From The Dead Sea Scrolls And The Nag Hammadi Library

Enough material to write your own "Da Vinci Code" type novel...

Disciples:
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, were not all disciples!??? Only two of the disciples could write. The others had to find someone literate to transcribe their version of events, or copy another disciples gospel and put their name on it.......

The Disciples
1. Simon, Peter, Cephas, Bar-Jona (son of Jona, younger brother of Andrew)
2. James, son of Zebedee, one of "Boanerges" or "Sons of Thunder”
3. John, the brother of James, one of "Boanerges" or "Sons of Thunder"
4. Andrew, the brother of Simon
5. Philip
6. Bartholomew, (Nathanael)
7. Matthew , Son of Alphaeus, Levi (?)
8. Thomas, Didymus
9. James son of Alphaeus
10. Thaddaeus, Judas son of James
11. Simon the Cananaean, Simon the Zealot
12. Judas Iscariot

Spares:
1. Matthias, elevated to the Twelve after Judas hung himself.
Within forty years, nine of those had been martyred.

Luke was a converted gentile doctor.
Mark was not a disciple, and wrote his gospel from the recollections of Peter. Worked with early church, martyred 68AD

The Infancy Gospel of James
The following translation is based on the Greek text printed in Ronald F. Hock's The Infancy Gospels of James and Thomas. The text, which provided the basis for the Jesus Seminar's "Scholars Version" translation of the Infancy Gospel of James, has been divided differently than in earlier critical editions to encourage precise notation.

Chapter 1
(1) In the histories of the twelve tribes of Israel, Joachim was an extremely rich man.
(2) He always brought a double offering to the Lord,
(3) telling himself, "My offering for all the people is from my surplus and my own offering to the Lord God is for forgiveness, to atone for my sins."
(4) As the great day of the Lord was drawing near and the children of Israel were bringing their offerings, however,
(5) Reubel stood in his way, saying, "You cannot offer your gifts first because you have not conceived a child in Israel."
(6) And Joachim became extremely frustrated and went away to the history of the twelve tribes of his people, saying to himself, "I will look in the history of the twelve tribes of Israel and see whether I am the only one who has not conceived a child in Israel."
(7) And he searched and found that all the righteous people had raised children in Israel.
(8) And he reminded himself about the patriarch Abraham and that the Lord God gave his son Isaac to him in his last days.
(9) Then, Joachim was extremely frustrated and did not appear to his wife, but gave himself to the desert and pitched his tent there.
(10) He fasted forty days and forty nights.
(11) All the while, Joachim was saying to himself, "I will not go down for food or drink until the Lord my God visits me; prayer will be my food and drink."

Chapter 2
(1) Then, his wife Anna mourned and lamented greatly for two reasons, saying, "I lament that I am a widow and I lament that I am childless."
(2) When the great day of the Lord was drawing near,
(3) her servant Juthine said to her, "How long are you going to humble yourself? Do you not see that the great day of the Lord is approaching? You are not allowed to mourn.
(4) Take this headband which the leader of the activity gave me. I am not allowed to tie it because I am your slave and it has a royal mark."
(5) Then, Anna said, "Get away from me. I did not cause these things, even though the Lord God has humbled me greatly. Perhaps a crafty person has given this to you and you have come to cause me to partake of your sin."
(6) And her servant Juthine said, "Should I invoke a curse on you because you did not hear my voice? The Lord God has shut your womb and he will not give you offspring in Israel."
(7) So Anna also became extremely frustrated and removed her mourning garment, washed her head and clothed herself with her wedding dress.
(8) Around the ninth hour, she went down to her garden to walk around. She saw a laurel tree and sat down under it.
(9) And after a rest, she petitioned the Lord, saying, "God of my ancestors, bless me and hear my prayer, just as you blessed our mother Sarah and gave her son Isaac to her."

Chapter 3
(1) And Anna looked up to the heavens and saw a nest of sparrows in the laurel tree.
(2) Immediately, Anna cried out mournfully, saying to herself,
"Oh me, who gave birth to me? What womb caused me to grow?
(3) For I was born cursed in front of the children of Israel. I am reviled and they treat me with contempt and cast me out of the temple of the Lord my God.
(4) "Oh me, what am I like? I am not like the birds of the sky, for the birds of the sky are fruitful before you, Lord.
(5) "Oh me, what am I like? I am not like the domestic animals, for the domestic animals are fruitful before you, Lord.
(6) "Oh me, what am I like? I am not like the wild animals of the earth, for the wild animals of the earth are fruitful before you, Lord.
(7) "Oh me, what am I like? I am not like these waters, for these waters are fruitful before you, Lord.
(8) "Oh me, what am I like? I am not like this earth, for the earth produces its fruit in season and blesses you, Lord."

Chapter 4
(1) Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood in front of her, saying, "Anna, Anna, the Lord God has heard your prayer. You will conceive and give birth and your child will be spoken of everywhere people live."
(2) And Anna said, "As the Lord God lives, whether I give birth to either a male or a female child, I will bring it as an offering to the Lord my God and it will be a servant to him all the days of its life."
(3) Next, two angels came, saying to her, "Look your husband Joachim is coming with his flocks." (4) For an angel of the Lord had gone down to Joachim, saying, "Joachim, Joachim, the Lord God has heard your prayer. Go down from here. Look, your wife Anna has conceived in her womb."
(5) Immediately, Joachim went down and called the shepherds, telling them, "Bring ten lambs without spot or blemish here to me; the ten lambs will be for the Lord God.
(6) Bring twelve tender calves; the twelve calves will be for the priests and the elders.
(7) And bring one hundred male goats; the one hundred male goats will be for all the people."
(8) Then, Joachim came with his flocks. Anna was standing at the gate.
(9) When she saw Joachim coming with his flocks, Anna ran and wrapped herself around his neck, saying, "Now I know that the Lord God has blessed me greatly. See, the widow is no longer a widow and the childless woman has conceived in her womb."
(10) And Joachim rested for the first day he was home.

Chapter 5
(1) The next day, when he was presenting his offerings, he said to himself, "If the Lord God will be reconciled to me, he will make it clear to me with the priest's metal disc."
(2) And Joachim presented his offerings and paid attention to the priest's metal disc until he went up to the altar of the Lord. And he saw no sin in it.
(3) Joachim said, "Now, I know that the Lord God has been reconciled to me and has sent all my great sins away for me."
(4) And having been justified, he departed from the temple and went to his house.
(5) And his wife's pregnancy came to term. After nine months, Anna gave birth
(6) and she said to the midwife, "What is it?"
(7) The midwife said, "A girl."
(8) Anna said, "My soul exalts this day." And she put her baby to bed.
(9) After her days were completed, Anna cleansed her menstrual flow (10) and gave her breast to the child and gave her the name Mary.

Chapter 6
(1) Day by day, the child grew stronger.
(2) When she was six months old, her mother set her on the ground to test whether she could stand. And after walking seven steps, she came to her mother's breast.
(3) And her mother picked her up, saying, "As the Lord my God lives, you will not walk on this earth again until I take you to the temple of the Lord."
(4) And she made a sanctuary in her bedroom and would not permit anything common or impure to pass through it.
(5) And she called the pure daughters of the Hebrews and they played with her.
(6) When the child's first birthday came, Joachim held a great celebration. He invited the high priests and the priests and the Sanhedrin and the whole nation of Israel.
(7) And Joachim brought the child to the priests and they blessed her, saying, "God of our ancestors, bless this child and give her name eternal fame among all generations."
(8) And all the people said, "Let it happen, amen."
(9) And he brought the child to the high priests and they blessed her, saying, "Exalted God, look upon this child and give her a final blessing which will not be succeeded."
(10) And her mother took her up to the bedroom-sanctuary and gave her breast to the child.
(11) And Anna composed a song for the Lord God, saying, "I will sing a holy song to the Lord my God because he has examined me and removed my horrible disgrace from me.
(12) And the Lord God gave me the fruit of his righteousness, of one nature, but manifold before him.
(13) Who will proclaim to the sons of Reubel that Anna nurses a child? Do you hear? Hear this, twelve tribes of Israel: Anna nurses a child!"
(14) And she gave the child rest in the bedroom-sanctuary and went out and served them.
(15) When dinner was completed, they departed feeling good and glorified the God of Israel.

Chapter 7
(1) She cared for the child for months. When the child turned two years old, Joachim said, "Let's take her to the temple of the Lord so we can relate the message we were given."
(2) And Anna said, "Let's wait until the third year, so that she will not seek her father or mother."
(3) And Joachim said, "Let's wait."
(4) When the child turned three, Joachim said, "Let's call the pure women of the Hebrews.
(5) Let them take up lamps and light them so that the child will not turn back and her heart will never be led away from the temple of the Lord."
(6) And they did these things until they went up to the temple of the Lord.
(7) And the priest welcomed her. Kissing her, he blessed her and said, "The Lord God has magnified your name for all generations;
(8) through you the Lord will reveal deliverance to the children of Israel in the last days."
(9) And he set her down on the third step of the altar and the Lord God poured grace upon her. (10) She danced triumphantly with her drinks and every house in Israel loved her.

