Page:Apocryphal Gospels and Other Documents Relating to the History of Christ.djvu/77

Rh Greek, Latin, and Syriac, and it seems to exist also in Armenian.

I must now say a few words upon each of the four texts of Pseudo-Thomas contained in this volume.

I regard all the copies as more or less altered in the interests of Catholic doctrine.

That which stands first is from the Greek, as it commonly appears in printed books.

The second, also from the Greek, was extracted by Dr. Tischendorf from a MS. found by him among the monks of Mount Sinai. The writer or editor seems to have modified a larger document by striking out some incidents, altering others, adding occasionally, and changing the order of some of the sections. In general the result has been to render the narrative less heterodox. The expression "Joseph his father," which is so often found in the Syriac recension, occurs only once in the longer Greek, and not at all in the shorter book. This last also has at the close the orthodox formula, "glorifying Him, with the Father, and the Holy Spirit."

The Latin Gospel of Thomas is remarkable on several accounts. It commences with the rehearsal of an incident similar to one which we find at the close of the Protevangel. But while Pseudo-James refers