Forbidden book omitted from the Bible revealed after it was kept hidden
Despite some parts of the Bible being well over 2,000 years old, as well as it being the most read text in history, scholars are always discovering new parts or new meanings from the book.
This included a 'forgotten gospel', which challenged the whole concept of Christianity itself.
When it comes to religion, we may all have our own interpretations of God, and what it means to follow that particular faith, but it's almost universally accepted by Christians that Jesus is God himself, in human form.
Therefore, he should have been omnibenevolent, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent, yet the latest finding certainly seems to contradict that.
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Known as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, the passage seems to be typical of the Bible at first, as it talks of some of the ridiculous feats that Jesus is said to have achieved, this time including bringing clay birds to life, drawing water from a broken pitcher and healing a boy whose leg was injured by an axe.
However, it also shows off a darker side to him in his younger days, which sees him curse a child to death for bumping into him, while he also blinds the parents of the young boy who accidentally strikes him.
This book is dated to when Jesus was said to be just five, while in the Bible, he is 12 at his youngest, and this particular passage depicts Joseph as angry with his son for his actions.
The passage, which was seemingly written by Thomas the Israelite, reads: "When Joseph saw that Jesus had done such a thing, he got angry and grabbed his ear and pulled very hard.
"The boy became infuriated with him and replied, 'It's one thing for you to seek and not find; it's quite another for you to act this unwisely. Don't you know that I don't really belong to you? Don't make me upset."
It also sees the carpenter take Jesus to a teacher to learn the alphabet, but the teacher becomes frustrated after the son of God laughs at his instructions.
'Hand him over to me, brother, and I shall teach him the Scripture; and I shall persuade him to bless all, and not to curse.
"And Jesus, hearing, laughed, and said to them: You say what you know; but I know more than you, for I am before the ages. And I know when your fathers' fathers were born; and I know how many years of your life."
Unsurprisingly, early church leaders were less than keen on having the text included in the Bible, given its depiction of Jesus as a violent and petulant child.
Topics: Religion
James Moorhouse