Chapter 8
(1) And her parents went down, marvelling at and praising and glorifying the Lord God because the child had not turned back to look at them.
(2) While Mary was in the temple of the Lord, she was fed like a dove and received food from the hand of an angel.
(3) When she turned twelve, a group of priests took counsel together, saying, "Look, Mary has been in the temple of the Lord twelve years.
(4) What should we do about her now, so that she does not defile the sanctuary of the Lord our God?"
(5) And they said to the high priest, "You have stood at the altar of the Lord. Go in and pray about her. And if the Lord God reveals anything to you, we will do it."
(6) And the priest went in taking the vestment with twelve bells into the holy of holies and prayed about her. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord stood before him, saying, "Zachariah, Zachariah, depart from here and gather the widowers of the people and let each one carry a staff.
(8) And the one whom the Lord God points out with a sign, she will be his wife."
(9) So the heralds went out to the whole surrounding area of Judea and the trumpet of the Lord rang out and all the men rushed in.

Chapter 9
(1) Throwing down his axe, Joseph went out to meet them.
(2) And after they had gathered together with their rods, they went to the high priest.
(3) After receiving everyone's rod, the high priest went into the temple and prayed.
(4) When he was finished with the prayer, he took the rods and went out and gave them to each man,
(5) but there was no sign among them. Finally, Joseph took his rod.
(6) Suddenly, a dove came out of the rod and stood on Joseph's head.
(7) And the high priest said, "Joseph! Joseph! You have been chosen by lot to take the virgin into your own keeping."
(8) And Joseph replied, saying, "I have sons and am old, while she is young. I will not be ridiculed among the children of Israel."
(9) And the high priest said, "Joseph, fear the Lord your God and remember what God did to Dathan and Abiron and Kore, how the earth split open and swallowed them because of their rebellion.
(10) Now fear God, Joseph, so that these things do not happen in your house."
(11) Fearing God, Joseph took her into his own possession.
(12) And he said to her, "Mary, I took you from the temple of the Lord and now I bring you into my house. I am going out to build houses, but I will come back to you. The Lord will protect you."

Chapter 10
(1) Meanwhile, the priests were meeting together, saying, "Let us make a curtain for the temple of the Lord."
(2) And the high priest said, "Call the pure virgins from the tribe of David to me."
(3) And the servants went out and sought and found seven virgins.
(4) And the high priest remembered that the child Mary was from the tribe of David and was pure before God.
(5) So the servants went out and got her.

(6) And they brought the women into the temple of the Lord.
(7) And the high priest said, "Cast lots to see who will spin the gold and the pure and the linen and the silk and the violet and the scarlet and the true purple threads."

(8) And Mary was appointed by lot to the true purple and scarlet threads. And taking them, she went to her house.
(9) This was at the same time Zachariah fell silent and Samuel replaced him until Zachariah could speak again.
(10) Mary was spinning the scarlet thread which she had taken.

Chapter 11
(1) And she took the cup and went out to fill it with water.
(2) Suddenly, a voice said to her, "Rejoice, blessed one. The Lord is with you. You are blessed among women."
(3) And Mary looked around to the right and the left to see where this voice came from.
(4) And trembling she went into her house. Setting down the cup, she took the purple thread and sat down on the chair and spun it.

(5) Suddenly, an angel stood before her saying, "Do not be afraid Mary. You have found grace before the Lord of all. You will conceive from his word."

(6) Upon hearing this, however, Mary was distraught, saying to herself, "If I conceive from the Lord God who lives, will I also conceive as all women conceive?"

(7) And the Angel of the Lord said, "Not like that, Mary. For the power of God will come over you. Thus, the holy one who is born will be called son of the most high.
(8) And you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."
(9) And Mary said, "See, I am the servant of the Lord before him. Let it happen to me according to what you say."

Chapter 12
(1) And she made the purple and the scarlet thread and carried it to the high priest.
(2) And taking it, the high priest blessed her and said, "Mary, God has magnified your name. You will be called blessed among all the generations of the earth."

(3) Then, Mary went gladly to her cousin Elizabeth.
(4) And she knocked at the door and when Elizabeth heard, she threw down her scarlet thread and ran to the door and opened it for her.
(5) And she blessed her and said, "Where have you come to me from? Why should the mother of my Lord come to me? See how the child in me leaps and blesses you."
(6) But Mary had forgotten the mysteries which the angel Gabriel had told her. And looking into heaven she said, "Who am I, Lord, that all the generations of the earth will bless me?"
(7) She spent three months with Elizabeth.
(8) Day after day, her womb swelled and she was afraid to go to her house and hid herself from the children of Israel.
(9) Mary was sixteen years old when these mysterious things happened to her.

Chapter 13
(1) In the sixth month of her pregnancy, Joseph came from his house-building and went into the house to find her swelling.
(2) And he struck his face and threw himself on the ground in sackcloth and wept bitterly, "How can I look to the Lord God? What will I pray about her, for I took her as a virgin from the temple of the Lord and did not guard her?
(4) Who has set this trap for me? Who did this evil in my house? Who stole the virgin from me and defiled her.
(5) Has not the story of Adam been repeated with me? For while Adam was glorifying God, the serpent came and found Eve alone and deceived her and defiled her - so it has also happened to me."
(6) And Joseph got up from his sackcloth and called her and said to her, "After having been cared for by God, what have you done?
(7) Did you forget the Lord your God? You who were raised in the holy of holies, you who received from the hand of an angel, do you know how much you have humiliated yourself?"
(8) Then, she wept bitterly, saying, "I am pure and I did not know a man."
(9) And Joseph said to her, "Where did this thing in your womb come from then?"
(10) But she said, "As the Lord my God lives, I do not know where it came from."

Chapter 14
(1) Then, Joseph was extremely frightened and kept quiet about her, pondering what he should do.
(2) And Joseph said to himself, "If I hide her sin, I will be rebelling against the law of the Lord.
(3) And if I expose her to the children of Israel . . . well, I am afraid that the child in her might be angelic and I will be betraying innocent blood to a judgment of death.
(4) What then will I do about her? I will send her away from me secretly."
(5) And night overtook him. And suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Do not fear this child. For the child in her is from the Holy Spirit.
(6) She will bear a son for you and you will call his name Jesus. For he will save his people from their sins."
(7) And Joseph arose from his sleep and glorified the God of Israel who had given grace to him.
(8) And he guarded the child.

Chapter 15
(1) Then, Annas the scribe came to him and said to him, "Joseph, why have you not appeared to our traveling group?"
(2) And he said to him, "Because I was worn out from the trip and rested my first day back."
(3) And Annas turned and saw Mary pregnant.
(4) And he ran off at top speed to the high priest and said to him, "Look at Joseph, the one you bear witness for. He has broken the law badly."
(5) And the high priest said, "What is this?"
(6) And he said, "The virgin which Joseph received from the temple of the Lord, he defiled her and has stolen her wedding festivities and has not revealed it to the children of Israel."
(7) And he said to him, "Has Joseph done these things?"
(8) And he said to him, "Send a servant and he will find the virgin pregnant."
(9) And the servants went and found her just as he said and they led her with Joseph to the law court.
(10) And the high priest said to her, "Mary, what is this? How have you humiliated yourself? (11) Did you forget the Lord your God, you who were raised in the holy of holies and received from the hand of an angel? (12) You who heard their songs and danced before them, what is this?"
(13) And she wept bitterly, saying, "As the Lord God lives, I am pure before him and I did not know a man."
(14) And the high priest said, "Joseph, what is this?"
(15) But Joseph said, "As the Lord lives, I am pure from her."
(16) And the high priest said, "Do not lie, but speak the truth. You stole your wedding festivities and did not reveal it to the children of Israel (17) and you did not bow your head before the mighty hand that it should bless your seed."
(18) And Joseph was silent.

Chapter 16
(1) And the high priest said, "Return the virgin which you took from the temple of the Lord."
(2) And Joseph, becoming tearful [...]
(3) And the high priest said, "I will give you the water of the Lord's wrath to drink and it will make your sin clear in your eyes."
(4) And taking the water, the high priest gave it to Joseph to drink and sent him out into the desert. And he returned unharmed.
(5) And he made the young girl drink also and sent her out into the desert. And she came back unharmed.
(6) And all the people were astonished that their sins were not revealed.
(7) And the high priest said, "If the Lord God has not revealed your sins, I will not judge you either." And he released them.
(8) And Joseph took Mary and went away to his house, rejoicing and praising the God of Israel.

Chapter 17
(1) Then, there was an order from the Emperor Augustus to register how many people were in Bethlehem of Judea.
(2) And Joseph said, "I will register my sons. But this child? What will I do about him? How will I register him?
(3) And my wife? Oh, I am ashamed. Should I register her as my daughter? The children of Israel know that she is not my daughter.
(4) This day, I will do as the Lord wants."
(5) And he saddled his donkey and sat her on it and his son led and Samuel followed.
(6) And they arrived at the third mile and Joseph turned and saw that she was sad.
(7) And he said to himself, "Perhaps the child within her is troubling her."
(8) And again Joseph turned around and saw her laughing and said to her, "Mary, what is with you? First your face appears happy and then sad?"
(9) And she said, "Joseph, it is because I see two people with my eyes, one crying and being afflicted, one rejoicing and being extremely happy."
(10) When they came to the middle of the journey, Mary said to him, "Joseph, take me off the donkey, the child pushing from within me to let him come out."
(11) So he took her off the donkey and said to her, "Where will I take you and shelter you in your awkwardness? This area is a desert."

