Jesus

Christ
Image of Jesus Christ from Agia Sophia, Istanbul (12th century)

Jesus Christ (or Jesus of Nazareth, see alternate names below) (c. 4 BC - c. 30) was a Jewish religious teacher and/or healer; who was crucified during the early years of the Roman Empire.

According to Christian belief, he was the messiah and Son of God; who brought salvation to humanity through his death and resurrection. Jesus is regarded as an ascetic prophet by many Muslims; and as a guru by many Hindus. He is also recognized by other religions.

The primary source of historical knowledge about Jesus is contained within the Gospels, which Christians view as writings inspired by God. Most Secular historians accept the accounts in the Gospels as evidence for the historical existence of Jesus and excepting certain miraculous claims the basic narrative of his life and death.

Introduction

Most discussions about Jesus, including this one, involve a conflict between two contrasting, and in some ways incompatible, views of the world and of how humans acquire knowledge (this subject is discussed under epistemology).

Christians believe that humans have knowledge of God and of Jesus primarily through scripture, which is a form of divine revelation. (Catholic Christians believe that Scripture must be interpreted in the light of Tradition, while Protestants believe that individuals can interpret it for themselves). For Christians, belief in Jesus is a matter of faith: they need no further confirmation of the existence of God and His son.

Historians trained in the traditions of secularism and rationalism, however, require empirical evidence before they can make statements about historical events or persons. They look at Scripture not as the word of God but as the work of humans, who may or may not have been telling the truth, and who in any case wrote in the light of their own time and their own culture. Most secular historians accept that Jesus existed, but they maintain that since there is no authentic documentary evidence about Jesus outside the Gospels, the details of his life and work remain unknown and unknowable. A minority of historians considers him a wholly mythical figure.

It is nearly impossible for representatives of the different religious and secular traditions of knowledge and faith to reach agreement on a "biography" of Jesus and so this article offers different perspectives on Jesus.

The historical Jesus of Nazareth

The name Jesus Christ

Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, which in turn comes from the Greek Iesous (Ιησους). The Greek form is a transliteration of the Aramaic name Yeshua (ישוע), a short form of Hebrew Yehoshua (יהושע), which means the Lord is salvation, literally Yahweh/Jehovah saves. The English form of Yehoshua is Joshua. (Other common English transliterations from the Aramaic Yeshua (ישוע) include Jeshua and Yahshua.)

Christ is a title, and comes, via Latin, from the Greek Christos (Χριστος), which means anointed. The Greek form is a literal translation of Messiah from Hebrew mashiyakh (משיח) or Aramaic m'shikha (משיחא).

In Arabic, Jesus is known as the prophet Isa al Masih, from the aforementioned Aramaic for Jesus the Messiah.

Jesus spoke Aramaic as it was the common language of Galilee and Judea; thus, during his life, he was probably known as Yeshua. As a tradesman in the Hellenized Galilee, he probably also spoke business Greek, and his study of the scriptures would have acquainted him with Hebrew as well.

Historical Sources

Orthodox Sources

The only sources for the life of Jesus which both Christians and secularists accept as containing authentic information about the life of Jesus (although they disagree about how much) are the four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which present a narrative of Jesus's ministry, passion, execution, and resurrection. In addition, Matthew and Luke present narratives of Jesus's infancy.

According to modern scholarship, which is in rough agreement with the dating given by Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 185), these documents were written within a span of time from about 30 to 70 years after the crucifixion of Jesus (i.e., within 60-100). Some of the details of Jesus's life and teachings, however, are attested prior to the writing of the Gospels, in the letters of Paul, which were written in the 50s and 60s, about 20 to 30 years after the crucifixion.

Gnostic Sources Non-canonical Christian or Gnostic sources for Jesus are increasingly cited as historical sources for the life of Jesus and his teachings. A library of gnostic materials was discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Previously Gnostic writings had been fragmented and limited in quality owing to the successful campaign of the Orthodox Church to repress so called 'heretical' Christian sects and their writings during the third and fourth centuries. Once it was fully translated in the 1970's it provided a deeply fascinating discovery for anyone interested in early Christianity and the spiritual teachings of Jesus.

