Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Not to be confused with the Coptic Gospel of Thomas, a Gnostic work of the Nag Hammadi library.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas (also known as the Infancy of Jesus or Childhood of Jesus, the Paidika tou Iesou or Paidika (Greek), and abbreviated as Inf. Gos. Thom. or IGT) is an apocryphal gospel about the childhood of Jesus. Together with the Gospel of James, it was one of the earliest and most influential sources detailing the activities and life of the young Jesus, although neither are included in the New Testament canon. Its creation is generally dated to the second century. The oldest extant fragmentary manuscript dates to the fourth or fifth century, and the earliest complete manuscript containing the work is the Codex Sabaiticus from the 11th century. Variants flourished that expanded the work by combining it with other stories; the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew is one example that proved popular in the Latin-speaking Western Church during the Middle Ages.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas depicts a young Jesus in full possession of divine power who is already dispensing wisdom with authority, even at an early age. It includes several miracles that spread widely and appear in other sources, such as Jesus transforming clay sparrows into live sparrows. The way Jesus wields his power can read rather shockingly to a modern reader, such as where young Jesus curses and kills those who cross him. While the Jesus depicted in this gospel can be an "enfant terrible", he balances this with performing miracles and healing, as well.

The author of the work is not known. Some versions include a pseudepigraphal attribution to "Thomas the Israelite", which might be a reference to Thomas the Apostle, but this attribution appears to date to the medieval period and is only in some manuscripts. The work varies greatly in style from the canonical gospels. It was possibly distributed as an addition to the Gospel of Luke or as a stand-alone work that has a dependent association to the canonical Gospel texts. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas ends with the story of Jesus in the temple at age 12, and quotes parts of the Gospel of Luke.

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