Other ancient texts · Early Christian writings

Infancy Gospel of James

The Infancy Gospel of James (Protevangelium of James) is a short second-century story of Mary's life: her miraculous birth to Joachim and Anna, her childhood in the Temple, her betrothal to the elderly Joseph, and the birth of Jesus in a cave near Bethlehem. Many people read it because it is the oldest source for the names of Mary's parents and for many beliefs and feast days about Mary, especially in Orthodox and Catholic tradition.

  • about AD 150
  • Greek
  • Protestant Catholic Orthodox Ethiopian

Also called the Protevangelium of James; the source of many traditions about Mary.

Should it be in the Bible?

The case for

  1. It is a very early and widely loved Christian text that shaped how the church has spoken about Mary.

    The evidence

    Origen (Commentary on Matthew 10.17, c. 240s) cites the 'Book of James' by name. Its account of Mary's birth and her presentation in the Temple is the basis for Eastern feasts kept to this day, such as the Nativity of the Theotokos (8 September) and the Entry into the Temple (21 November).

  2. It was copied and translated across the ancient Christian world more than almost any other book outside the canon.

    The evidence

    More than 140 Greek manuscripts survive, along with versions in Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Arabic and Slavonic. Its oldest copy (Papyrus Bodmer V) is about as old as many New Testament papyri.

  3. It offers an early answer to real questions raised by the Gospels themselves.

    The evidence

    It explains Jesus' 'brothers' (Mark 6:3) as Joseph's sons from an earlier marriage, a view Origen and later Eastern writers accepted. It fits the birth stories of Matthew and Luke into one account, and its picture of a birth in a cave matches what Justin Martyr wrote around AD 155 (Dialogue 78).

The case against

  1. No church has ever counted it as scripture, and some early authorities rejected it outright.

    The evidence

    It is missing from every ancient canon list, including the Muratorian fragment, Athanasius (367) and the councils of Hippo and Carthage. The Gelasian Decree (around the 6th century) lists a 'Gospel under the name of James the Less' among rejected apocrypha, and Jerome rejected its teaching that Joseph had sons from a previous marriage.

  2. It claims to be by James but was written about a century after his death.

    The evidence

    Scholars agree that the claim in chapter 25 is false, since the book borrows from Matthew and Luke and dates to roughly AD 150–200. The author is unknown.

  3. It gets details of Jewish life wrong and adds legends not found in the Gospels.

    The evidence

    It has Mary raised inside the Temple's sanctuary and fed by an angel, which would have been unthinkable under Jewish law. It also makes Zechariah a high priest and includes a midwife physically checking Mary's virginity after the birth. Most historians read these as devotional legend, not memory of events.

Both sides are written as strongly as the honest evidence allows, so you can decide for yourself. Researched by claude-opus-5-5.

When, where and by whom

The book presents itself as written in Jerusalem by James, the brother of the Lord, soon after the death of Herod (chapter 25). Scholars agree it was written by an unknown Christian between about AD 150 and 200, probably outside Palestine (Egypt and Syria are both suggested), using the Gospels of Matthew and Luke.

Jesus, the New Testament and this book
  • It retells and combines the birth stories in Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2 (the annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth, the census, the magi and Herod's killing of the children), often borrowing their wording. (strong link)
  • It explains the 'brothers and sisters' of Jesus (Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55–56) as Joseph's children by an earlier wife, and Origen cites the 'Book of James' for this view. (strong link)
  • Its story of Zechariah, father of John the Baptist, killed in the Temple seems to read Jesus' words about Zechariah murdered 'between the sanctuary and the altar' (Matthew 23:35) as referring to him. (likely link)
  • Justin Martyr (Dialogue 78) also places Jesus' birth in a cave, so the two may share an older tradition. (likely link)
  • Clement of Alexandria (Stromata 7.16) mentions a midwife who found Mary still a virgin after giving birth, which may show he knew this book. (possible link)
How it came down to us

The oldest copy is Papyrus Bodmer V, a Greek papyrus from Egypt dated to the 3rd or 4th century, and more than 140 later Greek manuscripts survive, mostly copied in Byzantine churches and monasteries. Eastern churches also kept it in Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Arabic and Slavonic. In the Latin West it was largely replaced by a reworked version, the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, until Guillaume Postel published a Latin translation in 1552 under the title 'Protevangelium'.

  • Papyrus Bodmer V (oldest Greek manuscript)
  • Critical Greek edition by Émile de Strycker (1961) and the Greek manuscript tradition
  • Ancient translations (Syriac, Coptic, Ethiopic, Armenian, Georgian, Slavonic)
  • Early Christian writers: Origen, Commentary on Matthew 10.17; Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 78; Clement of Alexandria, Stromata 7.16
  • Canon lists and decrees: Muratorian fragment, Athanasius' 39th Festal Letter (367), councils of Hippo and Carthage, Gelasian Decree
  • Jerome, Against Helvidius
  • Modern scholarship on New Testament apocrypha (e.g. Hock, Elliott, Ehrman and Pleše)
  • Eastern Orthodox liturgical calendar (Marian feasts)

Chapters

1