Jesus: Expert discusses ‘missing years’ found in ‘lost gospels’
So-called “ancient” texts chronicling the life of Jesus have emerged through the ages, many of them later branded as fakes or forgeries. The Gnostic Gospels, a collection of early Christian texts uncovered near the town of Nag Hammadi, North Egypt, in 1945, were among a small number of scripts proven to be authentic. The stories were not included in the New Testament, a point which many scholars argue suggests they in fact supplement the Bible, helping to “fill in the gaps” of many unexplainable events.
Around 52 gospel texts were found in a sealed jar, collected in 13 leather-bound papyruses, dubbed the ‘Nag Hammadi library’.
Accounts have also emerged elsewhere, perhaps most notably in 1887, northern India.
The event was detailed in National Geographic’s documentary, ‘Secret Lives Of Jesus, in which Jesus Christ’s missing years “took a remarkable turn”.
It began in the remote village of Ladakh where Russian writer and adventurer, Nicolas Notovich, was travelling and broke his foot after falling off his horse.
Jesus Christ: Texts presented to a Russian traveller in 1887 filled in the gaps of Jesus’ life (Image: GETTY)
Religion: Little is known about the time between his twelfth and thirtieth years (Image: GETTY)
Buddhist monks at the nearby monastery of Hemis helped him, shortly after presenting him with a Tibetan manuscript called “Life of Saint Issa, Best of the Sons of Men’, a Saint that had passed through the area centuries before.
Notovich’s guide translated the text into Russian, and the writer soon realised that Issa and his story almost paralleled that of Jesus Christ.
He quickly concluded that the text the monks held was an account of Jesus’ missing years, from between the ages of 12 to 30.
As Marvin Meyer, Professor of Bible and Christian Studies at Chapman University, said: “One of the great mysteries and one of the great points of speculation about the life of Jesus, about what Jesus did in those years between his twelfth year and when he was around 30.
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Hemis monastery: The retreat is high up in the Kashmiri mountains (Image: GETTY)
“Those 18 years or so are often thought to be missing years.”
The documentary explained: “Even the name of this Himalayan prophet is another clue.”
“Issa” means “Jesus” in several eastern languages; it is the Arabic name for Jesus in Islam, and means “the Lord” in Sanskrit.
The question asked is whether Jesus travelled to one of the most remote places on Earth to learn from the Eastern Mystics.
According to Notovich, the texts say Issa spent six years in India, living and teaching among the Brahmans – the high priests of Hinduism.
Prof Meyer said: “Some people have thought that there might be some sort of a connection between these great teachers of different religions.
“And, that Jesus might have found some of his mystical ideas to be ideas that emerged from Hinduism and Buddhism.”
The words found in the teachings of Issa also resembled those found in the gospels of the New Testament.
They say: “Worship not the idols. Do not consider yourself first. Do not humiliate your neighbour. Help the poor. Sustain the feeble. Do evil to no one. Do not covet that which you do not possess, and which is possessed by others.”
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Gnostic Gospels: The ancient texts were among only a handful of scripts proven to be authentic (Image: GETTY)
Judea: If Jesus had travelled in India it would have been far different to his native Judea (Image: GETTY)
According to Notovich’s texts, Issa’s story takes a “surprising turn”.
He “disobeys” his Indian mentors, and preaches to the lower classes – something strictly forbidden in India’s caste system.
The sages turn on Issa, “conspiring to kill him”, and he flees.
After Notovitch recovered from his injury, he returned home to Russia, taking with him translations of the texts, claiming them to be “undeniable proof” of solving one of Christianity’s biggest mysteries.
The adventurer published the material in 1894 in a book he called ‘The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ’.
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Much controversy remains around the text, however, and as the documentary explained: “Modern scholars are still unconvinced.”
At the time, the philologist Max Müller expressed “incredulity” at the account, and suggested that either Notovitch was the victim of a practical joke or he had fabricated the evidence.
Müller wrote: “Taking it for granted that M. Notovitch is a gentleman and not a liar, we cannot help thinking that the Buddhist monks of Ladakh and Tibet must be wags, who enjoy mystifying inquisitive travelers, and that Notovitch fell far too easy a victim to their jokes
He then wrote to the head lama at Hemis monastery, to which the lama replied that no Westerner had visited the site in the last 15 years.
Max Müller: The philologist said Notovitch was the victim of a joke or had fabricated the evidence (Image: GETTY)
In 2011, Bart D. Ehrman, a Bible scholar and historian, said: “There is not a single recognised scholar on the planet who has any doubts about the matter.
“The entire story was invented by Notovitch, who earned a good deal of money and a substantial amount of notoriety for his hoax.”
Yet, others, like Fida Hassnain, a Kashmiri writer, in 1994 refused to rule out the legitimacy of Notovitch’s story.
Prof Marvin Meyer told the documentary: “As attractive as that idea is, and as worthy as that idea is of examination, there is no historical evidence that Jesus ever went to learn from Buddhist or Hindu teachings.”
