Ancient Greek Saint Joseph Manuscript – The So-Called "History of Saint Joseph"

There is an ancient Greek manuscript that provides a biography of Saint Joseph told from the point of view of Jesus Christ. It is titled “The History of Saint Joseph the Carpenter.” It was likely composed in Egypt between the 5th and 7th century. The only surviving copies known today are available in Coptic and Arabic translations of the original Greek.

The work definitely supports the Old Saint Joseph theory, a theory that I have tried to refute in this post: Was Saint Joseph Old or Young? (I hold with Maria Agreda that Saint Joseph was young at the birth of Christ.)

The manuscript explains why Joseph married Mary and describes Joseph’s children from a previous marriage. The manuscript borrows heavily from the Protoevangelium of Saint James. What’s interesting is that while Saint Joseph lives to be 111 (like Bilbo Baggins), he does not age or lose teeth. He’s solid and healthy.

The book ends with a description of Saint Joseph’s death which has cameos from Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel. The book then falsely says “And the holy apostles have preserved this conversation, and have left it written down in the library at Jerusalem.”

You can read the whole thing over at NewAdvent.org, but TAKE IT WITH A GRAIN OF SALT. It’s apocryphal!

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