A newly deciphered manuscript dating back over 1,600 years has been identified as the earliest known account of Jesus Christ’s childhood.
Written on papyrus in either the 4th or 5th century, the manuscript was stored in a library in Hamburg, Germany, and was long thought to be an insignificant document.
Recently, two experts deciphered the text and revealed it as the earliest surviving copy of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. Lajos Berkes, a theology lecturer, declared the papyrus fragment to be of extraordinary interest for research in a press release.
Initially believed to be a mundane document due to its clumsy handwriting, the discovery of the word “Jesus” in the text led to further examination.
The manuscript, written in Greek, contains 13 lines and originates from late antique Egypt, a Christian society at the time. It describes the “vivification of the sparrows” story, where a young Jesus turns 12 clay sparrows into live birds.
According to the text, Jesus moulded the sparrows from clay while playing beside a stream.
When rebuked by his father, Joseph, Jesus brought the clay figures to life by clapping his hands.
This story, considered Jesus’ second miracle, is part of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT), a text detailing Christ’s childhood. Though popular in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, the IGT was excluded from the Bible due to doubts about its accuracy among early Christian writers.
Previously, the oldest known Greek version of the IGT was an 11th-century codex. The newly-deciphered fragment predates this by 600 years.
Gabriel Nocchi Macedo, who helped decode the fragment, stated that their findings confirm the IGT was initially written in Greek. Macedo and Berkes believe the manuscript may have been used as a writing exercise in a school or monastery.
“Our findings on this late antique Greek copy of the work confirm the current assessment that the Infancy Gospel, according to Thomas, was originally written in Greek,” Macedo declared. The experts’ work has shed new light on the early Christian text, offering invaluable insights into the historical context of Jesus Christ’s early years.
