OK, Im hooked on your content Paul. I have long wondered how the stories in the Sumerian tablets and the bible could coincide. It has been years since I have even read the bible and now, given this new perspective, I would like to. Can you recommend a version that is most true to the sources it was derived from? There are so many different versions and I have no idea where to start.

Hi Andrew, Thanks for your question. I get asked this a lot as you can imagine. For a readable tranlsation I like the New International Version or the Good News (Today's English version). For greater technical accuracy and fantastic scholarly notes, acknowledging the ciritical issues of sources and translation, I would recommend the New Jerusalem Bible, expanded study edition. For more serious study I would recommend using an online interlinear for the Hebrew scriptures as a hard copy can be hard to come by, and then read it alongside a really good lexicon like the Brown Drivers Briggs. For the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the expanded Hebrew canon, quoted by Jesus and those who wrote for him I would recommend an interlinear and the same as for the New Testament, read alongside the Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich & Danker Greek lexicon. Expensive resources but incredible rewarding. They are invetsments you won't regret. Health and Peace, Paul

Paul, thank you! You offer a wonderful resource here with the forum. I find it rare to be able to interact directly with an author, thanks for taking the time. I may start with the New Jerusalem Bible. It seems like it may address the sources, and I do find that interesting, while also being readable. Ill poke around at the bookstore later today.

How did you go looking for a New Jerusalem Bible? Were you able to find the expanded study edition?

Hi Paul, I did. I found it on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0525573194

I am finding it OK, but maybe a little too "readable". I am just getting started so I will give it some time before I think about looking into other versions. It is truly fascinating to read through this, even if for the first time, with this new perspective.

I also just listened to your video on "Reframing Jesus":

Your interpretation of the "resurrection" was revelatory. I had never heard it from that angle. I am sure that idea will not sit well with traditional Christianity, but... given the fact that Jesus had been recorded as visiting other places AFTER the crucifixion, well, its hard to see it any other way. AND, possibly more importantly, something inside says "Yes" this is true. The pieces are coming together. In the last year I have been experiencing a knew found passion for Jesus, mostly due to the series "The Chosen". It has opened me up to a power and compassion that he taught, and where we might go.

"Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."

This path seems to be endless, and now has me interested in the Apocrypha:
https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Apocrypha-Definitive-Collection-Apocryphal/dp/B0CHL9PQNB?ref_=ast_slp_dp
and the Books of Enoch, really anything that was "cut" from more recent versions of the Bible. I have plenty to keep me busy for now, but would like your recommendation on a direction here. There are a LOT of versions of the Apocrypha and I really dont have the education to understand which would be best.

OK, i have gone off topic enough here. Thanks for inspiring me to dive deeper!

Also just made it through "Jesus in India" episode 3 on my usual morning drive. The App for your channel here is a really nice addition, and allows me to listen, drive and think.

I came across a book a few years ago, reprinted from the 19th century and citing a manuscript from a monastery in northern India, that recounted Jesus visiting both India and Egypt in his travels from age 14 until the time of his ministry, during which time he stayed in various establishments and learned from Buddhist monks and Egyptian priests. This accounts for his missing years from the canonical gospels. There was nothing about his physical presence though, post crucifixion.

There are accounts both from the Gnostic gospels, as well as an Islamic hadith that state that, when he was quite young, Jesus unwittingly struck down and killed another young boy, with his unrestrained anger. It would appear that, even though capable of powerful things at a young age, his prowess at the temple at age 12, as another example, he clearly recognised the need for further learning and training and left Galilee, in order to seek it out.