In his most recent installment of his must-read “NT Apocrypha” series, Phil Harland explores Jesus’ attitude toward children. Most are familiar with Jesus’ positive attitude toward children presented in the synoptics in Mark 10:13-16, Matthew 19:13-15, and Luke 18:15-17 (“Let the little children come…”).

In contrast to this kid-friendly Jesus, Phil brings up a passage from the Acts of Thomas in which the risen Jesus provides some advice for the newly married. Jesus tells a newly married couple to avoid “filthy intercourse” so that you won’t “be weighed down by cares… for children, the end of which is destruction.”

Since I have three kids (and I enjoyed the process of contributing to their conception), I guess I’ll stick with the biblical Jesus!