Infancy Gospel Thomas

8/6/2019 Infancy Gospel Thomas

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58 NON.C,ANONICAL QOSPELS

Most scholds belicve that such "intucy Gospels" began o circulale durinethenmt half of thesecond entury. he nfancyGospel f Thomas ppeaBto havebeenone ofthe earliest.

Tals of the Israelie PhilosopherThomas, Conceming lhe ChildhoodAdiviries of the Lord

I L Thnmrs rh( lsraclite.make LhisI repon Io dll of lou. m] brutheEamong he Cenliles, hatyou may knowthe rugnilicent childhoodactiviliesof ,ou Lord Jesus Cbrist all thal he didaficr being bom in our country. The be'ginning s as ollows:

O When thrs chr ld r rus was l i \eZ. )ean nld. he sJs pLJl inghy theford of a stream; lnd he gathered theflowingwiten inlo poolsandnrade henlmmediatelypuE. These hings he ofdered simply by spea*ing a word. 2 Hethen made somc soft mud and fasbionedtwelve sparows from it. It was the Slbbath whcn he did this. A .umbef of otherchit.Len were also playing with him.3 But lrhen a cendn Jew sdw what Jesushld done whlle playingon the Srbbath.he lefr right away aDd rcponed rc hista{her. Joseph, 'Look. your child at lhesteam has akenmud dnd formed $elvespatrows.He basprofanedthe sabbathl"4 WbenJoseph lme 1o heplace ndsawwhal hld happencd.he cried our to him.''Why drc you doing what is tbrbiddcnon thc Sabbath?" ut Jesus lappedhishands and cried to the sparows, BcgoDcl" And the spanows toot flight lndwcnt oil chi.ping. 5 When heJews !$this they were amazd;and thcy wentaway and reported ro thei lcaders what

.7 Now fte son of Ama lhe scribeJ *u" *hnaine there with Josephidnd he took a willow bmnch and scattered the water thdt Jesushad gathered.2 Jesuswa-s rritated when he saw whathad happened,ndhe said o himi "Youuffighteous. iffeverenl idiotl Stat didthepoolsof waler do 10ham you? S@,now you also will bewitheted like a tree.and you will never bear leavesor rool orfruit-" 3 ltrliediately that child was com-plerely withered. Jesus etl and retumedto Joseph\ house. But the pdents of thewithered child ca.ried him away, moum-ing his lost yourh. They brought him loJosephand begrn to accusehim. "Vharkind of chjld do you havc who does suchthingsT'/ Sornewhar dtcr he \va\ gorng'i rhroush he rlLd8e. Ll a child'Jnup and banged into his shoutder. Jesuswas aggmvated lnd said to him, "You

will go no funher on your way-' Andri8ht away the child fell down and died.Someof lhose who saw wbrt happendsaid, 'Where was lhis child boml Forevefything he says is a deed accom-plished?' 2 Theparentsof the deadchildcame o Joseph ndblamedhim, saling''Sinceyou havesucha childyou cannotlive \,eithus in the village. Or each him1l ]bless rd not o curse-for he s killiog

|- JoseDhallcJ to the hiid andadC rnonrsrcorrm o"arely.why creyou doins such hingsl Thesepmple desutering, they hate us and are p6ecut-


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ue not your wordsi and so I also willkeep ilent or youfsake- ut hose lhe6will bear then punishnent." And inmedialely those who wcre accusirs hnnwere blinded. 2Those who saw theselhings were frighbned and disturbed;they begansaying about him. "Everythlnghe has said,whelhergoodor bnd,has becomean amazing ealir)." WhenJoseph awwbrt Jesus addone.he roseup. gmbbedhis ed, andyanked t hard.3 Thechild was ritated andsaidtohim,''It is enough br you o seek odnot indiyou havenor rcted at all wisely.Do younot know that I amyou6? Do not grieve

