Jesus never died!

[varkam]

Well okay, that's a bit of a lie. He did, but he just died peacefully at a ripe old age - not crucified by the Romans. Or at least, that's according to something I heard today, and I was hoping someone here might be able to fill me in.

Apparently, some older sects (and some conspiracy theorists) believed that Jesus never died on the cross. Instead, his friends took him down and went to get some medical attention for him. When they returned, they found that he was better. Jesus said bye to all his friends and hit the road. I'd say that if the Romans wanted me dead (and they were very good at killing people) I'd get the hell out of Dodge, too. Apparently he went and married Mary M and shut up about the whole religion thing.

I don't know how accurate this is, and I'm not postulating it as an argument that Jesus was never resurrected (as that story is perfectly plausible, too ;)), but who thinks this? Where can I read more (and don't tell me the Da Vinci Code - I'm not reading Dan Brown due to an allergic reaction)? And to all you theists out there, why is it wrong?