CHRIST WAS NEVER IN INDIA

THE EDITOR: With reference to a news report in the Sunday Newsday of February 8, 2004, it is claimed that Christ lived in India for many years, the so-called missing 18 years of Christ. This letter is to inform Christians that the Bible says otherwise. There are in fact no missing years! Neither the Vedas, the Mahabharata, nor the Ramayan makes any such claim about Jesus Christ. in fact, these books do not mention our Lord at all. The question, however, is where does the idea that Christ lived in India come from? It comes from a book called The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ, written by Dr Levi H Dowling early in the twentieth century. This book was transcribed from the “Akashic Records”. Most of us do not know what these records are, and indeed, if they exist at all.

The Akashic Records is a theosophical term, referring to an universal “filing system” which records every occurring thought, word, and action. The records are impressed on a subtle substance called “akasha” or Soniferous Ether. When the mind of man is in exact accord with the Universal Mind, he enters into a conscious recognition of these Akashic impressions, and may collect them and translate them into any language on earth with which he is familiar. According to his wife, Eva, Levi Dowling transcribed his book from these records in the early hours of the morning between 4 and 6 am by mentally “tapping into” these Akashic records and collecting notes on the thoughts, words and actions of Jesus. Dowling therefore conducted no objective investigations into the historical records but used what mainstream Christian theology considers an occultic practice to obtain information. Surely this cannot be regarded as a reliable source for researching religious data.

The book claims that Jesus not only lived in India, but also Tibet, Persia, Assyria, Greece and Egypt! As would be expected, it conflicts with eye witnesses’ accounts of the life and times of Jesus and also with biblical prophecy which should be of some concern to critics. They nevertheless quote from it as though it is truth. They do so at their own peril and embarrassment. The book is available online free at http://www.sacred-texts.com. In the biblical records (this we are certain about), we are given an incident in Christ’s life. When 12 years old, he attended a feast in Jerusalem. Next, we are told  “And he went down with them (Mary and Joseph, not the Rishis), and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” (Luke 2: 51, 52; also verse 40 KJV). This feast took nothing more than a few days, so we can say that almost 30 years of the life of Christ is not recorded and not 18 years as Dowling purports. Another incident, recorded in Mark 6: 1-4 KJV, suggests that Jesus lived in Nazareth during this 30 year period, and was a carpenter by trade. Thus, according to the Bible, the only reliable record, Christ was never in India.

SYLVAN JAMES
Debe