much like fables and fairy tales have been used in more recent times.

For more on the Infancy Gospel of Thomas and other extra-canonical tales of Mary, Joseph, and the boy Jesus, be sure to read “Christianity’s First Family” by Christopher A. Frilingos in the Winter 2024 Issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

Subscribers: Read the full piece, “Christianity’s First Family” by Christopher A. Frilingos, in the Winter 2024 Issue of Biblical Archaeology Review.

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Related reading in Bible History Daily

Nativity—A Tale of Two Stories

Christmas Stories in Christian Apocrypha

Early Copy of Infancy Gospel of Thomas Identified

All-Access members, read more in the BAS Library

The Gospels that Didn’t Make the Cut

“Lost Gospels”—Lost No More

The Christian Apocrypha

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas