the Lord Jesus, he inquired On what account they carried that boy? 10 And when they answered, that a serpent had bitten him, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Let us go and kill that serpent. 11 But when the parents of the boy desired to be excused, because their son lay at the point of death; the boys made answer, and said, Did not ye hear what the king said? Let us go and kill the serpent; and will not ye obey him? 12 So they brought the couch back again, whether they would or not. 13 And when they were come to the nest, the Lord Jesus said to the boys, Is this the serpent's lurking place? They said, It was. 14 Then the Lord Jesus calling the serpent, it presently came forth and submitted to him; to whom he said, Go and suck out all the poison which thou hast infused into that boy ; 15 So the serpent crept to the boy, and took away all its poison again. 16 Then the Lord Jesus cursed the serpent so that it immediately burst asunder, and died. 17 And he touched the boy with his hand to restore him to his former health; 18 And when he began to cry, the Lord Jesus said, Cease crying, for hereafter thou shalt be my disciple, 19 And this is that Simon the Cananite, who is mentioned in the Gospel. CHAP. XIX. 1 James being bitten by a viper, Jesus blows on the wound and cures him. 4 Makes a dead boy speak. Jesus charged with throwing a boy from the roof of a house, 10 miracu lously causes the dead boy to arquis him, 12 fetches water for his mother, breaks the pitcher and miraculously gathers the water in his mantle and brings it home, 16 makes fish-pools on the sabbath, 20 causes a boy to die who broke them down, 22 another boy runs against him, whom he also causes to die. N another day Joseph sent O his son James to gather wood and the Lord Jesus went with him; 2 And when they came to the place where the wood was, and James began to gather it, behold, a venomous viper bit him, so that he began to cry, and make a noise. 3 The Lord Jesus seeing him in this condition, came to him, and blowed upon the place where the viper had bit him, and it was instantly well. 4¶On a certain day the Lord Jesus was with some boys, who were playing on the house-top, and one of the boys fell down, and presently died. 5 Upon which the other boys all running away, the Lord Jesus was left alone on the housetop. 6 And the boy's relations came to him and said to the Lord Jesus Thou didst throw our son down from the house-top. 7 But he denying it, they cried out, Our son is dead, and this is he who killed him. 8 The Lord Jesus replied to them, Do not charge me with a crime, of which you are not able to convict me, but let us go ask the boy himself, who will bring the truth to light. 9 Then the Lord Jesus going down stood over the head of the dead boy, and said with a loud voice, Zeinunus, Zeinunus, who threw thee down from the housetop? 10 Then the dead boy answered, thou didst not throw me down, but such a one did. 11 And when the Lord Jesus bade those who stood by to take notice of his words, all who were present praised God on account of that miracle. 12 On a certain time the Lady St. Mary had commanded the Lord Jesus to fetch her some water out of the well; 13 And when he had gone to fetch the water, the pitcher, when it was brought up full, brake. 14 But Jesus spreading his mantle gathered up the water again, and brought it in that to his mother. 15 Who, being astonished at this wonderful thing, laid up this, and all the other things which she had seen, in her memory. Kills a playfellow. away, and the Lord Jesus said to him, 21 In like manner as this water has vanished, so shall thy life vanish; and presently the boy died. 22 ¶ Another time, when the Lord Jesus was coming home in the evening with Joseph, he met a boy, who ran so hard against him, that he threw him down; 23 To whom the Lord Jesus said, As thou hast thrown me down, so shalt thou fall, nor ever rise. 24 And that moment the boy fell down and died. CHAP. XX. 4 Sent to school to Zaccheus to learn his letters, and teaches Zaccheus. 13 Sent to another schoolmaster, 14 refuses to tell his letters, and the schoolmaster going to whip him his hand withers and he dies. THERE was also at Jerusalem 16 ¶ Again on another day TE the Lord Jesus was with some boys by a river and they drew water out of the river by little channels, and made little fish pools. 17 But the Lord Jesus had made twelve sparrows, and placed them about his pool on each side, three on a side. 18 But it was the Sabbath day, and the son of Hanani a Jew came by, and saw them making these thing, and said, Do ye thus make figures of clay on the Sabbath? And he ran to them, and broke down their fish-pools. 19 But when the Lord Jesus clapped his hands over the sparrows which he had made, they fled away chirping. 20 At length the son of Hanani coming to the fish-pool of Jesus to destroy it, the water vanished one named Zaccheus, who was a schoolmaster. 2 And he said to Joseph, Joseph, why dost thou not send Jesus to me, that he may learn his letters? 3 Joseph agreed, and told St. Mary; 4 So they brought him to that master; who, as soon as he saw him, wrote out an alphabet for him. 5 And he bade him say Aleph ; and when he had said Aleph, the master bade him pronounce Beth. 6 Then the Lord Jesus said to him, Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth. 7 And when the master threatened to whip him, the Lord Jesus explained to him the meaning of the letters Aleph and Beth; 8 Also which were the straight Kills his schoolmasters. I. INFANCY. Disputes with the doctors. figures of the letters, which the oblique, and what letters had double figures; which had points, and which had none; why one letter went before another; and many other things he began to tell him, and explain, of which the master himself had never heard, nor read in any book. 9 The Lord Jesus farther caid to the master, Take notice how I say to thee; then he began clearly and distinctly to say Aleph, Beth, Gimel, Daleth, and so on to the end of the alphabet. 10 At this the master was so surprised, that he said, I believe this boy was born before Noah; 11 And turning to Joseph, he said, Thou hast brought a boy to me to be taught, who is more learned than any master. 