This book contains The Arabic Infancy Gospel, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and The Infancy Book of James, or Protevangelium. Together with the Holy Bible, these books provide vivid accounts of the life of Jesus from the time of his conception to his 12 birthday.

God is born in human form. Ultimate power and authority reside in the hands of a child. Early Christians looked at their own children as they played, argued, loved, and fought and wondered what it would have been like to raise the Son of God. How would Jesus have acted as a baby, a toddler, a child, or a teenager?

How human was this “God-child,” Jesus? Did he have the failings of their own children? Was he selfish and rash at the age of one? Was his stage of the “terrible twos” as horrible a stage as most? If Jesus were a normal youngster what would the outcome have been? For those who found themselves in the path of the young God’s temper tantrum, devastating consequences, death or disfigurement could have followed.

Questions surrounding the nature of Jesus challenged the minds of Christians from the very beginning of the faith. Did Jesus mature and grow in wisdom, as most young men should? Did he discover his path in life and his calling or was he perfect and mature from the time of his birth? The Bible reports that the child Jesus “grew strong in spirit.” Did that mean he was weaker in spirit as a child? These are the questions writers of early Christianity sought to address.