The Jesus Archive
Who they were

Mary (Hebrew Miriam) was the mother of Jesus. Mark names her once (6:3); Matthew and Luke tell of her betrothal to Joseph and of Jesus’s conception by the Holy Spirit; John places her at Cana and at the cross. Acts lists her among the believers in Jerusalem after the resurrection. Nothing certain is known of her later life or death.

Second-century writings, above all the Infancy Gospel of James, supplied her parents’ names and a childhood in the Temple. Irenaeus set her beside Eve; the Council of Ephesus (431) called her Mother of God. The Qur’an honours her as Maryam, names a surah after her and affirms the virgin birth, while denying that Jesus is God’s son.

Where to start

The New TestamentThe Gospel of Lukec. AD 80–100 · Anonymous; traditionally Luke, companion of Paul
The New TestamentThe Gospel of Matthewc. AD 80–95 · Anonymous; traditionally Matthew the apostle
The Other GospelsThe Infancy Gospel of James (Protevangelium of James)2nd century (c. 150–200) · Unknown (attributed to James); tr. Mark M. Mattison
Other VoicesQur’an, Surah 19 (Maryam): MaryMeccan period (c. AD 610–622) · The Qur’an; tr. E. H. Palmer (1880)

Every mention

22 writings
  1. AD 70The Gospel of MarkThe New Testament1×
  2. AD 85The Gospel of MatthewThe New Testament2×
  3. AD 85The Gospel of LukeThe New Testament2×
  4. AD 85The Acts of the ApostlesThe New Testament1×
  5. AD 120Papias of Hierapolis, FragmentsThe Early Church2×
  6. AD 150The Infancy Gospel of ThomasThe Other Gospels1×
  7. AD 170The Infancy Gospel of James (Protevangelium of James)The Other Gospels5×
  8. AD 170Tatian’s DiatessaronThe Other Gospels3×
  9. AD 180Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book IThe Early Church1×
  10. AD 180Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book IIIThe Early Church5×
  11. AD 248Origen, Against Celsus, Book IThe Early Church2×
  12. AD 400The Gospel of Nicodemus (Acts of Pilate) and the Pilate LettersThe Other Gospels4×
  13. AD 550Hone’s Apocryphal New Testament: the Arabic Infancy Gospel and the Abgar LettersThe Other Gospels78×
  14. AD 616Qur’an, Surah 19 (Maryam): MaryOther Voices3×
  15. AD 627Qur’an, Surah 3 (Al ʿImran): The Family of ImranOther Voices2×
  16. AD 627Qur’an, Surah 4 (An-Nisa): WomenOther Voices3×
  17. AD 627Qur’an, Surah 5 (Al-Ma’idah): The TableOther Voices11×
  18. 1965Nostra aetate: The Church and Non-Christian ReligionsOther Voices1×
  19. 1992Catechism of the Catholic Church, sections 464–469: True God and True ManOther Voices1×
  20. 1994Common Christological Declaration of the Catholic Church and the Assyrian Church of the East (1994)Other Voices1×
  21. 2026Jesus’s life: a chronological catalogue of the canonical narrativesThe Dossier1×
  22. 2026The documentary record of Jesus and the movements that interpreted himThe Dossier1×