Decoding the paper describing the 'miracle' performed by Jesus at the age of 5

TPO - A manuscript written in the fourth or fifth century describes how Jesus brought clay birds to life as a child.

This papyrus fragment from the fourth or fifth century is believed 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," which tells stories about Jesus' childhood.

Written in Greek, the papyrus fragment dates to the fourth or fifth century, making it the earliest surviving copy of the gospel, the scholars write in a new paper published in the journal Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. Other copies of the gospel also exist, but they date from later. Churches did not include the gospel in the Bible.

Scholars generally believe that the Infancy Gospel of Thomas was originally composed in the second century. Part of the reason is because some of the stories told in the gospel sound similar to stories written by second-century Christian authors.

Childhood miracle

The papyrus fragment tells of a miracle Jesus performed as a child. In the story told in this passage, “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 rebuked him and asked why he was doing such things, the five-year-old Jesus clapped his hands and the clay figures came to life,” according to a statement from Berlin’s Humboldt University.

While this passage only mentions this particular miracle, later gospel copies tell of many other miracles that Jesus performed as a child. These include bringing a child named Zeno back to life and instantly healing his father, Joseph, after he was bitten by a poisonous snake.

'Interesting' discovery

Many scholars agree that the piece of paper is an ancient manuscript and not a modern forgery.

“It’s exciting to have a new manuscript,” said Simon Gathercole, professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the University of Cambridge, England. “It’s authentic in the sense that it’s 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, said the discovery is very significant, both in terms of the age of the fragment and the language, Greek.

“Early Christian writers from the second century alluded to childhood stories about Jesus. This manuscript would be the earliest written evidence for such stories,” he notes.

Ha Thu

According to Live Science

Source: https://tienphong.vn/giai-ma-to-giay-mo-ta-phep-la-do-chua-gie-su-thuc-hien-khi-moi-5-tuoi-post1647764.tpo