http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8380511.stm

Yes, he may have done. So what?

A Scottish filmmaker has made a film called "And did those feet" to suggest just that.

He starts by assuming that Joseph of Arimathea came to England for the tin (he may have done, but we don't even know that). He brought Jesus with him for the excellent education which was available in England in those days. In what? Druidic Studies and Woad Manufacture?

They went to Glastonbury of course, and visited a church founded in A.D.37.

Blake's famous poem "Jerusalem", from which his title comes, is one of the glories of English poetry, but it is not exactly factual.

My own opinion is that this kind of myth-making does the Christian church no good at all. It simply makes people laugh at us, as I did.

A church built in AD 37? That is 37 years after the birth of Christ? When Jesus himself didn't start getting a following until after he was 30?

and I guess a leisurely cruise along the Mediteranean and across the Channel is not out of the question,

The numbers could add up, I suppose, But it happened all rather quickly if it did.

What this book is suggesting is that Jesus went to England before he became famous. The church is not evidence of that, it is a corollary.

Interesting nonetheless, and I don't think it will make people laugh at the church. On a side note, just before I read this OP, I mentioned in the other thread the suggestion that Jesus went to India. That was a coincidence.

A church built in AD 37? That is 37 years after the birth of Christ? When Jesus himself didn't start getting a following until after he was 30?

and I guess a leisurely cruise along the Mediteranean and across the Channel is not out of the question,

The numbers could add up, I suppose, But it happened all rather quickly if it did.

What this book is suggesting is that Jesus went to England before he became famous. The church is not evidence of that, it is a corollary.

Interesting nonetheless, and I don't think it will make people laugh at the church. On a side note, just before I read this OP, I mentioned in the other thread the suggestion that Jesus went to India. That was a coincidence.

AD 37 is six years before the Romans conquered England (Caesar came in 55/54 B.C, but then went away again). Highly improbable.

My feeling was that it was all a harmless fantasy. That might not be how our blinkered atheists would take it (not you, SeaStallion).

The bit about the church I had not heard before.

My understanding of this story is that he did this while a young man, travelling with his uncle (Joseph of Arimathea), before he started his ministry. Thus he church bit is highly unlikely, whereas the rest is possible, as the Phoenicians were traders in Cornish tin for centuries before this time. It was a highly-valued metal.

The Blake poem 'Jerusalem' is a dark celebration of the story, made magnificent by the music of Parry, but that music was added a century after the poem was published. Blake was a mystic Non-Conformist, against the power of the established churches, and against state interference in man's beliefs and life in general.

The bit about the church I had not heard before.

My understanding of this story is that he did this while a young man, travelling with his uncle (Joseph of Arimathea), before he started his ministry. Thus he church bit is highly unlikely, whereas the rest is possible, as the Phoenicians were traders in Cornish tin for centuries before this time. It was a highly-valued metal.

The Blake poem 'Jerusalem' is a dark celebration of the story, made magnificent by the music of Parry, but that music was added a century after the poem was published. Blake was a mystic Non-Conformist, against the power of the established churches, and against state interference in man's beliefs and life in general.

Possible, HB, but highly unlikely. Very odd indeed that none of the early sources (gospels, Origen, Irenaeus etc) mention a visit by Joseph to England, let alone Jesus. This is a nationalistic myth (like several in English prehistory).

Blake varied from inspired poetry to drivel ("The daughter of Albion is sick silent. The eternal female groaned."). He saw angels in a tree outside his window; not the most trustworthy of sources.

I'm not saying that the legend is true, merely that the part about a church (and the date) are not in accordance with the legend as many people have told it.

The tin trading was vibrant, Glastonbury did exist at that time. The rest is conjecture.

By the way - your clip from the BBC goes back to 2009 - were you saving it for a slow day on TV?

(Either TV or 'TV')

By the way - your clip from the BBC goes back to 2009 - were you saving it for a slow day on TV?

(Either TV or 'TV')

No, it popped up in the 'Most read' column of the BBC, no doubt resurrected. I never look at the date of these, and have been caught out before!

Fat chance Jesus visited England...the then Roman Governor, Nigellus Farragius, had banned all migrants/visitors from outside the EU.....

ELP? Pish!

ELP? Pish!

That's one thing the Brits can do really well...put on a damn good show!