Chapter 18
(1) And he found a cave and led her there and stationed his sons to watch her,
(2) while he went to a find a Hebrew midwife in the land of Bethlehem.
(3) Then, Joseph wandered, but he did not wander.
(4) And I looked up to the peak of the sky and saw it standing still and I looked up into the air. With utter astonishment I saw it, even the birds of the sky were not moving.
(5) And I looked at the ground and saw a bowl lying there and workers reclining. And their hands were in the bowl.
(6) And chewing, they were not chewing. And picking food up, they were not picking it up. And putting food in their mouths, they were not putting it in their mouths.
(7) Rather, all their faces were looking up.
(8) And I saw sheep being driven, but the sheep were standing still.
(9) And the shepherd lifted up his hand to strike them, but his hand remained above them.
(10) And I saw the rushing current of the river and I saw goats and their mouths resting in the water, but they were not drinking.
(11) And suddenly everything was replaced by the ordinary course of events.

Chapter 19
(1) And I saw a woman coming down from the mountain and she said to me, "Man, where are you going?"
(2) And I said, "I am seeking a Hebrew midwife."
(3) Replying, she said to me, "Are you from Israel?"
(4) And I said to her, "Yes."
(5) Then, she said, "And who is giving birth in the cave?"
(6) And I said, "The one who has pledged to be married to me."
(7) And she said to me, "She is not your wife?"
(8) And I said to her, "She is Mary, the one who was raised in the temple. I won her by lot to be my wife. (9) She is not yet my wife, but has a fetus from the Holy Spirit."
(10) And the midwife said, "Really?"
(11) And Joseph said to her, "Come and see."
(12) So the midwife went with him. (13) And they stood near the cave and a dark cloud was hovering over the cave. (14) And the midwife said, "My soul glorifies this day, for today my eyes have seen a miracle: salvation has come to Israel."
(15) And immediately, the cloud withdrew from the cave and a great light appeared in the cave so that their eyes could not bear it. (16) And a little while later the same light withdrew until an infant appeared. And he came and took the breast of his mother, Mary.
(17) And the midwife cried out and said, "How great this day is for me, for I have seen this new miracle."
(18) And the midwife departed from the cave and met Salome and said to her, "Salome, Salome, I have to describe this new miracle for you. A virgin has given birth, although her body does not allow it."
(19) And Salome said, "As the Lord my God lives, unless I insert my finger and investigate her, I will not believe that a virgin has given birth."

Chapter 20
(1) And the midwife went in and said, "Mary, position yourself, for not a small test concerning you is about to take place."
(2) When Mary heard these things, she positioned herself. And Salome inserted her finger into her body.
(3) And Salome cried out and said, "Woe for my lawlessness and the unbelief that made me test the living God. Look, my hand is falling away from me and being consumed in fire."
(5) And Salome dropped to her knees before the Lord, saying, "God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,
(6) do not expose me to the children of Israel, but give me back to the poor. (7) For you know, Lord, that I have performed service and received my wage from you."
(8) Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared, saying to her, "Salome, Salome, the Lord of all has heard your entreaty.
(9) Stretch out your hand to the child and lift him up and he will be salvation and joy for you."
(10) And Salome went to the child and lifted him up, saying, "I worship him because he has been born a king to Israel."
(11) And at once Salome was healed and left the cave justified.
(12) Suddenly, there was a voice saying, "Salome, Salome, do not proclaim what a miracle you have seen until the child comes to Jerusalem."

Chapter 21
(1) Now, Joseph was about to depart to Judea when there a great commotion in Bethlehem of Judea.
(2) For astrologers had come, saying, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star in the East and came to worship him."
(3) And when Herod heard, he was shaken up and sent servants to the astrologers.
(4) And he also sent for the high priests and questioned them in his palace, saying to them, "What has been written about the messiah? Where will he be born?"
(5) They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it has been written."
(6) And he let them go.
(7) And he questioned the astrologers, saying to them, "What sign did you see about the one who has been born king?"
(8) And the astrologers said, "We saw a star shining with incredible brilliance amidst the constellations and making them seem dim. And so we knew that the king had been born in Israel and we came to worship him."
(9) And Herod said to them, "Go and search. If you find him, report to me so that I also may come and worship him."
(10) And the wise men departed. Then, the star which they had seen in the east led them until they came to the cave and stood over the head of the child.
(11) And when the astrologers saw him with his mother Mary, they took gifts out of their bags: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(12) And having been warned by the angel not to go into Judea, they returned to their country by another road.

Chapter 22
(1) When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the astrologers, he flew into a rage
(2) and sent his executioners, telling them to destroy all the infants that were two years old or younger.
(3) And when Mary heard that all the children were being destroyed, she was afraid and took the child and wrapped him up and put him in a stall of cows.
(5) And when Elizabeth heard that John was being sought, she took him and headed for the hills. And she looked around to find where she could hide him, but there was not any good place.
(7) Then, as Elizabeth sighed, she said with a loud voice, "Mountain of God, take me, a mother with her child." For Elizabeth was too afraid to go up higher.
(8) And at once, the mountain split open and received her. And there was light shining through the mountain to her.
(9) For an angel of the Lord was with them, guarding them.

Chapter 23
(1) But Herod continued seeking John.
(2) And he sent his servants to Zachariah at the altar, saying to him, "Where did you hide your son?"
(3) But he replied, saying to them, "I am here as a servant of God and am serving in his temple. How should I know where my son is?"
(4) And his servants departed and reported to him all these things. Outraged, Herod said, "Is his son destined to rule Israel?"
(5) And he sent his servants again, saying to him, "Tell me the truth? Where is your son? Do you know that your blood is under my hand?"
(6) And the servants departed and reported these things to him.
(7) And replying, Zachariah said, "I am a witness of God. Have my blood.
(8) The Lord will receive my spirit because you are shedding innocent blood at the entrance of the temple of the Lord."
(9) And around daybreak, Zachariah was murdered, even though the children of Israel did not know that he had been murdered.

Chapter 24
(1) Then, at the hour of greeting, the priests departed and the blessing of Zachariah did not greet them as usual.
(2) Expecting Zachariah, the priests waited to welcome him with prayer and to praise the most high God.
(3) When he failed to come, they were all afraid.
(4) One of them courageously went into the sanctuary and saw hardened blood next to the altar of the Lord
(5) and heard a loud voice saying, "Zachariah has been murdered and his blood will not be wiped away until vengeance comes."
(6) When he heard these words, he was afraid and went out and told the priest what he had seen and heard.
(7) And gathering up their courage, they went in and saw what had happened.
(8) And as the panels of the temple cried out, they ripped their robes from the top down.
(9) And they did not find the corpse, but they found his blood which had turned to stone.
(10) And fearing, they went out and reported to the people that Zachariah had been murdered.
(11) And all the tribes of the people heard and they mourned and wept for three days and three nights.
(12) Then, after three days, the priests deliberated about who they should appoint to take the place of Zachariah.
(13) And the lot went to Simeon.
(14) For he was the one to whom it had been revealed by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death until he saw the messiah in the flesh.

Chapter 25
(1) I, James, wrote this history when there was unrest in Jerusalem, at the time Herod died.
(2) I took myself into the desert until the unrest in Jerusalem ceased.
(3) All the while, I was glorifying God who gave me the wisdom to write this history.
(4) And grace will be with all who fear the Lord. Amen. Birth of Mary Revelation of James Peace to the writer and the reader.

Infancy Gospel of Thomas

Chapter 1
(1) I, Thomas the Israelite, am reporting to you, all my brothers from the nations, to reveal the childhood and the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ, what he did in my country after he was born. This is the beginning of it.

Chapter 2
(1) When the boy Jesus was five years old, he was playing in a narrow part of a rushing stream. (2) He was gathering the flowing waters into ponds, and immediately they were made clean, and he ordered these things with a single word.
(3) And after he made clay, he moulded twelve sparrows from it. And it was the Sabbath when he did these things. But there were also many other children playing with him.
(4) Then, a certain Jew saw what Jesus was doing while playing on the Sabbath. Immediately, he departed and reported to Jesus' father, Joseph, "Look, your child is in the stream and he took clay and formed twelve birds and profaned the Sabbath?"
(5) And Joseph went to the area and when he saw him, he shouted, "Why are you doing these things that are not permitted on the Sabbath?"
(6) Jesus, however, clapped his hands and shouted to the sparrows, "Depart, fly, and remember me now that you are alive." And the sparrows departed shrieking.
(7) When the Jews saw this, they were amazed. After they had gone away, they described to their leaders what they had seen Jesus do.

Chapter 3
(1) The son of Annas the scribe was standing there with Jesus. Taking a branch from a willow tree, he dispersed the waters which Jesus had gathered.
(2) When Jesus saw what had happened, he became angry and said to him, "You godless, brainless moron, what did the ponds and waters do to you? Watch this now: you are going to dry up like a tree and you will never produce leaves or roots or fruit."
(3) And immediately, this child withered up completely. Then, Jesus departed and returned to Joseph's house.
(4) The parents of the one who had been withered up, however, wailed for their young child as they took his remains away. Then, they went to Joseph and accused him, "You are responsible for the child who did this."

