The Christmas Story in the Apocrypha and the Koran

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The Christmas Story—According to the Koran

The first Christmas as told in the Koran, the Holy Book of the Muslim faith. . .

And mention in the Book, Mary, when she withdrew from her people to an eastern place, and she took a veil apart from them; then We sent unto her Our Spirit that presented himself to her a man without fault.

She said, ‘I take refuge in the All-merciful from thee! If thou fearest God. . .’ He said, ‘I am but a messenger come from thy Lord, to give thee a boy most pure.’

She said, ‘How shall I have a son whom no mortal has touched, neither have I been unchaste?’ He said, ‘Even so thy Lord has said: “Easy is that for Me; and that We may appoint him a sign unto men and a mercy from Us; it is a thing decreed.”’

So she conceived him, and withdrew with him to a distant place. And the birthpangs surprised her by the trunk of the palm-tree. She said, ‘Would I had died ere this, and become a thing forgotten!’ But the one that was below her called to her, 'Nay, do not sorrow; see, thy Lord has set below thee a rivulet.

Shake also to thee the palm-trunk, and there shall come tumbling upon thee dates fresh and ripe. Eat therefore, and drink, and be comforted; and if thou shouldst see any mortal, say, "I have vowed to the All-merciful a fast, and today I will not speak to any man. Then she brought the child to her folk carrying him; and they said, ‘Mary, thou hast surely committed a monstrous thing! Sister of Aaron, thy father was not a wicked man, nor was thy mother a woman unchaste.’

Mary pointed to the child then; but they said, ‘How shall we speak to one who is still in the cradle, a little child?’ He said, 'Lo, I am God’s servant; God has given me the Book, and made me a Prophet. Blessed He has made me, wherever I may be; and He has enjoined me to pray, and to give the alms, so long as I live, and likewise to cherish my mother; He has not made me arrogant, unprosperous.

Peace be upon me, the day I was born, and the day I die, and the day I am raised up alive!’

That is Jesus, son of Mary, in word of truth, concerning which they are doubting.

The Koran Interpreted, an English translation by A.J. Arberry
 
THE GOSPEL OF THE BIRTH OF MARY

Chapter 2:

The Angel Visits Joachim, Mary’s Father:
  1. But if reason will not convince you of the truth of my words that there are frequent conceptions in advanced years, and that those who were barren have brought forth to their great surprise, therefore Anna your wife shall bring you a daughter, and you shall call her name Mary;
  2. She shall, according to your vow, be devoted to the Lord from her infancy, and she will be filled with the Holy Spirit from her mother’s womb.
  3. She shall neither eat nor drink anything unclean, nor shall her conversation be outside among the common people, but in the temple of the Lord, so that she may not fall under any slander or suspicion of what is bad.
  4. So in the process of her years, as she shall be in a miraculous manner born of one that was barren, so she shall, while yet a virgin, in a way unparalleled, bring forth the Son of the most High God, who shall be called Jesus, and according to the significance of his name, be the Savior of all nations.
  5. And this shall be a sign to you of the things which I declare, namely, when you come to the golden gate of Jerusalem, you will there meet your wife Anna, who being very much troubled that you returned no sooner, will then rejoice to see you.
  6. When the angel had said this, he departed from him.
Chapter 3:

The Angel visits Anna the mother of Mary
  1. Afterwards the angel appeared to Anna his wife saying: Fear not, neither think that which you see is a spirit.
  2. For I am that angel who has offered up your prayers and alms before God, and am now sent to you that I may inform you that a daughter will be born unto you, who shall be called Mary, and shall be blessed above all women.
  3. Immediately upon her birth, she will be full of the grace of the Lord and will continue in her father’s house during the three years of her weaning, and afterwards, being devoted to the service of the Lord, will not depart from the temple till she arrives to years of discretion.
  4. In a word, she will there serve the Lord night and day in fasting and prayer, and abstain from every unclean thing, and never know any man;
  5. But, being an unparalleled instance without any pollution or defilement, and a virgin not knowing any man, will bring forth a son, and a maid shall bring forth the Lord, who both by his grace and name and works, shall be the Savior of the world.
  6. Arise therefore, and go up to Jerusalem, and when you shall come to that which is called the golden gate (because it is gilt with gold), as a sign of what I have told you, you will meet your husband, for whose safety you have been so much concerned.
  7. When therefore you find these things thus accomplished, believe that all the rest which I have told you shall also undoubtedly be accomplished.
  8. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] According therefore to the command of the angel, both of them left the places where they were, and when they came to the place specified in the angel’s prediction, they met each other.
  9. Then, rejoicing at each other’s vision and being fully satisfied in the promise of a child, they gave due thanks to the Lord, who exalts the humble.
  10. And having praised the Lord, they returned home and lived in a cheerful and assured expectation of the promise of God.
  11. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] So Anna conceived and brought forth a daughter, and, according to the angel’s command, the parents called her name Mary.
Chapter 8:
  1. Joseph returns to Galilee to marry the Virgin he had betrothed. 4. He perceives she is with child, 5. is uneasy, 7. purposes to put her away privately, 8. is told by the angel of the Lord it is not the work of man but the Holy spirit. 12. He marries her, but keeps chaste, 13. leaves with her to Bethlehem, 15. where she brings forth Christ.
  2. Joseph therefore went from Judaea to Galilee, with intention to marry the Virgin who was betrothed to him:
  3. For it was now nearly three months since she was betrothed to him.
  4. At length it plainly appeared she was with child, and it could not be hid from Joseph:
  5. For going to the Virgin in a free manner, as one espoused, and talking familiarly with her, he perceived her to be with child.
  6. And thereupon he began to be uneasy and doubtful, not knowing what course it would be best to take;
  7. For being a just man, he was not willing to expose her, nor defame her by the suspicion of being a whore, since he was a pious man.
  8. He purposed therefore privately to put an end to their agreement and privately to put her away.
  9. But while he was meditating on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, and said, Joseph, son of David, fear not;
  10. Do not be willing to entertain any suspicion of the Virgin’s being guilty of fornication, or to think anything amiss of her, neither be afraid to take her as your wife;
  11. For that which is begotten in her and now distresses your mind, is not the work of man, but the Holy Spirit.
  12. For she of all women is that only Virgin who shall bring forth the Son of God, and you shall call his name Jesus, that is, Savior: for he will save his people from their sins.
  13. Joseph thereupon, according to the command of the angel, married the Virgin and did not know her, but kept her in chastity.
  14. And now the ninth month from her conception drew near, when Joseph took his wife and what other things were necessary to Bethlehem, the city from whence he came.
  15. And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled for her bringing forth.
  16. And she brought forth her first-born son, as the holy Evangelists have taught, even our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, lives and reigns to everlasting ages.
 
