I was born into a middle-class Catholic family in India. At the age of 12, I was trained as an altar boy. I was impressed by the life of Jesus, particularly his trial and passion. But I didn't quite believe that he was God. I wanted to read the whole bible, but it didn't happen at that time. Then at age 13, I was abused by a priest. But at the same time, I knew many priests like sages. I thought, some men are born pigs, and some pigs are forked priests. I was a brilliant student. I usually passed the examinations in first, Class and first rank and was a gold medalist. I secured the maximum degrees and diplomas I could in medicine and Cardiology. (B.Sc. First class gold medalist in the University; M.B.B.S; M.D; M.R.C.P; F.A.C.P; F.A.C.C; F.A.C.P; & F.S.C.A.I) I started working as an Interventional Cardiologist. All those years the story of Jesus stuck in my mind as an unfinished business. My hobbies were music, reading and travelling. I took Jesus as a research project. I don't usually read books; I study them. I studied the Old Testament, The New Testament, The Greek philosophers, Babylonian history and writing, Egyptian history. Josephus, Herodotus, Cicero, Confucious, Budha, the great Indian epics, The Bhagavad Gita and many other books particularly anything and everything written about Jesus especially the historical Jesus. Most of the writings about Historical Jesus were rubbish. I thought Jesus was a prodigy, most likely the son of a Roman soldier born to a young Galilean woman out of wedlock and most certainly he travelled the world. As my reading surged, I found so many similarities in his words and deeds to many other philosophers. Then I travelled to ALL those places where Jesus might have travelled; Palestine, Babylon (Iraq), Egypt, Rome, Greece, Syria, Pakistan, (Taxila), many places in India and China. This research took fifteen years. Consequently, I clearly saw a Jesus whom nobody else saw, The most consequential of all philosophers. I was anxious to reveal the findings to the rest of the world. Hence, I wrote the book- a new bible that nobody ever thought of.
Jesus' story has an uninterrupted tradition from the time of his death. Documentations about Jesus.
There is a continuous uninterrupted story line about Jesus right from the first century AD onwards through his disciples and testament writers and historians.
Josephus and Paul were the two people who lived closer to Jesus' time.
Flavius Josephus.AD 37-100.
Flavius Josephus was a Jewish priest and a historian to begin with. He gave an eyewitness narration of the first Jewish-Roman war (AD 66-73). He wrote extensively about the Jewish history. He had written about a wise man in Galilee doing miracles and preaching to multitudes. He further wrote that this man was silenced by the Romans. Later historians widely believe that this writing of Josephus is pertaining to Jesus of Nazareth. He was a very prolific writer. Josephus wrote the 'Roman Caesars', 'Jews of Antiquities' and many other stories about Jewish life in Palestine. Later the Romans recruited him and thus became a Roman Historian
Paul of Tarsus Circa 5-67 AD.
Paul was a contemporary of Jesus except that they never met. Apparently, he had a revelation when he was persecuting a Jew who was a follower of Jesus. He was a very prolific writer. He travelled extensively to Antioch, Salamis, Paphos, Perga, Pisidia, Syria, Derba, Lystra, Troas, Athens, Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Caesarea and Jerusalem. There are thirteen books to his credit. He wrote epistles to the many Mediterranean communities. Finally, he reached Rome and continued his preaching. He was arrested by Roman police and was executed.
Apostle Mark wrote his Testaments Circa AD 50.
Out of the 4 Canonical Testaments Mark is closest to the tome of Jesus. He wrote his testament within 25 years after the crucifixion. Mark's depiction of Jesus is closer to being a normal man. He begins with the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and ends with his funeral and few women going to the tomb. No mention of a divine birth with annunciation by angel Gabriel. He did not rise to heaven either. There is mention of “Son of God” which means a believer in God and do not mean the real son of God. Instead 'Son of Man' would mean the real son of God. Jesus came from Galilee and suffered death in Jerusalem.
Apostle Luke wrote his testament Circa AD 70.
Luke wrote his testament within 50 years after Jesus' death. In Luke there is divine birth with annunciation by the angel and at the end Jesus ascends to heaven. The transformation is explicit. As times goes on there is transformation from a man to a divine being.
Apostle Mathew wrote his testament Circa AD 95
Mathew wrote his testament about 75 years after Jesus' death. Jesus had a divine birth; He ascends to heaven. Jesus showed many miracles. Jesus feeds 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and there were many baskets of bread remained in excess. In Mathew Jesus is closer to God.
Apostle John wrote his testament Circa AD 150.
John's writings are about 120 years after Jesus' death. Here Jesus is 'Son of Man' which means the real son of God. Further it says that the “word became flesh” meaning like God. John said Jesus was equal to God but not God himself. However, 300 years late in the Nicene Creed Jesus is God himself. The metamorphosis is complete.
