Did Jesus go to India as a child and learn from Hindu Gurus?

[Garland-Green]

Many New Agers have claimed that Jesus went to India as a child to learn from Hindu gurus. He allegedly later went to Israel and performed miracles learned from these gurus, and taught doctrines He derived from them.

Such an idea is preposterous.

To begin with, Jesus' teaching about God was not pantheistic (“all is God”), as was that of the gurus of India.

Jesus never cited the Hindu Vedas but always the Jewish Old Testament which proclaimed the monotheistic God of Judaism (see Mark 12:29).

There is virtually NO evidence that Jesus studied in India.

Though the Gospels do not directly address Jesus' childhood, there are convincing indirect evidences that He remained in Palestine. Luke 2:52 summarizes Jesus' life from age 12: "And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

Jesus, of course, was both God and human. As God, He was omniscient (all-knowing) and all-wise; He could never “grow in wisdom” from the divine perspective. In His humanity, however, He probably gained wisdom as did other Jewish boys, by studying the Old Testament Scriptures (Psalm 1:2) and listening to the wisdom of the elders.

Jesus was known in His community as a carpenter (Mark 6:3) and a carpenter's son (Matthew 13:55). It was customary among the Jews for fathers to teach their sons a trade. Joseph would have taught Jesus the trade of carpentry as Jesus matured in the Palestine area. That carpentry played a role in His life is clear because some of His parables and teachings drew upon that experience. For example, He told of building a house on rock as opposed to sand (Matthew 7:24-27).

Luke 4:16 is a key text to refute the idea that Jesus went to India. At the beginning of His three-year ministry, Jesus "came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read." Jesus was brought up in Nazareth, not India, and His custom was to visit the synagogue, not Hindu temples.

After Jesus finished reading on this occasion, "all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, 'Is this not Joseph's son?'" (Luke 4:22). Those in the synagogue recognized Jesus as a local resident.


It is also noteworthy that Jesus read from the Old Testament Scriptures. The Old Testament, for which Jesus often displayed reverence [see Matthew 5:18], warns about staying away from false gods and religious systems (Exodus 20:2-3; 34:14; Deuteronomy 6:14; 13:10; 2 Kings 17:35)—this would include Hinduism . The Old Testament clearly distinguishes the creation from the Creator, unlike Eastern (Hindu) pantheism, and teaches the need for redemption, not enlightenment.

Author: Dr. Ron Rhodes of Reasoning from the Scriptures Ministries.

http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/rfsm-guru.html  

[Islamic Teacher]

Jesus went to India?
Makes sense, a Jewish man going south across the world to learn Hinduism and maybe Buddhism
And later returning home and mixes the beliefs he learned with his own Jewish beliefs
hmm................  

[Garland-Green]

Khalid Ibn Walid

Jesus went to India?
Makes sense, a Jewish man going south across the world to learn Hinduism and maybe Buddhism
And later returning home and mixes the beliefs he learned with his own Jewish beliefs
hmm................

Like the article pointed out, the idea is preposterous
for several reasons. The article does a very good job pointing out why it did not happen. In essence there is no proof for it, and it takes a much greater leap of faith than believing what the Bible tells us about him.  

[Ratsah]

New Agers are always coming up with strange Doctrines about Christ. More or less like traditions of Men than that of God. It's all a way to deny Christ as God. :  

[Servant Reborn]

I read a weird article that Jesus supposedly went to Japan.  

[Garland-Green]

Hamul

New Agers are always coming up with strange Doctrines about Christ. More or less like traditions of Men than that of God. It's all a way to deny Christ as God. :

Yes it is. it is people trying to make Christ what they feel comfortable with Christ being. People do not want to admit guilt, or sin.  

[real eyes realize]

 
Christianity as a whole needs to speak and live out the true concept of "holiness", then maybe less people would fall for such theories. Something "holy" is set-apart for YHWH's use, consecrated for YHWH's purposes only, living out his "way" not anyone elses'. Not mixing spiritual beliefs and traditions of men into our worship of him. Yeshua and our Heavenly Father never spoke approvingly of doing the contrary, quite the opposite:

Quote:

Deuteronomy 12:30-31 (NIV)

30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Quote:

Mark 7:7 (NIV)

7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

Quote:

Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Quote:

Matthew 19:3-9 (NIV)

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b ]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Footnotes:
 a. Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27
 b. Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24

Yeshua came to free us not just from sin and the guilt of sin, but also from false, man-made traditions that distorted the truth and placed a heavier yoke on us with things that YHWH never said to do.

