Christmas : The Original Story

by BARKER MARGARET

• ISBN13: 9780281060504
• ISBN10: 0281060509
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-03-02
• Publisher: Society for Promoting Christian

Summary

"The story of Christmas is loved by all Christians, and its cultural influence is felt far and wide, not only in the art and literature of the Church but also in the Qur'an. Much of the story that was known to the first Christians, however, is not found in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and so some of the detail in Christian art and literature is not always understood." "Margaret Barker uses her knowledge of temple tradition and Jewish culture in the time of Jesus to set the story in its original cultural and literary context. By examining the widely used Infancy Gospel of James, and by uncovering layers of allusion in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, she reveals what the Christmas story originally meant. She then goes on to show how this understanding can be found in later texts such as the Arabic Infancy Gospel and legends known in mediaeval Europe."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

The setting	p. 1
The world of the temple	p. 2
Telling the stories	p. 16
The politics	p. 23
Other voices	p. 31
Adam	p. 36
The Lady	p. 39
The hidden descent	p. 44
Luke	p. 50
The first annunciation: the birth of John	p. 53
The second annunciation: the birth of Jesus	p. 59
The meeting of Elizabeth and Mary	p. 65
The birth of John	p. 70
The birth of Jesus	p. 74
The annunciation to the shepherds	p. 78
The LORD in his temple	p. 82
Matthew	p. 93
The genealogy	p. 97
The Virgin birth	p. 100
The star	p. 108
The magi	p. 115
The flight into Egypt	p. 123
The Infancy Gospel of James and translation of the text	p. 128
The story	p. 133
Mary	p. 136
The veil	p. 142
The resting-place	p. 144
The cave	p. 145
The Infancy Gospel of James	p. 151
The Qur'an and translation of selected passages	p. 162
Primary sources	p. 175
Index of primary sources	p. 177
Index of persons, places and subjects	p. 187
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.