THE PROTEVANGELION OF JAMES

CHAPTER 9
  1. The priests desire a new veil for the temple, 3. seven virgins cast lots for making different parts of it, 4. the lot to spin the true purple falls to Mary. 5. Zacharias, the high- priest, becomes mute. 7. Mary takes a pot to draw water, and hears a voice, 8. trembles and begins to work, 9. an angel appears, and salutes her, and tells her she will conceive by the Holy Spirit. 17. She submits, 19. visits her cousin Elizabeth, whose child in her womb leaps.
  2. And it came to pass, in a council of the priests, it was said, Let us make a new veil for the temple.
The veil of the temple was a curtain separating the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, mentioned in Exodus 26:31, 36:35; II Chronicles 3:14, Matthew 27:51, Hebrews 6:19 and 10:20.
  1. And the high-priest said, Call together to me seven undefiled virgins of the tribe of David.
“Undefiled virgins” would seem redundant, but the meaning seems to be virgins before the age of puberty. (Menstruation was considered a temporary ceremonial “defilement.”)
  1. And the servants went and brought them into the temple of the Lord, and the high-priest said to them, Cast lots before me now, who of you will spin the golden thread, who the blue, who the scarlet, who the fine linen, and who the true purple.
  2. Then the high-priest, knowing that Mary was of the tribe of David, called her, and the true purple fell to her lot to spin, and she went away to her own house.
  3. But from that time Zacharias the high-priest became mute, and Samuel was placed in his stead until Zacharias spoke again.
“But from that time Zacharias the high-priest became mute…” A man named Samuel was interi m high-priest until Zacharias could speak. This occurred when the angel Gabrielannounced the birth of John the Baptist to the aged couple: “And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.” (Luke 1:20) Zacharias regained his speech when the child was born and he was asked what name he should be given.
  1. But Mary took the true purple, and did spin it.
  2. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] And she took a pot, and went out to draw water, and heard a voice saying to her, Hail you who are full of grace the Lord is with you; you are blessed among women.
  3. And she looked to the right and to the left to see where that voice came from, and then went trembling into her house and laying down the water-pot, she took the purple and sat down to work on it.
  4. And behold the angel of the Lord stood by her and said, Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor in the sight of God;
  5. Which when she heard, she reasoned with herself what that sort of salutation meant.
  6. And the angel said to her, The Lord is with you, and you will conceive:
  7. To which she replied, What! By the living God, shall I conceive and bring forth as all other women do?
  8. But the angel returned answer, Not so, O Mary, but the Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
  9. Wherefore that which will be born of you will be holy, and will be called the Son of the Living God, and you will call his name Jesus; for he will save his people from their sins.
  10. And behold your cousin Elizabeth, for she in her old age has also conceived a son.
  11. And this now is the sixth month with her, who was called barren; for nothing is impossible with God.
  12. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.
  13. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] And when she had wrought her purple, she carried it to the high- priest, and the high-priest blessed her, saying, Mary, the Lord God has magnified your name, and you will be blessed in all the ages of the world.
  14. Then Mary, filled with joy, went away to her cousin Elizabeth and knocked at the door.
  15. When Elizabeth heard, she ran and opened to her, and blessed her, and said, How has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
  16. For lo! as soon as the voice of your salutation reached my ears, that which is in me leaped and blessed you.
  17. But Mary, being ignorant of all those mysterious things which the archangel Gabriel had spoken to her, lifted up her eyes to heaven, and said, Lord! What am I, that all the generations of the earth should call me blessed?
  18. But perceiving herself daily to grow big, and being afraid, she went home, and hid herself from the children of Israel; and she was fourteen years old when all these things happened.
Mary was fourteen years old when Christ was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Church tradition has always maintained this.
 
