Reidar Aasgaard

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is an ancient apocryphal text that explores the early life of Jesus, specifically his childhood from ages five to twelve. It was created around the second century and became a significant influence on narratives about Jesus's youth, though it was not included in the New Testament canon. The work describes Jesus as possessing divine power from a very young age, performing numerous miracles and dispensing wisdom. However, the text also portrays Jesus wielding his power in ways that can appear harsh, including curses that result in death or disability for those who oppose him.

Despite its popularity and wide dissemination through various translations and manuscript traditions across the Roman Empire and beyond, the author of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas remains unknown. Later medieval manuscripts sometimes attribute authorship to a figure named "Thomas the Israelite," possibly alluding to Thomas the Apostle, or even to John the Evangelist or James, the brother of Jesus, but these attributions are considered later additions. The text itself varies considerably, with different versions and expansions existing, and it offers a starkly different portrayal of Jesus compared to the canonical Gospels.

Scholarly consensus places the creation of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas in the mid-to-late second century AD. The earliest surviving fragments date to the fourth or fifth century, with Latin and Syriac short forms appearing by the fifth or sixth century. The oldest known complete long version is from an 11th-century Greek manuscript. The stories within the gospel likely circulated orally before being transcribed and adapted. Evidence suggests its early popularity, with references appearing in texts by Irenaeus around 180 CE, who condemned the source of a story he quoted as spurious and heretical. Further mentions are found in the Syriac Acts of Thomas and debates among fourth-century figures like Epiphanius of Salamis and John Chrysostom regarding the veracity of the childhood miracles described.

The original author of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas is unknown, and its geographic origin remains speculative. Scholars suggest the author was likely a gentile Christian due to a lack of familiarity with Jewish customs, educated but writing in an accessible style. Proposed origins include Alexandria, Asia Minor, Antioch, or Roman Palestine, though the safest attribution is somewhere within the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire. Early manuscripts are anonymous, but later medieval versions include pseudepigraphal attributions to "Thomas the Israelite," John the Evangelist, or James, the brother of Jesus. Some versions also include an eyewitness claim, which is believed to be a later addition.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas recounts events from Jesus's childhood, from age five to twelve, depicting him as a precocious child with fully realized divine power. The narrative includes numerous miracles, such as animating clay sparrows, cleansing water, and stretching wood. However, it also portrays a sometimes severe and vengeful young Jesus who curses and kills those who offend him, such as a boy who breaks his water pools or another who bumps into him. These harsh actions are balanced with instances of healing and resurrection. The text also details Jesus's early education, challenging his teachers with profound wisdom and demonstrating his superior divine nature, often causing shame or fear in his instructors and the surrounding community.

Written originally in Koine Greek, the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was quickly translated into Latin, Syriac, Armenian, and Georgian, achieving wide geographical distribution across the Roman Empire and beyond, reaching as far as Ireland and Ethiopia. Its popularity is evidenced by the existence of copies in thirteen different languages from classical and medieval eras. The text exists in numerous manuscript variations, including shortened forms, expanded anthologies like the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew, and composite versions, making a definitive reconstruction of the original text challenging. These variations contributed to the widespread and diverse reception of the stories of Jesus's childhood.