Chapter 4
(1) Next, he was going through the village again and a running child bumped his shoulder. Becoming bitter, Jesus said to him, "You will not complete your journey."
(2) Immediately, he fell down and died.
(3) Then, some of the people who had seen what had happened said, "Where has this child come from so that his every word is a completed deed?"
(4) And going to Joseph, the parents of the one who had died found fault with him. They said, "Because you have such a child, you are not allowed to live with us in the village, or at least teach him to bless and not curse. For our children are dead!"

Chapter 5
(1) And taking his child aside, he warned him, saying, "Why are you doing these things? These people are suffering and they hate us and cause trouble for us."
(2) Then, Jesus said, "I know that the words I speak are not mine. Nevertheless, I will be silent for your sake, but these people will bear their punishment." And immediately his accusers became blind.
(3) When they saw what he had done, they were extremely afraid and did not know what to do. And they talked about him, saying, "Every word he speaks, good or evil, is an event and becomes a miracle."
(4) When Joseph saw that Jesus had done this, however, he was outraged and took his ear and pulled it extremely hard.
(5) Then, the child became angry and said to him, "It is enough for you to seek and not find, but too much for you to act so unwisely.
(6) Do you not know that I am not yours? Do not trouble me."

Chapter 6
(1) A teacher named Zacchaeus overheard everything Jesus said to Joseph and marvelled, saying to himself, "As just a child, he utters these things." And taking Joseph aside, he said to him, "You have a wise child; he has a good mind, but give him to me that he may learn letters. I will teach him all knowledge so that he will not be rebellious."
(3) Replying, Joseph said to him, "Nobody except God can subordinate this child. Do not consider him to be a small cross, brother."
(4) As Jesus heard Joseph saying this, he laughed and said to Zacchaeus, "Really, teacher, what my father has said to you is true.
(5) I am the Lord of this people and am here in your presence and have been born among you and am with you.
(6) I know where you are from and how many years there will be in your lives. I am telling you the truth, teacher, when you were born, I existed. And if you want to be a perfect teacher, listen to me and I will teach you wisdom which nobody knows except me and the one who sent me to you.
(7) For you are my disciple and I know you, how old you are and how old you will live to be.
(8) And when you see the cross my father has described, you will believe that everything I have said to you is true."
(9) Then, the Jews who were present and heard Jesus were amazed and said, "What a strange and remarkable event. The child is only five years old and already he says such things. For we never heard anyone who speaks words like this child does."
(10) Replying to them, Jesus said, "Are you so amazed? Then you should believe more of what I said to you. I really also know when you and your parents were born and I will tell you this remarkable fact: even when the world was created, I and the one who sent me to you existed."
(11) When the Jews heard the child say this, however, it made them angry, even though they were not able to reply to his speech.
(12) Then, the child came forward and leaping toward them, he said, "I taunted you! For I know that you are amazed by little things and have minuscule minds."
(13) Since they thought they were being consoled by the child's exhortation, the teacher said to Joseph, "Lead him to the school and I will teach him letters."
(14) So Joseph took him by the hand and led him into the classroom.
(15) And the teacher wrote the alphabet for him and began to practice it many times, but the child said nothing and did not answer him for a long time.
(16) Becoming outraged, the teacher hit him on the head. After enduring this stoically, the child said to him, "I am teaching you more than being taught by you because I know the letters you are teaching me and your judgment is great. These things are to you like a copper pitcher or a clashing cymbal which do not offer glory or wisdom through sound.
(17) Nobody understands the power of my wisdom."
(18) Then, when his rage was finished, he said the alphabet from alpha to omega very quickly.
(19) Looking the teacher in the face, he told him, "Since you do not know the nature of the alpha, how are going to teach me the beta?
(20) Hypocrite, if you know, first teach me the alpha then I will believe what you say about the beta."
(21) Then, he began to tell the teacher about the first letter. And the teacher was not strong enough to say anything.
(22) Then, while many were listening, he said to Zacchaeus, "Listen, teacher, and observe the structure of the first letter,
(23) how it has two standard lines and impresses coming to a point in the middle and remaining there, coming together, lifting up, dancing, having three corners, having two corners, without strokes, of one family, well-balanced, as long as the alpha has equal lines."

Chapter 7
(1) When Zacchaeus heard such great words and allegories of this sort about the first letter from the child, he was at a loss over what his defence and teaching could be.
(2) And he said to those present, "Oh me, I am suffering and at a loss and am ashamed of myself because I took this child.
(3) So take him, I urge you, brother Joseph. I am not able to bear his stare or his direct speech.
(4) This child was not born of the earth; he is even able to subdue fire. Perhaps, he was born before the creation of the world.
(5) What womb bore him, what sort of mother brought him up, I know not.
(6) Oh me, friends, I am going out of my mind.
(7) I deceived myself and am suffering unimaginably. I struggled to have a student and I have found that I have a teacher.
(8) Brothers, consider the shame: an experienced leader has been conquered by a child!
(9) And I may have to lose heart and die because of this child. For at this very hour, I am not able to look him in the eye.
(10) When everyone says that I have been conquered by a child, what can I say? And what more is there to say about the lines of the first letter than what he already told me? I do not know.
(11) So I beg you, brother Joseph, take him to your house. Whether I should call him a god or an angel or something else, I do not know."

Chapter 8
(1) While the Jews were advising Zacchaeus, the child had a great laugh and said, "Now, the fruitless bear fruit and the blind see and the deaf in the understanding of the heart hear.
(2) I am here from above that I may rescue those below and call them to higher things, just as the one who sent me to you commanded me."
(3) And when the child completed his speech, those who were under his curse were immediately saved,
(4) but from then on, nobody dared to make him angry because they did not want to be cursed or crippled.

Chapter 9
(1) And after a few days passed, Jesus was up on a roof of a house. And one of the children playing with him died after falling off the roof. And when the other children saw, they fled and Jesus was left standing alone.
(2) When the parents of the one who had died came, they accused Jesus, "Troublemaker, you threw him down."
(3) But Jesus replied, "I did not throw him down, rather he threw himself down. When he was not acting carefully, he leaped off the roof and died."
(4) Jesus leaped off the roof and stood by the corpse of the boy and cried out with a loud voice and said, "Zeno," - for that was his name - "rise up, talk to me: did I throw you down?"
(5) And rising up immediately, he said, "No, Lord, you did not throw me down, but you did raise me up."
(6) And when they saw this, they were overwhelmed. The parents of the child glorified God on account of the sign which had happened and they worshipped Jesus.

Chapter 10
(1) A short number of days later, when a certain young man was splitting wood in the neighbourhood, his axe fell and cut through the bottom of his foot. As it became bloodless, he was dying.
(2) Then, there was a great clamour and a crowd formed and the child Jesus ran there. And forcing his way through the crowd, he went and seized the young man's wounded foot. Immediately, it was healed.
(3) Then, he said to the young man, "Get up now, chop the wood and remember me."
(4) When the crowd saw what had happened, they worshipped the child, saying, "Truly, the spirit of God dwells in this child."

Chapter 11
(1) When Jesus was six years old, his mother sent him to draw water to carry into the house. But he accidentally let the water go in the crowd,
(2) and crashing, the water jar broke.
(3) But unfolding the cloak which was thrown around him, he filled it with water and carried it to his mother.
(4) When his mother saw the sign he had done, she kissed him and treasured in her heart the mysterious things she had seen him do.

Chapter 12
(1) Then again, in the season of sowing, the child went with his father to sow grain in their field. And as his father was sowing, the child Jesus also sowed one measure of grain.
(2) And after he harvested and threshed it, it produced one hundred measures.
(3) And calling all the poor of the village to the threshing floor, he gave them grain freely. And Joseph carried the remaining grain away.
(4) Jesus was eight years old when he did this sign.

Chapter 13
(1) Since his father was a carpenter, he was making ploughs and yokes in that season.
(2) An order for a bed was given to him from a rich man,
(3) but one of the boards, the one called the crossbeam, was shorter than the other. And since Joseph had no idea what to do, the child Jesus said to his father Joseph, "Put the two pieces of wood down and line up the ends."
(4) And Joseph did just as the child told him. Then, Jesus stood at the other end and grasped the shorter piece of wood and stretching it, he made it equal with the other.
(5) And his father Joseph saw and was amazed and, taking the child, he kissed him, saying, "I am blessed because God gave me this child."

Chapter 14
(1) When Joseph saw the child's willingness and age and that his mind was also ready, he again wanted him to become accustomed to letters. So, taking him, he gave him to another teacher.
(2) The teacher said to Joseph, "First I will teach him Greek, then Hebrew." For the teacher knew about the child's earlier attempt and was afraid. Nonetheless, after writing the alphabet, he instructed the boy for many hours, even though he did not reply to him.
(3) Then, Jesus said to him, "If you are really a teacher and if you know the letters so well, tell me the meaning of the alpha and I will tell you the meaning of the beta."
(4) As he was growing frustrated, the teacher struck him on the head. Then, Jesus became angry and cursed him. Immediately, he fainted and fell on his face.
(5) Then, Jesus turned back to Joseph's house, but Joseph was distressed. He instructed the boy's mother, "Do not let him out the door because the people who anger him will die."