He commanded against adding/removing from his law anyway:

Quote:

Deuteronomy 4:2 (NIV)

2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

There's no point in going to see a Guru; if for some reason he went to "visit", it would've been to convert somebody, not alter his Father's teachings.

Quote:

John 12:49 (NIV)

49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

Quote:

Matthew 5:17 (NIV)

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

He came to do the law and fulfill prophecies, not act in disaccord with the Law—the law which says "to be holy" and not like the pagans.  

[Ratsah]

real eyes realize

 
Christianity as a whole needs to speak and live out the true concept of "holiness", then maybe less people would fall for such theories. Something "holy" is set-apart for YHWH's use, consecrated for YHWH's purposes only, living out his "way" not anyone elses'. Not mixing spiritual beliefs and traditions of men into our worship of him. Yeshua and our Heavenly Father never spoke approvingly of doing the contrary, quite the opposite:

Quote:

Deuteronomy 12:30-31 (NIV)

30 and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, “How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.” 31 You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshiping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.

Quote:

Mark 7:7 (NIV)

7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’

Quote:

Matthew 6:7-8 (NIV)

7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Quote:

Matthew 19:3-9 (NIV)

3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b ]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?”

8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Footnotes:
 a. Matthew 19:4 Gen. 1:27
 b. Matthew 19:5 Gen. 2:24

Yeshua came to free us not just from sin and the guilt of sin, but also from false, man-made traditions that distorted the truth and placed a heavier yoke on us with things that YHWH never said to do.

He commanded against adding/removing from his law anyway:

Quote:

Deuteronomy 4:2 (NIV)

2 Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the LORD your God that I give you.

There's no point in going to see a Guru; if for some reason he went to "visit", it would've been to convert somebody, not alter his Father's teachings.

Quote:

John 12:49 (NIV)

49 For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken.

Quote:

Matthew 5:17 (NIV)

"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

He came to do the law and fulfill prophecies, not act in disaccord with the Law—the law which says "to be holy" and not like the pagans.

Good points. May I add, New Agers, and even some Christians get into bad habits of buffeting our way through Bible verses, picking the one's that suit our ideals/needs/desires. I find this too, to be a dangerous approach in our walk with the Lord..  

[Islamic Teacher]

Garland-Green

Khalid Ibn Walid

Jesus went to India?
Makes sense, a Jewish man going south across the world to learn Hinduism and maybe Buddhism
And later returning home and mixes the beliefs he learned with his own Jewish beliefs
hmm................

Like the article pointed out, the idea is preposterous
for several reasons. The article does a very good job pointing out why it did not happen. In essence there is no proof for it, and it takes a much greater leap of faith than believing what the Bible tells us about him.

First off I was being sarcastic
second I DON"T believe in the Bible
I believe in the Quran
and Jesus son of Mary (peace be upon him) could have traveled to different places (i personally doubt it)  

[Biblical_Counselor]

Nowhere in the Bible says that Jesus went to India. That really does seem very absurd. It says that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and moved to Egypt because there was some after his life. But after the king died, He moved to Nazareth. Why? Because it was prophesied that He would be a Nazarene.

It was also prophesied that He would suffered and died for us on the cross. And all of the predictions in the Old Testament is 100% true that He is the Christ, the King of Kings and Lord of Lord.  

[Rednal]

To be honest, this sounds like a really amusing crossover of the Bible and Journey to the West. People have all sorts of ideas about where a "Holy Man" will go to acquire the knowledge that they share with others (since it's mostly presumed to be taught to others rather than originating with them), but it's usually somewhere really far away.

Still, if people believe a theory, it's often good for tourism...  

[Servant Reborn]

Rednal

To be honest, this sounds like a really amusing crossover of the Bible and Journey to the West. People have all sorts of ideas about where a "Holy Man" will go to acquire the knowledge that they share with others (since it's mostly presumed to be taught to others rather than originating with them), but it's usually somewhere really far away.

Still, if people believe a theory, it's often good for tourism...

In the article, the people running the place don't seem to believe it. They just want money.