Did they make it to Bethlehem?
Good day everyone and blessings to you. I had considered adding this post to one of Daves' discussions,but thought it deemed discussion on its own. I am looking for comments from Pastors,Laypersons and anyone else who wishes to add a discussion,post to this,it could get interesting:
Infancy Gospel of James
And there was an order from the Emperor Augustus, that all in Bethlehem of Judaea should be enrolled. And Joseph said: I shall enrol my sons, but what shall I do with this maiden? How shall I enrol her? As my wife? I am ashamed. As my daughter then? But all the sons of Israel know that she is not my daughter. The day of the Lord shall itself bring it to pass as the Lord will. And he saddled the ass, and set her upon it; and his son led it, and Joseph followed. And when they had come within three miles, Joseph turned and saw her sorrowful; and he said to himself: Likely that which is in her distresses her. And again Joseph turned and saw her laughing. And he said to her: Mary, how is it that I see in thy face at one time laughter, at another sorrow? And Mary said to Joseph: Because I see two peoples with my eyes; the one weeping and lamenting, and the other rejoicing and exulting. And they came into the middle of the road, and Mary said to him: Take me down from off the ass, for that which is in me presses to come forth. And he took her down from off the ass, and said to her: Whither shall I lead thee, and cover thy disgrace? for the place is desert.
18. And he found a cave there, and led her into it; and leaving his two sons beside her, he went out to seek a widwife in the district of Bethlehem. And I Joseph was walking, and was not walking; and I looked up into the sky, and saw the sky astonished; and I looked up to the pole of the heavens, and saw it standing, and the birds of the air keeping still. And I looked down upon the earth, and saw a trough lying, and work-people reclining: and their hands were in the trough. And those that were eating did not eat, and those that were rising did not carry it up, and those that were conveying anything to their mouths did not convey it; but the faces of all were looking upwards. And I saw the sheep walking, and the sheep stood still; and the shepherd raised his hand to strike them, and his hand remained up. And I looked upon the current of the river, and I saw the mouths of the kids resting on the water and not drinking, and all things in a moment were driven from their course.
19. And I saw a woman coming down from the hill-country, and she said to me: O man, whither art thou going? And I said: I am seeking an Hebrew midwife. And she answered and said unto me: Art thou of Israel? And I said to her: Yes. And she said: And who is it that is bringing forth in the cave? And I said: A woman betrothed to me. And she said to me: Is she not thy wife? And I said to her: It is Mary that was reared in the temple of the Lord, and I obtained her by lot as my wife. And yet she is not my wife, but has conceived of the Holy Spirit. And the widwife said to him: Is this true? And Joseph said to her: Come and see. And the midwife went away with him. And they stood in the place of the cave, and behold a luminous cloud overshadowed the cave. And the midwife said: My soul has been magnified this day, because mine eyes have seen strange things -- because salvation has been brought forth to Israel. And immediately the cloud disappeared out of the cave, and a great light shone in the cave, so that the eyes could not bear it. And in a little that light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and went and took the breast from His mother Mary. And the midwife cried out, and said: This is a great day to me, because I have seen this strange sight. And the midwife went forth out of the cave, and Salome met her.
For the discussion-here we have a different account than what we are used to during the Christmas season. I think it deserves a second look. As I read the text-I discover that they did not make it to Bethlehem.....am looking forward to this discussion.
Blessings,
John Mac
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by john mac on -
James:
Well I guess that puts that "discussion" to rest...the program I seen on tv did not really mention that this was part of the apocrypha-but aren't some of the apocrypha books considered "useful" according to the church??
James Robertson said:2 Peter 1:16
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
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Permalink Reply by john mac on
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James;
The program did not mention it was a gnostic gospel....sometimes I guess we must be very careful and do the proper research on what we see! Thank you...
James Robertson said:...did not really mention that this was part of the apocrypha....
There's a reason for that: gnostic gospels are not part of the apocrypha.
As for secret messages in the bible, one need look no further than Matthew 17:9. "Tell the vision to no one".
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Permalink Reply by Dave Gosse on -
Hi John
From Wikipedia, no hotbed of Christian evangelism...
Authorship and date
The document presents itself as written by James: "I, James, wrote this history in Jerusalem." [3] Thus the purported author is James, brother of Jesus, whom the text claims is a son of Joseph from a prior marriage.
Scholars have established that the work is pseudepigraphical (not written by the person it is attributed to).[4]. That conclusion is based on the style of the language and the fact that the author describes certain activities as contemporary Jewish customs that probably did not exist. For example, the work suggests there were consecrated temple virgins in Judaism, similar to the Vestal Virgins in pagan Rome, but this is unlikely.[citation needed] The historical James certainly would have been familiar with such traditions.
The consensus is that it was actually composed some time in the 2nd century AD. The first mention of it is by Origen of Alexandria in the early 3rd century, who says the text, like that of a "Gospel of Peter", was of dubious, recent appearance and shared with that book the claim that the 'brethren of the Lord' were sons of Joseph by a former wife.[5]
These documents are interesting fom as curiosities... the development of tradition/heresy... but most of them are fanciful inventions with little to commend them as historically accurate.
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