An ancient manuscript dating back to the fourth or fifth century describes how Jesus resurrected clay birds during his childhood.
Written in Greek, the papyrus fragment is dated to the 4th or 5th century, making it the earliest existing copy of this gospel, scholars indicated in a newly published article in the journal Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. Other copies of the gospel exist, but they are from later periods. The church did not include this gospel in the Bible.
Scholars generally believe that the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was originally composed in the second century. One reason is that some stories recounted in the gospel seem similar to tales written by second-century Christian authors.
This papyrus fragment from the fourth or fifth century is thought to be part of the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas.” (Photo: Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Hamburg (Public Domain Mark 1.0))
Scholars have deciphered a papyrus fragment containing part of the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas,” recounting stories from the childhood of Jesus.
Childhood Miracles
The papyrus narrates the miracles performed by Jesus during his childhood. In the story recounted in this section, “Jesus played by the bank of a rushing stream and molded twelve sparrows from soft clay he found in the mud. When his father Joseph scolded him and asked why he was doing such things, Jesus clapped his hands and made the clay figures come to life,” according to a statement from Humboldt University of Berlin.
While this passage only mentions this particular miracle, later copies of the gospel recount many other miracles that Jesus performed as a child. These include bringing a child named Zeno back to life and immediately healing his father Joseph after he was bitten by a venomous snake.
Intriguing Discovery
Many scholars agree that this fragment is an ancient manuscript and not a modern forgery.
Simon Gathercole, professor of New Testament and early Christianity at the University of Cambridge, UK, stated: “It is exciting to have a new manuscript. It is authentic in the sense that this is indeed an ancient manuscript, not authentic in the sense that it tells us what Jesus actually did as a child.”
Christopher Frilingos, professor of religious studies at Michigan State University, USA, believes this discovery is significant both in terms of the dating of the fragment and its language, Greek.
He noted: “Early Christian writers from the second century alluded to childhood stories about Jesus. This manuscript will be the earliest evidence for the text of such stories.”
