Holy Terror: Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas by J. R. C. Cousland

Abstract

Reviewed by: Holy Terror: Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas by J. R. C. Cousland Reidar Aasgaard j. r. c. cousland, Holy Terror: Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (LNTS 560; London: Bloomsbury T&T Clark, 2017). Pp. xi + 148. £76.50. The last decade has witnessed a growing interest in early Christian apocryphal infancy Gospels. Cousland's monograph is a thorough study of one of these: the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which deals with the childhood of Jesus. C. designates it Paidika, in accordance with several of the ancient manuscripts. In the useful introductory chapter, C. agrees with the majority of scholars who place the work within a Greek-speaking, second-century setting, and he pays special attention to some contested areas, particularly the story's genre. C. describes it as a "parevangelical" work related to, but also independent of, the canonical Gospels in virtue of its being a rounded-off story in itself. In chaps. 2–4, which form the bulk of the volume, C. focuses on the figure of Jesus, whom he describes as both a "holy terror" and a "benevolent son of God." In chap. 2, C. discusses the strange depiction of Jesus in the story. Here he helpfully systematizes the various attempts of scholars to come to terms with this, such as Jesus as a Jewish holy man; Paidika as a children's story or an anti-Christian document; and Jesus as a developing child. C. points in particular to many parallels to the special Jesus figure in the Greco-Roman religions, with their mythological stories and pandemonium. He argues that Paidika's Jesus mirrors popular understandings of the Greco-Roman gods, with the gods often avenging human hubris far beyond the gravity of the actual transgressions. At the same time, Paidika also reflects a humor similar to that found in Greco-Roman descriptions of the gods. In chap. 3, C. analyzes Paidika's portrayal of Jesus as a child, emphasizing that both Jesus and his social milieu are described in ways that are true to life. At the same time, what [End Page 314] is unique to Jesus throughout are his power to perform miracles and his divine insight. C. argues convincingly against interpreters who explain the mixture of the human and divine in Jesus as a reflection of an ancient "puer senex" notion, the idea of a wise man in a child's body. Instead, he interestingly contends that the author of Paidika aimed at depicting Jesus undergoing a psychological development as would be expected of a child, with a turning point around the middle of the story when Jesus, after acting previously on impulse, appears to mature into an altruistic and morally responsible person. According to C., Jesus's development is modeled on the idea in Luke 2:52 that Jesus "increased in wisdom and in years." Chapter 4 is devoted to an insightful study of Paidika's christology, of Jesus's divine nature. C. demonstrates that this idea builds on three strands: Luke's account of Jesus in the temple, his "father's house" (2:41-52); John's logos christology, particularly Jesus's preexistence; and Jesus as a miracle worker, acting not as a magician but as the Creator, both in his deeds and in his teaching. C. ably argues that Paidika has a (proto-)orthodox and consistently high christology; it is not—as has been held—of a gnostic, docetic, or Ebionitic kind. In the short chap. 5, C. discusses Paidika's audience, arguing that its intended addressees were pagans or Christians of a non-Jewish origin, primarily recent converts among the nonintellectual populace who belonged to what he terms the "Great Church." This chapter is somewhat uneven in content, and C. tends to take sides with the early Christian intellectual elite—and some modern scholars—in seeing in Paidika a crude form of christology, and in its audience converts of a less sophisticated kind. Cousland throughout is in close and balanced dialogue with recent scholarly literature, sometimes supporting and strengthening the views of others but also in central areas adding his own views to the discussions. At times, he appears to press the evidence too far...