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Traditions of Glastonbury: The Biblical Missing Years of Christ - Answered

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The Traditions of Glastonbury is a book that gets you to think. It speculates that Jesus spent years as a youngster in Britain with his uncle, Joseph of Arimathea, who was in the sea trading business. Although there is no concrete proof that Jesus was there, there is a long tradition that places Joseph there. It is also established fact that Glastonbury was the first Christian church built, outside of Jerusalem, after the ascension of Jesus. How did the church get there? Many mysteries of the Bible are shrouded in mystery. That doesn't make them untrue! Also, well documented and supported scholarly work does not necessarily make for historical truth. It only makes it more accepted. History has been altered and truth is many times concealed in speculation and tradition.

Jesus Christ's "lost years" are presented here primarily by tracking Joseph of Arimethea's travels to Cornwall and Wales. Joseph being Jesus' great-uncle on his mother's side, takes the boy Jesus with him on these travels after the death of Mary's husband, Joseph.

The facts presented in this book are, perhaps, too weak to establish anything more than probability. However, any serious student of history will acknowledge that very little in our past can be substantiated completely. The further back one goes, the more tenuous and ethereal the facts become. Often, as in the existence of ancient Jericho or Troy, one has only a steady stream of probabilities to base a hypothesis on. It is the strength of those probabilities that determines the validity of any research. This book contains a great amount of probability. More probability, I should say, than proved the existence of Troy. And yet, Troy existed.

This volume, The Traditions of Glastonbury, is aptly characterized as having been "presented" by its author. It is a compilation, useful as a starting point, because it assembles a great deal of lore in a single thin convenient volume, and includes many pictures and maps.

Unfortunately, this is not carefully constructed history, but hodgepodge. The text is full of inconsistencies, conjectures, unsupported inferences, and contains no proper citations or bibliography. Moreover, it does not present and support a thesis, nor even provide a cohesive narrative, but hops about with abandon in space and time. That said, it is still a useful book - but one to be read with caution.

For example, the date for the destruction by earthquake of St. Michael's church is given as 1275 on one page, and 1276 on the next. What difference does a year make? Not much, granted, but if the author and editor did not catch variant dates a single page apart, one wonders how carefully they scrutinized the rest of the book. The name "Cadiz" appears on the first line of a paragraph, but as "Cadis" within the same paragraph. Moreover, the typography clearly shows that the first instance was corrected by the insertion of "wrong font" letters.

Historians cannot support their theses by appealing to "Many Biblical scholars" or to un-named "Experts", but must do so by citing sources which can be verified. This book does so all to infrequently, and when it does, it fails to comment upon the authority of its sources. Should we lend the same weight to the apocryphal "Gospel of Nicodemus" and the canoncal one of Mark? Perhaps yes, perhaps no - we expect authors to help us decide when and if.

One finds it hard to believe that the island "strong-bold" (sic) community of Glastonbury, for which we are given an "artist's conception", could simultaneously have been so compact that it could hold only a few dozen huts, and have raised herds of horses and cows and grown many vegetables. If that happened on the mainland, why not say so? Examples of bronze age artefacts are plentiful in the book, but the author cannot claim that, as he implies, the items in the pictures were all made at Glastonbury.

We are shown a "Jesus Well" in Cornwall, with the suggestion that Christ replenished His ship's stores there. Well, there's a St. Paul's in London. Should we conclude that the Apostle was there?

We do not know where Jesus spent His teens and twenties. But the author does not distinguish between the tradition that He did so in Britain, and the evidence pro or con. That Phoenecian sailors probably mined metals in Britain does not mean that Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea sailed there hundreds of years later - it means that it was technically possible for them to do so. The fact that the 18th Century poet Blake wrote a beautiful hymn based on the tradition tells us much about the persistence of the legend, but nothing about its historical veracity.

The Druid Trinity may have included a person whose name sounded like "Jesu", and mediaeval scholars might well have seen this as a prefigurement of Christ, but the author's contention that Christianity would not have been possible without the Druids is plain silly.

Read the book because of the fine examples, the many pictures and maps, the pleasure of speculation, and to learn the traditions themselves, but do not accept the inferences and conclusions blindly.