Roman historian Sutonius born about 30 years after the death of Jesus has given us a good account of Jesus' time and the persecution of Christians in Rome. Roman historian Tacitus born about 25 years after Jesus' death have given us a clearer picture of a person most likely Jesus.
Tacitus - Roman historian A D 62-120.
Tacitus wrote about the presence of followers of 'Christus' in Rome. For them 'Christus' is the founder of Christianity. These 'Christus' followers believed that 'Christus' was God and they worshiped him as God. The Roman authorities rounded them up and executed them.
Suetonius -Roman Historian A D 67-122
Suetonius has described many followers of 'Christus' behaving disorderly and noisy in Rome believing 'Christus' as their God and the crowd was overzealous crazy people. Authorities arrested and executed them.
Pliny the Younger A D 61-113.
Pliny the Younger has written about the existence of followers of Christ in Rome. He described them as practicing a depraved excessive superstition. But noted they are a harmless group of people focusing on their worship.
Thallus First Century Greek historian.
Thallus has described an unusual darkness at the time of Jesus's death.
Jesus is the most popular man born on this earth; in his name human eras have been divided. And in his name, many wars have been waged, some won and some lost. He is the man who cast the longest shadow in human history, and he still has 2.5 billion people as his followers.
What happened to Peter the first pope.
Peter preached about Jesus in many Mediterranean cities and reached Rome. Tradition says that he was martyred in Rome by crucifying upside down. Nowhere in history or traditions any mention that the early Christians built a church in Rome.
The Second Pope
The second pope was Pope Linus who served as the Bishop of Rome from about A D 68 to 80 his death. He is mentioned in the Bible in the writings of Paul. Linus guided the growth of the church during the dangerous period of reign of Nero. Ther is a possibility that during this period the Christians could have designated a building as the first basilica- the primordium of the Basilica of St. Peter. Eusebius wrote about Linus the first after Peter. The episcopate of church at Rome after the martyrdom of Paul and Peter also mentions Linus as the successor after Peter. The liber Pontifices also enumerated Linus as the successor of peter.
Clement one.
In all probabilities Clement was the successor to Linus. He reigned until the end of the first century. He is known as one among the 'Five Apostolic fathers.' His papacy was from circa A D 92-100. Tertulian has claimed that Clement was ordained by St. Peter. Eusebius in his church history has mentioned him as the third bishop of Rome. There are traditions that he was martyred and buried in Crimea
Papal Successions, From Clement to Leo XIV.
In the Vatican archives, In the SUMMI Pontifices, the following Papal succession are recorded
Pope Linus: AD 76-88
Pope Clements: AD 88-105
Pope Evaristus: Ad 105-115
Pope Alexander: AD 115-125.
Pope Xystus: AD 125-136
Pope Telesphorus: AD 136-140
……continues uninterrupted to
Pope Leo XIV: AD 2025-
So, from Peter on we have a continuous tradition about Jesus and his personified persons on earth. However, nobody has explained the 17 years of the 'missing Jesus'.
Until about the Middle Ages and the time of Enlightenment, Jeus was generally believed to be the God himself or a mix of true God and true man.
However, the writes of the testaments have indicated that Jesus was a both God and man. 'Son of Man' meaning a man, is repeated 88 times in the New Testament. In John, Jesus himself stated: “a man who told you the truth”.
However, in the Nicene Creed, Jesus is adored as true God. But later in AD 451, The Council of Chalcedon formalized the doctrine that Jesus was true God and true man.
Jesus' identity was questioned by in intelligentsia from the late 17 th Century onwards.
So, in the mind of this author there is no doubt whether Jesus existed. He did exist a man and died as a man condemned to death by crucifixion.
But none of the Christian traditions do not even try to explain as what may have happened to Jesus
Many people have tried to answer the question of 'historical Jesus' and about that period of 17 years popularly known as “Ther Unknown Years of Jesus' Life”. All the writings are unsatisfactory due to lack of credibility. But if you can scientifically analyze his words and deeds, you can figure out where he was. Jesus disappeared from the temple at the age of 13 and reappeared at the age of 30 from nowhere as a man of wisdom, substance, great oratory skills, love and compassion.
Up To Jesus' time there were some 9 great philosophers who had come and gone. Akhenaten from Egypt, Cicero from Rome, Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle from Greece, Confucius from China, Buddha from India and I am also including Vyasa from India who is the author of the book Bhagwat Githa. There are DNA matches of many of the words and deeds from these philosophers to that of Jesus.
We can infer that Jesus was a very inquisitive boy. By the age of 13, he had mastered the Torah. He had many questions. That is why he went to the Temple. His questions were anathema to the priests and therefore he was chased out.