Chapter 15
(1) After some time had passed, again another teacher, a close friend of Joseph, said to him, "Send the child to me in my classroom. Perhaps with flattery, I will be able to teach him the letters."
(2) And Joseph said to him, "If you are sure, brother, take him with you." And while he took him along with much fear and anxiety, the child went along gladly.
(3) And coming boldly into the classroom, he found a book lying on the desk and taking it, he read the letters in it. Opening his mouth, he spoke in the Holy Spirit and taught the law to those standing there.
(4) A large multitude came and stood around, listening to him. And they marveled at the fullness of his teaching and the readiness of his speech, saying, "This is a child saying such things."
(5) When Joseph heard what was going on, he was afraid and ran to the classroom, thinking, "This teacher is not accustomed to him."
(6) The teacher, however, said to Joseph, "Brother, I want you to know that I received the child as a student, but since he is full of grace and wisdom, I am asking you, brother, take him to your house."
(7) When the child heard these things, he immediately smiled at him and said, "Since you have spoken and witnessed correctly, for your sake the one who was wounded will be healed." And at once, the other teacher was healed. Then, Joseph took the child and went back to his house.

Chapter 16
(1) Then, Joseph sent his son James to tie up wood and bring it into his house, but the child Jesus also followed him. And while James was collecting the bushes, a viper bit his hand. (2) And as he lay on the ground dying, Jesus approached and blew on the bite. And immediately, his anguish ceased and the animal broke apart and at once James was healthy.

Chapter 17
(1) After these things happened, an infant in Joseph's neighborhood died and his mother mourned greatly. When Jesus heard that she was extremely sad and was making an uproar, he ran there frantically.
(2) And finding the child dead, he touched his stomach and said, "I say to you, infant, do not die, but live and be with your mother."
(3) Immediately, he was resurrected and laughed. Then, Jesus said to the woman, "Take the child, give him your breast, and remember me."
(4) And when the crowd standing around saw this, they were amazed and said, "Truly, this child either was God or an angel of God because all his words are completed deeds." And Jesus departed from there playing with other children.

Chapter 18
(1) Another year later, a man building a house died after falling from the full height of it. And after a great commotion began, Jesus stood up and went there.
(2) And seeing the dead man lying there, he grabbed his hand and said, "I say to you, man, arise, do your work." And rising up immediately, he worshipped him.
(3) When the crowd saw, they were amazed and said, "This child is a heavenly being. For he has saved many souls from death and has the power to continue saving souls throughout his whole life."

Chapter 19
(1) When he was twelve years old, his parents went to Jerusalem with a caravan for the festival of Passover, as was their custom.
(2) And after the Passover, they returned to their home. When they departed, however, the child Jesus returned to Jerusalem, although his parents thought he was in the caravan.
(3) After traveling along the road for one day, they sought him among their relatives. When they did not find him, they grieved. And they turned back to the city, searching for him.
(4) And after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers and listening to the law and questioning them.
(5) Everyone paid attention to him and was amazed at how this child was questioning the elders and teachers of the people so closely, interpreting the chief points of the law and parables of the prophets.
(6) Then, his mother Mary came to him and said, "Why did you do this to us, child? See how we are troubled as we search for you."
(7) And Jesus said to them, "Why are you searching for me? Do you not know that I must be in my father's house?"
(8) Then, the scribes and Pharisees said, "Are you the mother of this child?"
(9) She said, "I am."
(10) And they said to her, "Blessed are you among women because God has blessed the fruit of your womb. For we have never seen or heard such glory or virtue or wisdom."
(11) When Jesus got up, he followed his mother and submitted to his parents. And his mother treasured everything that had happened.
(12) And Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and age and grace.
(13) To him be the glory forever and ever, amen.

