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Did Jesus Visit Britain?

James_H2 said:
In a book I'm reading (London: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd) there's been a passing reference to a couple of Greek guys coming to Britain at about this time and being surprised to discover people who could speak Greek to them - I can't bring up the exact reference but this does seem to indicate that a)There was plenty of learning and culture in celtic britain and b)travel and trade from far afield happened, lending to a relatively cosmopolitan culture.
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True dat! And there is more evidence of that surfacing. I remember watching "Meet the Ancestors" where they excavated a late-Roman period grave of a rather wealthy man (in Bath, I think).

His teeth were analyzed and it turned out he originally came from Northern Africa - which wasn't quite what they expected. Other things like jewelery was also found very far from its place of origin and so forth. Even in the Bronze age there seemed to have been well-traveled trade routes.

So, it is possible. But I do think India is a more logical place to go to for a prophet in that period.

Were Druids actually wise men? We don't really know enough about them really, do we? Apparently they did know a bit about the 'shrooms I seem to recall.
 
Who was the writer who claimed that all the events in the gospels happened in Britain? Was he ahead of his time?
 
gncxx said:
Who was the writer who claimed that all the events in the gospels happened in Britain? Was he ahead of his time?
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I'm not sure I've come across that one before, but there's a loon called Iman Jacob Wilkens who thinks that the Trojan War took place just outside Cambridge...
 
Thanks JW, I had heard of the British Israelites, but I couldn't make the connection...
 
JamesWhitehead said:
Timble2 said:
gncxx said:
Who was the writer who claimed that all the events in the gospels happened in Britain? Was he ahead of his time?
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I'm not sure I've come across that one before, but there's a loon called Iman Jacob Wilkens who thinks that the Trojan War took place just outside Cambridge...
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William Comyns-Beaumont? :)
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That's the man! Sadly, judging by the way the world's going and that list of his beliefs, he probably was ahead of his time...
 
I thought it was generally accepted that ancient trading networks where far more numerous, advanced and far-reaching than has been previously thought.

One of my lecturers was pretty convinced that bilingualism and even multilingualism was far more common in iron age Britain than is expected.

So there is no reason why Jesus could not have travelled to Britain with 'Uncle Joe'.

Whether he did or not rests upon the who likely it is that a carpenters son would be taken on a long and dangerous voyage. If the merchant ships of the 18th-19th century are anything to go by space would be at a premium and it is unlikely that you would take extra mouths to feed.

Many ships though had a ships-carpenter, is it possible that Jesus was taken as an apprentice on a voyage? Although, what use a carpenter trained 50km from the nearest body of water would be on a sea voayage is debatable.
 
The idea that Jesus was 'just' the son of a humble carpenter (or not!) is probably a later Christian gloss put on his life story. Remember he was supposed to be of royal blood, and the Romans decided to execute him in that role (King of the Jews), as a rebel against their rule.

Reading between the lines of the Gospels it's apparent that he had the wide social connections consistent with being part of a rich and powerful family. His 'father' Joe might have been the General Manager of a woodworking company, and hence moved in the same social circles as Uncle Joe, a rich merchant.

So if Jesus accompanied Uncle Joe to Britain, it might not have been as ship's carpenter, but as a trainee merchant. Perhaps Uncle Joe had no sons of his own, and hoped to make Jesus his heir. Another point is that the Journey to Britain was probably not made entirely by sea, but mostly by land. (Various routes were possible.)

We don't really have much in the way of hard facts about Jesus' life. The writings we do have were composed after his death, but still in a world dominated by Roman rule. Thus these writings removed or played down the political aspects of his rebellious campaign, and emphasised instead the philosophical and religious aspects. The Jews were a religious people, so there was plenty of material to work with. They had many sects too, so it was fairly easy to portray Jesus as something different and new.

At this distance in time, we'll probably never know the full story, but it's clear (to me, anyway! 8) ) that the New Testament is more religious propaganda than history.
 
I'd have to take a bit of contention with the idea that Jesus was clearly of royal blood if you 'read between the lines' of the Gospels.

We must remember that it was impossible in Jewish eschatology to have a messiah who was not in some way of royal blood.

Oh and Pietro... it was actually in his Gap year. Have you not seen his Facebook photos?
 
rjmrjmrjm said:
I'd have to take a bit of contention with the idea that Jesus was clearly of royal blood if you 'read between the lines' of the Gospels.
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That's not what I said.
The gospels state Jesus was of royal blood, and give his links to King David.

I said "Reading between the lines of the Gospels it's apparent that he had the wide social connections consistent with being part of a rich and powerful family." Frequently he tells his disciples "Go to such-and-such a place, and there you will find so-and-so, etc", but there's no explanation of how he knows all this. If you believe in Godly omniscience it's no problem, but I prefer to understand what's going on at the human level.

There's also the problem of the disciples themselves. Did they, as members of his 'inner circle', know all this stuff too? Or were they really in the dark about all this, as a surface reading of the gospels suggest?

There are several possibilities. Perhaps the gospels read as they do as part of the 'safe-for-Roman-rule-editing' which I mentioned previously, by deliberately omitting certain details. Or perhaps the disciples really were in the dark, and the real inner circle was a network of rich and powerful supporters who had to operate mostly secretly for fear of the Romans sniffing out the growing rebellion? If this was the case, the disciples might just have been lowly foot-soldiers, adopted by Jesus as part of his Messianic persona. There are many instances of Jesus deliberately acting out prophecies intended to reveal the Messiah.

All fascinating stuff, but it's getting away from the Jesus in Britain theme. As I said before, At this distance in time, we'll probably never know the full story.
 
Various places in Cornwall claim a Jesus connection, but this is the first time I've heard Looe mentioned:
At the top off the cliffs above the fishing port of Looe ramblers will find a "seven-fold labyrinth" constructed by a local landowner.

The South West Coast Path, which overlooks St George's Island, was the stopping point for Joseph of Arimathea and his nephew Jesus on their way to Glastonbury, according to local legend.
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... nwall.html
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rynner2 said:
Various places in Cornwall claim a Jesus connection, but this is the first time I've heard Looe mentioned:
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Time Team did a dig at this site last year:
Legend has it that Jesus Christ himself played on the pebble beach at Looe Island (also known as St George's Island), about one mile off the south Cornwall coast near Looe. It is a story that probably originated when the island was being established as a place of pilgrimage to rival St Michael's Mount further to the southwest.
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http://www.channel4.com/history/microsi ... index.html
 
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