A Ther( "as an ih'ruc'or nftd Zd\,, chaeu. tandingoff to thr sidcshoheardJesussay these hings |o his fatherAnd he was amazed harhe wasspealingsuch hings. hough ust a child. 2 Aierafew days he approached osephand saidto him. "You havea bright child with agoodmiod. Come, et me havehim thatbe may earn o read, nd hrough eadingI wiU teach him everythbg. includinghow to gret all tbe elden and o bonorthem as his ancestors nd htbers, nd olovechildrcnhis own age. 3 And he oldhim all the letters from Alpha to omega,clearly and wilh errcalprecision. Bul lesus ooked the insructor Zach.reus n fteface and said to hin, 'Since you do notknow rhe lrue nature of ihe Alpha, howcm you teach anlone the Beta?You hyp-ocrilel If you know il. firs1 leach |heAlpha. and then we \rill blieve youaboul he Beta."Then be began o ques-tion the teachersharplyabout the nmtlettet rnd he was not able o Bivehimthe answe6. 4And wbile many otheBwerc istening.hechildsaid o Zachaeus,''Listen, eacbef, o the arrangement fthe iirst letter of the alphabet; observehere how it has sel pdttems, and mid

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tively crossing, hen comjng togeficr, lndproceeding pwardagai. dll lhey rerchrhe top, so thrt it h divided nto threeequrl parts, eacb of tbem tundamenlalard tbundational, f equal eogth.Nowyou have be setpatterns ftbe Alpha.'i-7 When the teacher Zachaeushcard/ the child seliing onh so nany al-legorical nte.pretationsike this oI l}lefi$t lettef, be was at a complete ossabout his kind ofexplanation nd each-ing, and he said o thosestandinghere..Woe is mel I am wretchedand a1 acomplclc loss; I have put nryself 1l)shame, aking on this child. 2I beg ofyou, brother Joseph, ale him !way. I cannot bear his stem gazeor make scnsc ofa single word. This child is not of drisworldi he can even lame 1ire. Maybc hewas bom before the world came nto being. cannot athomwhatkind of ulerusbore him or what kind of {onb nour-isbed him. Woe is me, friend. He hasbeluddledmei I cannot bllow his iea-soning.Ihave ooledmyselfandam mis-erablc thrcc times over- I was struSgllngto havc a student, nd I have been tbundto havc a tcachcf,3 My iiiends, I lnowall too well my shlmc: though an oldInan. I have been defeated by a chi1d. Irnay gros weak and die becauseof thischild. For at rhis momen! cannot ookbim in the face. Wben everyone says talI have ben defeated by a young child.whatcan I say?And how can explainthe tbings t'e told me about 1be sel pat-tefns of rbe lirst letter? I hale no idea.my frie|ds. For I do not know its'beginoing or cnd- 4 And so I ask you. bfotherloscph. t*e hin back home. do notlnow what kind of grcat thine he iswhclhcr ! divine bcing or lngeli I do notlnow evcn what to say."


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Q whi le $e lewi wereBr! 'ng Za-(, Lhaeu(ddvr(e. the Lhild laushedaloud and said. "Now let what is yoursbear ruit. and e1 he blind in heartsee.I have cone from above to curse tbemand call them to the realm above. ust asthe one who sentme for yoursakecom-manded." 2when fte child noppdspcdtirg, irnnediately all those who hadfallen under his curse were bealed. Noone dred to anger bim from that rimeon. icding thar he mighl cripple lhen

O sume^daysdrer esu\ rds playingroofiupot a house,andoneofthe childrenplayingwith him felllrom the roof dd died. When the otherchildren saw what had happened.theymn !way! !o that Jesussrood therealone.2 When the parentsof the one who diedarived theyaccusedhim of throwing himdown.But Jesus aid, I cenainlydidnotthrow him down." But lhey began 10abusehim verbally. 3 Jesus eapr downlronr the roof and sbod beside he child scorpse,and wilh a loud voicehe criedout, "Zenonl (for tnat was his name)''nse up and tell me: did I throw youdown?"And riebt away be rose up andsaid, No! ar all Lord!You did nor hrowme down,but you haveraisedme upl"When $ey saw this they werc astounded.The parentsof the child glorified cod forthe sign that had occurred,md they wor-

