The Armenian Gospel of the Infancy is a legendary account of the early years of the life of Jesus Christ. It is one of many apocryphal gospels (ancient writings about Jesus not included in the Bible) that try to fill in details missing from the four New Testament Gospels. This book was probably first written in Syriac and later translated into Armenian. Around AD 590, followers of Nestorius, a fifth-century Christian leader whose teachings spread widely in the East, reportedly brought a story about Jesus’s childhood to Armenia. However, that story was not the same as the Armenian Gospel known today.
Sources for the Armenian Gospel included two books containing legendary material about Christ’s infancy: the Protevangelium of James and the Infancy Gospel of Thomas. The Armenian version expands these stories greatly, adding many new details about the life of Jesus.
For example, in one story, Joseph looks for a midwife and meets Eve, who comes to see the promise fulfilled that one of her descendants would bring salvation (Genesis 3:15). Later, the magi bring a document said to be the testament Adam gave to his son Seth. In another story, someone accuses Jesus of causing a child’s death, but the child comes back to life, proving Jesus was innocent.
See also Apocrypha.