Gabriel Nocchi Macedo : “Oldest Jesus Childhood Account Unearthed!”

Earliest Written Account of Jesus Christ’s Childhood Discovered

June 12 (UPI) — A manuscript, believed to be from the 4th or 5th century and found in a university library in Hamburg, Germany, has been recognised by researchers as the earliest known narrative of Jesus Christ’s early years.

After extensive analysis, papyrologist Gabriel Nocchi Macedo from the University of Liège in Belgium stated, “Our research on this ancient Greek copy confirms the current understanding that the ‘Infancy Gospel of Thomas’ was originally penned in Greek.”

The papyrus fragment, with a history spanning over 1,600 years, remained unnoticed for decades at the Hamburg Carl von Ossietzky State and University Library until Dr. Lajos Berkes from the Institute for Christianity and Antiquity at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, along with Macedo, identified its significance.

Measuring just over 4 inches by 2 inches, the small fragment contains thirteen lines of Greek text from late antique Egypt. Initially thought to be an ordinary document due to its clumsy handwriting, further investigation revealed its true nature.

It is believed that the manuscript was created as a writing exercise in a school or monastery, given the irregular lines and handwriting. This makes it an earlier surviving copy of the gospel compared to the 11th-century ‘Infancy Gospel of Thomas’ manuscript.

Dr. Berkes commented, “The fragment is of extraordinary significance for research, not only due to its early dating to the 4th to 5th century but also because it provides valuable insights into the text’s transmission.”

While the content of the document does not come directly from the Bible, it recounts a miracle from the Gospel of Thomas where a 5-year-old Jesus shapes clay birds by a river and brings them to life.