CHAPTER 10
  1. Joseph returns from building houses, finds the Virgin grown big, being six months’ gone with child, 2. is jealous and troubled, 8. He reproaches her. 10. She affirms her innocence. 13. He leaves her and 16. determines to dismiss her privately, 17. but is warned in a dream that Mary is with child by the Holy Spirit, 20. and glorifies God who has shown him such favor.
  2. And when her sixth month was come, Joseph returned from his building houses abroad, which was his trade, and entering into the house, found the Virgin grown big:
Joseph “building houses abroad” means throughout the region.
  1. Then smiting his face, he said, With what face can I look up to the Lord my God? or what shall I say concerning this young woman?
  2. For I received her a Virgin out of the temple of the Lord my God and have not preserved her such!
  3. Who has thus deceived me? Who has committed this evil in my house, and seducing the Virgin from me, has defiled her?
  4. Is not the history of Adam exactly accomplished in me?
Compare with the New Testament of Christ as the second Adam: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive… And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam [was] a quickening spirit… The first man [is] of the earth, earthy; the second man [is] the Lord from heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:22, 45, 47)
  1. For in the very instant of his glory, the serpent came and found Eve alone, and seduced her.
  2. Just after the same manner it has happened to me.
  3. Then Joseph arising from the ground, called her and said, O you who have been so much favored by God, why have you done this?
  4. Why have you thus debased your soul, who was educated in the Holy of Holies, and received your food from the hand of angels?
  5. But she, with a flood of tears, replied, I am innocent, and have known no man.
  6. Then said Joseph, How is it then that you are with child?
  7. Mary answered, As the Lord my God lives, I know not by what means.
  8. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] Then Joseph was exceedingly afraid, and went away from her, considering what he should do with her; and he thus reasoned with himself:
Joseph’s dilemma is expressed in more detail here than in Matthew 1:19.
  1. If I conceal her crime, I shall be found guilty by the law of the Lord;
  2. And if I reveal her to the children of Israel, I fear that she being with child by an angel, I shall be found to betray the life of an innocent person:
  3. What therefore shall I do? I will privately dismiss her.
  4. Then the night came, when behold an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, and said,
The angel appears in a dream to Joseph to repeat what he had said to Mary regarding the Holy Spirit and the name of Jesus.
  1. Be not afraid to take that young woman, for that which is within her is of the Holy Spirit;
  2. And she will bring forth a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
  3. Then Joseph arose from his sleep, and glorified the God of Israel, who had shown him such favor, and preserved the Virgin.
CHAPTER 12
  1. A decree from Augustus for taxing the Jews. 5. Joseph puts Mary on an ***, to return to Bethlehem, 6. she looks sorrowful, 7. she laughs, 8. Joseph inquires the cause of each, 9. she tells him she sees two persons, one mourning and the other rejoicing, 10. her delivery being near, he takes her from the ***, and places her in a cave.
  2. And it came to pass, that there went forth a decree from the Emperor Augustus, that all the Jews should be taxed, who were of Bethlehem in Judaea:
Compare with Luke 2:1.
  1. And Joseph said, I will take care that my children be taxed: but what shall I do with this young woman?
  2. I am ashamed to have her taxed as my wife, and if I tax her as my daughter, all Israel knows she is not my daughter.
  3. When the time of the Lord’s appointment will come, let him do as seems good to him.
“…time of the Lord’s appointment will come…” that is, the birth of Jesus.
  1. And he saddled the ***, and put her upon it, and Joseph and Simon followed after her, and arrived at Bethlehem within three miles.
This Simon is apparently one of Joseph’s married sons.
  1. Then Joseph turning about saw Mary sorrowful, and said within himself, Perhaps she is in pain through that which is within her.
  2. But when he turned about again he saw her laughing, and said to her,
  3. Mary, how does it happen that I sometimes see sorrow, and sometimes laughter and joy in your countenance?
  4. And Mary replied to him, I see two people, the one weeping and mourning, the other laughing and rejoicing.
The meaning of Mary’s vision of “two people, the one weeping and mourning, the other laughing and rejoicing” is not revealed. It may relate to Simeon’s words to Mary when she brought the baby Jesus to the temple: “And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this [child] is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Mary would laugh and rejoice at Christ’s birth, but she also would be a sorrowful witness to his crucifixion.
  1. And he went again across the way, and Mary said to Joseph, Take me down from the ***, for that which is in me presses to come forth.
  2. But Joseph replied, Where shall I take you? for the place is desert.
  3. Then said Mary again to Joseph, Take me down, for that which is within me mightily presses me.
  4. And he found there a cave, and let her into it.
 
CHAPTER 13
  1. Joseph seeks a Hebrew midwife, 2. perceives the fowls stopping in their flight, 3. the working people at their food not moving, 8. the sheep standing still, 9. the shepherd fixed and immoveable, 10. and young goats with their mouths touching the water but not drinking.
  2. And leaving her and his sons in the cave, Joseph went to seek a Hebrew midwife in the village of Bethlehem.
  3. But as I was going (said Joseph) I looked up into the air, and I saw the clouds astonished, and the fowls of the air stopping in the midst of their flight.
  4. And I looked down towards the earth and saw a table spread, and working people sitting around it, and their hands were upon the table, but they did not move to eat.
  5. They who had meat in their mouths did not eat.
  6. They who lifted their hands up to their heads did not draw them back:
  7. And they who had lifted their hands up to their mouths did not put anything in;
  8. But all their faces were fixed upwards.
  9. And I beheld the sheep dispersed, and yet the sheep stood still.
  10. And the shepherd lifted up his hand to smite them, and his hand remained up.
  11. And I looked to a river, and saw the young goats with their mouths close to the water, but they did not drink.
A further mention of Joseph’s sons. His strange, almost out-of-the-body experience of time standing still is told without explanation, but it is clearly a portent of the momentous and divine event about to happen in the cave.

