Post-Holiday Roundup: Apocrypha on TV

January 11, 2007 by Tony

Apocryphicity has been on hiatus over the holidays. It's time now to catch up on a variety of material on the CA posted on the internet over the past few weeks.

For those of you who missed the CNN documentary After Jesus: The First Christians can read the transcript available on-line. See also Stephen Carlson’s critique on his blog Hypotyposeis.

A pre-Christmas article from USA Weekend inspired by the film The Nativity Story discusses the various portrayals of Joseph in canonical and non-canonical gospels. You can read Mark Goodacre’s review of the film at the SBL Forum.

Jim Davila at Paleojudaica excerpts a report linking singer Kylie Minogue and Juliette Binoche with a play called “Gnosis” which is reportedly “loosely inspired by the same apocrypha as The Da Vinci Code.”

The Times Online presents a discussion of the apocryphal texts covered in Channel 4’s Christmas Documentary “The Secret Family of Jesus.” Jim Davila discusses the article at Paleojudaica.

The Nativity Story: A Modern Apocryphon?

November 19, 2006 by Tony

The Catholic News Service has posted a review (with a detailed synopsis) of The Nativity Story. It is striking that, despite the many changes made here to the canonical versions of the story (including a number of references that foreshadow events in Jesus’ adult life), the author of the review still feels it is “faithful to scripture.” In his own words:

“Though the New Testament is sparse on details about Mary and Joseph, the thoughtful screenplay of Mike Rich, a practicing Christian, manages to flesh them out while remaining faithful to Scripture, beautifully suggesting the humanity beneath the halos.”

Like The Passion of the Christ, The Nativity Story appears to be an excellent example of modern Christian Apocrypha—i.e., like the ancient CA, these films take well-known traditions, add other material (other early traditions, their own inventions and interpretations) and shake. To the reviewer (and likely many viewers) the result is a version of the tale that seems appropriate (and viewers of The Passion felt the same, despite scholars’ assertions that it was more than a simple harmony of the canonical gospels).

Perhaps we can learn something from this. Maybe writers of the early CA operated like these filmmakers (naively believing they were telling the story appropriately, and not intentionally manipulating the texts as CA critics claim) and their audiences received their works in the same way as modern pious Christian filmgoers.

The Nativity Story

November 3, 2006 by

This may be old news to many but…December 1 marks the release date of The Nativity Story, a film about…well, you know.

What is of interest to CA scholars about the film is its use of traditions that can be found in apocryphal stories of Mary—namely, details absent from the canonical gospels such as the names of Mary’s parents. This information, though accepted as historical by most mainstream Christians, was disseminated over the centuries in the Protoevangelium of James and derivative texts (such as the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, the Arabic Infancy Gospel, and the various versions of the Life of Mary) which expand the story.

Several years ago The Passion of the Christ drew the public’s attention to Historical Jesus scholarship; The Nativity Story may do the same for the CA. Or, more likely, reporters will call up the usual suspects (John Dominic Crossan, Bart Ehrman) or the local priest. For more information about the film, visit the official web site or read a preview article.