Jus Ahab

Can anyone else shed light on this subject?

It's been an obsession of mine for about 10 years, but the info I've managed to dig up is meagre to say the least. I'd forgotten all about it for a while but this months Fortean times has a fascinating article about one Jus Asaf, or healing Jesus.

There are 2 versions of events that tie Jesus to india. The first is that Jesus traveled there during his 'lost years' between the ages of 18 and 30 and studied Buddism before returning to Judea and playing out the rest of the story as we know it.

The second, irresistably intriguing, version is that Jesus didn't die on the cross. He was sufficently healed in the tomb and spirited away to Kashmir where he spent the rest of his life as a healer of some renown, before his death at the ripe old age of 120.

The evidence is sketchy(but then so is all evidence in religion!), but there are questions to be asked. It seems strange that a crucifixtion, a punishment that took days to execute the criminal, was ordered with only a few hours left before the start of the Jewish Sabbath, dusk on a Friday. Execution was forbidden on the Holy day under Jewish law.
The actions of Joseph of Aramatheia and Mary Magdalane, directly after Jesus's death, seem highly suspicious. And with Pilate not ordering a watch over Christ's tomb until the following day, it leaves plenty of time for Joseph and Mary Magdalane to tend to the wounded Christ before leading him to saftey.


So, anybody want to add some more? I'd love to hear it...

Oh, there are a couple of weblinks on this:

Jesus in India

Tomb of Jesus

Toto

This is all fantasy IMHO.

The Jesus legend in the gospels has so many holes and inconsistencies that it is an open invitation to fill in the blanks. You can read the current best seller The DaVinci Code for one fantasy.

Indian religions are highly syncretic, and will add any idea from other cultures that they want, and dress it up as ancient history. It was easy for them to adopt Jesus. The last time I looked into this, I quickly found that the documents that were claimed to support this dated from the middle ages, and had clear Christian-Muslim influences. I don't have time now to look into it again.

The idea that Jesus survived the crucifixion, either because only a ghost was crucified or for some other reason, has been around for a long time. The Muslims, who probably got some of theirs ideas about Jesus from heretical Christian sects, have a similar idea about Jesus.

The more interesting idea to me is that Buddhism had some influence on the development of Christianity. It is possible, and there are clear parallels.

Clivedurdle

Martin Palmer in the Jesus Sutras touches on this. There were very early churches in India, founded according to legend by doubting Thomas.

There are interesting doctrinal differences between Eastern and western churches.

It must be remembered that there were continuous contacts along the silk route for thousands of years - the Buddhas blown up in Afghanistan are based on classical Greek styles! Jerusalem was and is a major point of sharing and swapping ideas. Meme infections occured all over the place.

Toto

When Christianity became the established religion in the Roman Empire, classical sculptors who had carved pagan gods and goddesses had to leave town - and they went to India, which is why a lot of Indian sculpture has a classical look to it.

But I still think the idea that Jesus spent his lost years in India but didn't tell anyone is fiction.

funinspace

Ooh my gohd...that was fantasy, I'm crushed.

Hale Bob ticket station coming up; ticket please...

The Tiny Saint

To Jus Ahab:
I am sorry but I do not think that this is at all true. For one, Jesus would never have studied Buddism, especially since His Father was God (i.e. Jesus was the Son of God). So that one is out. You also quote that Jesus did not die on the cross and that He was somehow revived in the tomb. Also, the Roman soldiers made sure that He was dead, especially when they put the spear in His side and blood poured out. He was definitely dead. The events that followed also provide evidence for this, i.e. the curtain of the Temple was borken in half and the darkening of the sky. Not only does this contradict Jesus' purpose on Earth (i.e. to die for everyone's sins) but this contradicts observational accounts. Jesus appeared to all of His Disciples and then He told them that He was going back to Heaven - not to India.

And how do you propose that they do that? He was dead on the cross, the Roman's made sure of it when they put the spear in his side. By the time they put Him in the tomb not even our modern day medical technology could have been able to revive Him. Also, Pilate told the guards to "go and make the tomb as secure as you can". The rock blocking the enterence to the tomb would have most likely been far to heavy for just two people, i.e. Joseph and Mary Magdalene to move by themselves. And I am pretty sure that the guards would notice Jesus breathing in the tomb or walking around. So that scenario of Jesus being revived in the tomb is not really valid nor logical.

Also on the day after the Sabbath Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb an Angel of the LORD came down and told the two Mary's what had happened to Jesus. Why didn't Mary Magdalene just say, "Nah, He is around the other side of the world in India." I just doesn't make any sense. Also, Jesus appeared to many more people so it can be pretty sure that He did not go to India, but to Heaven to be with His Father.

Intelligitimate

Notovitch was a fraud exposed long ago. There is no basis for the belief that Jesus ever travelled to India.

Toto

The Tiny Saint - welcome to the lion's den (oops, scratch that) welcome to II!

You appear to assume the truth of the Bible and the validity of Josh McDowell's apologetics. You will find that no one here thinks that those sources are necessarily trustworthy, so you will need to provide arguments based on more reliable historical sources if you wish to be treated seriously.

The Tiny Saint

Thanks Toto.
I know that the Bible is the Word of God - there is not a single observation that has disproved the Bible. I trust McDowell's work in this case, because I can see that it works and has evidence for it, and also that since he is a Christian, he should follow the Christian morality that was set by God, i.e. not to lie. But I will keep your advice in mind (thanks).

lpetrich

I see two serious problems: logistics and motivation.

2000 years ago, it would have taken a LONG time to travel from Palestine to India. Going by land would have required an awfully long walk. Going by sea would have been easier, but still time-consuming -- go south to Aqaba, then take a boat along the Arabian peninsula to the Persian Gulf, then take a boat eastward to India.

And what motive would he have had to make that long journey? How would he have decided that India is worth going to?

Buddhist monks going westward is a more plausible hypothesis, since they'd be motivated to go on a trip -- they would be spreading the Word of the Buddha.

I disagree -- check out our Biblical Errancy section. However, one can still believe that the Bible is divinely inspired -- one can believe that God inspired errors in the Bible to warn people not to be too literal-minded.

One can be mistaken without being a liar.

And there is a long history of pious fraudulence in various religions. Medieval Xtianity had a big industry of fake relics -- an industry that provoked some rhetorical swipes from early Protestants like John Calvin.

Also, the Pope had long used the forged Donation of Constantine as support for his temporal authority over Italy's Papal States. It was recognized as a forgery by Lorenzo Valla because of its anachronisms; it looked like it was composed some centuries after Emperor Constantine. It's like a document supposedly written by George Washington that is full of present-day vocabulary.