medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
DANIEL KLINE <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>Indeed one of the most interesting things about the infancy gospels in the
medieval period, at least in the West, is that although they are decried by
Jerome and were officially "condemned" by the Decretum Gelasianum (c. 496),
they continued to exert such wide artistic and cultural influence.
i assume that this is due (at least in part) to a great thirst for any stories
about the "origins" of these "Heroic" beings.
reminds me of the excitment i felt when i finally got ahold of the comic books
which explained where Superman/Batman/Uncle Scrooge, etc. actually *came* from
and came to be what they were.
eventually, "Superboy" comix were a seperate spin-off from the "Superman"
ones, and very popular.
also, childhood narratives certainly enhance the "approachability" of these
sorts of folk.
the idea of Baby Jesus building stuff out of the mud while all of his
contemporaries were being hunted down and slaughtered adds a certain charm to
the Main Event playing out, beyond the walls.
i'm sure that the folklorists have written reams about this genre of
narrative, and have all sorts of subdivisions for it, complete with an
essoteric nomenclature.
a sort of folklore is, after all, what we're dealing with here.
wish i knew more about it.
>The situation in the East is much different in that the Orthodox celebrate
feast days based on events found only in the Protevangelium of James, such as
Anne's conception of Mary, the birth of Mary, and Mary's entrance into the
Temple.
yes, and Sherry's (was it?) point about these feasts having at least *some*
currency in the West doesn't obviate the thrust of your point, as i understand
it, viz., that the events celebrated are only mentioned in the P.J.
best from here,
christopher
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