Years ago ancient documents were purportedly discovered in Tibet indicating Jesus may have visited Persia, India Nepal and Tibet during the ages of 13 to 29. These pages examine this thought more closely.

And so where was Jesus during the time he 13-29 years old? There are various stories floating around, most of which can be easily located somewhere on the Internet (search using keywords "lost years of jesus").

And so in greater detail, let us examine these possibilities.

1. Jesus "stayed at home" theory. This is the traditional "Christian" view. Save for some spurious Biblical verses that could mean anything depending upon the readers’ state of mind, there is no documentary evidence that he lived in Israel for this period of time. Even in apocryphal writings, that is The Lost Books of the Bible contemporary with writings that are in the official canon known collectively as the Bible, no mention is made of this period of Jesus’ life. Great detail is given to some events of his early childhood and later ministry, in some cases retelling events recorded in the New Testament, but still the 18 or so missing years remain.

Doubt about this belief generally comes from non-dogmatic Christians and many outside of Christianity who have been exposed to another point of view and have some interest or opinion on Jesus. The main objection, according to detractors, this belief lacks evidence and it is totally out of character with the sort of person Jesus became known as.
The Jesus stayed at home theory is a safe point of view for its adherents, however. It requires no thought to potentially problematic doctrinal shifts or theological difficulties on the part of the believer.

2. Jesus "traveled to India" theory. This is a widely held "alternative" view to #1. There is much information to this viewpoint that requires greater attention.
Basically, a Russian traveler visited a Tibetan monastery in the late 1800’s and was given access to documents that narrated events about a "St. Issa" individual who journeyed from Israel, studied in India, Nepal and Tibet and then returned back to his homeland where, eventually, he was executed by the Romans. His followers, however, took up his teachings and began to spread them through all neighboring lands. The Russian translated the documents and published them as the Unknown Life of Jesus.

Elements of Christian Orthodoxy rallied against this view and with compelling arguments and investigations, "proved" the Russian a fraud.
Yet the story would not die, and later, a book, the Aquarian Gospel of Christ was published in the early 1900’s. It, however, was a thing of "progressive revelation" meaning it could not be considered a valid source of reference as scholars measure it. It did though, contain interesting reading, which further detailed Jesus’ visit to India and nearby lands.

An Indian Swami, in the 20’s, unconvinced by both the Russian’s account and efforts from dogmatic Christians to debunk him, visited the monastery himself. He too gained access to the documents, translated and published his own version. The two versions, the Swami’s and the Russian’s, though similar, do not quite mirror each other. Yet they essentially tell the same story.

At least two other travelers, an artist and a schoolteacher, both claim to have seen the documents, though they did not have the ability and/or the time to translate them. These travelers, along with others, report the pervasive belief among the locals of areas in India, Persia, Nepal, Afghanistan and elsewhere that Jesus (known as St. Issa, the spelling may vary) visited various places in their region.
Edgar Cayce, a famous and well respected psychic, in one of his readings declared Jesus went to India and went into a little bit of detail.

The greatest boost to the dissemination of this theory has been through the controversial Elizabeth Claire Prophet and her book, The Lost Years of Jesus. It is widely available in bookstores and contains both the Russian traveler’s and the Swami’s translations of the documents.

One of the main objections to this belief it is "unprovable." The persistent doubters to this view generally are dogmatic Christians. They may articulate several different arguments against the Jesus in India view:

The Jesus stayed in India theory offers a compelling yet entirely probable alternative view to the antiseptic godlike Jesus of dogmatic Christianity. It described an entirely human yet highly advanced being who desired to devote his life to spirituality. Thus he evaded the Jewish young man traditional fate of marriage (which he was being considered for) and left using caravans to go to the east. He also wanted to visit the Three Kings who left gifts at the time of his birth. And so on it went with his studies in India and his exceeding the knowledge and abilities of his teachers. He preached to the masses, irritated the ruling classes and had to leave India or be assassinated. This pattern repeated itself in Persia where rulers felt threatened by his preaching to the "masses." He traveled to Nepal and possibly Tibet where he became known and beloved by the locals for his teachings and healings. Thus the Jesus in India story seemed quite in keeping with what happened to him later in Israel. The study of this old story, adherents believe, yields a wealth of material about Jesus character.

3. Jesus "studied in England with the Druids" theory. This bears some serious attention as well. Druidism does mirror Christianity somewhat in selected teachings and beliefs. For example Druids are said to have a belief in a "Triune Godhead" roughly equivalent to the Father, Holy Spirit and the Son. At any rate, this in itself does not qualify for a possible accounting of Jesus whereabouts. What should be looked at, however, is the local tradition that Jesus visited various areas around Glastonbury as a boy with his Uncle Joseph of Armethia. The theory has merit on several accounts:

Adherents believe that the visit occurred most likely in Jesus preteen youth. He may have studied with the Druids. More radical theorists contend he studied extensively with the Druids either in his youth or at least during part of the time in his "missing years." It is difficult to find even rumored lore evidence of this view however.
Orthodox Christianity may object to some elements of this story, especially Jesus studying with the druids, but little resistance is encountered when broached about the possibility of a brief visit to Britain.

4. Jesus "studied in Greece, Egypt and elsewhere" . Some legend lore may exist and references to it The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus but little else. The possibility exists he might have done these things, as distance and motivation is not unreasonable.

5. Jesus "traveled to Japan" theory. According to this, Jesus, in his early 20’s journeyed to Japan, studied, and returned to Judea when he was 29 or so. He was not crucified, for he switched places with a younger brother and fled back to Japan. He married, had three daughters and died at 106. An ancient burial mound in the town of Shingo, is the remaining physical evidence. This theory apparently gained some momentum in the 30’s when a so-called "Will of Christ" was discovered. This "Will " was lost in the 2nd World War, but fascination with the theory has over 10,000 tourists visiting the site every year.

This theory probably has a low probability of likelihood. Skeptics point out given what is already known about the historical Jesus, his life and mission and also what is known of the ancient world, it would be highly unlikely (more like "impossible") this story could be true.
Proponents of this belief point out the thousands of visitors that come every year to view the Mound. Additionally they point out it was NOT impossible for such a thing to have happened since much of what Christians already believe is shrouded in dogma and non-historical beliefs.

Various stories have circulated about the whereabouts of Jesus during his missing years and others may be added. The situation remains—exactly where WAS Jesus during this time? A plausible explanation must make the most sense based on what is already commonly and acceptably known about Jesus and the events surrounding him.

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