Joseph the Mystery
Terry Mattingly’s most recent syndicated religion column, on The Nativity Story, talks about the liberties the filmmakers took with the character of Joseph, given a lack of biblical material about him:
For decades, Mary has received lots of screen time in traditional Hollywood movies dealing with the life of Jesus. New Line Cinema’s attempt to create a new biblical epic is unique in that
Joseph receives as much attention as Mary. Joseph’s trials, doubts and decisions drive the plot.The problem is that biblical accounts offer little information about St. Joseph, other than his standing as a “just man” from the House of David who lived in Nazareth. He is an important figure in the Nativity narratives and he was alive when Jesus was 12 and the family visited Jerusalem. According to early church traditions, Joseph was a widower who already had children—who are mentioned in the New Testament as brothers and sisters of Jesus.
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