
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, December 25, 1994                   TAG: 9412270105
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: HOLIDAY 
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: NEW DELHI, INDIA                                LENGTH: Short

SCHOLAR SAYS JESUS WAS REALLY AN INDIAN MONK

This weekend, Christians by the hundreds of millions the world over mark one of the most joyous events in the ecclesiastical year. But what became of the infant whose birth is celebrated at Christmas?

The Bible, of course, tells the story. But a German dissenter with a diploma in theology is offering his own in a controversial book now for sale in bookstores in India and elsewhere.

The title of Holger Kersten's work, amplified and republished this year after selling 1.5 million copies worldwide, says it all: ``Jesus Lived in India.''

In a nutshell, he proposes that the son of Joseph and Mary traveled to India when young, imbibed the Buddhist philosophy and world view at the feet of Buddhist monks, then returned to propagate his findings among his people in Palestine. Kersten also asserts that Christ did not die on the cross but survived and returned to India.

Whatever truth it contains, the book is a reminder of the extraordinary importance India has exerted through the centuries on the human spirit. Ritual baptism and monastic asceticism are among its exports.

Mainstream Christians could rightly note that Kersten's ideas are heresy. In its 264 pages, the book denies the central tenet of Christianity: that the son of God died to atone for humanity's sins.

by CNB