Life of Mary, the Theotokos

[mommaduck]

Kate in Arabia wrote

The story of Mary in traditional Islamic sources is different than the Christian one. In the Qur'an, Mary is stated as being from the family of Imran (Aal Imraan), the daughter of Imran and Hannah. When they become pregnant with Mary, they dedicate their unborn child to the service of God, so once she is of age she is sent to the temple and is under the guardianship of Zakariyya. There is no Joseph in the Qur'anic version (only the Joseph with the colorful coat in Christian tradition, which is another story entirely). Her family is thought of as supportive of her, just the wider community was questioning. Imran, Hannah and Zakariyya are all respected figures in Islamic history, they are common names given to Muslim children.

Other than their view of Christ, their history of Mary is NOT different than the Christian one. The history of Mary's life, outside of the New Testament Scriptures is just rarely studied by many present day Christians.

 

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Nativity_of_the_Theotokos

The Holy Virgin and Theotokos Mary was born to elderly and previously barren parents by the names of Joachim and Anna, in answer to their prayers.

Hannah is another form of Anna. Zakariyya is another form of Zacharias.

 

http://orthodoxwiki.org/Presentation_of_the_Theotokos

According to Tradition, the Virgin Mary was taken —presented—by her parents Joachim and Anna into the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem as a young girl, where she lived and served as a Temple virgin until her betrothal to St. Joseph. One of the earliest sources of this tradition is the non-canonical Protoevangelion of James, also called the Infancy Gospel of James.

Mary was solemnly received by the temple community which was headed by the priest Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.

Yes, some Christians may completely disregard certain history that took place at the time of events in Scripture while accepting other historical events. However, many Christians do not and have not historically ;)

[Chris in VA]

Very interesting!

I would say, tho, that some sources of tradition are not accepted by some Christians as accurate, one being the Protoevangelion of James. You have varying opinions of what is "history."

Certainly interesting to look at, tho.

[simka2]

Very interesting!

I would say, tho, that some sources of tradition are not accepted by some Christians as accurate, one being the Protoevangelion of James. You have varying opinions of what is "history."

Certainly interesting to look at, tho.

It was very interesting to me that RC, EO, and Islam had this story in common. I know not every detail lines up between the three, but the gist of it is there and rather impressive. I was so misinformed as to think that Islam was stemmed from Esau. :tongue_smilie:

 

These boards have clued me in to a lot!!!! :D

[mommaduck]

Yes, I understand not accepting the Protoevangelism of James. Sometimes, there are accurate points and sometimes there may not be. It was listed as just ONE of the sources though. There are multiple and the life of Mary as presented here had been accepted by the Church for much of history (Protoevangelism of James aside ;) ).