Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/114

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INTRODUCTION.

later. That Pilate still continued in office at Jerusalem, is only what we should expect to be told, but that the author should merely shut him in prison at Damascus, and be content to leave him there, is a favour, or an oversight, which no one would have looked for.

17. Syriac Gospel of the Boyhood of Jesus.

By way of supplement to the present volume I have introduced a translation of this which I regard as the oldest form in which the Gospel of Thomas is now known, but not so full as the original. The reader will observe that it is not called the Gospel of Thomas at all, and will, not without reason, infer that, like other books of its class, it changed its title to suit the convenience of its copyists or editors.