8 [...] Mary was in the temple of the Lord as if she were a dove that dwelt there, and she received food from the hand of an angel. And when she was twelve years old there was held a council of the priests, saying: Behold, Mary has reached the age of twelve years in the temple of the Lord. What then shall we do with her, [lest] perchance she defile the sanctuary of the Lord? And they said to the high priest: Thou standest by the altar of the Lord; go in, and pray concerning her; and whatever the Lord shall manifest unto thee, that also will we do. And the high priest went in, taking the robe with the twelve bells into the holy of holies; and he prayed concerning her. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by him, saying unto him: Zacharias, Zacharias, go out and assemble the widowers of the people, and let them bring each his rod; and to whomsoever the Lord shall show a sign, his wife shall she be. And the heralds went out through all the circuit of Judaea, and the trumpet of the Lord sounded, and all ran.9. And Joseph, throwing away his axe, went out to meet them; and when they had assembled, they went away to the high priest, taking with them their rods. And he, taking the rods of all of them, entered into the temple, and prayed; and having ended his prayer, he took the rods and came out, and gave them to them: but there was no sign in them, and Joseph took his rod last; and, behold, a dove came out of the rod, and flew upon Joseph's head. And the priest said to Joseph, Thou hast been chosen by lot to take into thy keeping the virgin of the Lord. But Joseph refused, saying: I have children, and I am an old man, and she is a young girl. I am afraid lest I become a laughing-stock to the sons of Israel. And the priest said to Joseph: Fear the Lord thy God, and remember what the Lord did to Dathan, and Abiram, and Korah; how the earth opened, and they were swallowed up on account of their contradiction. And now fear, O Joseph, lest the same things happen in thy house. And Joseph was afraid, and took her into his keeping.
There is no claim that the Protoevangelium is inspired scripture and the authorship is in doubt. It is, however, an early Christian document that reflects the culture of at the latest the 2c, and it describes the marriage of St. Joseph and the reasons for it.
There are all sorts of early "CHristian" documents. I don't remember the Father, he is referenced in this thread someplace, but he was dubious of the recent appearance of the protoevangelium. It wasn't a first century document and only appeared AFTER some of the extra-biblical doctrines about Mary began to be developed. As such, it is a non-issue. It is not Scripture. It is a story that someone who is pro-Mary wrote. Nothing more.
It is a forgery that appeared on the scene well after the fact.
It is, however, an early Christian document that reflects the culture of at the latest the 2c, and it describes the marriage of St. Joseph and the reasons for it.
It conveniently appears about 30-50 years after the elevation of Thekla's accomplishments in another forgery "Acts of Paul and Thekla". The appearance of these FORGERIES are three to four generations AFTER the end of the APOSTOLIC ERA any "Sacred Tradition" or doctrine that would be built on forgeries is suspect at best.