George Harrison and Jeff Lynne in blue and brown suits respectively at an event.

'The Beatles': What Did George Harrison Think About Christianity & Jesus?

Home / News / 'The Beatles': What Did George Harrison Think About Christianity & Jesus?

By Favour Adegoke on December 23, 2021 at 5:00 AM PST
Updated on December 24, 2021 at 1:41 PM PST

"The Beatles" is arguably one of the most influential music bands of all time. The band, which was formed in Liverpool, England, in 1960, comprised four British stars, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon, and George Harrison.

Throughout their years of influence, they explored different genres of music, including psychedelia, ballads, and hard rock. The members have expertise in songwriting, record production, and artistic presentation.

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Fans know for sure that Harrison, one of the members, was a faithful Hindu who had many things to say about Jesus. In interviews, the Beatle raised opinions about Jesus that seemed controversial to an average Christian.

Harrison believed that there was a significant difference between a Christian and Jesus Christ and that Jesus spent most of his time on earth in India. He also produced a film about Jesus, which the Christians found offensive.

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Harrison Believed A Theory About Jesus' Stay On Earth

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Harrison stated that he believed an old story about where Jesus spent lots of time in India. He noted that people in the West always had an issue with that theory, but Christ is from the East.

The Beatle stated that Christ spent several years in India, and even other places he stayed after were more of the Eastern region. The idea about Jesus's stay in India came from an 1894 book, "Life Of Saint Issa."

The book was written by Nicolas Notovitch, a Jewish adventurer who claimed Russian, and it discussed that Jesus left Galilee, Lebanon, for India and interacted with some Hindus and Buddhists before finding his way to Judea.

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The book lectured on how Christ learned certain concepts from the Hindus and Buddhists. The theory became viral in the media as it became the plot of some movies released at the time.

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Why The Beatle Felt Christ Was Different From Others

Harrison wrote a book where he discussed the divinity of Jesus Christ. He talked about how the divinity of Christ was only approved by Christians while people of other religions believed that Jesus was just a very important prophet.

According to the book, he assumed that Christ stood out from other people because of recognizing the divinity in him that we (Christians) all share. He talked about the humility of Christ while on earth.

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He said that washing the leper's feet and the disciples' feet was a very high display of humility from Jesus for someone with such divinity. But he felt Christians were painting the whole thing in a very different way.

He felt that Christians proclaimed a huge gap between themselves and God. He also said that they didn't know that Christ was exactly the way they were, but he realized that he was God, which makes them God too.

Christians Felt Offended By A George Harrison Film

Harrison's relationship and opinions about Christ extended into his art by producing a movie, "Monty Python's Life Of Brian." It is a 1979 British comedy/satirical movie written by a comedy group, and it starred the group.

The movie addressed some concepts of the gospel and the holy book, which pissed off some Christians. In a book written by the Beatle, he spoke about his great respect for Christ and his divinity. He also said that the movie was not intended to make fun of the religion that strongly believes in Christ's divinity but to address some religious people who negligently misinterpreted their religious faiths.

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Despite the comments from critics, the movie gained its audience. It earned over $100,000 during its opening weekend and ultimately made almost $20 million. Harrison professed; his respect for Christ at every given opportunity.

His Personal Life

He was a British singer-songwriter and movie producer who lived from February 25, 1943, to November 29, 2001. He achieved fame as the lead guitarist of the popular English musical band, "The Beatles."

He embraced Indian culture and tried to fuse their instrumentation into the scope of music. He wrote some songs for the band, although most of their collaborations were written by Lennon and McCartney.

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Some of the songs he wrote include "Here Comes The Sun," "Something," "Taxman," and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." He married Pattie Boyd, an English photographer and model, on January 21, 1966.

They divorced 11 years later, and he married Olivia Arias, an American actor and record producer, in 1978. Harrison also once survived an attack in his home at Friar Park. He was stabbed repeatedly by a man suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

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