2010-03-11T15:20:56Z http://michaelapalmer.com/comments/atom.aspx Quick Blogcast tag:michaelapalmer.com,2009-01-06:1682584 Sam 2009-01-06T08:40:27Z 2009-01-06T08:40:27Z It seems possible that Jesus' lost years may have been spent traveling to India or other parts of the world. This doesn't seem to contradict anything in the Bible. Also reasoning that Jesus was God and therefore knew everything is actually contradictory to Bible scripture: Luke 2:52 And Jesus increased in wisdom (in broad and full understanding) and in stature and years, and in favor with God and man; Hebrews 5:8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. Even though I believe Jesus is the Son of God, the expression (word) of God in flesh, I also believe he was sent to atone for our sins and serve as a human model of how we should live. How could we hope to be like Jesus if he was born knowing everything. But if, as scripture states, he learned just as we can then we have a hope of being like him.<br> <br>As you can tell I'm a believer in Jesus Christ. This didn't happen because my parents raised me as a protestant, or because I joined the right organization or followed all the right rituals or followed a set of dogmatic beliefs. I became a follower after I was humble enough to admit despite my mastery of software architecture and knowledge of engineering and science I did not have all the answers. I was willing in a moment to believe in my heart (not just my head) that God was real, Jesus was actually his Son and that he actually died for my personal redemption and restoration. Once I expressed this in words through a prayer I received an unexpected transformation in my heart. That's when I actually became a true Christian. I wasn't pretending to be a Christian anymore I had become the true kind of Christian, according to the Bible, a sheep rather than a goat, wheat rather than chaff. I had become born again in with a new spirit through my faith (belief in my heart and words expressed) not by any rituals. I had confirmed what I had always suspected, I had never been a Christian up to that point. Up to that point It was a convenient label to describe my religious association and beliefs (head knowledge).<br> <br>Since I'm an engineer I look for consistency and inconsistency in information and continually try to reconcile them. Based on the information you've presented it I say it is possible that Jesus traveled to India and elsewhere. However, learning and studying about other religious systems does not constitute practicing those systems. In fact, according to the India story Jesus preached contrary to the local religions: "He preached to the masses, irritated the ruling classes and had to leave India or be assassinated. This pattern repeated itself in Persia where rulers felt threatened by his preaching..." If he was practicing and preaching the indigenous religions why would the locals feel threatened. So I will conclude by not only paraphrasing the Bible scripture but also stating what is logical and also consistent with scripture. The WHOLE Bible is recorded truth but not all truth is recorded in the bible.