Quote from Alex bobby on January 13, 2024, 5:32 AM

The forgotten stories fill in the blanks of Jesus's life but paint an at times grim picture of the religious leader.

In 1945 Egypt, a local farmer by the name of Muhammed al-Samman stumbled across a collection of scripts hidden inside a sealed jar. The texts looked ancient and were made up of 13 leather-bound papyrus, today known as the Nag Hammadi library. On their pages were written 52 texts, today called the Gnostic or Lost Gospels, believed to have been produced around the time Jesus Christ was alive.

It soon transpired that the texts were derived from the Bible, though they were not included in the New Testament, something that many religious scholars claim is because they supplement the Bible and fill in some of the book's gaps. The greatest of these gaps cover the life of Jesus from around the age of 12 until he was 30, a period of 18 years in which the Gnostic Gospels paint a chilling image of the religious leader, including his lashing out at a poor child.

The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, as it is known, was explored during National Geographic's Secret Lives Of Jesus In it, Jesus condemns the son of a man who previously rebuked Jesus for working on the Sabbath, a day kept  Jewish people in which they abstain from work to observe their religion.

Jesus was only a child himself at the time, according to the story, and Marvin Meyer, Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University, explained how it showed the Boy King in a bad, mortal light.

He has a temper, kind of a bad temper," he said, and when Jesus gets mad watch out because he's got some real wallop in his temper.

According to the story, Jesus said to the man and his son: "You also should be like a tree without a root and not bear fruit." The child then withers in his presence.

Bart Ehrman, professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, said: The child's parents then come and carry the withered child away bemoaning his lost youth, wondering what a child is that can curse somebody like this.

While the Lost Gospels reveal a new, darker light to Jesus, they also tell of a little-known humorous side. As Craig Evans, Professor of the New Testament at Acadia Divinity College, Acadia University, explained: "One of the most humorous stories in the infancy tradition about Jesus growing up in Nazareth as the son of a carpenter, is the story about Joseph who turns out to be not a very good carpenter."

Prof Ehrman added: Joseph has been hired by a rich man to make a bed. This will be a financial coup for the family, so it's an important job. But unfortunately, Joseph makes a mistake.

Despite it being his sole trade, Joseph cuts the wood too short. With no money to buy a replacement, he becomes distraught.

When Jesus sees his father's stress, he tells him not to worry. He uses his powers to stretch the board and restore the wood to its proper length.

One more time we see the power of Jesus at work even as a teenager, said Prof Evans.

Many remain sceptical about the gospel stories, and still more refuse to accept them as Biblical in any form. Others, however, have pushed their significance, including the prominent atheist figure of Richard Dawkins.

He holds up the story of Judas Iscariot as an example, in which Judas is portrayed not as Jesus' arch-villain but as the man who fulfils his wish to ask the authorities for crucifixion in exchange for money. Today, the gospels are held at the Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt, and are on display for visitors to see for themselves.