If all we Christians are honest, we have to admit that no one is really sure where Jesus spent his "lost years"; nor do we really know what became of Joseph of Arimethea, the Holy Mother, or most of the Disciples after the Resurrection. However, Capt makes most persuasive arguments in support of the theory that Glastonbury traditions figure prominently in all the above and more, as regards Christian history. The Glastonbury traditional tales make great reading in their on right. However, Capt connects them to Scripture and Bible history, as well as with acheological finds in this century (1900's), in such a way as to leave one nodding one's head and murmuring, "Yes, it could have happened just so." A must-read for all students of Christian history, a real treasure.

The silent years of Jesus between 12 and 30 and an examination of the historical records concerning Joseph of Arimathea the great uncle of Jesus as a provencial Roman Senator and metal merchant. It was rumored that he owned many of the merchant ships that came to England from Rome and Phoenicia to barter for metal and other goods. Did Jesus accompany his uncle to this isle of the west? Mr. Capt reveals that there is substantial evidence to support that he did.

EXCERPT: One day a small boat, from one of the large merchant ships anchored in the Bristol Channel, tied up at the causeway of the Lake Village. A bearded man and a slim young boy in his early teens stepped ashore. They were no strangers to the villagers who crowded around to welcome them. The merchant had been coming by their village for many years, on his way to the lead mines of the Mendip Hills. It was known that he held a very important position in the powerful Roman government and carried the title "Nobilus Decurio". It was rumored that he owned many of the merchant ships that came to these Isle of the West, from Rome and Phoenicia, to barter for metal and other goods

The auburn haired lad was also known. He had accompained His uncle on a prior visit, staying at the village and exploring the surrounding territory, while His uncle conducted his business at the nearby Mendip lead mines. But this time a woman, perhaps in her early thirties was with them. As the boy helped the woman ashore, the crew proceeded to unload various sized chests and sacks, obviously belonging to them. Accommodations were soon found and the baggage was carried to one of the tiny huts facing the estaury.

In the weeks that followed, the merchant and the boy constructed a wattle hut, similar to those of the village, on a nearby island. The site they chose was at the base of a hill from which ran a spring of fresh water. Hawthorne and oak trees dotted the landscape. Small game and fish were in abundance and the marshy fertile shores promised bountiful crops. When the hut was finished, the woman and the boy moved from the village to their new home. The merchant and his men sailed away.

Jesus and His mother, Mary, were alone . . .

Excellent book...gets a top rating by all who read it.

I really liked this book. However, as someone stated below, there wasn't a formal bibliography and the author seemed to go off topic with additional information that was interesting but hard to follow sometimes. This book is a great place to start for someone new to the idea of Jesus in England. For somebody a bit more than a casual reader it's a good book to read, but you will need to really research Capt's references for more detailed information. Although Capt did an enormous amount of research for this book, it lacks scholarly professionalism and would not be a good reference.
Overall I give it 4 of 5 stars -a great read, a very interesting topic, I learned a lot from it, and it peaked my interest for continued studies of the topic.

Raymond Capt is one of my favorite authors. He is a historian coupled with the certification of a respected archeologist. Mr. Capt has gone through painstaking efforts to seek out the truth. He is like a private investigator and he always gets his facts. A truly out of the box thinker produces great results.
He has made a correlation between the Druids and the Ancient Hebrews and the building of Stonehenge. The modern day Druids do not know their roots but Mr. Capt connected the dots and his theories can provide proper ownership. The term for the plant, wandering Jew, is not far from the truth as the ancient Hebrews found their way to distant isle and they are the one of the early inhabitants of the British Isles. These people were God fearing people and their beliefs were evident in the early writings and pictographs of the Druids.
If you are interested in a different view of history and are mindful that recorded history is not always acurate, then this is a perfect addition to your library. I highly recommend it.

This book was recommended by our pastor. It is very interesting as to the possible things and places that Jesus might have traveled and done during his years from 12 to 30 years of age. It is presumed that these travels were with his uncle who was Mary's brother, who also was permitted to take his body from the cross and bury it in a tomb that he had for his own burial site. The book is very interesting and I would recommend it to anyone who studies the Bible.

This book is very interesting and gives a lot of convincing insight on the possible life of Jusus from the age of twelve when he visited the temple until his crucifixion. Also provides for the possible lives of Mary, his mother, and the disciples, as well as others after the resurrection of Jesus.

This book looked in very good condition when I received it, but unfortunately, and of no fault of the seller's, it fell apart when I started reading it. The glue holding this book together no longer performed its purpose. I wonder if this was a sign regarding the content of the story....maybe, maybe not.

Jesus Christ as a young lad in Glastonbury, England.....very probable