Quotes:Arabic Gospel of the Infancy

Zirkoff, Boris

Infancy, The Arabic Gospel of, an apocryphal gospel, probably an Arabic translation of a lost Syriac original compilation; refers expressly to the “Book of Joseph Caiphas, the High Priest,” the “Gospel of the Infancy” and the “Perfect Gospel.” Consists of 55 chapters covering period from the birth of Jesus to his twelfth year; stories deal mostly with the residence in Egypt; shows contact with Zoroastrian ideas. No definite date can be ascertained, though it must be prior to Mohammedan era. No MS. exists earlier than the 13th century. Very popular with the Syrian Nestorians. This Gospel may have been a Catholic retouching of a Gnostic compilation. English version by Walker. See Ante-Nicean Fathers, VIII, 405-15 (American reprint of Edinburgh edition. New York: Chas. Scribner’s Sons, 1908).

Source: Boris de Zirkoff, «H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings», vol. 5, p. 364