12 He said also unto St. Mary, This your son has no need of any learning. 13 They brought him then to a more learned master, who, when he saw him, said, say Aleph. 14 And when he had said Aleph, the master bade him pronounce Beth; to which the Lord Jesus replied, Tell me first the meaning of the letter Aleph, and then I will pronounce Beth. 15 But this master, when he lift up his hand to whip him, had his hand presently withered, and he died. 16 Then said Joseph to St. Mary, Henceforth we will not allow him to go out of the house; for every one who displeases him is killed. CHAP. XXI. 1 Disputes miraculously with the doctors in the temple, 7 on law, 9 on astronomy, 12 on physics and metaphysics, 21 is worshipped by a philosopher, 28 and fetched home by his mother. ND when he was twelve yearr old, they brought him to Jerusalem to the feast; and when the feast was over, they returned. 2 But the Lord Jesus continued behind in the temple among the doctors and elders, and learned men of Israel; to whom he proposed several questions of learning, and also gave them answers: 3 For he said to them, Whose son is the Messiah? They answered, the son of David: 4 Why then, said he, does he in the spirit call him Lord? when he saith, The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou at my right hand, till I have made thine enemies thy footstool. 5 Then 8 certain principal Rabbi asked him, Hast thou read books? 6 Jesus answered, he had read both books, and the things which were contained in books. 7 And he explained to them the books of the law, and precepts, and statutes: and the mysteries which are contained in the books of the prophets; things which the mind of no creature could reach. 8 Then said that Rabbi, I never yet have seen or heard of such knowledge! What do you think that boy will be! 9 When a certain astrono mer, who was present, asked the Lord Jesus, Whether he had studied astronomy? 10 The Lord Jesus replied, and told him the number of the spheres and heavenly bodies, as also their triangular, square, and sextile aspect; their progressive and retrograde motion; size and several prognostications; and other things which the reason of man had never discovered. their 11 There was also among them a philosopher well skilled in physic and natural philosophy, who asked the Lord Jesus, Whether he had studied physic? 12 He replied, and explained to him physics and metaphysics. 13 Also those things which were above and below the power of nature; 14 The powers also of the body, its humours, and their effects. 15 Also the number of its members, and bones, veins, arteries, and nerves : 16 The several constitutions of body, hot and dry, cold and moist, and the tendencies of them; 17 How the soul operated upon the body; 18 What its various sensations and faculties were ; 19 The faculty of speaking, anger, desire; 20 And lastly the manner of its composition and dissolution; and other things, which the understanding of no creature had ever reached. 21 Then that philosopher arose, and worshipped the Lord Jesus, and said, O Lord Jesus, from henceforth I will be thy disciple and servant. 22 ¶ While they were discoursing_on_these and such like things, the Lady St. Mary came in, having been three days walking about with Joseph, seeking for him. 23 And when she saw him sitting among the doctors, and in his turn proposing questions to them, and giving answers, she said to him, My son, why hast thou done thus by us? Behold I and thy father have been at much pains in seeking thee. Is baptized. 24 He replied, Why did ye seek me? Did ye not know that I ought to be employed in my father's house ? 25 But they understood not the words which, he said to them. 26 Then the doctors asked Mary, Whether this were her son? And when she said, He was, they said, O happy Mary, who hast borne such a son. 27 Then he returned with them to Nazareth, and obeyed them in all things. 28 And his mother kept all these things in her mind; 29 And the Lord Jesus grew in stature and wisdom, and favour with God and man. CHAP. XXII. 1 Conceals his miracles, 2 studies the law, 3 and is baptized N OW from this time Jesus began to conceal his miracles and secret works, 2 And gave himself to the study of the law, till he arrived to the end of his thirtieth year; 3 At which time the Father publicly owned him at Jordan, sending down this voice from heaven, This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased; 4 The Holy Ghost being also present in the form of a dove. 5 This is he whom we worship with all reverence, because he gave us our life and being, and brought us from our mother's womb. 6 Who, for our sakes, took a human body, and hath redeemed us, that so he might so embrace us with everlasting mercy, and shew his free, large, bountiful grace and goodness to us, 7 To him be glory and praise, Christ enlivens clay II. INFANCY. birds, kills a toy. and power, and dominion, from The end of the whole Gospel of the henceforth and for Amen. evermore, Infancy, by the assistance of the Supreme God, according to what we found in the original. THOMAS'S GOSPEL of the INFANCY of JESUS CHRIST. [The original in Greek, from which this translation is made, will be found printed by Cotelerius, in his notes on the constitutions of the Apostles, from a MS. in the French King's Library, No. 2279-It is attributed to Thomas, and conjectured to have been originally connected with the Gospel of Mary.] and Saviour JESUS CHRIST in his INFANCY. and there were other boys playing with him. 5 But a certain Jew seeing the things which he was doing, namely, his forming clay into the figures of sparrows on the sabbath day, went presently away, and told his father Joseph, and said, 6 Behold, thy boy is playing by the river side, and has taken clay, and formed it into twelve sparrows, and profaneth the sabbath. 7 Then Joseph came to the place were he was, and when he saw him, called to him, and said, Why doest thou that which it is not lawful to do on the sabbath day? 8 Then Jesus clapping together the palms of his hands, called to the sparrows, and said to them: Go, fly away; and while ye live remember me. 9 So the sparrows fled away, making a noise. 10 The Jews seeing this, were astonished, and went away, and told their chief persons what a |