Jesus of Nazareth studied Buddhism, lived into his 80s in Kashmir; novel relates story from the viewpoint of Doubting Thomas
The Twin is the fictional retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth from the point of view of Thomas Didymus, known to most as Doubting Thomas. The narrative draws upon the belief of some that Jesus traveled to Kashmir during the âmissingâ years of his youth, studied Buddhism, and then returned to Galilee to begin his ministry.
The story explores why so many in Kashmir believe that Jesus lived to old age and is buried in Kashmir, in Srinagar, and is remembered as St. Issa or Yuz Asaf.
Styled as a document translated by a professor of classics from the University of Cincinnati, who is obviously inept and an egotist, who includes his notes and footnotes throughout.
The novel explores the characters, stories, and miracles from the Bible, and from other texts such as the Gnostic gospels, but also attempts to fill in some of the gapsâŚof which there are many.
The story is provocative and entertaining, humanizing all involved with insecurities, joy, romantic jealousy, and eventually peace.
Jesus of Nazareth studied Buddhism, lived into his 80s in Kashmir; novel relates story from the viewpoint of Doubting Thomas
The Twin is the fictional retelling of the story of Jesus of Nazareth from the point of view of Thomas Didymus, known to most as Doubting Thomas. The narrative draws upon the belief of some that Jesus traveled to Kashmir during the âmissingâ years of his youth, studied Buddhism, and then returned to Galilee to begin his ministry.
The story explores why so many in Kashmir believe that Jesus lived to old age and is buried in Kashmir, in Srinagar, and is remembered as St. Issa or Yuz Asaf.
Styled as a document translated by a professor of classics from the University of Cincinnati, who is obviously inept and an egotist, who includes his notes and footnotes throughout.
The novel explores the characters, stories, and miracles from the Bible, and from other texts such as the Gnostic gospels, but also attempts to fill in some of the gapsâŚof which there are many.
The story is provocative and entertaining, humanizing all involved with insecurities, joy, romantic jealousy, and eventually peace.
Among his closest followers there were three of us named Judas. There was the Iscariot. There was also Judas, the younger brother of James, whom we called Taddai as a term of endearment. As for me, I am known as Judas the Twin, or in Aramaic- Tauâma. I am called Thomas, and perhaps known best for doubt born of grief.[1]Â Â
It was winter, my thirteenth year, when they came.[2]Â Their robes were dyed with pigments such as saffron, creating layers of color on each man ranging from pale gold to a deep red. There were eight monks in all, but there were many more who had traveled with them.Â
They came to the palace of Herod a year before the kingâs death. It was in Jerusalem that they met with Herod, and not Jericho as some have claimed. I know because I was there. I worked there as a craftsman, one of many. I saw them entering and I followed. By the time they reached the court, I was more within their group than without.
Appearing before Herod, king of the Jews and son of Antipater, and his ministers, the [indecipherable] of them, spoke for the group. He spoke in Greek. âI am called Dawa. We have traveled from the east. There was a sign of a birth, a sign in the sky, in the spring before last.â[3]Â Â His words were a bit clumsy, but his Greek was nearly as good as my own.[4]Â Â Herod said nothing. The ministers, courtiers, the crowd altogether, were silent.
âThere was a bright light, stars came together. We believe such signs show us the way,â Dawa said.
The crowd began to whisper the word, âMagi. Magi.â They took these men to be followers of a religion much focused on astrology, however Dawa and his companions were not Magi, nor were they even Persian.
Dawa said, âWe seek our spiritual leader, a great holy man. He left us two years ago. We began watching for some sign of where the holy child might be born. The sign appeared and bade us travel west, to your land, before it faded and was gone. It was bright and one among them was red. Do you remember it?â
The stars. I remembered them well, as did we all. A bright rope of stars. However, it had not appeared to our west. The crowd buzzed now, excited. No one spoke directly to Dawa until Herod nodded slightly to one of his ministers, a man named Ptolemaeos. He turned to Dawa and said, âThe stars were to our south. They were close. It seemed one could have walked directly beneath them in half a night.â
Dawa turned to his companions and whispered something. He then turned back and asked, âIs there a village or town nearby to the south?â
Herod himself suddenly said, âYou seek a king.â His face was dark, his tone menacing. A chill passed through me.[5]Â I doubted Dawa understood with whom he was dealing. Herod had killed his own sons and wife out of fear for his throne.