CHAPTER 14
  1. Joseph finds a midwife. 10. A bright cloud overshadows the cave. 11. A great light in the cave gradually increases until the infant is born. 13. The midwife goes out and tells Salome that she has seen a virgin bring forth. 17. Salome doubts it. 20. Her hand withers. 22. She supplicates the Lord, 18. and is cured, 30. but warned not to declare what she had seen.
  2. Then I beheld a woman coming down from the mountains, and she said to me, Where are you going, O man?
  3. And I said to her, I go to inquire for a Hebrew midwife.
  4. She replied to me, Where is the woman that is to be delivered?
  5. And I answered, In the cave, and she is betrothed to me.
  6. Then said the midwife, Is she not your wife?
  7. Joseph answered, It is Mary, who was educated in the Holy of Holies, in the house of the Lord, and she fell to my lot, and is not my wife, but has conceived by the Holy Spirit.
  8. The midwife said, Is this true?
  9. He answered, Come and see.
“Come and see” is an irrefutable response to skeptics; compare with: “And Nathaniel said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.” (John 1:46)
  1. And the midwife went along with him and stood in the cave.
  2. Then a bright cloud overshadowed the cave, and the midwife said, This day my soul is magnified, for my eyes have seen surprising things, and salvation is brought forth to Israel.
  3. But suddenly the cloud became a great light in the cave, so that their eyes could not bear it.
  4. But the light gradually decreased, until the infant appeared, and nursed at the breast of his mother Mary.
  5. Then the midwife cried out and said, How glorious a day in this, wherein my eyes have seen this extraordinary sight!
  6. And the midwife went out from the cave, and Salome met her.
  7. And the midwife said to her, Salome, Salome, I will tell you a most surprising thing which I saw,
  8. A virgin has brought forth, which is a thing contrary to nature.
“A virgin has brought forth…” The midwife now knew this from her own experience, not merely from Joseph’s words. “…which is a thing contrary to nature.” Those who would reject the Virgin Birth on this basis miss the point; the whole force of the doctrine is that it was a unique event divinely wrought only once in all of human history. The same can be said of the Resurrection; belief in only these two miracles is absolutely obligatory for Christians.
  1. To which Salome replied, As the Lord my God lives, unless I receive particular proof of this matter, I will not believe that a virgin has brought forth.
Compare Salome’s words “As the Lord my God lives, unless I receive particular proof of this matter, I will not believe that a virgin has brought forth” with those of Thomas: “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 21:25)
  1. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] Then Salome went in, and the midwife said, Mary, show yourself, for a great controversy is risen concerning you.
  2. And Salome received satisfaction.
  3. But her hand was withered, and she groaned bitterly.
  4. And said, Woe to me, because of my iniquity; for I have tempted the living God, and my hand is ready to drop off.
  5. Then Salome made her supplication to the Lord, and said, O God of my fathers, remember me, for I am of the seed of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.
 
CHAPTER 14 CONTINUED
  1. Make me not a reproach among the children of Israel, but restore me sound to my parents.
  2. For you well know, O Lord, that I have performed many offices of charity in your name, and have received my reward from you.
  3. Upon this an angel of the Lord stood by Salome, and said, The Lord God has heard your prayer; reach forth your hand to the child and carry him, and by that means you will be restored.
  4. Salome, filled with exceeding joy, went to the child, and said, I will touch him:
  5. And she purposed to worship him, for she said, This is a great king which is born in Israel.
Compare “Salome, filled with exceeding joy, went to the child, and said, I will touch him: And she purposed to worship him, for she said, This is a great king which is born in Israel” with the testimony of Thomas, “And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.” (John 21:28) It is worth quoting what next transpired: “Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed.”
  1. And straightway Salome was cured.
  2. Then the midwife went out of the cave, being approved by God.
  3. And lo! A voice came to Salome, Declare not the strange things which you have seen, till the child will come to Jerusalem.
Admonitions to temporarily keep quiet about a miracle are not uncommon in the canonical Scriptures: “And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.” (Matthew 8:4, Luke 5:14); “Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.” (Matthew 16:20, Luke 9:21); “As they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead.” (Matthew 17:9); “And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.” (Luke 8:56)
  1. So Salome also departed, approved by God.
CHAPTER 15
  1. Wise men come from the east. 3. Herod alarmed; 8. tells them if they find the child, to bring him word. 10. They visit the cave and offer the child their treasure, 11. and being warned in a dream, do not return to Herod, but go home another way.
  2. Then Joseph was preparing to go away, because there arose a great disorder in Bethlehem by the coming of some wise men from the east,
The arrival of the wise men from the east and their meeting with Herod is also in Matthew 1:1ff.
  1. Who said, Where is the king of the Jews born? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him.
  2. When Herod heard this, he was exceedingly troubled, and sent messengers to the wise men, and to the priests, and inquired of them in the town-hall.
Herod was troubled because he was the representative appointed by the Roman government and mention of the birth of a king portended sedition.
  1. And said to them, Where have you found it written concerning Christ the king, or where should he be born?
  2. Then they said to him, In Bethlehem of Judaea; for thus it is written: And you Bethlehem in the land of Judah, are not the least among the princes of Judah, for out of you will come a ruler, who will rule my people Israel.
The Old Testament prophecy is in Micah 5:2, which adds the messianic intimation that the king would be the Son of God, whose “goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
  1. And having sent away the chief priests, he inquired of the wise men in the town-hall, and said to them, What sign was it you saw concerning the king that is born?
  2. They answered him, We saw an extraordinary large star shining among the stars of heaven, which so out-shined all the other stars, so that they became invisible, and we knew thereby that a great king was born in Israel, and therefore we are come to worship him.
  3. Then said Herod to them, Go and make diligent inquiry; and if you find the child, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
  4. So the wise men went forth, and behold, the star which they saw in the east went before them till it came and stood over the cave where the young child was with Mary his mother.
Here is an apparent discrepancy of time or place. Matthew 2:11 says the wise men found Mary and the babe in a house, not a cave, indicating they arrived at a later time. Christian art has reconciled the cave with the manger by putting the manger in a kind of cave, but depicting the wise men there is probably an anachronism.
  1. Then they brought forth out of their treasures, and offered to him gold and frankincense, and myrrh.
  2. And being warned in a dream by an angel that they should not return to Herod through Judaea, they departed into their own country by another way.
 
