From a virgin womb : the Apocalypse of Adam and the Virgin Birth / by Andrew J. Welburn.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Welburn, Andrew J.

Series:

Biblical interpretation series 0928-0731 ; v. 91.

Biblical interpretation series, 0928-0731 ; v. 91

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Apocalypse of Adam.

Virgin birth.

Physical Description:

227 pages ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2008.

Summary:

Scholarly researches on the virgin birth have often focussed rather narrowly on the theological and historical difficulties it tends to raise. The Nag Hammadi Apocalypse of Adam, however, provides for the first time a glimpse into the wider background of ideas and myths to which it belonged. Prophecies there concerning a universal 'Illuminator' mention his birth 'from a virgin womb'. Several of the stories, drawn from Iranian and other sources, also appear in apocalyptic and testamental literature contemporary with Christian origins. The book centrally analyses a body of extraordinarily detailed narrative parallels between a cluster of stories in the Apocalypse and the infancy narratives of Mt. 1-2, concluding that these stories serve to identify Jesus as the True Prophet who is the fulfilment of history - though not as Son of God. The question of Mt.'s special tradition and its relation to Lk. is also cast in a new light.

Contents:

Introduction. From the Virgin Birth to the Gospel of Matthew 1

Part 1 The Apocalypse of Adam

Chapter 1 Adam's Apocalypse: CG V/5 as Testament and Jewish Revelation 29

Chapter 2 Biblical Materials: Exile and Return 43

Chapter 3 "Syncretistic" Materials 61

Part 2 The Infancy Narratives and the Virgin Birth

Chapter 4 An Unnatural Birth (Mt. 1,18-21 and CG V 78,6-17) 87

Chapter 5 A Virgin Birth and a Persecuted Child (Mt. 1-2 and CG V 78,18-26) 117

Chapter 6 The Magi in Bethlehem and the Queen of the South (Mt. 2,1-12 and CG V 78,27 - 79,19) 131

Conclusion: The Virgin Birth: Some Reflections on its Meaning 161

Appendix The Zarathustra-Legend and CG V/5 77,26 - 78,26 181.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [211]-217) and index.

ISBN:

900416376X

9789004163768

OCLC:

180907515