The Gospel of St Issa (India travels)
CHAPTER I
1 The earth has trembled and the heavens have wept because of a great crime which has been committed in the land of Israel.
2 For they have tortured and there put to death the great and just Issa, in whom dwelt the soul of the universe,
3 Which was incarnate in a simple mortal in order to do good to men and to exterminate their evil thoughts
4 And in order to bring back man degraded by his sins to a life of peace, love, and happiness and to recall to him the one and indivisible Creator, whose mercy is infinite and without bounds.
5 Hear what the merchants from Israel relate to us on this subject.
CHAPTER II
1 The people of Israel, who dwelt on a fertile soil giving forth two crops a year and who possessed large flocks, excited by their sins the anger of God
2 Who inflicted upon them a terrible chastisement in taking from them their land, their cattle, and their possessions. Israel was reduced to slavery by the powerful and rich pharaohs who then reigned in Egypt.
3 These treated the Israelites worse than animals, burdening them with difficult tasks and loading them with chains. They covered their bodies with weals and wounds, without giving them food or permitting them to dwell beneath a roof,
4 To keep them in a state of continual terror and to deprive them of all human resemblance.
5 And in their great calamity, the people of Israel remembered their heavenly protector and, addressing themselves to him, implored his grace and mercy.
6 An illustrious pharaoh then reigned in Egypt who had rendered himself famous by his numerous victories, the riches he had heaped up, and the vast palaces which his slaves had erected for him with their own hands.
7 This pharaoh had two sons, of whom the younger was called Mossa. Learned Israelites taught him diverse sciences.
8 And they loved Mossa in Egypt for his goodness and the compassion which he showed to all those who suffered.
9 Seeing that the Israelites would not, in spite of the intolerable sufferings they were enduring, abandon their God to worship those made by the hand of man, which were gods of the Egyptian nation,
10 Mossa believed in their invisible God, who did not let their failing strength give way.
11 And the Israelitish preceptors excited the ardor of Mossa and had recourse to him, praying him to intercede with the pharaoh his father in favor of their co-religionists.
12 Wherefore the Prince Mossa went to his father, begging him to ameliorate the fate of these unfortunates. But the pharaoh became angered against him and only augmented the torments endured by his slaves.
13 It happened that a short time after, a great evil visited Egypt. The pestilence came to decimate there both the young and the old, the weak and the strong; and the pharaoh believed in the resentment of his own gods against him.
14 But the Prince Mossa told his father that it was the God of his slaves who was interceding in favor of these unfortunates in punishing the Egyptians.
15 The pharaoh then gave to Mossa his son an order to take all the slaves of the Jewish race, to conduct them outside the town, and to found at a great distance from the capital another city where he should dwell with them.
16 Mossa then made known to the Hebrew slaves that he had set them free in the name of their God, the God of Israel, and he went out with them from the city and from the land of Egypt.
17 He led them into the land they had lost by their many sins, he gave unto them laws, and enjoined them to pray always to the invisible Creator whose goodness is infinite.
18 On the death of Prince Mossa, the Israelites rigorously observed his laws, wherefore God recompensed them for the ills to which he had exposed them in Egypt.
19 Their kingdom became the most powerful of all the earth, their kings made themselves famous for their treasures, and a long peace reigned among the people of Israel.
CHAPTER III
1 The glory of the riches of Israel spread throughout the earth, and the neighboring nations bore them envy.
2 For the Most High himself led the victorious arms of the Hebrews, and the pagans dared not attack them.
3 Unhappily, as man is not always true to himself, the fidelity of the Israelites to their God did not last long.
4 They began by forgetting all the favors which he had heaped upon them, invoked but seldom his name, and sought the protection of magicians and sorcerers.
5 The kings and the captains substituted their own laws for those which Mossa had written down for them. The temple of God and the practice of worship were abandoned. The people gave themselves up to pleasure and lost their original purity.
6 Several centuries had elapsed since their departure from Egypt when God determined to exercise once more his chastisements upon them.
7 Strangers began to invade the land of Israel, devastating the country, ruining the villages, and carrying the inhabitants into captivity.
8 And there came at one time pagans from the country of Romeles, on the other side of the sea. They subdued the Hebrews and established among them military leaders who by delegation from Caesar ruled over them.
9 They destroyed the temples, they forced the inhabitants to cease worshipping the invisible God, and compelled them to sacrifice victims to the pagan deities.
10 They made warriors of those who had been nobles, the women were torn away from their husbands, and the lower classes, reduced to slavery, were sent by thousands beyond the seas.
11 As to the children, they were put to the sword. Soon in all the land of Israel naught was heard but groans and lamentations.
12 In this extreme distress, the people remembered their great God. They implored his grace and besought him to forgive them; and our Father, in his inexhaustible mercy, heard their prayer.
CHAPTER IV
1 At this time came the moment when the all-merciful Judge elected to become incarnate in a human being.
2 And the Eternal Spirit, dwelling in a state of complete inaction and of supreme beatitude, awoke and detached itself for an indefinite period from the Eternal Being,
3 So as to show forth in the guise of humanity the means of self-identification with Divinity and of attaining to eternal felicity,
4 And to demonstrate by example how man may attain moral purity and, by separating his soul from its mortal coil, the degree of perfection necessary to enter into the kingdom of heaven, which is unchangeable and where happiness reigns eternal.
5 Soon after, a marvelous child was born in the land of Israel, God himself speaking by the mouth of this infant of the frailty of the body and the grandeur of the soul.
6 The parents of the newborn child were poor people, belonging by birth to a family of noted piety, who, forgetting their ancient grandeur on earth, praised the name of the Creator and thanked him for the ills with which he saw fit to prove them.
7 To reward them for not turning aside from the way of truth, God blessed the firstborn of this family. He chose him for his elect and sent him to help those who had fallen into evil and to cure those who suffered.
8 The divine child, to whom was given the name of Issa, began from his earliest years to speak of the one and indivisible God, exhorting the souls of those gone astray to repentance and the purification of the sins of which they were culpable.
9 People came from all parts to hear him, and they marveled at the discourses proceeding from his childish mouth. All the Israelites were of one accord in saying that the Eternal Spirit dwelt in this child.
10 When Issa had attained the age of thirteen years, the epoch when an Israelite should take a wife,
11 The house where his parents earned their living by carrying on a modest trade began to be a place of meeting for rich and noble people, desirous of having for a son-in-law the young Issa, already famous for his edifying discourses in the name of the Almighty.
12 Then it was that Issa left the parental house in secret, departed from Jerusalem, and with the merchants set out towards Sind,
13 With the object of perfecting himself in the Divine Word and of studying the laws of the great Buddhas.
CHAPTER V
1 In the course of his fourteenth year, the young Issa, blessed of God, came on this side of Sind and established himself among the Aryas in the land beloved of God.
2 Fame spread the reputation of this marvelous child throughout the length of northern Sind, and when he crossed the country of the five rivers and the Rajputana, the devotees of the god Jaine prayed him to dwell among them.
3 But he left the erring worshippers of Jaine and went to Juggernaut in the country of Orissa, where repose the mortal remains of Vyasa-Krishna and where the white priests of Brahma made him a Joyous welcome.
4 They taught him to read and understand the Vedas, to cure by aid of prayer, to teach, to explain the holy scriptures to the people, and to drive out evil spirits from the bodies of men, restoring unto them their sanity.
5 He passed six years at Juggernaut, at Rajagriha, at Benares, and in the other holy cities. Everyone loved him, for Issa lived in peace with the Vaisyas and the Sudras, whom he instructed in the holy scriptures.
6 But the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas told him that they were forbidden by the great Para-Brahma to come near to those whom he had created from his side and his feet;
7 That the Vaisyas were only authorized to hear the reading of the Vedas, and this on festival days only;
8 That the Sudras were forbidden not only to assist at the reading of the Vedas, but also from contemplating them, for their condition was to serve in perpetuity as slaves to the Brahmans, the Kshatriyas, and even the Vaisyas.
9 "'Death only can set them free from their servitude' has said Para-Brahma. Leave them then and come and worship with us the gods, who will become incensed against thee if thou cost disobey them."
10 But Issa listened not to their discourses and betook him to the Sudras, preaching against the Brahmans and the Kshatriyas.
11 He inveighed against the act of a man arrogating to himself the power to deprive his fellow beings of their rights of humanity; "for," said he, "God the Father makes no difference between his children; all to him are equally dear."
12 Issa denied the divine origin of the Vedas* and the Puranas*. "For," taught he to his followers, "a law has already been given to man to guide him in his actions; *[The Abhedananda version of the Himis transcript does not include this denunciation]
13 "Fear thy God, bend the knee before him only, and bring to him alone the offerings which proceed from thy gains."
14 Issa denied the Trimurti and the incarnation of Para-Brahma in Vishnu, Siva*, and other gods, for said he: *[The Abhedananda version of the Himis transcript does not include this denunciation]
15 "The Judge Eternal, the Eternal Spirit, comprehends the one and indivisible soul of the universe, which alone creates, contains, and vivifies all. *Inasmuch as Jesus' closest disciple, John, begins his Gospel with a quote from the Vedas, "In the beginning was the Word . . . ," the authenticity of this passage may be questioned. (Notation added by Notovitch)
16 "He alone has willed and created, he alone has existed since all eternity, and his existence will have no end. He has no equal either in the heavens or on earth.
17 "The Great Creator has not shared his power with any living being, still less with inanimate objects, as they have taught to you; for he alone possesses omnipotence.
18 "He willed it and the world appeared. In a divine thought, he gathered together the waters, separating from them the dry portion of the globe. He is the principle of the mysterious existence of man, in whom he has breathed a part of his Being.
19 "And he has subordinated to man the earth, the waters, the beasts, and all that he has created and that he himself preserves in immutable order, fixing for each thing the length of its duration.
20 "The anger of God will soon be let loose against man; for he has forgotten his Creator, he has filled his temples with abominations, and he worships a crowd of creatures which God has made subordinate to him.
21 "For to do honor to stones and metals, he sacrifices human beings, in whom dwells a part of the spirit of the Most High.
22 "For he humiliates those who work by the sweat of their brow to acquire the favor of an idler seated at his sumptuous board.
23 "Those who deprive their brethren of divine happiness shall be deprived of it themselves. The Brahmans and the Kshatriyas shall become the Sudras, and with the Sudras the Eternal shall dwell everlastingly.
24 "Because in the day of the last judgment the Sudras and the Vaisyas will be forgiven much because of their ignorance, while God, on the contrary, will punish with his wrath those who have arrogated to themselves his rights."
25 The Vaisyas and the Sudras were filled with great admiration and asked Issa how they should pray so as not to lose their eternal felicity.
26 "Worship not the idols, for they hear you not. Listen not to the Vedas, for their truth is counterfeit. Never put yourself in the first place and never humiliate your neighbor.
27 "Help the poor, support the weak, do ill to no one, and covet not that which thou hast not and which thou seest belongeth to another."
