TAYLOR: Alright, so this is from chapter ten and part of chapter eleven. I’ll have you read this and then we’ll talk a bit about why it didn’t end up in the Bible. Why don’t you-this is in the beginning of your book here in the introduction. And it really lays out for us, I think, some important bridge elements in the gospel narratives that early Christians were very curious about. The earliest manuscript that we have with the Protoevangelium is third century. Most scholars would agree that the bulk of the text was written in the second half of the second century. If we have such a large collection, is that-? HODGES: So, if those manuscripts lasted, it suggests that there were probably a lot of them. They were executed in a number of different languages-Greek, Syriac, Armenian, to name a few. There are approximately one hundred different manuscript copies of the Protoevangelium. It’s one of many apocryphal gospels and it’s an elaboration on the canonical infancy gospel narratives that we might be more familiar with, particularly in the gospel of the Matthew, in the gospel of Luke. TAYLOR: The Protoevangelium is a very important, influential text. So, let’s start there and talk a little bit about this record. And this is a book that offers more intricate detail about Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is a book that was written by early Christians that didn’t end up in the Bible, The Protoevangelium of James.

And that title will become more clear as we go along.īut let’s start with an apocryphal book. HODGES: And today, we’re sitting down to talk about a book that you published called, Late Antique Images of the Virgin Enunciate Spinning: Allotting the Scarlet and the Purple. And now I am the Nibley Post-Doctoral Fellow and I started that assignment in September of 2018. TAYLOR: I first did a fellowship with the Institute in 2017, kind of as an honorary fellowship. You’ve been here at the Institute how long? HODGES: We’ve known each other for a long time now. TAYLOR: Thank you, I’m very pleased to be here. HODGES: Catherine Taylor, welcome to the Maxwell Institute Podcast. Questions and comments about this and other episodes can be sent to * * * We’re talking about a book she wrote on Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the surprising stories Christians have told about her in word and artifact. Her research shows there is much more we can learn about women of the ancient world. We’ll need to look at other texts and ancient artifacts-burial boxes, jewelry, art.Ĭatherine Taylor joins us in this episode-she’s the Hugh Nibley Postdoctoral Fellow here at the Maxwell Institute, and she specializes in late antique Christian art history and iconography. But a close analysis still staggers the mind: One study argues that the voices of women only make up about one percent of all the words in the Bible! If we want to learn more about women in the ancient world, we’ll need more than the biblical text. It goes without saying that the Bible was created in a fundamentally patriarchal society. She’s currently researching the typologies of Susanna and Wisdom on sarcophagi and within funerary contexts.īLAIR HODGES: It’s the Maxwell Institute Podcast. Her work is focused on the interdisciplinary study of art, scripture, lay piety, Christian patronage, and patristic texts. More specifically, her research centers on images of women in early Christian contexts. Her work is focused on the interdisciplinary study of art, scripture, lay piety, Christian patronage, and patristic texts. Taylor holds graduate degrees from the University of Manchester and Brigham Young University. She specializes in late antique Christian art history and iconography. She is author of Late Antique Images of the Virgin Annunciate Spinning: Allotting the Scarlet and the Purple. About Catherine TaylorĬatherine Gines Taylor is the Hugh W. Images discussed in this episode are available in the transcript. We’ll need to look at other texts and ancient artifacts-burial boxes, jewelry, art. Catherine Taylor specializes in late antique Christian art history and iconography and joins us to talk about women of the ancient world. These traditions aren’t found in the Bible. Catherine Taylor suggests a much richer history of traditions about Mary, much closer to the experiences of Christian women down through the ages. For centuries, Christians have celebrated Mary as the miraculous virgin and Mother of God.

Precious moments nativity