Last night, my seminary class on Christmas and Easter discussed the non-canonical texts that tell about Mary and Joseph and the birth/childhood of Jesus. They are bizarre texts, the Proto-Gospel of James and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. One thing that I wondered was whether or not the canonical Gospel stories would seem just as bizarre, had we not spent our lifetimes hearing them and watching them and acting them out in childhood pageants. I think they would.
My professor finished by saying that we can see how the non-canonical texts are trying to fill in the gaps, that they are harmonizing with the canonical texts not competing with them.
She reminded us that it's good to have gaps in the texts. The gaps remind us, as do the texts (both canonical and non), that having the answers is not the same as living well and living faithfully. Her closing thoughts seem so essential to me in this time of deep division.
No comments:
Post a Comment