CHAPTER 16
  1. Herod enraged, orders the infants in Bethlehem to be slain. 2. Mary puts her infant in an ox manger. 3. Elizabeth flees with her son John to the mountains. 6. A mountain miraculously divides and receives them. 9. Herod incensed at the escape of John, causes Zacharias to be murdered at the altar, 23. the roofs of the temple rent, the body miraculously conveyed, and the blood petrified. 25. Israel mourns for him. 27. Simeon chosen his successor by lot.
  2. Then Herod perceiving that he was mocked by the wise men, and being very angry, commanded certain men to go and to kill all the children that were in Bethlehem, from two years old and under.
Herod was a resentful descendant of the Idumeans who had been forcibly converted to Judaism. His cruelty was prefigured at Moses’ birth, when Pharaoh attempted to destroy the firstborn males (Exodus 1:16, 22). This event is also in Matthew 2:16-18, where it indicates the event was a fulfillment of prophecy: “Thus saith the Lord: A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.” (Jeremiah 31:15) He records that as the Jews were on their sad pilgrimage to an alien land, they passed Ramah, where Rachael, who had long been dead, is pictured weeping even in her tomb for the fate that had befallen the people, her children. As Rachael was tod her children would return from exile in Babylon (Jeremiah 31:16, 17), so Jesus will return from his exile in Egypt.
  1. But Mary hearing that the children were to be killed, being under much fear, took the child, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in an ox-manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Luke 2:7 is alluded to, though misapplied as to misapplied as to time.
  1. Elizabeth also, hearing that her son John was about to be searched for, took him and went up to the mountains, and looked around for a place to hide him;
  2. And there were no secret places to be found.
  3. Then she groaned within herself and said, O mountain of the Lord, receive the mother with the child.
  4. For Elizabeth could not climb up.
  5. And instantly the mountain was divided and received them.
The escape of Elizabeth into a miraculous opening in a mountain seem to have been an appealing theme to noncanonical writers, for the same thing is found in the Acts of Paul and Thecla. The baby John the Baptist was under suspicion as the promised king of Israel because he was born shortly before Jesus.
  1. And there appeared to them an angel of the Lord, to preserve them.
  2. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] But Herod made search after John and sent servants to Zacharias, when he was ministering at the altar, and said to him, Where have you hidden your son?
  3. He replied to them, I am a minister of God and a servant at the altar; how should I know where my son is?
  4. So the servants went back, and told Herod the whole; at which he was incensed and said, Is not this son of his likely to be king in Israel?
  5. He sent therefore again his servants to Zacharias, saying, Tell us the truth, where is your son, for you know that your life is in my hand.
  6. So the servants went and told him all this:
  7. But Zacharias replied to them, I am a martyr for God, and if he shed my blood, the Lord will receive my soul.
  8. Besides know that you shed innocent blood.
  9. However Zacharias was murdered in the entrance of the temple and altar, and about the partition;
  10. But the children of Israel knew not when he was killed.
  11. [New paragraph in the oldest extant manuscripts] Then at the hour of salutation the priests went into the temple, but Zacharias did not according to custom meet them and bless them;
 
CHAPTER 16 CONTINUED
  1. Yet they still continued waiting for him to salute them;
  2. And when they found he did not come for a long time, one of them ventured into the holy place where the altar was, and he saw blood lying upon the ground congealed;
  3. When, behold, a voice from heaven said, Zacharias is murdered, and his blood will not be wiped away, until the revenger of his blood come.
  4. But when he heard this, he was afraid, and went forth and told the priests what he had seen and heard; and they all went in, and saw the fact.
  5. The roofs of the temple then howled and were rent from the top to the bottom:
  6. And they could not find the body, but only blood made hard like stone.
This Zachariah, of course, is not the one referred to by Jesus: “That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.” (Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51) The Old Testament story of that man is found in II Chronicles 24:21, but the martyrdom of Zacharias the high-priest and father of John the Baptist is nowhere mentioned in the New Testament.

