Body and Soul — Douglas Brode

The PLANET JESUS Trilogy is just CRAZY - in the most WONDERFUL and CREATIVE way. Highly recommended - a must-read! -- Rod Lurie, director/writer/producer (KILLING REAGAN, COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF, STRAW DOGS, RESURRECTING THE CHAMP, NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, etc.)Gospels long attributed to such disciples as Mark, Matthew, John, Luke, Judas and even Mary Magdalene--some considered canonical by the church, others relegated to the margins of Christianity--reveal much about Jesus' youth until the age thirteen, as well as The Mission that consumed the final year and a half of his life.But there is no record of The Missing Years . . . until now.In this, the second installment of their PLANET JESUS trilogy, the father/son writing team of Douglas Brode and Shaun Brode present a carefully researched revelation of what might have occurred during the twenty-one lost years.As with Volume One, Flesh & Blood, the authors present their findings in the form of a historical novel: A purportedly 'found' text, written by the gentle rebel who inspired a nonviolent revolution that changed the way of the world. No proof exists that Jesus committed a single word to print. Some experts argue that as an illiterate he had to be quoted by disciples. Body & Soul offers an imaginative speculation as to what an autobiography might have been like.The premise includes a recently discovered fact--Jesus had a twin brother, Joses--as well as a speculation that has never been proven or disproven, but is often raised in open-minded discussions of the most important being to ever walk the face of the earth: Was Jesus a woman?All books in the PLANET JESUS trilogy (Hope & Glory, the third, will conclude this epic) draw heavily on Ancient Alien Theory: our planet was visited in pre-history by beings from another world (extra-terrestrials) traveling in flying saucers (Unidentified Flying Objects). Visitors from far planets were hailed by primitive humanoids as 'gods' and 'angels.' In truth, they were flesh and blood creatures with limited powers that exceeded those of early primates. When these Fallen Angels mated with prehistoric females, the resultant new race would move beyond Neanderthals and Cro-Magnon Man to become, in a Quantum Leap that defies Darwinian evolution, the first true people. The rare few descended from high-ranking Archangels were the Anointed Ones: Buddha, Confucius, Herakles and Jesus among them.Why was Jesus referred to as Christ, not a Hebraic term but Athenian? How is it that Jesus spoke of theological ideas unknown in Israel though significant in China, Japan, Africa, and India? If we assume the miracles actually happened, owing to clear records by multiple witnesses, here are logical explanations as to how Jesus walked on water, transformed water into wine, fed a multitude on a few loaves and fish, cured diverse maladies such as blindness, madness, and leprosy, even rose a man up from the dead. Previously these have been accepted on faith or rejected by doubters. PLANET JESUS offers a viable middle-ground between such extremes: a logical explanation as to how all these could have occurred in the reality that was Palestine, Year 31.