The text in question is normally called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (not
the Protevangelium of James, which does not contain such stories), and
along with the traditions of the Protevangelium, it became included in the
medieval "Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew," as scholars have come to call the
composition/anthology. There are various versions, of course. For recent
English translations and notes, see "NT Apocrypha" or "Apocryphal NT"
collections (Hennecke-Schneemelcher-Wilson, J.K.Elliott, or the older
volume by M.R.James, for example).
Bob Kraft
> >>> Patrick Nugent >>>
> The Protoevangelium of James, for example, contains horrific stories of
> Jesus as a small boy exercising his divine power in some fairly vengeful
> ways.
> <<<
>
> I haven't heard of this text, but I'm familiar with one such story from an
> English folksong (Jesus as a child uses divine power to drown three rich
> children in a well for teasing him; Mary beats him with a withy switch as
> punishment, for which he curses withy plants in general ...) and I've been
> curious about its origins. Can you tell me any more about the
> Protoevangelium of James and the stories in it?
>
> Jonathan Gilbert
--
Robert A. Kraft, Religious Studies, University of Pennsylvania
227 Logan Hall (Philadelphia PA 19104-6304); tel. 215 898-5827
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http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/kraft.html
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