The connection between the legends of King Arthur and the story of Jesus has long been studied by scholars and philosophers. Wikimedia
13. Jesus and the legend of King Arthur and His Knights
Arthurian legends – that of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table – began to emerge in the twelfth century, based on legends and stories which had survived (with embellishments over time) since before the Dark Ages. Many were and are based on stories of Jesus, and bear many similarities. The Arthurian Round Table is similar to that of the Last Supper in that both contained seating for 13; in the case of Arthur himself and his twelve knights, while Jesus was joined at table by his twelve disciples. Both contained a traitor in their midst. Both, according to some, contain the central character surrounded by twelve images reflecting the twelve signs of the zodiac.
This has led many scholars, students, and theorists to postulate that the Arthurian legends were based in earlier tales relating Jesus' residence, albeit temporary, in the British Isles. The myths are inconsistent, some present Jesus in England at the start of his ministry, later carried to Judea. Others claim he returned to the Great Britain he visited as a boy after escaping Judea in the aftermath of his crucifixion, which he either survived or avoided all together, in each case aided by his great-uncle, Joseph of Arimathea. As in the case of the four gospels of the Bible, hard evidence, such as archaeological evidence, of Jesus' life is hard to come by, whether in Capernaum or Glastonbury.
Legends and stories of St. Issa throughout the Mideast and central Asia are said to refer to Jesus of Nazareth. Wikimedia
14. The Life of Saint Issa, the Best of the Sons of Men
High in the remote Himalayas, safely secured in a Buddhist monastery of indeterminate age, is an ancient manuscript, The Life of Saint Issa, which describes the life of Jesus in India during the years of which the gospels have no description. Or so some believe. Jesus living in India is a theory which has been condemned as nonsense and heresy by fundamentalist Christians for over a century. One argument against the theory of Jesus spending much of his life India is based on the distance between the subcontinent and Palestine, an argument frequently put forth by Christian fundamentalists who conveniently forget that according to the Gospel of Matthew the Magi visited the newly born Jesus, having presumably made a similar journey in the opposite direction (Matthew does not specify a number, it is accepted by tradition there were three).
The three are traditionally identified as Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, with Melchior coming from Persia, Balthazar from Arabia, and Gaspar from India. While it is true that the Magi so familiar as part of the Christmas story are likely mythological, their existence indicates that in the ancient world from which the tradition evolved, travel from the mysterious "East" was not out of the question. Neither was travel in the opposite direction. During Jesus' lifetime the Silk Road was heavily traveled, and a journey to the East was not considered unusual, indeed it was mandatory for merchants needing products for their customers. Long-standing Christian tradition is that it was the Apostle Thomas (of doubting fame) who spread Christianity to India following Pentecost, spending the rest of his life and dying there.
Prayer wheels in a monastery in Tibet. circa 1894. Wikimedia
15. Nicolas Notovitch and The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ
One problem with the document purported to be concealed in an ancient Buddhist monastery in the remote Himalayas is that few, if any, from the west have ever seen it, although some have claimed to have read the document. One such individual was a Russian war correspondent named Nicolas Notovitch, who published his story of seeing the original, and a translation of it in French, in 1894. According to his account, Jesus went to India at the age of 13, remaining there until he was 29, studying Buddhism at various locations. His account presented Jesus as studying in Tibetan monasteries, both under Brahmin priests, and alone, including at Nalanda, the traditional seat of Buddhist reflection and learning.
Notovitch was immediately condemned as a fraud and huckster, an evaluation which time and further study strengthened. Even his visit to the monastery at which he claimed to have seen the manuscript was revealed to be a fabrication. Yet one of his most vocal debunkers, Swami Abhedananda, later (1922) claimed to have been to the same monastery and seen the same manuscript, though it was a copy of the original, written in Tibetan. After his death one of his students asked to see a copy of the manuscript allegedly studied by his master, to learn that it had disappeared, and that the original was in a monastery near Lhasa. The Swami's recantation of his refutation of Notovitch reopened interest and speculation over whether Jesus of Nazareth had been a student in India prior to his ministry in Judea.
Similarities in the stories of Jesus and Krishna caused a French scholar to postulate that the one was a myth based upon the other. Wikimedia
16. Was Jesus a myth based on Indian Bhagavan Krishna?
In the 1860s, a French legal scholar and lecturer named Louis Jacolliot published a work which he titled, La Bible dans l"Indie, Vie de Iezeus Christna (The Bible in India, the Life of Jesus Christna). Jacolliot had spent years living in India, where he compared the story of the life of Jesus, as recounted in the gospels, and that of Bhagavan Krishna, as part of a study he conducted searching for the links between Hindu mysticism and the occult in the west. His comparison was done from a legal scholarly viewpoint, rather than a theological one, and from it he concluded that the gospel stories of Jesus were myths based on the story of the Krishna. He further concluded that Christ was derived from Krishna, and wrote it as Christna as a consequence.
