Lost Years of Jesus Revealed [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles F. Potter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 12, 1985

For centuries Christian students of the Bible have wondered where Jesus was and what he did during the so-called "eighteen silent years" between the ages of twelve and thirty.
The amazing and dramatic scrolls of the great Essene library found in cave after cave near the Dead Sea have given us the answer at last.
That during those "lost years" Jesus was a student at this Essene school is becoming increasingly apparent. Scholars are gradually admitting the startling parallels between his doctrines and vocabulary and those of the Essenes and their "Teacher of Righteousness," who was evidently executed nearly a century before the birth of Jesus. It is to his title and authority that Jesus probably succeeded.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

For centuries Christian students of the Bible have wondered where Jesus was and what he did during the so-called "eighteen silent years" between the ages of twelve and thirty.
The amazing and dramatic scrolls of the great Essene library found in cave after cave near the Dead Sea have given us the answer at last.
That during those "lost years" Jesus was a student at this Essene school is becoming increasingly apparent. Scholars are gradually admitting the startling parallels between his doctrines and vocabulary and those of the Essenes and their "Teacher of Righteousness," who was evidently executed nearly a century before the birth of Jesus. It is to his title and authority that Jesus probably succeeded.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett; 2 Revised edition (November 12, 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449130398
• ISBN-13: 978-0449130391
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,132,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars worth another look, August 29, 2006

By 

susannah eanes "susannah" (south carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lost Years of Jesus Revealed (Mass Market Paperback)

i first read this book, my copy of which is a first edition that belonged to my dad, as a teenager. many decades later, i have just finished reading it again. my early impressions of the book were the inspiration to try to find the answers to my own questions, and led me to explore all sorts of other religious writings, and even read texts that formed the basis of other faiths, in my own search for God's truth. dr. potter's work, while admittedly the work of a very excited person (who wouldn't be, who had such information to share?), still asks the important questions, and his predictions as to the changes that 'would come' to the new translations of the Bible are, in fact, realized --you can look them up one by one as they are named in the text. i believe that the 'great shake-up' dr. potter predicted didn't come because so many were just not paying attention. the truth is there, but you have to discover it for yourself, just as Jesus did. in truth, we shouldn't be afraid of this knowledge, if we are really to 'live as Jesus did, and do the things he would do.' it is a fascinating, thought-provoking work, that should lead us to further research, and the application of Jesus' teachings (and those of the Essenes) in our everyday lives.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Jumping the Gun, March 28, 2004

By 

Virgil Brown (White Oak, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lost Years of Jesus Revealed (Mass Market Paperback)

The Rev Dr Charles F Potter first wrote this book sometime in the late 1950's. Before he has written twenty pages, Potter makes the claims that the contents of the Dead Sea Scrolls"disturb" all church-going people and make out-of-date _every_ version of the Bible.

About 50 years later I think of the number of church-goers I know who have only heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the number of new Bible versions (ranging form the Good News Bible to the NIV) which have come into existence since. Potter's predictions have come to nothing and his book is now no more than an item of curiosity for those (of us) willing to read...a *wild* theory... once in a while.

I wish I could endorse this book because it points out a few things which are useful and accurate. Potter does point out that the New Testament was written in Koine Greek and not a classical form of the language. Also he is correct in saying that the true nature of New Testament Greek was not realized until the 20th century.

However Potter uses these facts to bolster conclusions which are otherwise unconnected. What does it really matter what NT scholars thought of NT Greek compared to the Dead Sea Scrolls? Not even Carston Thiede uses this argument when he tries to say that some of the manuscripts from Qumran Cave 7 are from books of the New Testament.

Read Potter's book only if you are someone, like me, who will read theories that are really wild just to see what they say.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing verification of historical reality, August 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Lost Years of Jesus Revealed (Mass Market Paperback)

Potter's book does much to validate the historical Jesus though does not complement accepted traditional teachings. For inspiration I found R. Patton's "THE Autobiography" infinitely more satisfying. Potter has done a commendable job of collating factual information that doesn't unquestioningly swallow orhtodoxy. A valuable reference tool.