Jesus: Ages 13-30
 

So there I am watching Dogma and Rufus is talking about the lack of writings about Jesus between the ages of 13 and 30. I always had a good idea that Jesus had half brothers and sisters (c'mon, a married couple not gettin' it on? puhleez). However, this got me thinking. Since there are many similarities between a good deal of religions, is it possible that Jesus, after being revealed that He was the Son of God, that He was so shocked, so baffled, that he traveled for approximately 17 years studying other religions, and telling others about Judaism and what would later be known as the Gospel, and then a big game of "Telephone" started and the details changed but the message stayed the same. Is it quite possible that after 1 A.D. or rather 14 A.D. that a good deal of the religions that were created were influenced by the teachings of Christ? I think it's quite possible because until Jesus comes to grips with His situation, He could have very well been a wandering philosopher telling people what He thought about the Meaning of Life.
So what's your opinions?

Interesting theory. I don't think it is impossible to believe either... I think that researching Christ's time and comparing it to the assumed time periods and locales where other religions began might give interesting correlations to your theory. Although that's a lot of stuff to look into perhaps...

A friend of mine once told me about a theory he read about, where in the fabled three wise men were from east asia, and when Jesus turned 13 he went on a trip to learn the principles of Taoism from them. I haven't researched it any further, but the idea was interesting... the gifts they brought originated from the east; taoism tries to teach you to respect each other as brothers/sisters; and some extreme taoist or taoist myths envolve being able to heal other people's ailments, walking on water, and other such "miracles".

Again, I have no proof or specific reasoning for this theory, since I heard it from a friend, but figuring out what happened to those lost years could prove useful, maybe.

Just an fyi,

that was in "Dogma",

not "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back".

Oh yeah, lack of sleep + insane teachers = lack of useless movie title knowledge.

go read Christopher Moore's Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal

It's not a serious account but it is hilariously entertaining and does seem to explain a lot of Jesus' beliefs (not what christianity has mutated them into). I inhaled this book in less than 3 days

according to Mark, Jesus was not the Son of God until he was 30(When ever he was baptised in the Jordan by John, it doesn't give an exact age, IIRC). personally, i give Mark the most credit...he was the first to write, and the most streamlined account of what happened.

If there were scriptures telling how Jesus dealt with lust and testosterone, I would be the happiest man alive. Seriously, did the man just run around slapping himself at the sight of a beautiful woman or did God cut him some slack?

From what i can see from the gospel of thomas Jesus was a badass mofo when he was a kid, i dunno how young he was at the time though.

he was a carpenter ... the most badass profession there was back in the day :P

One problem: He knew all along that He was the Son of God. Reference the story of Jesus in the temple as a young boy and being lost from His mother, Mary. Take a look at what He says when Mary finds him...

"Doing my father's work" and not in a carpenter's shop. Excellent point tritium.

There is a set of books called the Apocrypha, books that were originally part of the bible but were later removed (if I recall correctly from my Latin teacher). His childhood is part of this. There's a story where Jesus gets pissed off at his schoolmates and turns them into sheep; he later turns them back.

I thought that the Apcrypha was the Book of Revelations...

http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/apocrypha_exp.html

"Apocalypse", Cyn.

And another where he kills a playmate for some transgression and revives him, iirc.

While i think that Jesus spent those 18 years learning more about his father qnd himself.

Costello's right. It's documented that he was a carpenter for a long time before he knew he was the son of God.

You should read Nikos Kazantzakis' novel The Last Temptation of Christ. It's basically a fictional account of his life up to the crucifiction. It was also made into an incredible movie by Martin Scorsese.

Anyone know where this was actually documented?

Mark 6:3

Jesus is identified as a carpenter, the son of Mary. It's assumed that he's an adult at the beginning of his ministry in Mark, so it would be logical that he had been a carpenter for that time. Mark is generally the most reliable Gospel, and the Markan editor has little motivation to obscure this detail...i'd consider it authentic.

imho and some jumbled observations...

When Jesus was a teenager, we "went East" for many many years.
Then, he returns, talking about loving your brother, peace with the earth, et al...
however Jesus may or may not of been The Christ, he certainly found great inspiration in the ancient religions of the East - Buddhism, Tao, etc...

kind of the reverse of the initial poster's idea.. not very CHRISTian friendly, but as my mind opens to new ideas outside of my own Christian upbringing, I find the logicality of this very appealing.
Jesus was a cool dude, who did cool things, and shared them with his part of the world. He was certainly inspired by God. The deeper we shall find out in due time, 'eh? (DIE DIE DIE!)

India =)

Dude my boy Jesus was all about his mom and Joseph. Joseph was the one who taught him to bve carpenter, I don't think he went to the east. I am of the believe that all religions are lead to the same road, only they take different paths, is that all that hard to comprehend? If anybody has any links suggesting that Jesus went east or anything about him 13-30 would they post because I would seriously love to read them.

shurgg impossible to tell jesus could of been a hat for those years for all i know, but it is an intresting subject.

I agree, this is a fantastic book. Though, I took a whole 4 days to read it. It's very hard to put down once you break it open.

woot! finally someone else who has read it! :D

Sources?

1. jesus did have half brothers and sisters.. many... its written so in the bible..

2. jesus knew he was the son of God before he was born.. when he was conceived.. when he was born.. the days of his life.. til the day he died... even his parents knew...

he was partying.

The Bible

I don't recall exact books and chapters withing the New Testament, but it does say he went East. And it does say he did cool things and shared them with his part of the world. The rest are personal beliefs/thoughts/ideas. I don't believe there is any other real "proof" of what he did during that time, other than some fleeting comments in the Bible.

Hmmm. A quick look at the Gospels uncovers nothing. Point me to the verse?