The authenticated ancient scrolls found at the Hemis monastery near Leh in Kashmir document the life of Saint Esa, leaving home at the age of thirteen, joining a merchant caravan, travelling the silk route, and arriving in India at the age of fourteen ... Esa continued his travels through India and Tibet and the holy cities ... He began teaching, performing miracles, and explaining the holy scriptures in monasteries and market bazaars. As an adult Esa finally left India and Tibet and travelled to Alexandra, Egypt ... That’s where he last saw his mother Cleopatra alive. The Bloodlines of the Illuminati, Who’s Who
Between the language of the Buddha and his disciples, and the language of Christ and his apostles, there are strange coincidences. Even some Buddhist legends and parables sound as if taken from the New Testament, though we know that many of them existed before the beginning of the Christian era. Max Muller, Introduction to the Science of Religion, 1873
Throughout the Synoptic Gospels – Mark, Matthew and Luke – we do hear of four brothers and unnamed sisters. Professor Blanchfield Thomas
Why is he getting baptised if he is without sin? What does Jesus need from John? Professor Candida Moss, University of Notre Dame
Several of these lost Gospels have actually been found. And they paint an unexpected portrait of Christ. The writers of these ancient manuscripts were unknown scribes working in the three centuries after Jesus’ death. Possibly looking to promote their own versions of Christianity. Their Gospels were deemed heretical but someone thought they were worth saving. Jesus: The Secret Life
In the second and third centuries there were many different interpretations of the story of Jesus of Nazareth. These alternative stories whether fact or fiction may have been ways to come to terms with Jesus Christ. The man, the prophet, the son of God. Opinions ranged from the traditional to the extreme. ibid.
Another of the lost texts is the Gospel according to Judas, the betrayer of Christ. In this stunning document Judas is portrayed as a hero for handing Christ over to the authorities. This Gospel says Jesus told Judas to do it, and that Judas would be favoured for doing the deed. ibid.
One apocryphal text doesn’t stop at Jesus’ childhood; it actually attempts to fill in the blanks of his life between the ages of twelve and thirty. This unusual modern account tells a truly incredible tale: a tale of Jesus’ journey out of Galilee and into the Himalayas. ibid.
At Christ’s side during much of his final years is Mary Magdalene. And her story has recently sparked heated controversy. The Bible mentions Mary Magdalene eighteen times, and she’s clearly one of the Holy Book’s most important and provocative characters. And two of the alternative Gospels – The Gospel of Mary found in the late nineteenth century in a monk’s tomb, and the Gospel of Philip, which is part of the Nag Hammadi library – may hint at a surprising intimate relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. ibid.
Was Jesus blootered when he threw the money lenders out the temple? Rab C Nesbitt s10e4: Fight, Rab at pub table, BBC 2011
Why would Christians want to portray Jesus as violent, as someone who killed people, who withered people? And I’m not sure that there’s a good answer to it. Professor Bart Ehrman, University of Northern California
Must then a Christ perish in torment in every age to save those that have no imagination? George Bernard Shaw, Saint Joan 1924 epilogue
Gentle Jesus, meek and mild is a snivelling modern invention, with no warrant in the Gospels. George Bernard Shaw
We just ask that they be covered with the blood of Jesus. Jesus Camp 2006 starring Becky Fischer & Mark Papantonio, directors Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, Pastor Becky's preparatory prayer over empty meeting hall
The Gospels are not historical fact. Extraordinarily, there is no hard contemporary evidence that any of the events in the Gospel stories actually happened. There isn’t even proof that Jesus existed. Who Killed Jesus?
‘Let his blood be upon us and on our children’: the words have resounded through the ages and shaped Jewish/Christian relations for the last two-thousand years. ibid.
