Infancy Gospel of Thomas

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is a 2nd-century non-canonical text detailing, often violently, the childhood of Jesus between ages five and twelve. Unlike the mature, wise Jesus in the Bible, this text depicts a volatile "super boy" who wields miraculous powers to strike people dead or blind and then revive them.

• Origin: Most scholars believe it was written in the mid-to-late 2nd century (AD 150–200), not by the Apostle Thomas, despite its title.
• Stories: It focuses on miraculous and often mischievous incidents, such as making clay birds come to life on the Sabbath, cursing children who annoy him, and teaching his teachers
• Characterization: The child Jesus is depicted as a capricious figure wielding divine power, sometimes displaying temper and vengeance before later healing those he harmed.
• Relationship to Canonical Gospels: The text fills in the "silence" of Jesus's childhood mentioned in Luke 2, often ending with the story of 12-year-old Jesus in the Temple.
• Context: It is part of the New Testament apocrypha and was viewed as heretical or "gnostic" by the early church.
• The text includes several miraculous scenes, such as Jesus stretching a wooden bed frame to help his father, Joseph, or walking on water. While not recognized as scripture, it highlights early Christian curiosity regarding Jesus’s youth.