Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Infancy Gospel of Thomas
Already in the second century AD, Irenaeus of Lyons—who, remember, was a disciple of Polycarp, the disciple of John—knew about this book. And this is what Irenaeus had to say about how the book came to be:
Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies , 1.20.1
[T]hey adduce an unspeakable number of apocryphal and spurious writings, which they themselves have forged, to bewilder the minds of foolish men, and of such as are ignorant of the Scriptures of truth . Among other things, they bring forward that false and wicked story which relates that our Lord, when He was a boy learning His letters, on the teacher saying to him, as is usual, “Pronouce Alpha,” replied “Alpha.”1
Although Irenaeus does not name the book he is referring to, a quick comparison shows that he is speaking about one of the stories contained in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.
Eusebius, Church History , 3.25.6-7
[There are] writings which are put forward by heretics under the name of the apostles containing gospels such as those of Peter, and Thomas. …To none of these has any who ever belonged to the ecclesiastical teachers ever thought it right to refer in his writings. Moreover, the type of phraseology differs from apostolic style, and the opinion and tendency of their contents is widely dissonant from true orthodoxy and clearly shows that they are the forgeries of heretics.
Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures , 4.36
Then of the New Testament there are the four Gospels only, for the rest have false titles and are mischievous . The Manicheans also wrote a Gospel according to Thomas, which being tinctured with the fragrance of the Gospel title corrupts the souls of the simple sort.2