Dawa seemed momentarily confused. âOur guide. We come to find him.â Â
Herod asked, âAnd his child will be born here?â
Dawa was patient. âNot his child.â  He paused for a moment, apparently searching his Greek. âThe spirit of our holy one would have returned to be born of man on Earth with [indecipherable] in time.â
âWhy would your holy spirit make pregnant a woman in Judea?â Herod asked.
Dawa frowned and looked back to his fellow travelers. He turned back and said, âGreat king. We believe our guide has returned to show us the way.â
Herod rose. âThere is a village to the south. Bethlehem. Go there and find him. When you discover the child, send me word so that I, too, may adore your newly born leader.â
Dawa asked, âMight one of your men come with us, to show us the way to this village?â
Herodâs face became grim. I knew that he did not want to send any of his men, because this would have caused fear among those the travelers might question. Herod scanned the room until his eyes fell on me.
âTake him with you,â Herod said, pointing. All in the room turned to me. I looked from Herod to Dawa. The latter smiled and nodded slightly. I felt a sudden calm settle upon me.[6]Â I would take them to Bethlehem.
[1]Â Didymus in the Greek, still meaning âtwin.â
[2]Â Vernon puts the birth of Thomas Didymus at A.U.C. 737.
[3]Â This would indicate âStar of Bethlehemâ event at A.U.C. 748. or 6 B.C.
[4]Â Having read the writerâs Greek, I can attest that Dawaâs Greek must have been clumsy indeed.
[5]Â I have taken a bit of license here. The original document did indicate Herodâs tone was menacing, but it made no mention of Thomasâs reaction. I pictured the young craftsman being chilled at said tone and thought I might strengthen the narrative. Please forgive my minor improvements.
[6]Â I found nothing to indicate that Thomas was not calm at this moment and, again, I add this line in an attempt to imbue the text with a bit of human emotion.
This is an innovative retelling of the life of Jesus as told through the mouth of Didymus Thomas (the Twin), building on three Christian traditionsâfirst, the legend that Jesus studied in India during the âlost yearsâ (between childhood and the beginning of his ministry); second, that St Thomas evangelised India; third, that Jesus lived to a ripe old age in Srinagar.
Travelers come to Bethlehem, following a star. The one they seek is their âholy oneâ Gyalwa Nagarjuna, âreturned to be born of man on Earthâ. The narrator, Didymus Thomas, acts as guide. They set the child a Dalai-Lama-style reincarnation âtestâ, which Yeshua passes.
Yeshuaâs family leaves, fleeing Herodâs wrath, and Thomas follows after, occasionally âtemptedâ by a traveller called âthe Otherâ urging him to stray, and, as we know, Thomas struggles with âdoubtâs. And yet, Thomas has another weakness, one he canât discuss with Yeshua. He becomes Yeshuaâs teacher, and Yeshua becomes his. Yeshua learns wisdom from the Jains and reads the Vedas.
There is quite a lot of repetition of quotes from the NT, many of which I found unnecessary. For someone who has read the NT as many times as I have, the repetition is trying. It reads a bit like the Gospels, low on plotâpeople travel from this place to that, certain people come, Yeshua says some wise words, maybe thereâs a miracle.
What makes it interesting is the interaction between Yeshuaâs philosophy and that of the Indian priests. Also different is that the âmiraclesâ are given believable this-worldly explanations. There are other minor divergencesâYeshua kisses Judas, not the other way around. Mary Magdalen, called Magda here, is quite bolshie, at times. This storyâs interpretation of the Bar-abbas scene is more believable than the Gospelsâ. And the crucifixion is a bit different! As is what went on inside the tomb during those three days, while Yeshuaâs body lay there!
I love how it begins, the narrator telling the story of how he acquired this âdocumentâ. The inclusion of footnotes, as well as the occasional â[undecipherable]â, give the impression that the writer really has translated this work from some ancient language, though I thought footnotes were used too liberally, and I would have preferred them at the bottom of the page rather than at the end.
An easy read, people who like reading books about Jesus (like me) will love it.