Date of composition

• c. 150 at the earliest.

Biography of Jesus?

• Partial. Describes from birth to 2 years of age.

Type of Apocrypha (heretical or in error (fake stories created by someone))

• Error.

Length

• 23 double-spaced pages.

Summary

• It does not focus on the life of Jesus but, instead, describes the conception of John the Baptist, the birth and young life of Mary, the selection of Joseph as Mary's husband, the annunciation to Mary of Jesus' conception, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, the visit of the Magi, and the slaughter of the infants.

Noteworthy from the book

1. The word "Protoevangelium" indicates that this book focuses on events before Jesus' ministry began.
2. Probably the first writing to describe Mary's birth as miraculous (Mary's mother (Anna) became pregnant without her husband's assistance). This idea later became the "immaculate conception of Mary" (meaning that Mary was born without sin.)
3. One of the first writings to suggest that Mary remained a virgin her entire life and that the brothers and sisters of Jesus were, therefore, his half-relatives and children of Joseph from a previous marriage. (The book does not mention his previous marriage but does mention other sons of Joseph who were alive before Jesus was born.) The natural conclusion is that Joseph was previously married and had children, that his first wife died, and that Joseph later married Mary.
4. Mary lived in the Temple from age three to twelve and was regularly fed by an angel.
5. After a lottery involving staffs, Joseph was chosen marry Mary. He declined because he was old and had sons, but he was persuaded to marry her anyway.
6. Mary was 16 years old when she became pregnant.
7. Upon discovering that Mary was pregnant before their marriage, Joseph was taken before a priest. Joseph denied that he had slept with Mary. The priest decided that Joseph and Mary would undergo the test for adultery (described in Numbers 5:11-22), at which point both drank poisoned water yet were unharmed. Therefore, the priest released them.
8. When Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem for the census, one of Joseph's sons from his previous marriage led the donkey upon which Mary was riding. Later, when Joseph went to look for a midwife for Mary, two of Joseph's sons watched over her.
9. Mary gave birth in a cave. [The first known references to Jesus being born in a cave are this book and the "Dialogue with Trypho" by Justin Martyr, written from 155-160.]
10. When Herod ordered all the baby boys to be killed, he also included the infant John the Baptist. [The text does not tell how Herod knew about John the Baptist.] Herod sent messengers to find the baby John, and they went to his father, Zacharias. He would not tell the messengers where the infant John was, and the messengers killed Zacharias at the entrance to the Temple.