How a Non-Canonical Gospel Shaped Christmas

Have you ever heard that Joseph was an elderly widower, and that Jesus’ siblings were actually half-brothers and sisters that were children of Joseph and his first wife? Did you know that Mary’s parents’ names were Joachim and Anna? Have you seen pictures of the nativity taking place at a stable housed inside a cave? Have you heard that after Mary gave birth to Jesus, her midwife affirmed that she was still a virgin? None of these details is in the Bible, which gives us two different (and contradictory) nativity stories in Matthew and Luke’s gospels. Instead significant sources of Christian tradition regarding Jesus’ birth along with the life of his mother Mary come from a pseudepigraphic text that ancient Christians excluded from the New Testament. During this Christmas season, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look that this non-canonical gospel, usually known as the “Protoevangelium of James” (or Pseudo-James), its contents, authorship, and influence.
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