Epiphanius cites from a Gnostic manuscript that fancifully elaborates on the earlier story of his being struck mute after a vision and garbles it with his death: “That it was the occasion of the death of Zacharias in the temple, that when he had seen a vision, he, through surprise was willing to disclose it, and his mouth was stopped. That which he saw was at the time of his offering incense, and it was a man standing in the form of an ***. When he was gone out, and had a mind to speak thus to the people, Woe to you, whom do ye worship? he who had appeared to him in the temple took away the use of his speech. Afterwards when he recovered it, and was able to speak, he declared this to the Jews, and they slew him.” The Gnostics in this book added anachronistically that “it was for this reason the high-priest was ordered by God through Moses to carry little bells, so that whenever he went into the temple to sacrifice, he, whom they worshipped, hearing the noise of the bells, might have time enough to hide himself, and not be caught in that ugly shape and figure.”

However, there is a similar story to the death of Zacharias told in the Protevangelion in both the Jerusalem and Babylonish Talmud (cited by Lightfoot in “Talmud, Hierosol, in Taannith” and “Talmud, Babylonish in Sanhedran”): “Rabbi Jochanan said, Eighty thousand priests were slain for the blood of Zacharias. Rabbi Judas asked Rabbi Achan, Where did they kill Zacharias? Was it in the woman’s court, or in the court of Israel? He answered: Neither in the court of Israel, nor in the court of women, but in the court of the priests; and they did not treat his blood in the same manner as they were wont to treat the blood of a ram or a young goat. For of these it is written, He will pour out his blood, and cover it with dust. But it is written here, The blood is in the midst of her: she set it upon the top of the rock; she poured it not upon the ground. (Ezekiel 24:7.) But why was this? That it might cause fury to come up to take vengeance: I have set his blood upon the top of a rock, that it should not be covered. They committed seven evils that day: they murdered a priest, a prophet, and a king; they shed the blood of the innocent: they polluted the court: that day was the Sabbath: and the day of expiation. When therefore Nebuzaradan came there (that is, to Jerusalem), he saw his blood bubbling, and said to them, What meaneth this? They answered, It is the blood of calves, lambs, and rams, which we have offered upon the altar. He commanded them that they should bring calves, and lambs, and rams, and said, I will try whether this be their blood: accordingly they brought and slew them, but the blood of (Zacharias) still bubbled, but the blood of these did not bubble. Then he said, Declare to me the truth of the matter, or else I will comb your flesh with iron combs. Then said they to him, He was a priest, prophet, and judge, who prophesied to Israel all these calamities which we have suffered from you; but we arose against him, and slew him. Then said he, I will appease him: then he took the rabbins and slew them upon his (that is, Zacharias’s) blood, and he was not yet appeased. Next he took the young boys from the schools, and slew them upon his blood, and yet it bubbled. Then he brought the young priests and slew them in the same place, and yet it still bubbled. So he slew at length ninety-four thousand person upon his blood, and it did not as yet cease bubbling. Then he drew near to it and said, O Zacharias, Zacharias, you have occasioned the death of the chief of your countrymen; shall I slay them all? Then the blood ceased, and did bubble no more.” Surely if anything remotely resembling had happened, it would have been alluded to in the New Testament.
  1. And they went away and told the people that Zacharias was murdered, and all the tribes of Israel heard and mourned for him, and lamented three days.
  2. Then the priests took counsel together concerning a person to succeed him.
  3. And Simeon and the other priests cast lots, and the lot fell upon Simeon.
  4. For he had been assured by the Holy Spirit, that he should not die until he had seen Christ come in the flesh.
This must be the Simeon whose story is in Luke 2:26.

The oldest extant manuscripts close with the following: I, James wrote this History in Jerusalem: and when the disturbance came, I retired into a desert place until the death of Herod. And the disturbance ceased at Jerusalem. That which remains is, that I glorify God that he has given me such wisdom to write to you who are spiritual and who love God: to whom be ascribed glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
 
firstmode said:
Did I miss any references?
Click to expand...
What is the question regarding all these posts?

What is the discussion about?

We (non-muslim) know the koran has everything wrong regarding Biblical comparisons, so what is it that you wish to discuss regarding your thread?
 
jakasaki said:
What is the question regarding all these posts?

What is the discussion about?

We (non-muslim) know the koran has everything wrong regarding Biblical comparisons, so what is it that you wish to discuss regarding your thread?
Click to expand...
Ditto that…
 
Sorry, the post was not meant to ask any questions, just to stir up conversation on where many of the elements of tradition, Tradition, and Holy Tradition have come from to describe the birth of Christ and the details of the nativity.

How does the Catholic Church describe the nativity? The Bible is rather sparse about it.
 