As I searched through Paul’s letters I discovered he makes no mention of Jesus’ parents, his place of Birth, where he lived or even when he lived ... No mention of his trial before Pilate, nor of Jerusalem as his place of execution, not a word either of John the Baptist or Judas Iscariot or Peter’s denial of his master. Professor George A Wells, London University
There is one name synonymous with his death: Judas. The motive: thirty pieces of silver. But did Judas really betray his master for money? And did he even exist? When the Gospels are scrutinised other suspects with credible motives emerge from the shadows. Who Framed Jesus? Discovery 2010
Was Jesus himself controlling events? Was the triumphant entry a deliberate act of provocation to the religious authorities and the Roman soldiers? If it happened, the temple incident could have been a deliberate attempt to antagonise as it were his public confrontations with the Pharisees. Could Jesus have been deliberately avoiding the authorities, preserving himself for one last spectacular act of insurrection at the end of Passover week? ibid.
The motive cannot be, as Matthew says, he wants money. Well he was in charge of the money ... Thirty pieces of silver – big deal! Professor James Charlesworth
We as scholars really have to be careful about psycho-analysing Jesus: we don’t have him; we have stories about him. Professor Byron R McCane
Probably most Jews even those in Galilee would have understood that if you disrupt the Temple at Passover you are in for serious trouble. Byron R McCane
There are some people in the early movement saying, Wait a minute – if you say Jesus died for your sins and God wouldn’t forgive you without that, is God demanding human sacrifice? What kind of God is this? Elaine Pagels, Princeton University
If the person has been nailed to their cross-beam without the use of ropes the body would fall forwards, and the person would have asphyxiated on the spot. Professor Shimon Gibson
[Shimon] Gibson believes his archaeological research confirms that not just the crucifixion but other key events in the story of Christ’s passion could not have happened where Christian tradition dictates. Ancient X Files s2e9: Crucifixion Decoded & Bosnian Pyramids, National Geographic 2012
The implication is that Christ presents a threat to the Roman empire. And that is the reason why he is crucified. ibid.
Nails were used in the act of crucifixion ... The long nail that was used to pin the victim’s feet to the cross went in from the side through the heel-bone and not from the front. And the smaller nails that pierced the hands were hammered in through the backs of the hands not through the palms as everyone has previously supposed. (Jesus & Crucifixion) ibid.
Gibson believes it actually happened in the west of the city near the Jaffa gate. ibid.
The actual place Christ was crucified has been lost and buried somewhere beneath the floor of this church. ibid.
We have Roman census regulations for Egypt for example and they all say what you’d expect – everybody stay home. No moving around. Look at the economic disruption – it’s totally impossible. Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Dominican priest and scholar
Crucifixion was the most cruel and atrocious punishment that the Romans could inflict. And it was inflicted only for treason and only on slaves. If you were a noble or a traitor usually you were strangled. Jerome Murphy O’Connor
The cross-beam was strapped to the shoulders of the criminal, and he paraded through the streets with his arms stretched out. At the place of execution then nails were hammered into the hands and feet. Jerome Murphy O’Connor
The Resurrection of Jesus ... is absolutely fundamental to the faith. Jerome Murphy O’Connor
In 26 A.D. a soldier called Pontius Pilate was sent to Judea to impose order in a troublesome Roman province. He policed a volatile people for ten years suppressing uprisings and crushing riots. Pilate: The Man Who Killed Christ? 2008 Channel 4
1This version of the trial ignores the realities of Roman rule in Judea, turning a blind eye to Pilate’s own motives for disposing of Jesus. Does the Gospel truth miscast Pilate as a weak ruler? ibid.
Yet the accepted account of the gospel absolves Pilate of real blame. ibid.
The Romans had reasons of their own for killing Jesus. ibid.
Jesus wasn’t the first so-called Messiah; Josephus lists several men before him. ibid.
Jesus the King of the Jews – it was a direct challenge. ibid.
Pilate had even more to gain from this trial: he could use it to strengthen his authority over the Jews. ibid.
The picture in Josephus of a strong no-nonsense prefect. ibid.
Jesus Christ came back from the dead and walked the Earth for forty days. At the end of those forty days he ascended to Heaven. Jesus: The Lost 40 Days, History 2010
She is the first person to encounter the resurrected Jesus ... Mary Magdalene. ibid.