Protegospel (prophecy)

Master of the playing cards , Maria crushes the snake

The expression Protevangelium (from ancient Greek πρῶτος εύαγγέλιον prōtos eu-angelion , 'First Good News', 'Initial Good News', ' Pre-Gospel ') denotes the Christian allegory , according to which the biblical curse of the serpent is the first prophecy about the Messiah :

“I put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and their offspring. He hits you in the head and you hit him in the heel. "

- Gen 3.15 EU

Since Irenaeus of Lyon (135–202) this prophecy has been related to Christ or Mary : "He was born of Mary." ( Irenaeus )

According to this, the descendants of the woman (Eve) are in constant struggle with the descendants of the serpent (Satan) until the descendant, interpreted as the son of the virgin, will destroy the serpent and crush her head.

This idea found its way into both the Catholic and Protestant churches.

“The books of the Old Testament […], as they are read in the Church and understood in the light of wider and full revelation, offer step by step more clearly the figure of the woman, the mother of the Savior. In this light it is already indicated prophetically in the promise of victory over the serpent, which was given to the first parents who had fallen into sin (cf. Gen 3:15). "

- LG : 55

Numerous chants take up the motif: "Break the head of the old snakes / And destroy the kingdom of hell" ( Paul Gerhardt ) or "Kick the snake's head in two / That I, free of all fears" ( Heinrich Held ).

Aside from tradition - "According to an old tradition, the meaning of Scripture is twofold: the literal sense and the spiritual sense." ( Libreria Editrice Vaticana ) - the idea of a proto gospel has largely been abandoned. The saying in no way refers to an individual appearing individually, but is meant collectively - as the descendants of both parties. In addition to handle form criticism by no means a promise, but the word in a series of criminal and stand curse claims.

literature

Claus Westermann: Genesis (= Biblical Commentary AT I.1). 3. Edition. Neukirchen-Vluyn 1983, p. 354.

Individual evidence

↑ Adversus Hereses, Book III, chap. 23, 7. 21 or V chap. 21, 1.22
↑ Second Vatican Council : Dogmatic Constitution on the Church LUMEN GENTUIM. CHAPTER VIII: The Blessed Virgin Mother of God in the Mystery of Christ and the Church, Section II: The Mission of the Blessed Virgin in the Economics of Salvation, Article 55. Internet Office of the Holy See , November 21, 1964, accessed September 24, 2014 .
↑ Come and let us honor Christ
↑ Thank God all over the world
^ Catechism of the Catholic Church. Part 1: The Creed, Section 1: “I Believe” - “We Believe”, Chapter 2: God Approaches Man, Article 3: The Holy Scriptures, III: The Holy Spirit Is the Interpreter of Scripture, Paragraph 115. Internet Office of the Holy See, June 25, 1992, accessed September 24, 2014 ( see also: Vierfacher Schriftsinn ).

[1] Adversus Hereses, Book III, chap. 23, 7. 21 or V chap. 21, 1.22

[2] Second Vatican Council : Dogmatic Constitution on the Church LUMEN GENTUIM. CHAPTER VIII: The Blessed Virgin Mother of God in the Mystery of Christ and the Church, Section II: The Mission of the Blessed Virgin in the Economics of Salvation, Article 55. Internet Office of the Holy See , November 21, 1964, accessed September 24, 2014 .

[3] Come and let us honor Christ

[4] Thank God all over the world

[5] Catechism of the Catholic Church. Part 1: The Creed, Section 1: “I Believe” - “We Believe”, Chapter 2: God Approaches Man, Article 3: The Holy Scriptures, III: The Holy Spirit Is the Interpreter of Scripture, Paragraph 115. Internet Office of the Holy See, June 25, 1992, accessed September 24, 2014 ( see also: Vierfacher Schriftsinn ).