THE FIRST GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY OF JESUS CHRIST

CHAPTER 1
  1. Caiaphas relates that Jesus, when in his cradle, informed his mother that he was the Son of God. 5. Joseph and Mary going to Bethlehem to be taxed, Mary’s time of bringing forth arrives, and she goes into a cave. 8. Joseph fetches in a Hebrew woman, the cave filled with great lights. 11. The infant born, 17. cures the woman, 19. arrival of the shepherds.
  2. The following accounts we found in the book of Joseph the high-priest, called by some Caiaphas:
  3. He relates that Jesus spoke even when he was in the cradle and said to his mother:
  4. Mary, I am Jesus the Son of God, that word which you brought forth according to the declaration of the angel Gabriel to you, and my Father has sent me for the salvation of the world.
  5. [New paragraph in the original] In the three hundred and ninth year of the era of Alexander, Augustus published a decree that all persons should go to be taxed in their own country.
  6. Joseph therefore arose, and with Mary his spouse he went to Jerusalem, and then came to Bethlehem so he and his family might be taxed in the city of his fathers.
  7. And when they came by the cave, Mary confessed to Joseph that her time of bringing forth was come, and she could not go on to the city, and said, Let us go into this cave.
  8. At that time the sun was very near going down.
  9. But Joseph hurried away, that he might bring her a midwife; and when he saw an old Hebrew woman who was of Jerusalem, he said to her, Please come here, good woman, and go into that cave, and you will there see a woman just ready to bring forth.
  10. It was after sunset, when the old woman and Joseph with her reached the cave, and they both went into it.
  11. And behold, it was all filled with lights, greater than the light of lamps and candles, and greater than the light of the sun itself.
  12. The infant was then wrapped up in swaddling clothes, and suckled at the breasts of his mother St. Mary.
  13. When they both saw this light, they were surprised; the old woman asked St. Mary, Are you the mother of this child?
  14. St. Mary replied that she was.
  15. On which the old woman said, You are very different from all other women.
  16. St. Mary answered, As there is not any child like to my son, so neither is there any woman like to his mother.
  17. The old woman answered and said, O my Lady, I am come here that I may obtain an everlasting reward.
  18. Then our Lady, St. Mary, said to her, Lay your hands upon the infant; which, when she had done, she became whole.
  19. And as she was going forth, she said, From henceforth, all the days of my life, I will attend upon and be a servant of this infant.
  20. After this, when the shepherds came and had made a fire, and they were exceedingly rejoicing, the heavenly host appeared to them, praising and adoring the supreme God.
  21. And as the shepherds were engaged in the same employment, the cave at that time seemed like a glorious temple, because both the tongues of angels and men united to adore and magnify God on account of the birth of the Lord Christ.
  22. But when the old Hebrew woman saw all these evident miracles, she gave praises to God and said, I thank you, O God of Israel, because my eyes have seen the birth of the Savior of the world.
 
CHAPTER 2
  1. The child circumcised in the cave, 2. and the old woman preserving his foreskin or navel-string in a box of spikenard, Mary afterwards anoints Christ with it. 5. Christ brought to the temple, 6. shines, 7. angels stand around him adoring. 8. Simeon praises Christ.
CHAPTER 3
  1. The wise men visit Christ. Mary gives them one of his swaddling clothes. 3. An angel appears to them in the form of a star. They return and make a fire, and worship the swaddling cloth, and put it in the fire, where it remains unconsumed.
CHAPTER 4
  1. Herod intends to put Christ to death. 3. An angel warns Joseph to take the child and its mother into Egypt. 6. Consternation on their arrival. 13. The idols fall down. 15. Mary washes Christ’s swaddling clothes, and hang them to dry on a post. 16. A son of the chief priest puts one on his head, and being possessed of devils, they leave him.
CHAPTER 5
3. Joseph and Mary leave Egypt and go to the haunts of robbers, 4. who, hearing a mighty noise as of a great army, flee away.

CHAPTER 6
  1. Mary looks on a woman in whom Satan had taken up his abode, and she becomes dispossessed. 5. Christ kissed by a bride made mute by sorcerers and cures her, 11. miraculously cures a gentlewoman in whom Satan had taken up his abode. 16. A leprous girl is cured by the water in which he was washed, and she becomes the servant of Mary and Joseph. 20. The leprous son of a prince’s wife is cured in the same manner. 37. His mother offers large gifts to Mary and dismisses her.
CHAPTER 7
  1. A man who could not enjoy his wife is freed from his disorder. 5. A young man who had been bewitched, and turned into a mule, miraculously cured by Christ being put on his back, 28. and is married to the girl who had been cured of leprosy.
CHAPTER 8
  1. Joseph and Mary pass through a country infested by robbers. 3. Titus, a humane thief, offers Dumachus, his comrade, forty groats to let Joseph and Mary pass unmolested. 6. Jesus prophesies that the thieves, Dumachus and Titus, shall be crucified with him, and that Titus shall go before him into Paradise. 10. Christ causes a well to spring from a sycamore tree, and Mary washes his coat in it. 11. A balsam grows there from his sweat. They go to Memphis, where Christ works more miracles. Return to Judaea. 15. Being warned, they depart for Nazareth.
CHAPTER 9
2. Two sick children cured by water wherein Christ was washed.