Right from the time of Alexander the Great, there were very many Greeks settled down in Israel. Jesus learned Greek and had some insights to the Greek culture and literature. Then he left for Egypt. The route to Egypt was well paved. He investigated the history of the Exodus and learned that the Jewish crowd in Egypt at that time of the exodes was very small, not more than a couple of thousands. I reasoned that he secured a job at the library of Alexandria where he got acquainted with the collection of the Knowledge of the world that The Ptolemies had collected at the library. After about 4 years he went to Rome, where he learned in detail about Cicero, his philosophy, style of meditation and in particular the style of rhetoric with the usage of parables to prove a point. After about two or three years he travelled to Athens, Greece. He walked through the footprints of the great philosophers and probably had seen some of the Greek dramas. From his travels so far, Jesus had learned vaguely about the great Eastern civilization of India and China.
Jesus returned to Palestine. It was only natural that a Jew gets married at the age of 21. He married and had a child. Jesus was troubled by the Roman rule of Palestine. Being pragmatic, he did not lead a revolution against the Romans. He continued his journey. He went to Babylonia and learned that most of the stories in Torah are a direct copy from the Babylonian literature. He saw the Laws of Hammurabi inscribed and displayed on a dark stone at Esagila. He also learned the Babylonian prayer very similar to "our father who art in heaven..."
In Babylon he got connected with a caravan returning to China. He got a ride. The leader of the Caravan was a senior Government official, well-educated and well versed in Confucianism. In that long journey of three months Jesus learned a lot about the Chinese civil laws and the teachings of Confucius. In Bactria Joshua got out, and the Chinese caravan turned north to Xian. In those days there were lots of travel between Bactria and Taxila in India. Joshua got a ride on an old chariot pulled by a horse to Drapsaka and from there joined a caravan going to Taxila. Taxila was a great learning center from the times of the great emperor Chandra Gupta Maurya and further enriched as a Buddhist study center by emperor Ashoka. Joshua stayed in Taxila and learned Buddhism and Confucianism. After three years he moved to Madhura under the tutelage of the great sage Vyasa. He learned Bhagavad Gita in detail along with other Indian epics. It is here in Mathura at the hermitage that Joshua met the most mysterious lady Sukanya who made a big impact on him. After four years at the age of thirty Joshua returned to Israel. I don't believe that Jesus had any superhuman powers. I am in the Aristotelian corner. God is the "Unmoved mover' He doesn't come to earth to micromanage men. If you take out the mysticism, magics and sorceries from the Jesus stories you will see the greatest philosopher of all who said and did things from his learnings and wisdom. Let me give you a few examples:
A: The prayer "our father" from the Book of Hymns, Babylon 2300 B.C.
B: "Do not speak before you think" Book of wisdom Babylon. 2300 B.C.
C: "Do good to the men who do evil to you" Book of wisdom 2300 Babylon.
D: "Remove the vile from your eyes before you attack trivial evils in others." Confucius 490 B.C.
E: "Do unto others that you like to be done to yourself" Confucius 490 B.C.
F: 'No man of wisdom is respected in his own Village: Confucius 490 B.C
G; " Do your karma without fear or favor" Bhagavad Gita circa 100 B.C.
H: "Do not harm any beings." Budha circa 500 B.C.
I: " Total non-violence." Budha circa 500 B.C.
J: The technique of using parables in rhetoric. Cicero 130-43 B.C.
All these examples and more prove that Jesus had learned from all those philosophers. In the turn of the first millennium by travelling to those places.
However, some of his most profound teachings do not have any precedents or examples from history.
A: Jesus was the first philosopher ever to come to the rescue of women and take up their cause. The first activist for women's rights. Eg: the story of the crowd trying to stone a harlot. " Who amongst you without sin may cast the first stone"
B: His admonition against the pedophile: "It's much better that a millstone be tied around his neck and him being sent to the deepest fathom of the ocean." Here Jesus is favoring capital punishment
C: His admonition against the Pharisees. "Cursed art thou. .... nothing but whitewashed tombs'
D: Jesus was the first philosopher who set an example for equal wages. Eg: the parable of workers calling to job in the morning, noon and afternoon and giving equal wages.
E: Jesus admonished laziness and praised hard work. The parable of giving the same amount of money to three people, all three of them investing differently with different outcomes.
F: Jesus' example against untouchability. Eg: taking a drink from a Samaritan woman.
G: Jesus' famous parable about the good Samaritan is a testimony of the humanity of the inferior Samaritan against the upper-class priests, businessmen and all.
In essence, it is beyond doubt that Jesus has travelled the world during those 17 years and learned from the philosophers of the East and West. in addition to being a bold, brilliant, genius. Unfortunately, so far, he has not been presented like that. He is presented as a 'God' showing superhuman miracles. So, his personality is belittled. His position in human history as the paramount philosopher is marred. I have researched Jesus for fifteen years, tried to read all the great works of mankind up till the time of Jesus and travelled to all those nations and civilizations that Jesus may have travelled. I present this book for the world to read. JESUS was a man. An ordinary man with extraordinary qualities. The greatest philosopher of all times.