Among the clutter in my purview from last week, a Greek scrap of the "Childhood Gospel" ascribed to Thomas floated into some tabloid or other. On this I was... not going to poast. But today Davila, at long last, has found an article worthy of mention so floated that to his blog Paleojudaica. This is the farrago of legend whereby Jesus showed supernatural gnosis and power over life-and-death as a young boy.
As is usual, copies of this pile of pious balderdash are late, but we know it was composed much earlier. The article offers some reasons: first, the "Epistula Apostolorum" notes the event. The canon we know was barely in focus at the time. More intriguingly, by noting miracles of Jesus' childhood, the "Infancy Gospel" contradicts the gospel of John 1-20 which asserts that Jesus' first "Sign" was that of Cana. I am pretty sure that John would have considered as semeion, being able to turn clay birds into flying birds; as does this "Epistle of the Apostles".
Luke splits the difference: yes Jesus already knows everything, no it's not (quite) a Sign.
But maybe John was reacting exactly to such legends in his own time. Note that the scrap is a schoolkid's exercise rather than a lection or an amulet or something equally serious. Arguably Cana flirts with adoptionist Christology, contrary to John 1 and even the hymn in Philippians; but the legends were proliferating, and to such a magnitude of silly, that John (or his source) figured that he needed to impose a filter on them all (vide the ending of John 20). Cana remains silly, indeed Dionysian; but at least it requires an adult Christ. It brings in wine imagery as well, which John happens to enjoy - witness the "True Vine" discourse.
No comments:
Post a Comment