*Sir John Wodroofe notes: "The fourth Gospel opens grandly, 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.' These are the very words of Veda. Prajapatir vai idam asit: In the beginning was Brahman. Tasya vag dvitya asit; with whom was the Vak or the Word... Vag vai paramam Brahma; and the word is Brahman"
(The Garland Letters, 7th ed. [Pondicherry: Ganesh & Co., 1979] p.4)
CHAPTER VI
1 The white priests and the warriors, becoming acquainted with the discourses of Issa addressed to the Sudras, resolved upon his death and sent with this intent their servants to seek out the young prophet.
2 But Issa, warned of his danger by the Sudras, left the neighborhood of Juggernaut by night, reached the mountain, and established himself in the country of Gautamides, the birthplace of the great Buddha Sakyamuni, in the midst of a people worshipping the one and sublime Brahma.
3 After having perfected himself in the Pali language, the just Issa applied himself to the study of the sacred writings of the Sutras.
4 Six years after, Issa, whom the Buddha had elected to spread his holy word, had become a perfect expositor of the sacred writings.
5 Then he left Nepal and the Himalayan mountains, descended into the valley of Rajputana, and went towards the west, preaching to diverse peoples the supreme perfection of man,
6 Which is-to do good to one's neighbor, being the sure means of merging oneself rapidly in the Eternal Spirit: "He who shall have regained his original purity," said Issa, "will die having obtained remission for his sins, and he will have the right to contemplate the majesty of God."
7 In crossing pagan territories, the divine Issa taught that the worship of visible gods was contrary to the law of nature.
8 "For man," said he, "has not been permitted to see the image of God, and yet he has made a host of deities in the likeness of the Eternal.
9 "Moreover, it is incompatible with the human conscience to make less matter of the grandeur of divine purity than of animals and objects executed by the hand of man in stone or metal.
10 "The Eternal Lawgiver is one; there is no other God but he. He has not shared the world with anyone, neither has he informed anyone of his intentions.
11 "Even as a father would act towards his children, so will God judge men after their deaths according to the laws of his mercy. Never would he so humiliate his child as to transmigrate his soul, as in a purgatory, into the body of an animal."
12 "The heavenly law," said the Creator by the mouth of Issa, "is opposed to the immolation of human sacrifices to an image or to an animal; for I have consecrated to man all the animals and all that the earth contains.
13 "All things have been sacrificed to man, who is directly and intimately associated with me his Father; therefore he who shall have stolen from me my child will be severely judged and chastised by the divine law.
14 "Man is naught before the Eternal Judge, as the animal is naught before man.
15 "Wherefore I say unto you, Leave your idols and perform not rites which separate you from your Father, associating you with the priests from whom the heavens have turned away.
16 "For it is they who have led you from the true God and whose superstitions and cruelties conduce to the perversion of your soul and the loss of all moral sense."
CHAPTER VII
1 The words of Issa spread among the pagans in the midst of the countries he traversed, and the inhabitants forsook their idols.
2 Seeing which the priests exacted of him who glorified the name of the true God, reason in the presence of the people for the reproaches he made against them and a demonstration of the nothingness of their idols.
3 And Issa made answer to them: "If your idols and your animals are powerful and really possessed of supernatural strength, then let them strike me to the earth."
4 "Work then a miracle," replied the priests, "and let thy God confound our gods, if they inspire him with contempt."
5 But Issa then said: "The miracles of our God have been worked since the first day when the universe was created; they take place every day and at every moment. Whosoever seeth them not is deprived of one of the fairest gifts of life.
6 "And it is not against pieces of stone, metal, or wood, which are inanimate, that the anger of God will have full course; but it will fall on men, who, if they desire their salvation, must destroy all the idols they have made.
7 "Even as a stone and a grain of sand, naught as they are in the sight of man, wait patiently the moment when he shall take and make use of them,
8 "So man must await the great favor that God shall accord him in his final judgment.
9 "But woe unto you, ye enemies of men, if it be not a favor that you await but rather the wrath of the Divinity-woe unto you if ye expect miracles to bear witness to his power.
10 "For it will not be the idols that he will annihilate in his anger but those who shall have erected them. Their hearts shall be consumed with eternal fire, and their lacerated bodies shall go to satiate the hunger of wild beasts.
11 "God will drive the impure from among his flocks, but he will take back to himself those who shall have gone astray through not having recognized the portion of spirituality within them."
12 Seeing the powerlessness of their priests, the pagans had still greater faith in the sayings of Issa and, fearing the anger of the Divinity, broke their idols to pieces. As for the priests, they fled to escape the vengeance of the populace.
13 And Issa further taught the pagans not to strive to see the Eternal Spirit with their eyes but to endeavor to feel him in their hearts and by purity of soul to render themselves worthy of his favors.
14 "Not only," said he unto them, "abstain from consuming human sacrifices, but immolate no creature to whom life has been given, for all things that exist have been created for the profit of man.
15 "Do not steal the goods of your neighbor, for that would be to deprive him of what he has acquired by the sweat of his brow.
16 "Deceive no one, so as not to be yourselves deceived. Endeavor to justify yourself before the last judgment, for then it will be too late.
17 "Do not give yourselves up to debauchery, for that would be to violate the laws of God.
18 "You shall attain to supreme happiness, not only in purifying yourselves, but also in guiding others in the way that shall permit them to gain original perfection."
CHAPTER VIII
1 The neighboring countries resounded with the prophecies of Issa, and when he entered into Persia the priests became alarmed and forbade the inhabitants to listen to him.
2 And when they saw all the villages welcoming him with joy and listening devoutly to his sermons, they gave orders to arrest him and had him brought before the high priest, where he underwent the following interrogation:
3 "Of what new God cost thou speak? Art thou not aware, unhappy man, that Saint Zoroaster is the only just one admitted to the privilege of communion with the Supreme Being,
4 "Who ordered the angels to put down in writing the word of God for the use of his people, laws that were given to Zoroaster in paradise?
5 "Who then art thou to dare here to blaspheme our God and to sow doubt in the hearts of believers?"
6 And Issa said unto them: "It is not of a new God that I speak but of our Heavenly Father, who has existed since all time and who will still be after the end of all things.
7 "It is of him that I have discoursed to the people, who, like unto innocent children, are not yet capable of comprehending God by the simple strength of their intelligence or of penetrating into his divine and spiritual sublimity.
8 "But even as a babe discovers in the darkness its mother's breast, so even your people, who have been led into error by your erroneous doctrine and your religious ceremonies, have recognized by instinct their Father in the Father of whom I am the prophet.
9 "The Eternal Being has said to your people through the medium of my mouth: 'You shall not worship the sun, for it is but a part of the world which I have created for man.
10 "'The sun rises in order to warm you during your work; it sets to allow you the repose which I myself have appointed.
11 "'It is to me, and to me alone, that you owe all that you possess, all that is to be found about you, above you, and below you."'
12 "But," said the priests, "how could a people live according to the rules of justice if it had no preceptors?"
13 Then Issa answered, "So long as the people had no priests, the natural law governed them, and they preserved the candor of their souls.
14 "Their souls were with God, and to commune with the Father they had recourse to the medium of no idol or animal, nor to the fire, as is practiced here.
15 "You contend that one must worship the sun, the spirit of good and of evil. Well, I say unto you, your doctrine is a false one, the sun acting not spontaneously but according to the will of the invisible Creator who gave it birth
16 "And who has willed it to be the star that should light the day, to warm the labor and the seedtime of man.
17 "The Eternal Spirit is the soul of all that is animate. You commit a great sin in dividing it into a spirit of evil and a spirit of good, for there is no God outside the good,
18 "Who, like unto the father of a family, does but good to his children, forgiving all their faults if they repent them.
19 "The spirit of evil dwells on the earth in the hearts of those men who turn aside the children of God from the strait path.
20 "Wherefore I say unto you, Beware of the day of judgment, for God will inflict a terrible chastisement upon all those who shall have led his children astray from the right path and have filled them with superstitions and prejudices;
21 "Those who have blinded them that see, conveyed contagion to the healthy, and taught the worship of the things that God has subordinated to man for his good and to aid him in his work.
22 "Your doctrine is therefore the fruit of your errors; for desiring to bring near to you the God of truth, you have created for yourselves false gods."
23 After having listened to him, the magi determined to do him no harm. But at night, when all the town lay sleeping, they conducted him outside of the walls and abandoned him on the high road, in the hope that he would soon become a prey to the wild beasts.
24 But, protected by the Lord our God, Saint Issa continued his way unmolested.
CHAPTER IX
1 Issa, whom the Creator had elected to remind a depraved humanity of the true God, had reached his twenty-ninth year when he returned to the land of Israel.
2 Since his departure the pagans had inflicted still more atrocious sufferings on the Israelites, who were a prey to the deepest despondency.
3 Many among them had already begun to abandon the laws of their God and those of Mossa in the hope of appeasing their savage conquerors.
4 In the face of this evil, Issa exhorted his compatriots not to despair because the day of the redemption of sins was at hand, and he confirmed them in the belief which they had in the God of their fathers.
5 "Children, do not give yourselves up to despair," said the Heavenly Father by the mouth of Issa, "for I have heard your voice, and your cries have reached me.
6 "Do not weep, O my beloved ones! For your grief has touched the heart of your Father, and he has forgiven you, even as he forgave your forefathers.
7 "Do not abandon your families to plunge yourselves into debauchery, do not lose the nobility of your feelings, and do not worship idols who will remain deaf to your voices.
8 "Fill my temple with your hope and with your patience and abjure not the religion of your fathers; for I alone have guided them and have heaped them with benefits.
9 "You shall lift up those who have fallen, you shall give food to the hungry, and you shall come to the aid of the sick, so as to be all pure and just at the day of the last judgment which I prepare for you."
10 The Israelites came in crowds at the word of Issa, asking him where they should praise the Heavenly Father, seeing that the enemy had razed their temples to the ground and laid low their sacred vessels.
11 And Issa made answer to them that God had not in view temples erected by the hands of man, but he meant that the human heart was the true temple of God.
12 "Enter into your temple, into your heart. Illumine it with good thoughts and the patience and immovable confidence which you should have in your Father.
13 "And your sacred vessels, they are your hands and your eyes. See and do that which is agreeable to God, for in doing good to your neighbor you accomplish a rite which embellishes the temple wherein dwells he who gave you life.
14 "For God has created you in his own likeness-innocent, with pure souls and hearts filled with goodness, destined not for the conception of evil schemes but made to be sanctuaries of love and justice.
15 "Wherefore I say unto you, sully not your hearts, for the Supreme Being dwells therein eternally.
16 "If you wish to accomplish works marked with love or piety, do them with an open heart and let not your actions be governed by calculations or the hope of gain.
17 "For such actions would not help to your salvation, and you would fall into that state of moral degradation where theft, lying, and murder pass for generous deeds."
CHAPTER X
1 Saint Issa went from one town to another, strengthening by the word of God the courage of the Israelites, who were ready to succumb to the weight of their despair; and thousands of men followed him to hear him preach.