Thus Jacolliot postulated that Jesus hadn't lived in India as a young man, but was instead a mythological creation based on Krishna, as the many similarities between the two attested. The myths evolved in Palestine over the years based on the stories shared by traders and travelers from the mysterious East. His work was immediately attacked as being fraudulent, heretical, divisive, and lacking in any scholarly value by Christian fundamentalists and the Catholic hierarchy in France, as are most writings which express doubt in biblical texts.
Mary Magdalene, seen here at her conversion by Jesus, figures prominently in many of the stories of Jesus living in Europe. Wikimedia
17. What of Jesus' life beyond the so-called unknown years?
In the absence of archaeological evidence, the discovery of additional ancient texts heretofore unknown, with flawless provenance, or an episode of divine revelation, Jesus' whereabouts and activities during the years not described in the gospels will likely remain unknown. Those who accept the Christian teachings as unimpeachable will continue to do so, those that do not will continue to seek answers to their unanswered questions. The mystery will remain. Whether he resided in Nazareth, working as a simple carpenter, or in Capernaum, as some Bible verses assert, or elsewhere is immaterial to those for whom the question has no merit. For others, there are no provable answers.
There is however, a third unknown period for those disinclined to believe in the biblical account of the resurrection (the first being from infancy to the age of 12, the second from 12 to about 30). Some believe that Jesus of Nazareth survived the execution ordered by Pilate, and lived away from the jurisdiction of the Jews. Others believe (in accordance with the Koran) that he was raised bodily into heaven without dying, either on the cross or through any other natural means. Some believe that another was crucified in his place, allowing him to escape and continue his divine mission. For these there is another period of the unknown in the life – or rather the story – of Jesus of Nazareth.
Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, are all seen being led in prayer by Muhammad in an ancient Persian depiction. Wikimedia
18. Jesus in the Koran
In Islam, Isa ibn Maryam (Jesus, son of Mary) is a prophet of Allah and the Messiah (al-Masih) of the Jewish people, whose earthly mission was as a messenger of Allah. Jesus is referred to in the Koran as Isa only 25 times, but additional mentions by other names, titles, references, or as attributions makes him the most often named person in the Koran. Like Christianity, there are many different sects of beliefs in Islam, some of them often in conflict with others, but in general, Islamic teaching is that Jesus did not die, not on the cross nor through any other means, but that Allah raised him bodily into heaven at the end of his ministry. The Islamic Second Coming has Jesus returning to fight and triumph over the False Messiah at the end of the world.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, is the only woman named in the Koran, and she is revealed as being a virgin, though her son, Jesus, is not granted any of the attributes of a deity. He is not regarded as the son of God as he is in Christianity, nor is he perceived as God in the form of Man. He does however retain the power to perform miracles in his Islamic presentation, and he performs several in the name of Allah. There is no Joseph to serve as either Mary's husband or Jesus' earthly father in the Koran, Mary is left to face her bearing and rearing of the child alone. Nor does Jesus wear the mantle of a simple carpenter in the Islamic presentation of his life and ministry.
Some Muslims believe that Judas Iscariot, having betrayed Jesus, died in his stead on the cross for it and for other sins. Wikimedia
19. According to Islam, who died on the cross?
The Koran is clear, according to believers, that Jesus escaped crucifixion and was raised into heaven without first suffering the death of mortal humans. But it is equally clear that there was a crucifixion, and that those who witnessed it doubted whether the man crucified died on the cross. The generally accepted belied in Islam – that Jesus (Isa) was raised bodily into heaven and will return at the end of time – has led into three contending theories over the crucifixion described in the Koran. Some believe that Jesus was crucified, but not long enough for death to have taken place before being rescued. Others argue that such deceit is not possible of the Supreme Deity, and another was crucified in Jesus' place.
One such replacement argument is that it was Judas Iscariot, the traitor of Christian belief, who died on the cross, deservedly since he was a liar, traitor, and thief. Another is that Simon the Cyrene, the spectator who helped Jesus carry the cross on his path to Calgary, was executed after the minds of the executioners were confused by divine action. Another belief is that Simon Peter was executed in place of Jesus. There are other theories, involving the deaths of others on the cross as well as Jesus being taken down from his supposed execution still alive (the Jesus swooned theory), none of which fully counter the Christian belief of the crucifixion, at the end of which Jesus's death was confirmed by his being pierced in the side by a Roman soldier with his lance.