The Infancy Gospel of Thomas

[Josh]

Has anyone ever read the Infancy Gospel of Thomas? (Not to be confused with the Gospel of Thomas).

As far as non-canonical books go, it's pretty interesting. And by interesting, I mean "heretical." But it does raise some interesting questions, and it's worth reading simply because there were a lot of folks in the early church who actually pushed for it to be canonized.

It's not too hard to see why that idea was shot down...

Anyway, here's the full text. Tell me what you think.

[danny316]

I'd be willing to buy into some of the odd miracles there, but it still would mess up the entire time table - if He was doing those things and being noticed for them that early on in His life, wouldn't that have completely changed the context that the 4 canonized gospels are in?

Just the way that each person fits in to the "regular" gospels seems to contradict this.

The slight overlap at the end was cute though.

[Josh]

I'd be willing to buy into some of the odd miracles there, but it still would mess up the entire time table - if He was doing those things and being noticed for them that early on in His life, wouldn't that have completely changed the context that the 4 canonized gospels are in?

Just the way that each person fits in to the "regular" gospels seems to contradict this.
 

Indeed.

The biggest contradiction, though, is the fact that the boy Jesus seems to struggle with sinfulness in this "gospel"; I mean, killing a guy who bumps into you isn't exactly nice, is it?

[glatisant]

The slight overlap at the end was cute though.

Cute??  They make Jesus sound like the original blueprint of those child-healer freaks you read about in the National Enquirer or something.  Or like something out of The Ring.

I'll admit though, I laughed while trying to picture a 5-year old Jesus calling someone "you godless, brainless moron."  The first time it happened, anyway.    

[Vlad!]

Yes, the same Jesus who said in Matthew "Anyone who says to his brother 'you fool' puts himself in danger of the fires of hell" calls someone a moron.  

[danny316]

Cute??  They make Jesus sound like the original blueprint of those child-healer freaks you read about in the National Enquirer or something.  Or like something out of The Ring.

I'll admit though, I laughed while trying to picture a 5-year old Jesus calling someone "you godless, brainless moron."  The first time it happened, anyway.  

I meant the part where Jesus was at the temple after his family left. That pops up somewhere in Matthew too, as I recall.

Like I said, it just doesn't seem to fit his character....