The Silent Years of Jesus: Glastonbury
By Liaf
We do not hear much about the life of Jesus in the Bible between the ages of 12 and 30. Theologians often refer to them as the "silent years". There are stories galore as to what Jesus did and where he went. As usual, I love Capt’s work and have his book called "The Traditions of Glastonbury". This book considers the possibility that Jesus visited Britain, and the church was even started there. The book does not assert the possibility dogmatically, but seriously considers the circumstantial evidence based on archeological finds and stories (including historical works). That’s what I like about Capt. He had decades of archeological experience to produce tangible evidence to back up what he says. Whereas theologians may ask "That’s ridiculous! How do we know Jesus was in Britain?" I must respectfully ask them all what tangible evidence they have to prove that Jesus wasn’t there? "We just do not know; his life from ages 12 to 30 is a mystery", they may reply. Fine. That’s a great excuse to bury the whole issue. "Well we have evidence from thus-and-so that he visited China". Well, so what? You see, their point is that just because there is an apparent lack of evidence equates to proof that Jesus was not in Britain. Or again, just because everyone and their brother claims that Jesus visited them that the abundance of stories proves he was not anywhere since they just can’t all be true. Fine logic they use here. Well, to each their own.
Before I go on, let me say why I consider this a very strong possibility--- no, I would even go as far as to say that I personally believe this. Jesus visited Britain for several reasons in my opinion. First of all, the house of Israel resided there. That was a good place for Jesus to prepare for his formal ministry that began when he was 30 in Judea. Secondly, along that line of reasoning, the Davidic Throne was transferred to the general region in Ireland. The people of the isles would be the future light-bearers to the gospel. And yet another reason is that as Capt pointed out, the Druids resided there---- a people who had similar doctrines to Christianity and much like Christianity, was at odds with the Roman Empire. Their center was a place called Glastonbury. This place once was an isle, now surrounded by land as the water receded. Another name was called the "isle of Avalon", a name that you may have heard in various folklore. Although I will not get into detail in this message, this is the place of various ruins relating to our topic. More on that later. These were ripe grounds for the acceptance of Christianity. Let it be known that I am not saying that Christ proclaimed Himself as the Messiah there at this time in history or did any formal ministry. As usual, this site is not intended to go into great detail, but to give you, the dear reader, enough information to chew on and research for yourself. However, this is an interesting thought at the very least that Jesus could have been raised in a different setting as God prepared him.
The Bible does not say much about Joseph of Arimathea except for certain things such as asking for the body of Jesus and being on the Sanhedrin (from statements deduced from the Bible). Interestingly, the Eastern Church as well as The Jewish Talmud both claim that Joseph of Arimathea was the great-uncle of Jesus (which is why he had the boldness to ask for the body of Jesus since he had a reputation on the Sanhedrin). A relative would be allowed to do so. He was the younger brother of Mary’s father (making him her uncle and Jesus’ great-uncle). In addition, adequate evidence exists that ancient Britain was big in the metal trades, especially tin, even before the Roman Empire days. This is where it gets interesting. Remember some references I made regarding various Israelite tribes trading long before Christ? For example, seafaring people came from the tribe of Dan and it was one such ship that Jeremiah and his company possibly traveled on. Although the archeological evidence is not as strong in this area, legends abound that Joseph of Arimathea came to Britain engaged in the tin trade, and descriptions of an auburn haired youth accompanied him. These stories center in the Cornwall area and there are no absence of landmarks and such that people attribute (by legend) to the visitation of Jesus and Joseph to the region. In line with the auburn haired youth idea, we must remember that the King James Bible describes King David as "fair and ruddy" (like any good Irish kid). In addition, if Jesus accompanied Joseph by traveling to Britain (and this goes for any other regions around the world), this may indeed explain enigmatic statements made in reference to Jesus in the Bible such as "Is this not Joseph’s son?" You see, if one reads the Bible carefully, whenever Jesus caused some sort of stir, people asked about his identity as if they were not real familiar with Jesus hanging around the area. The implication is that he may have traveled a lot and did not hang around as much as we were taught to believe. Try to find other such passages in the gospels and look at them from this slant--- a strong possibility.
I want to conclude this short message with the reason why I believe it was important that Jesus visited the region in addition to the reasons I already gave. His presence there laid the foundation of the apostles, including some of the women of the Bible such as Jesus’ mother, to come later and establish Christianity there. In my next message, I will touch on some of the stories regarding apostles going to Britain to start the church there straight from the Holy Land (and independent of Rome or any other hierarchical system).
Lastly, I’m just giving an overview of the first few dozen pages of this book. I am speaking directly to you as a friend who merely gives their "two cents" worth about any book. To my knowledge, I put things into my own words and inserted some additional opinions. I stayed away from scanning pictures out of respect for possible copyright issues. Indeed, the book shows some of the landmarks and other archeological relics related to this subject. However, you can go to this link www.artisanpublishers.com to order Capt’s book and research for yourself. From my limited experience, this book summarizes nicely what many authors on this subject already say.