1 n A les dn)s larerLhere a( dI v )uun8 rnanwhn wds splirrinCwood in a se.luded spot. Theaxe fll andspLit open lhe sole of his foot. He lost alot of blood and was dying. 2 There wala disturbance and a crowd slaned togatherand he childJesus lso an othespo1. ofcinghis way througb hecrowd,

NON-CANONTCAL qOSPtLS

healed. ADd he said |o the young mm,"Rise now. split tbe wood.and rememberme-' When lhe crowd saw what had hap-pened i1 wonhiped the child, saying,"The Spiril of God cdainly tives withinthis child.".l 1 when he wJssi\ yeds otd.his| | morhergare him a sarer jugand sent him to draw some warerro bringback home. But he was oslled by thecrowd, and the water jug was shauered.2So Jesusunfoldedfie cloak he waswearing md lilled it wirh water andbrought it back to his mother.When hismother saw the sign that had happened,she kissedhim. And rhe kepr to herselflhe mysterious deeds thar she saw

{ Ol1,h* ir lare.becde r,me or

I Z- so\vinc,hechrldweniourwirhhis flthef to sowwheat h their field. Andwhen his father sowed, the child Jesusalso sowed a single grain of wheat.2 When he hNested and threshed tbe8rain. i1 Foduced a hundred large busb-els. He called all the poor people of thevillage to ihe threshing flor and gavethem the wheati and Josephtook wharwas left of ir. He was eight years oldwhenhe did lhis si8n.1 Z Now his rarherwa\ d carpenrer,| \ , , andat hlr imeheusedtomateplows od yokes. He .eceived an orderfrom a certain rich mn ro rDl a bed.But wheD he measuremeDtor one of thebeautiful oossbeamscame out 1ooshort.he did not loow what to do. The childlsus saida, his fatherJosepb, Plfte thetwo piecesof wood on rhe floor and linethem up fron tbe middle to one end.'2 Josephdid jusr as the child said. The.Jesusstood al the other end,grabbed he


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falber Josepbsaw whal he had dore andwas amued- He embraced he child andgave im a kiss,saying I amblessedthatGod hasSivenme this cbild."4 , when loseph obqened the| + mind of the chrld and srw thathe wns starting to mature. he again didtot want him to be unabl 10 rcad, andso took him ou1 o give him over to an-other teacher.The teacher said to Joseph,"Fi^t I will teach him to read Greek. andther Hebrew" For the leacher tnew ofthe cbildh leamirg and was afraid ofbim. Nonetbeless.e wrole out ttle al-phabetand practiced t fo. him for a longtime; but thc child gavehim no response.2 Thn Jesus said to him, lf you rereally a teacherand know the letters well,telt lne thepowerof the Alpha, ud I willlell you the power of the Bet ." Theteacher was aggravated nd shlck himon the head. The child wls hun mdcuned him: and immediately he faintedand fell to the ground on his face. 3 Thechild returnedto Joseph\ bouse.Josephwas smitlenwith grief and orderedhismother."Do nol lel bim out the doo4 forthosewho angerbim die."1 E some rime arer rherewas anI W orheL nsrrucror. close riendof Joseph, who said to hin, 'Bring lhechild lo me at the school. Maybe I c0use flatlery 1Ir1erch him 1() ead-" Josephsaid 1()him. ']f you're that courageous.brorber, take him along wirh you." Hetook hin with grerlt fear and much anx-ieqr, ut hechiidwentalonggladly. Heentercd tle school witb corfidence andfound a book 1yin8on the readingdesk.He picked t up, but instead f rsdinglhe words n it, he operedhis moutha.dbegaD o speak n the Holy Spirit. teach-ing the Law to those who were sta.ding

