A papyrus approximately 2,000 years old has provided unprecedented details about the childhood of Jesus, according to a study conducted by researchers at Humboldt University in Berlin. The document, initially considered an everyday text of no relevance, turned out to be a fragment of the Gospel of Thomas, an apocryphal text that is not part of the biblical canon.
The discovery and its identification
The papyrus, dating from the 4th or 5th century, was analyzed by papyrologist Lajos Berkes and his team. At first, experts thought it was a private letter or a shopping list due to the apparent clumsiness of the handwriting. However, upon finding the word «Jesus,» the focus changed dramatically. «Comparing it with many other digitized papyri, we deciphered it letter by letter and quickly realized it could not be an everyday document,» Berkes explained.
The miracle of the sparrows
The text narrates an episode known as «the vivification of the sparrows,» in which Jesus, at the age of five, turns twelve clay sparrows into living birds. According to the account, his father Joseph found him playing with the figures in a stream on a Saturday, a day of rest and worship. Upset by the situation, Joseph scolded the child, but Jesus ordered the figures to «take flight like living birds,» thus performing the miracle.
Religious and historical context
This miracle does not appear in the canonical Gospels of the Bible, but in apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Thomas, which circulated in early Christian communities but were not included in the official canon. The finding underscores the richness of the oral and written tradition about Jesus’ childhood, which has been the subject of study and debate among theologians and historians. Humboldt University has highlighted the importance of this discovery for better understanding the beliefs and narratives of early Christians.
The study, published in a specialized journal, has generated interest both in academia and among the faithful, offering a window into the stories that accompanied the formation of early Christianity. Researchers continue to analyze the papyrus for more details that may shed light on the life of Jesus and his environment.
Original source: www.canal26.com (published July 3, 2024)
Photo: Ömürden Cengiz on Unsplash