2 But the chiefs of the towns became afraid of him, and they made known to the principal governor who dwelt at Jerusalem that a man named Issa had arrived in the country; that he was stirring up by his discourses the people against the authorities; that the crowd listened to him with assiduity, neglected the works of the state, and affirmed that before long it would be rid of its intrusive governors.
3 Then Pilate, governor of Jerusalem, ordered that they should seize the person of the preacher Issa, that they should bring him into the town and lead him before the judges. But in order not to excite the anger of the populace, Pilate charged the priests and the learned Hebrew elders to judge him in the temple.
4 Meanwhile Issa, continuing his preachings, arrived at Jerusalem; and, having learnt of his arrival, all the inhabitants, knowing him already by reputation, went out to meet him.
5 They greeted him respectfully and opened to him the gates of their temple in order to hear from his mouth what he had said in the other cities of Israel.
6 And Issa said unto them: "The human race perishes because of its lack of faith, for the darkness and the tempest have scattered the flocks of humanity and they have lost their shepherds.
7 "But the tempest will not last forever, and the darkness will not always obscure the light. The sky will become once more serene, the heavenly light will spread itself over the earth, and the flocks gone astray will gather around their shepherd.
8 "Do not strive to find straight paths in the darkness, lest ye fall into a pit; but gather together your remaining strength, support one another, place your confidence in your God, and wait till light appears.
9 "He who sustains his neighbor, sustains himself; and whosoever protects his family, protects the people and the state.
10 "For be sure that the day is at hand when you shall be delivered from the darkness; you shall be gathered together as one family; and your enemy, who ignores what the favor of God is, shall tremble with fear."
11 The priests and the elders who were listening to him, filled with admiration at his discourse, asked him if it were true that he had tried to stir up the people against the authorities of the country, as had been reported to the governor Pilate.
12 "Can one excite to insurrection men gone astray, from whom the obscurity has hidden their door and their path?" replied Issa. "I have only warned the unfortunate, as I do here in this temple, that they may not further advance along the darkened way, for an abyss is open under their feet.
13 "Earthly power is not of long duration, and it is subject to many changes. Of what use that man should revolt against it, seeing that one power always succeeds to another power? And thus it will come to pass until the extinction of humanity.
14 "Against which, see you not that the mighty and the rich sow among the sons of Israel a spirit of rebellion against the eternal power of heaven?"
15 The elders then asked: "Who art thou, and from what country cost thou come? We have not heard speak of thee before, and we know not even thy name."
16 "I am an Israelite," replied Issa. "From the day of my birth I saw the walls of Jerusalem, and I heard the weeping of my brothers reduced to slavery and the lamentations of my sisters who were carried away by the pagans.
17 "And my soul was filled with sadness when I saw that my brethren had forgotten the true God. As a child, I left my father's house and went to dwell among other peoples.
18 "But having heard that my brethren were suffering still greater tortures, I have come back to the country where my parents dwell to remind my brothers of the faith of their forefathers, which teaches us patience on earth to obtain perfect and sublime happiness in heaven."
19 And the learned elders put him this question: "It is said that thou deniest the laws of Mossa and that thou teaches" the people to forsake the temple of God?"
20 And Issa replied: "One cannot demolish that which has been given by our Heavenly Father, neither that which has been destroyed by sinners; but I have enjoined the purification of the heart from all blemish, for it is the true temple of God.
21 "As to the laws of Mossa, I have endeavored to establish them in the hearts of men. And I say unto you that you do not understand their real meaning, for it is not vengeance but mercy that they teach; only the sense of these laws has been perverted."
CHAPTER XI
1 Having hearkened unto Issa, the priests and the wise elders decided among themselves not to judge him, for he did harm to no one. And presenting themselves before Pilate, appointed governor of Jerusalem by the pagan king of the country of Romeles, they addressed him thus:
2 "We have seen the man whom thou accusest of inciting our people to rebellion; we have heard his discourses, and we know him to be our compatriot.
3 "But the chiefs of the cities have made thee false reports, for this is a just man who teaches the people the word of God. After having interrogated him, we dismissed him, that he might go in peace."
4 The governor then became enraged and sent near to Issa his servants in disguise, so that they might watch all his actions and report to the authorities the least word that he should address to the people.
5 In the meantime, Saint Issa continued to visit the neighboring towns, preaching the true ways of the Creator, exhorting the Hebrews to patience, and promising them a speedy deliverance.
6 And during all this time, many people followed him wherever he went, several never leaving him but becoming his servitors.
7 And Issa said: "Do not believe in miracles wrought by the hand of man, for he who dominates over nature is alone capable of doing that which is supernatural, whilst man is powerless to stay the anger of the winds or to spread the rain.
8 "Nevertheless, there is one miracle which it is possible for man to accomplish. It is when, full of a sincere belief, he decides to root out from his heart all evil thoughts, and when to attain his end he forsakes the paths of iniquity.
9 "And all the things that are done without God are but errors, seductions, and enchantments, which only demonstrate to what an extent the soul of him who practices this art is full of shamelessness, falsehood, and impurity.
10 "Put not your faith in oracles; God alone knows the future: he who has recourse to diviners profanes the temple which is in his heart and gives a proof of distrust towards his Creator.
11 "Faith in diviners and in their oracles destroys the innate simplicity of man and his childlike purity. An infernal power takes possession of him, forcing him to commit all sorts of crimes and to worship idols;
12 "Whereas the Lord our God, who has no equal, is one, all-mighty, omniscient, and omnipresent. It is he who possesses all wisdom and all light.
13 "It is to him you must address yourselves to be consoled in your sorrows, helped in your works, and cured in your sickness. Whosoever shall have recourse to him shall not be denied.
14 "The secret of nature is in the hands of God. For the world, before it appeared, existed in the depth of the divine thought; it became material and visible by the will of the Most High.
15 "When you address yourselves to him, become again as children; for you know neither the past, the present, nor the future, and God is the Master of all time."
CHAPTER XII
1 "Righteous man," said unto him the spies of the governor of Jerusalem, "tell us if we shall perform the will of our Caesar or await our speedy deliverance. "
2 And Issa, having recognized them as people appointed to follow him, replied: "I have not said to you that you shall be delivered from Caesar. It is the soul plunged in error that shall have its deliverance.
3 "As there can be no family without a head, so there can be no order among a people without a Caesar; to him implicit obedience should be given, he alone being answerable for his acts before the supreme tribunal."
4 "Does Caesar possess a divine right?" further asked of him the spies. "And is he the best of mortals?"
5 "There should be no better among men, but there are also sufferers, whom those elected and charged with this mission should care for, making use of the means conferred on them by the sacred law of our Heavenly Father.
6 "Mercy and justice are the highest attributes of a Caesar; his name will be illustrious if he adhere to them.
7 "But he who acts otherwise, who exceeds the limit of power that he has over his subordinates, going so far as to put their lives in danger, offends the great Judge and loses his dignity in the sight of man."
8 At this juncture, an old woman who had approached the group, the better to hear Issa, was pushed aside by one of the spies, who placed himself before her.
9 Then Issa held forth: "It is not meet that a son should set aside his mother, taking her place. Whosoever respecteth not his mother, the most sacred being after his God, is unworthy of the name of son.
10 "Listen, then, to what I say unto you: Respect woman, for she is the mother of the universe, and all the truth of divine creation lies in her.
11 "She is the basis of all that is good and beautiful, as she is also the germ of life and death. On her depends the whole existence of man, for she is his natural and moral support.
12 "She gives birth to you in the midst of suffering. By the sweat of her brow she rears you, and until her death you cause her the gravest anxieties. Bless her and worship her, for she is your one friend, your one support on earth.
13 "Respect her, uphold her. In acting thus you will win her love and her heart. You will find favor in the sight of God and many sins shall be forgiven you.
14 "In the same way, love your wives and respect them; for they will be mothers tomorrow, and each later on the ancestress of a race.
15 "Be lenient towards woman. Her love ennobles man, softens his hardened heart, tames the brute in him, and makes of him a lamb.
16 "The wife and the mother are the inappreciable treasures given unto you by God. They are the fairest ornaments of existence, and of them shall be born all the inhabitants of the world.
17 "Even as the God of armies separated of old the light from the darkness and the land from the waters, woman possesses the divine faculty of separating in a man good intentions from evil thoughts.
18 "Wherefore I say unto you, after God your best thoughts should belong to the women and the wives, woman being for you the temple wherein you will obtain the most easily perfect happiness.
19 "Imbue yourselves in this temple with moral strength. Here you will forget your sorrows and your failures, and you will recover the lost energy necessary to enable you to help your neighbor.
20 "Do not expose her to humiliation. In acting thus you would humiliate yourselves and lose the sentiment of love, without which nothing exists here below.
21 "Protect your wife, in order that she may protect you and all your family. All that you do for your wife, your mother, for a widow or another woman in distress, you will have done unto your God."
CHAPTER XIII
1 Saint Issa taught the people of Israel thus for three years, in every town, in every village, by the waysides and on the plains; and all that he had predicted came to pass.
2 During all this time the disguised servants of Pilate watched him closely without hearing anything said like unto the reports made against Issa in former years by the chiefs of the towns.
3 But the governor Pilate, becoming alarmed at the too great popularity of Saint Issa, who according to his adversaries sought to stir up the people to proclaim him king, ordered one of his spies to accuse him.
4 Then soldiers were commanded to proceed to his arrest, and they imprisoned him in a subterranean cell where they tortured him in various ways in the hope of forcing him to make a confession which should permit of his being put to death.
5 The saint, thinking only of the perfect beatitude of his brethren, supported all his sufferings in the name of his Creator.
6 The servants of Pilate continued to torture him and reduced him to a state of extreme weakness; but God was with him and did not allow him to die.
7 Learning of the sufferings and the tortures which their saint was enduring, the high priests and the wise elders went to pray the governor to set Issa at liberty in honor of an approaching festival.
8 But the governor straightway refused them this. They then prayed him to allow Issa to appear before the tribunal of the ancients so that he might be condemned or acquitted before the festival, and to this Pilate consented.
9 The next day the governor assembled together the chief captains, priests, wise elders, and lawyers so that they might judge Issa.
10 They brought him from his prison and seated him before the governor between two thieves to be judged at the same time as he, in order to show unto the crowd that he was not the only one to be condemned.
11 And Pilate, addressing himself to Issa, said unto him: "O man! is it true that thou incites" the people against the authorities with the intent of thyself becoming king of Israel?"
12 "One becomes not king at one's own will," replied Issa, "and they have lied who have told thee that I stir up the people to rebellion. I have never spoken of other than the King of Heaven, and it is he I teach the people to worsh