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al the greatbeautyof his teacbingaDdhis carefully crafted words anazed ftathe could speak such things though still ababe. 3 But whenJosephheard bout drishe was frighlened. He ran 1() he school,thi.king that this instruclor rnay also havep.oved ig.orant. Bur the instructor saidto Joseph, "You should know. brother.that took the child as a pupili bul he isfilled with great graceand wisdom. NowI ask you brothea take him home."4 When the child hedd lhese things. heimmedialely laughed at him ind srid,"Since you have rishtly spokeu a.ddghtly bomewihess. for your sake harother one wbo was slruck down will bhealed."And right away the oder in-structor was healed.Josephook (hechild

1A NowJokphsenr i ( son ames| \ , to bundle ome ood nd br ingit to the house. The child Jesusalso fol-lowed hirn. Whil Janes was sarheringthe firewood. a snake bit his hand.2 When he was strelched out on theground dying. Jesuscame up 1()him edbreathed or the bite. The pain irnllEdiately stopped, the animal burst. andstnigbt away James was reumed to

I 7 Atur rhese txnss. n inlant In| / Joseph\ nershborhoodecamesick and diedi nnd his nother was weeping loudly. When Jcsusheffd the outburstof sonow rnd the dislurbdce, he ran upquickly and found the child dead. Helouched ts brea-sl,ayjng I say rc you.you.g child. do not die but live. and bewith yourmotberl mmediatelyhechjldope.ed its eyes and laughed. Jesussaidto the woman, Ial


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for his every wod is an acconplisheddeed."Jesus ben lcti from there to playwilh tbe olhef childrcn..1 Q some rjnrc ldkr d hoL,se ar| (, being builr and rhere $Js cgrcatdisturbancc.esus or up andwenrout to the place.He saw a nran yingdown. deadt aking his hand he said, lsay 10you, o man. ise up and do yourwork." Immediaely he rose np and wor-shipedhim. 2when tbe cfowd saw. 1wasamazed nd said, "Thischild comesfrom heaven.For he bas savcd mmysouls fioDr death his cntne iife he is

1 O wh(n hc ua5rweheye.n old| , nr\ pdJcn'smaoe nerrcu{o'ndy trip 1o Jerusalem, n a caravan,forrhe Passover feasl Afler ihe Passoverlhey relumedhone. While they were eluming, fie child JesusweDtback up toJerusalem.But bis parcnts houSrht e wdsin rhe ca.avaD. 2 Atier thcir first day oItnvel, tbey be8an ooking for him smongtheir relatives nd werc upselnol ro lindbim. They rciurned again ro the city !olook for him. And after the lhnd day theytbund hirn sitring in lhe Tenple in the

NON,CANONICAL qOSPEL5

midst ol rhc teachers, oth isteningandasking hemquestions. veryonewasal-tending closely, anazed tbat though achild.hequestionedheelders nd each-ers of the people sharply.explaining ttrechicf poinN of the Law and the pdablesof iheprophels. Whenbis mothcrMdycane up 10hlm shesaid. Why haveyoudone his o us.child Scc,we hale beendistressed,ooking o! youl Jesusepliedto them, 'Why dc you lookjng for me?Don'tyou kDow hat muslbe wilh thosewho are my Father\?"b 4The scribesaodPbdises said, Areyou lhe notherof trris child?" she replied. "I am." Theysaid to her, "You are most fortunatclmong women. becauseGod has blesscdthe fruil of your womb. Fof wc havencver seenor heardof such8lory, suchvinue and wisdom. 5 Jesusgot up fiomthere and followed his mothef, lnd hewas obedienl lo bis penrs. But hismolher kept to hemelf all lhese thingsthai bad happencd.And Jesusgrew inwisdomandstlturesd grace. o him betheglory fbrevcrandever.Amen.

Infancy Gospel Thomas

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