Annunciation of Mary A Significant Image in the Christian Theology Essay

Annunciation of Mary A Significant Image in the Christian Theology - Essay Example This article will discuss in detail  the image of Annunciation of Mary, starting from the story as given in "Protoevangelium of James" and moving on to later time periods. This writing will take a look at this particular picture of Mary as it gradually develops through the ages and represents her gradual rise in the minds and beliefs of Christian theology. It will also focus on the aspect of representing the perpetual virginity of Mary through this image of ‘Annunciation of Mary’ to allay the fears in the minds of the orthodox creed. Early Christian literature that is of the imaginative type and tells us stories of a religious nature are known as the apocryphal gospels. These were first written in the second century and a certain variation of these apocryphal scriptures are known as ‘proto-gospels’ which give us the first pictures of Mary, right from her birth. One of these proto-gospels, known as the â€Å"Protevangelium of James†, is supposedly written by James, son of Joseph, from his first marriage, and dates even prior to that of Luke’s gospel. Here in James gospel, we get a beautiful picture of Mary’s Annunciation with the archangel Gabriel, described by Knight, as, â€Å"And she took the pitcher, and went out to fill it with water. And, behold, a voice saying:  Hail, you who have received  grace; the  Lord is with you;  blessed  are you among  women! And she looked around, on the right hand and on the left, to see whence this voice came. And she went away, tre mbling, to her house, and put down the pitcher; and taking the purple, she sat down on her seat, and drew it out. And, behold, an  angel  of the  Lord  stood before her, saying:  Fear  not,  Mary; for you have found  grace  before the  Lord  of all, and you shall conceive, according to His word. And she hearing, reasoned with herself, saying: Shall I conceive by the  Lord, the living  God?