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>I think the best book about Jesus in India is " The unknown life of Jesus"
> by the russian author Nikolai Notovitch. The book was written about
>one hundred years ago, and is translated into many languages.
>It suports the theory that christianity originated in India.
>There are lots of things in the gospels that seems to have been taken
>from the Upanishads and Bhagavad gita. It is obvous that the Upanishads
>and probably even Bhagavad gita are much older than the gospels.
>--
>-------------------------------------------------------------------
>Mail posts to: ghen@netcom.com : http://www.hindunet.org/srh_home/
Although unfamiliar with Notovitch's book, I am unaware of any evidence
given credence by modern academic researchers into the origins of
christianity that the Jesus of christianity spent time in India. There is,
however, a tradition that one of Jesus' followers, Thomas, did reach India
and preached there.
The above is not to say that there are not elements of `far eastern'
religious ideas within christianity, and indeed judaism. With respect
to the latter, these have been identified dating from several centuries
BC, the origins of which have been traced in particular to the captivity
of the israelites in mesopotamia from the 6th century BC.
There is compelling evidence that christianity in fact originated from a
schismatic movement within a strict messianic religious sect of judaism
in the first half of the 1st century AD. Moreover, according to a recent
study of the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered several decades ago in caves
near Qumran but only now being subjected to modern methods of critical
analysis, there is strong evidence that that movement emerged from within
the Qumran community. According to this research, consistent with
the earliest extant christian writings, the basis of the schism was
two-fold: (a) disagreement over the importance of a strict adherence to
the letter of the traditional (`Mosaic') religious Law in the context of
the ushering in of `the kingdom of God', the `christian group' adopting a
more `liberal' view, emphasising inner motivation and awareness of social
context; and (b) disagreement over the scope of the `inherited divine
blessing of Abraham' - that is whether God's promise was intended to
benefit only the literal descentants of Abraham (as `God's chosen people')
or available to non-jewish proselytes and even beyond generally to the
gentiles; in contrast to the exclusivism of traditional judaism and the
parent community, the `christian group' proclaimed a `universalism' of
faith, with `the blessing' available to all who `repented' and `looked
expectantly for the `coming' kingdom'. With the destruction of jerusalem
and the scattering of the jewish inhabitants of southern palestine by the
roman army under Titus in 70AD the window of opportunity opened for the
`new' religion to capitalize on the chaotic situation, spreading
initially throughout the jewish diaspora of the mediterranean, aided by
converts within the army and its train, and ultimately beyond to the
extent of the then roman world.
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