Some people are teaching that Jesus traveled to the Far East and adopted some of what he "learned" into his adult ministry. What he "adopted," of course, was nothing more than New Age concepts in sheep's clothing. I need some hard facts and good discussion to answer this teaching.

 
 
This teaching has been around for quite a while but no scholar really takes this too seriously. The teachings of Jesus and the Eastern religions are contradictory and not compatible. The eastern pantheistic view of God as merely an impersonal energy or force is very different from what Jesus taught us about God as our Abba, personal creator and Father of His children. The doctrine of salvation is very different between the eastern religions and what Jesus taught. On teachings about eternity, Jesus does not teach anything about reincarnation. So on the very basic fundamentals, Jesus' teachings are incompatible with Eastern theology. Therefore it is highly unlikely he went and studied under Hindu monks in the east during his teen years.

Pat Zukeran
Probe Ministries

About the Author

Patrick Zukeran is a research associate with Probe Ministries. He has a B.A. from Point Loma Nazarene University, a Master of Theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, and a doctorate from Southern Evangelical Seminary. He is an author, radio talk show host, and a national and international speaker on apologetics, comparative religions, Bible, and theology. Pat hosts a nationally syndicated radio show “Evidence and Answers” (www.evidenceandanswers.org) which also airs throughout Asia. Before joining Probe, Pat served for twelve years as an Associate Pastor. He can be reached via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it . Pat currently resides in Plano, Texas.

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Probe Ministries is a non-profit ministry whose mission is to assist the church in renewing the minds of believers with a Christian worldview and to equip the church to engage the world for Christ. Probe fulfills this mission through our Mind Games conferences for youth and adults, our 3-minute daily radio program, and our extensive Web site at www.probe.org.

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