CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. - I. THE GOSPEL OF THE INFANCY OF JESUS. - The first two chapters of Matthew and of Luke constitute the canonical Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus, to be set against the apocryphal works of the same name (v.).
The authenticity and especially the historicity of these chapters is impugned by the various rationalistic currents, especially on account of the miracles contained in them.
The authenticity, however, is not doubtful, since the chapters are read in all the Greek codices and in all the versions. Only Marcion, for his heretical purposes, amputated them from the single Gospel (Luke) that he admitted. Critics, even non-Catholic ones, point out traces of the Matthean style in Mt. 1-2 (J. C. Hawkins, F. C. Burkitt) and of the Lucan style in Lk. 1-2 (A. Harnack; cf. L. Fonck [v. bibl.], p. 394).
The genuine origin of the Gospel of the Infancy is confirmed by the fact that even in these two chapters the Evangelists have in view the purposes of their respective Gospels. Matthew, who wishes to prove the messiahship of Jesus by means of the prophecies, demonstrates, in ch. 1, that he descends from Abraham and from David and that he was born of a virgin, as Isaiah foretold (7:14). In ch. 2, with the account of the magi, he proves that the birth at Bethlehem fulfills a prophecy of Micah (5:2), that the flight into Egypt conforms to Hosea (11:1), that the slaughter of the innocents is predicted by Jeremiah (31:13), and that the settling at Nazareth is foretold by the prophets.
Luke, who in the prologue declares that he drew his information from those who "saw from the beginning" (from the Virgin? cf. 2:19, 51) and who wishes to write "in order," goes back to the origins, recounting, in ch. 1, the annunciation to Zechariah and to the Virgin, her visit to Elizabeth, with the Magnificat (v.) and the Benedictus (v.). Following his eliminatory method (cf. 3:20), he anticipates the rest of the Baptist's story (1:80), returning (in ch. 2) to narrate the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, the circumcision, the presentation in the Temple, with the return to Nazareth. He then concludes with the episode of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple.
The historicity of these facts is confirmed by the agreement of Matthew and Luke on the essential points: the conception of Jesus, through the work of the Holy Spirit, by a virgin named Mary, spouse of Joseph, a descendant of David; the birth at Bethlehem in the time of Herod. St. Paul too (Rom. 1:2-2) knows that Jesus is a descendant of David as regards human nature (flesh) and Son of God as regards divine nature (spirit of sanctification), and that the Son of God is "born of a woman" (Gal. 4:4).
The episodes narrated by Matthew and by Luke can easily be reconciled by admitting that the anxiety of St. Joseph (Mt. 2:18-25) took place after the Virgin's return from the house of Elizabeth (Lk. 1:50) and that the return to Nazareth, after the presentation in the Temple, of which Lk. 2:39 speaks, may have been either a provisional return of the Holy Family for the purpose of taking the household goods in order to settle at Bethlehem (where the magi find them), or the definitive return, which coincides with the return from Egypt to Nazareth, of which Mt. 2:23 speaks.
The presence of miracles in these accounts poses no difficulty for one who admits that God can perform them for higher purposes. The comparison with the apocrypha argues in favor of the sober historicity of Matthew and Luke.
Such historicity is confirmed also by the agreement with the historical, political, and religious circumstances of Palestine in the time of Herod. The words of the angel Gabriel, of Zechariah, of Simeon reflect pre-Christian Jewish customs. The canticles Magnificat, Benedictus, Nunc dimittis, retranslated into Aramaic, correspond to the norms of biblical Hebrew poetry. The silence of Mark, John, Paul, Peter on the particulars of the mysteries of the hidden life (which illustrate the twofold nature of Christ, admitted by them as well) is explained by taking into account the purposes of their writings, which intended to base the proofs on public facts (v. GESÙ CRISTO, Vita; LUCA; MATTEO).
Bibliography2 works
Pietro De Ambroggi
II. APOCRYPHAL GOSPELS OF THE INFANCY OF JESUS
A special group of apocryphal Gospels (v.) deals with the infancy of Jesus and the earlier life of the Madonna and of St. Joseph. In general they have no heretical character, but intend to fill the gaps of the canonical Gospels and to satisfy, with fanciful accounts sometimes grown up around authentic traditions, the credulous curiosity of the faithful.
Because of their popular character, which sometimes becomes coarse, they enjoyed the favor of the people, first in the East from the 2nd century onward, then in the West, where people were more guarded about admitting them. Despite the qualification of "apocryphal" attributed to them by Innocent I in 405 (Denz-U, 96), they left traces thirty years later in Rome in the mosaics of St. Mary Major, commissioned by Sixtus III. Gregory of Tours (d. 594) and Pseudo-Chrysostom (ca. 600) glean from them. Their influence on medieval art is illustrated by D. Rops, I Vangeli della Vergine (Italian ed. edited by P. De Ambroggi, Turin 1949).