Often considered as popular literature, the Infancy Gospels on Jesus' birth and childhood have been neglected in research during the last decades due to the relatively late date of their redaction. In this volume, an international team of scholars proposes a reconsideration of the historical background of these stories in terms of early Jewish and Christian identity quests.
Even though the canonical Jesus' infancy stories have always provoked great interest in popular culture and in the arts, they have been neglected in research during the last decades due to the relatively late date of their redaction. Since the monograph by Raymond Brown,
The Birthof the Messiah, the researchers working on this topic have not attempted to consider its historical impact. In this volume, an international team of scholars proposes firstly a reconsideration of the historical background of these stories in terms of early Jewish and Christian identity quests. Secondly, they deal with early Christian questions on Jesus' infancy and childhood through canonical and apocryphal Gospels including information from Patristic and documentary literature. On the theological level, this volume illustrates the impact that these apocryphal texts, recognized as »useful for the soul« (a phrase coined by François Bovon), have had on the Christian faith.
Contributors:
Philip Alexander,Frédéric Amsler,
Daniel Barbu,
Simon Butticaz,Valentina Calzolari,
Claire Clivaz,José Costa,
Elian Cuvillier,Adriana Destro, Luc Devillers, Jörg Frey,Daniel Gerber,
Christian Grappe,Christophe Guignard,Jean-Daniel Kaestli,
Ursula Ulrike Kaiser,Moisés Mayordomo,Simon Claude Mimouni,Enrico Norelli,David Pastorelli,Mauro Pesce,Francesca Prescendi,François Rosset, Anders Runesson,Andrea Taschl-Erber,Geert van Oyen,Joseph Verheyden,Benedict Viviano,Sever J. Voicu,Lily VuongTable of contents:
I. Infancy Gospels and StoriesFrancesca Prescendi: Divine Fathers, Virgin Mothers and Founding Children. Italic Myths about Conception and Birth -
Christian Grappe: Les Evangiles canoniques de l'enfance et les récits d'enfance intertestamentaires -
Simon Claude Mimouni: La virginité de Marie: entre textes et contextes (Ier-IIe siècles) -
Enrico Norelli: Les plus anciennes traditions sur la naissance de Jésus et leur rapport avec les testimonia -
Christophe Guignard: Jesus' Family and their Genealogy according to the Testimony of Julius Africanus -
Adriana Destro and
Mauro Pesce: The Cultural Structure of the Infancy Narrative in the Gospel of Matthew -
José Costa: The Matthean Reading of Isaiah 7.14 and the Midrash of Ancient Rabbis -
Joseph Verheyden: Creating Difference Through Parallelism. Luke's Handling of the Traditions on John the Baptist and Jesus in the InfancyNarrative -
Claire Clivaz: Beyond the Category of »Proto-Orthodox Christianity«: An Enquiry Into the Multivalence of Lk 1.35
II. Stories and Identities in the Infancy GospelsJörg Frey: How Could Mark and John Do without Infancy Stories? Jesus' Humanity and His Divine Origins in Mark and John -
David Pastorelli: The Genealogies of Jesus in Tatian's Diatessaron The Question of their Absence or Presence. A Response to J. Frey -
Andrea Taschl-Erber: Subversive Erinnerung. Feministisch-kritische Lektüre von Mt 1.2 und Lk 1.2 -
Moisés Mayordomo: Matthew 1.2 and the Problem of Intertextuality -
Elian Cuvillier: Enjeux ecclésiologiques de Matthieu 1.2. Approche historique et narrative -
Anders Runesson: Giving Birth to Jesus in the Late First Century. Matthew as Midwife in the Context of Colonisation -
Simon Butticaz: Lk 1.2: Auftakt einer tragischen Geschichte? Christliche Identität im Gespräch mit Israel -
Luc Devillers: The Infancy of Jesus and the Infancy of the Church. From the Canticles (Luke 1.2) to the Summaries (Acts 1.7) -
Daniel Gerber: D'une identité à l'autre. Le Magnificat, le Benedictus, le Gloria et le Nunc dimittis dans le rôle de passeurs -
Benedict Viviano: God as Father in the Infancy Gospels (Matt 1 and 2, Luke 1 and 2)
III. Infancy Gospels Stories and IdentitiesSever J. Voicu: Ways to Survival for the InfancyApocrypha -
Lily Vuong: »Let Us Bring Her Up to the Temple of the Lord«. Exploring the Boundaries of Jewish and Christian Relations through the Presentation of Maryin the Protevangelium of James -
Frédéric Amsler: Les Paidika Iesou, un nouveau témoin de la rencontre entre judaïsme et christianisme à Antioche au IVe siècle ? -
Ursula Ulrike Kaiser: Die sogenannte »Kindheitserzählung des Thomas«. Überlegungen zur Darstellung Jesu als Kind, deren Intention und Rezeption -
Geert van Oyen: Rereading the Rewriting of the Biblical Traditions in The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (Paidika) -
Jean-Daniel Kaestli: Mapping an Unexplored Second Century Apocryphal Gospel: the Liber de Nativitate Salvatoris (CANT 53) -
Valentina Calzolari: Les récits apocryphes de l.enfance dans la tradition arménienne -
Philip Alexander: Jesus and his Mother in the Jewish Anti-Gospel (the Toledot Yeshu) -
Daniel Barbu: Voltaire and the Toledoth Yeshu. A Response to Philip Alexander -
François Rosset: »False« and »True«. Infancy and Apocryphal Gospels in the Centuryof Voltaire