CHAPTER 10
  1. Two wives of one man each have a son sick. 2. One of them, named Mary, and whose son’s name was Caleb, presents the Virgin with a handsome carpet, and Caleb is cured; but the son of the other wife dies, 4. which occasions a difference between the women. 5. The other wife puts Caleb into a hot oven, but he is miraculously preserved; 9. She afterwards throws him into a well, and he is again preserved; 11. his mother appeals to the Virgin against the other wife, 12. whose downfall the Virgin prophesies, 13. and who accordingly falls into the well, 14. thereby fulfilling a saying of old.
CHAPTER 11
  1. Bartholomew, when a child and sick, was miraculously restored by being laid on Christ’s bed.
CHAPTER 12
  1. A leprous woman is healed by Christ’s washing water. 7. A princess is healed by it and restored to her husband.
CHAPTER 13
  1. A girl, whose blood Satan sucked, receives one of Christ’s swaddling clothes from the Virgin. 13. Satan comes like a dragon, and she shows it to him; flames and burning coals proceed from it and fall upon him; 19. he is miraculously discomfited and leaves the girl.
CHAPTER 14
  1. Judas when a boy is possessed by Satan and brought by his parents to Jesus to be cured, whom he tries to bite, 7. but failing, he strikes Jesus and makes him cry out. Whereupon Satan goes from Judas like a mad dog.
CHAPTER 15
  1. Jesus and other boys play together and make clay figures of animals. 4. Jesus causes them to walk, 6. and also makes clay birds, which he causes to fly, and eat and drink. 7. The children’s parents become alarmed and take Jesus for a sorcerer. 8. He goes to a dyer’s shop, throws all the cloths into the furnace, and works a miracle therewith. 15. At which the Jews praise God.
CHAPTER 16
  1. Christ miraculously widens or contracts the gates, milk- pails, sieves, or boxes, not properly made by Joseph, 4. he not being skillful at his carpenter’s trade. 5. The King of Jerusalem gives Joseph an order for a throne. 6. Joseph works on it for two years in the king’s palace, but makes it two spans too short. The king becomes angry with him, 10. Jesus comforts him, 13. and commands him to pull one side of the throne, while he pulls the other, and brings it to its proper dimensions. 14. At which the bystanders praise God.
 
CHAPTER 17
  1. Jesus plays with boys at hide and seek. 3. Some women put his playfellows in a furnace, 7. where they are transformed by Jesus into young goats. 10. Jesus calls them to go and play, and they are restored to their former shape.
CHAPTER 18
  1. Jesus becomes the king of his playfellows, and they crown him with flowers, 4. miraculously causes a serpent who had bitten Simon the Canaanite, then a boy, to suck out all the poison again; 16. The serpent bursts, and Christ restores the boy to health.
CHAPTER 19
  1. After James is bitten by a viper, Jesus blows on the wound and cures him. 4. Jesus charged with throwing a boy from the roof of a house, 10. miraculously causes the dead boy to acquit him, 12. Fetches water for his mother, breaks the pitcher and miraculously gathers the water in his mantle and brings it home, 16. makes fish-pools on the Sabbath, 20. causes a boy to die who broke them down. 22. Another boy runs against him, whom he also causes to die.
CHAPTER 20
  1. Jesus sent to school to Zaccheus to learn his letters, and teaches Zaccheus. 13. Sent to another schoolmaster, 14. refuses to tell his letters; when the schoolmaster goes to whip him, his hand withers and he dies.
CHAPTER 21
  1. Disputes miraculously with the doctors in the temple, 7. on law, 9. on astronomy, 12. on physics and metaphysics, 21. is worshipped by a philosopher, 28. and brought home by his mother.
CHAPTER 22
  1. Conceals his miracles, 2. studies the law and is baptized.
 
firstmode said:
Sorry, the post was not meant to ask any questions, just to stir up conversation on where many of the elements of tradition, Tradition, and Holy Tradition have come from to describe the birth of Christ and the details of the nativity.

How does the Catholic Church describe the nativity? The Bible is rather sparse about it.
Click to expand...
 
The Quran describes the birth of Jesus in good detail. It starts with the mother of mary and the birth of Mary. Mostly the material is descibed in chapter 3 and 19 of the Quran.
 
firstmode said:
Sorry, the post was not meant to ask any questions, just to stir up conversation on where many of the elements of tradition, Tradition, and Holy Tradition have come from to describe the birth of Christ and the details of the nativity.

How does the Catholic Church describe the nativity? The Bible is rather sparse about it.
Click to expand...
Read the first chapters of the Gospel of Luke.
 
planten said:
The Quran describes the birth of Jesus in good detail. It starts with the mother of mary and the birth of Mary. Mostly the material is descibed in chapter 3 and 19 of the Quran.
Click to expand...
Yeap, if I’m not mistaken the details were all about how she went to the east or west to labor, and then taking a spot under a palm tree…which is a ridiculous detail compared to the bible, and then no mentioning about Joseph. And this is a story supposed to be narrated by Allah…😃
 
seraphime2008 said:
Yeap, if I’m not mistaken the details were all about how she went to the east or west to labor, and then taking a spot under a palm tree…which is a ridiculous detail compared to the bible, and then no mentioning about Joseph. And this is a story supposed to be narrated by Allah…😃
Click to expand...
seraphime, are you disturbed about the palm tree only?? What about the erlier verses of chapter 19?? You must be happy about them.

But you have not understood anything. Perhaps you did not know that Jesus was in the manger soon after birth. Is manger better than the palm tree??

I would request that you give opinion about the verses before the palm tree business. I.e. the visit of the angel to Mary and giving her the good news of an illustrous son. (grown up son). That palm tree news is in agreement with the circumstances (difficult conditions) under which Mary gave birth to Jesus. She was in transit and did not have any good facility that the ladies like to have at the time of delivery.

Quran is not the book of history, as your bible, so and so is the son of so and so… Joseph is not mentioned in Quran by name. But marriage of Mary is well mentioned in Quran. It was by drawing lots that she was married to (Joseph). The description of Quran is very correct, beautiful and superlative. There is nothing in the bible about it.

You will soon learn more about it. Merry X-mas.
 
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