Infancy Gospel of Thomas

{{christianity}}
:''Not to be confused with the other [[Gospel of Thomas]], a collection of Jesus's purported sayings.''
  
The '''Infancy Gospel of Thomas''' is a [[Apocrypha|non-canonical]] [[gospel]] which tells some tall tales about what the young [[Jesus]] got up to as a boy. Unlike most tales of Jesus's infancy, which concentrate on the circumstances of Jesus's birth and are keen to show the fulfilment of [[prophecies]] and establish doctrinal points, this focuses on Jesus's childhood. It largely consists of tales of [[miracles]] and wonders and smiting of enemies (and seemingly ''anyone'' who crossed him), although there is a bit of prophecy about how great Jesus will be.

It exists in various versions, of different lengths, some obviously edited-down versions of others. There are 2 main Greek forms, both quite late (13<sup>th</sup> century CE or later), and a [[Latin]] form.<ref name=wp/>

==Plot==
This is a summary drawing mainly on the Latin version, to which the references are given.<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0846.htm Infancy Gospel of Thomas], Translated by Alexander Walker. From Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. 8. Edited by Alexander Roberts, James Donaldson, and A. Cleveland Coxe. (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co., 1886.) Revised and edited for New Advent by Kevin Knight.</ref>
*Aged 2, Jesus flees to [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]]; this loosely resembles the story in [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]]. (Ch 1)
*Aged 3, he restores a dried [[fish]] to life. (Ch 1)
*Jesus annoys a schoolmaster by teasing twelve sparrows with some wheat. (Ch 2)
*An [[angel]] tells [[Mary (mother of Jesus)|Mary]] to take Jesus to Nazareth, which she does, because Herod is dead; again, as in Matthew. (Ch 3)
*In Nazareth, Jesus creates a fountain or clear pool, and makes clay sparrows on the Sabbath, which come to life and fly away. (Ch 4)
*A [[Pharisee]] tells off the boy Jesus for making things on the [[Sabbath]]; Jesus calls him a [[Sodomite]] and he falls down and dies. (Ch 4)
*A child hits Jesus; Jesus causes him to fall down and die. (Ch 5)
*The townspeople complain about Jesus [[blaspheming]] and killing people, and Jesus blinds them. (Ch 5)
*A schoolmaster, Zacheus, undertakes to teach Jesus. Jesus says that he's the greatest and everything he says is right and he doesn't need a teacher. (Ch 6)
*Zacheus tries to teach Jesus to read, but Jesus comes out with some mumbo-jumbo and Zacheus calls him [[God]] or an angel. In response, Jesus [[Resurrection|restores everyone he's killed]] or blinded. (Ch 6)
*A boy falls over and dies; Jesus is accused of pushing him, but restores him to life and the boy says Jesus was innocent. (Ch 7)
*Jesus heals a boy who hurts his foot with an axe splitting wood. (Ch 8)
*Mary sends Jesus, aged 6, to get water. He breaks his pitcher but carries the water in his cloak. (Ch 9)
*Jesus and [[Joseph (husband of Mary)|Joseph sow wheat]]. Jesus has a big harvest and gives it to the [[poor]]. (Ch 10)
*Joseph was a master-builder working making ploughs and ox-yokes. He is asked by a rich man to make a couch, but the wood he brought is too short. Jesus stretches it. (Ch 11)
*Jesus is given to another teacher to learn to read and write. Jesus strikes him dead. (Ch 12)
*Yet another teacher takes in Jesus; Jesus preaches to him, and the teacher says, "Ah but you are the master and I am the pupil." or words to that effect and sends him home. (Ch 13)
*Brother James is bitten by a viper. Jesus cures him and kills the snake. (Ch 14)
*Jesus restores another dead boy to life, and everybody finally recognises how wonderful he is. (Ch 15)  ''It took them long enough! But perhaps they had been salty about all his death and mayhem prior to this.''
*Boy Jesus goes to the temple, his parents lose him, but find him debating with the priests; this is also found in the [[Gospel of Luke]]. (Not in Latin, but in Greek version A, ch 19)
Greek version A is similar to the Latin but adds the scene in the temple from [[Gospel of Luke|Luke]]. Greek version B is shorter, with the following incidents
*A different version of the story with the fountain, where Jesus kills the boy (2)
*A different version of the sparrow tale, where another boy tells Joseph that Jesus was making things on the Sabbath and Jesus kills the boy (3)
*Jesus kills a boy who throws a stone at him (4)
*Similar incident with teacher Zacchaeus (6-7)
*Jesus restores boy who fell (8)
*Jesus heals wood-chopping injury (9)
*Miracle with water in cloak (10)
*Miracle of couch (11)

==Authorship==
It claims to be written by the Apostle [[Apostle#Thomas|Thomas]]. However, this is considered implausible because of the lack of knowledge of contemporary [[Judaism]] shown in the text; this would suggest a much later authorship in a Christian community.<ref name=ccc/>

==Dating==
It is generally dated to the mid- or late-2<sup>nd</sup> century CE. The story of Jesus in the temple is apparently lifted from Luke, which suggests a date after Luke, 80 CE or later.<ref name=wp/> {{wpl|Irenaeus}} mentions it c. 185 CE in a list of [[heresy|heretical]] documents. As stated above, surviving versions are much later, typically 13<sup>th</sup> century although there are fragments from the 5<sup>th</sup> century.<ref name=ccc>[http://coldcasechristianity.com/2013/why-shouldnt-we-trust-the-non-canonical-gospels-attributed-to-thomas/], cold case Christianity, 2013</ref>

==Comparison==
The character of Jesus is violent and hot-tempered. Although Jesus is often thought of as meek and mild, there are instances of violence and temper in other gospels, from cursing the fig tree because it has no figs (in {{bible|Matthew|21|18|22}} and {{bible|Mark|11|12|14}} and {{bible|Mark|11|20|25}}) to being curt with his disciples and overthrowing the moneychangers' tables in the Temple.

Performing miracles on the Sabbath is something else that crops up in other gospels.  Apparently Jesus didn't consider ''working miracles'' to constitute work, since he didn't strike himself dead in this book.

==Literary form==
While there are details clearly lifted from the [[Nativity]] stories in Matthew and Luke, it probably draws on the tradition of tales of tricky young gods from Greek myth.<ref name=wp>{{wpa|Infancy Gospel of Thomas}}</ref>

==Canonicity==
It is not included in any versions of the [[New Testament]]. Probably because it's a bit too silly, and unlike the canonical nativity myths, or even the [[Infancy Gospel of James]] which focuses on Mary's [[virgin]]al and immaculate state, Thomas does not have much to say about [[theology]].

==Influence on Qur'an==
The story of the clay birds is mentioned in {{quran|3|49}} and {{quran|5|110}}.<ref>[http://www.answering-islam.org/Quran/Sources/cradle.html Muhammad, the Qur'an, and Christian Sources] ''Answering Islam ''</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|2|90%}}

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[[Category:Apocrypha]]

Categories: Apocrypha