What is the basis for accounting his life for 17 years. This is an age-old question. Many people have tried to answer the question, but they are all unsatisfactory and lack reasoning. Nobody has put forward a plausible explanation for those periods of 17 years in Jesus' life. There is no contemporaneous documentation by anybody. No audio tape or videotape, no caricatures or paintings. 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. Akhenatenn 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.

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. Since Alexander's invasion, many Greeks had 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 known. He investigated the history of the Exodus and learned that the Jewish crowd in Egypt at that time 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 universe - all the knowledge of the world ensembled in one place, under one roof in one dialect- a fulfillment of Alexander's vision materialized by the Ptolemies.

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 where prose is recited like poetry with rhythmic meters, resonating words juxtapositioned one opposite the other. I think this was a very important part of Jesus' learning. I think Jesus had mastered Cicero's rhetoric styles. Look at his rhetoric skills in the sermon at the mount; we must call it “Jesus; declamation on the mount” or “Jesus' oration on the mount”:

Eg: Blessed art the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed art the poor in spirit for theirs, is the kingdom of Heaven.

Throughout history many have successfully tried this Ciceronian rhetoric style.

Eg: John F, Kennedy:
Ask not, what you can do for your country, ask, what you can do for your country.

Martin Luthedr King Junior:
I have a dream. It's a dream deeply rooted in…
I have a dream……

After about three years in Rome, he travelled to Athens, Greece. He walked through the footprints of the great philosophers and probably had seen some of the Greek dramas. From Alexandria he had read Plato and Aristotle. Of course, what Socrates said was all transcribed by Plato. Jesus knew the genius in Socrates' little questions eliciting answers from the students, cleaners, shoemakers and the ordinary Athenians. Plato was a man of a different metal; his vision of the Republic must have made a deep impression on our Nazarene. Jesus must have liked the simple reasoning and validity in Aristotle's logic. Later in life when a pharisee asked a tricky question to Jesus about whether it is lawful to pay taxes to Caesar? Jesus quickly made it a counterquestion: Show me a coin. Whose inscription is there. Render to Caesar that are Caesar's and render to God that are God's, - a classic Aristotelian logic in action.

Jusus returned to Palestine. He did not enter public life. It was only customary that a Jew gets married at the age of 18- 21. He married a girl named Mary. Jesus was troubled by the Roman rule of Palestine. Being pragmatic, he did not lead a revolution against the Romans. He continued his journey.

Next Jesus went to Babylonia. It was a big revelation. He 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 stele at the temple of Esagila. He also learned the Babylonian prayer very similar to "our father who art in heaven..." Jesus found the Babylonian Book of wisdom a fascinating treasure of knowledge and wisdom.

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. 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. He crossed the Khyber Pass following the footsteps of Cyrus, Darius, Alexander and their massive armies. Taxila was a great learning center from about 600 BCE. It became one of the greatest learning centers in the world during 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 Hinduism, Buddhism and Confucianism in addition to introduction to the Vedas.

After three years in Taxila Joshua moved to Madhura under the tutelage of the great sage Vyasa. He learned Bhagavad Gita in detail from guru Vyasa. It was here in Mathura in a hermitage where Joshua met the most fascinating and mystic woman Sukanya. Jesus stayed in the hermitage with Sukanya for three years. Joshua learned the two great Indian epics of Ramana and Maha-Bharatha from Sukanya, so also the pearls of Buddhism, particularly the “Kundalini” method of meditation to achieve “Nirvana” and ecstasy before the end of life. In Sukanya's proximity, Joshua's mind vacillated and he almost fell for her a few times. After three years at the hermitage, a thirty-year-old Joshua returned to his homeland.

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 mysteries, magics and sorceries from the Jesus story you will see the greatest philosopher of all times 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.E
B: "Do not speak before you think" Book of wisdom Babylon. 2300 B.C.E
C: "Do good to the men who do evil to you" Book of wisdom 2300 B C E. Babylon.
D: "Remove the vile from your eyes before you attack trivial evils in others." Confucius 490 B.C.E
E: "Do unto others that you like to be done to yourself" Confucius 490 B.C.E
F: 'No man of wisdom is respected in his own Village: Confucius 490 BCE
G; " Do your karma without fear or favor" Bhagavad Gita circa 100 B.C.E
H: "Do not harm any beings." Buddha circa 580 B.C.E
I: " Total non-violence." Buddha circa 580 B.C.E
J: The technique of using parables in all rhetorics. Cicero 130-43 B.C.E

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 were better for him that a millstone be tied around his neck and that he was drowned in the deepest fathom of the ocean." Here Jesus is favoring capital punishment
C: His admonition against the Pharisees. "Cursed art thou. .... nothing but white-washed tombs.'
D: Jesus was the first philosopher who set an example for equal wages. Eg: the parable of workers called to work in the morning, noon and afternoon and giving equal wages.
E: Jesus admonished laziness and admired hard work. Eg: The parable of giving the same amount of money to three people; all three of them invest differently with different outcomes.
F: Jesus' deed against untouchability. Eg: taking a drink from a Samaritan woman.
G: Jesus' famous parable about the good Samaritan is a testimony to humanity of the inferior Samaritan doing righteously against the upper-class priests and businessmen showing lack of compassion and empathy.

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 bold, brilliant and genius. Unfortunately, so far, he is not presented in that narrative until JOSHUA the Odyssey of an Ordinary Man. 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.