Date of composition

• 100s

Biography of Jesus?

• Partial. It only describes Jesus from age 5 to 12 (at the Temple).

Type of Apocrypha (heretical or in error (made up))

• Error.

Length

• 12 double-spaced pages. We have the complete writing.

Summary

• See "Biography of Jesus?" above. Tells of events from these years.

Noteworthy from the book

1. When Jesus was five, he stopped up a small creek and made twelve sparrows with clay. This was on the Sabbath (when one is not supposed to work), and someone told his father, Joseph. Joseph questioned Jesus about it, and Jesus made the birds fly away. (The Infancy of Thomas is the first time we find this story. It was popular and added to other infancy gospels written later.)
2. Continuing with the story: A child saw this happen, took a branch, and scattered the mud puddle. Jesus became mad and killed him.
3. Three teachers tried to train him but were unsuccessful.
4. One of the teachers hit Jesus on the head because he believed that Jesus was being disrespectful. Jesus cursed him and he died.
5. Joseph, being a carpenter, took an order for a bed. One of the boards was too short, and Jesus stretched it to the correct length.
6. Jesus healed many people and raised one child from the dead.
7. The book's last story is the incident in the Gospels where Jesus was with the teachers in the Temple at age 12.