Dating the Nag Hammadi material places them in A.D 350-400. However, scholars sharply disagree about dating the original texts. which is vitally important to Christians and historians, because the earlier the dating the more likely the teachings can be attributed to Jesus himself. Debate among scholars and Christians has tended to become more narrowly focused on the reliability of the so called Fifth Gospel of Thomas. A number of scholars have suggested that it is an independent transmission of teaching from Jesus created at approximately the same time as the Biblical Gospels in the mid part of the First Century, while scholars on the other extreme dismiss it as derivative development of the second century AD. Others have focused more specifically on the question of which - if any - of the 114 sayings can be reliably attributed to Jesus and which are later creations.

Even with the find of the Nag Hammadi library it is difficult to know what the Gnostic Christians actually believed, or if there was any consistent core of teachings; but it is clear that the Gnostic Christians fundamentally disagreed with the Orthodox Christians in their understanding of Jesus. Their writings represent a far more private and "Eastern" perspective on Jesus' teachings, producing a diversity of views and practice, compared to which the current differentiation between the main Christian denominations is minor. These writings have proved attractive among liberal Christians and New Ageists in modern times.

Other Sources Non-Christian sources cites as evidence for the life of Jesus include Josephus, Suetonius, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger, written between 93 and 112. None of these authors provide first-hand or contemporary accounts. They basically affirm only the existence and execution of Jesus (and his founding of Christianity) at around the time the Gospels state (e.g., under governorship of Pontius Pilate). Many historians consider the references to Jesus in Josephus to be forgeries.

All of these sources are considered to be of doubtful significance, primarily because their information probably was derived from Christian sources. There is no evidence of any record of Jesus generated by the Roman bureaucracy.

References to Jesus in the Jewish Talmud compiled in Late Antiquity but preserving traditions that go back to the Tannaitic period (1st century BC-2nd century) are even less detailed, indicating that Jesus had some disciples, that he was executed, and that he practiced some form of "sorcery" (Sanhedrin 43a). The Talmud also preserves traditions about Jesus's illegitimate birth under the name Ben Pantera or ben Pandeira (Shabbat 104b, Sanhedrin 64a), whose currency around 180 is corroborated by the anti-Christian polemic philosopher, Celsus, who reported hearing the story from an anonymous Jew.

The story of his allegedly illegitimate birth reports that Mary, the mother of Jesus, while engaged to Joseph the Betrothed, had an affair with a Roman soldier named Pantera or Pantheras and that Jesus was the result of this affair. Ben Pantera so means "Son of Pantera". It should be noted that the name of this alleged father probably comes from Panthera, which is Latin for Panther, and Pantheras is Greek for Panther. The word "panther" was also used as a metaphor for unbridled sexual desire, so this could have begun as an allegation that Jesus was born out of wedlock because of his mother's sexual waywardness. Another theory is that "pantheras" is a deliberate distortion of and play on the Greek word for virgin, "parthenos".

Date of birth

Timeline
Possible important months, days, and years.

6-4 BC -
1 BC -
7-8 AD -
25 AD -
c.26 AD-
26 AD -
27 AD -
27 AD -
28 AD -
29 AD -
30 AD -
30 AD -
33 AD -
36 AD -
36 AD -

(possible) Birth [ Bethlehem ]
 
(possible) Birth [ Bethlehem ] [ April 6 ]

Visits Jerusalem

Baptized [ Jordan River ]

"first miracle"

Town attempts to kill Jesus [ Nazareth ]

Pilate & Caiaphas appointed to office

Matthew joins Jesus [ Capernaum ]

Chooses 12 disciples [ Capernaum ]
	
Ministry begins

Arrest and trial [ Bethany ]

(possible) Dies 

(possible) Dies [ April 3rd, 3:00pm ]

(possible) Dies 

Pilate dethroned

The exact month or day or even the year of Jesus's birth cannot now be exactly ascertained. Due to a mistaken calculation based on the Roman Calendar by Dionysius Exiguus in 525, it was long held that Jesus was born in the year A.D. 1.

Because Matthew states that Jesus was born while Herod the Great was still alive and that Herod ordered the slaughter of infants two years old and younger (Matt. 2:16), and based on the correct (contra Dionysius Exiguus) date of Herod's death in 4 BC, many chronologists conclude that the year 6 BC is the most likely year of Jesus's birth. Consequently, Jesus would have been about four to six years old in the year A.D. 1. On the other hand, Luke's account places Jesus's birth during a census conducted under the governorship of Quirinius, who, according to Josephus, conducted a census in A.D. 6. In order to reconcile the two Gospel accounts, some have suggested that Josephus was mistaken or that Quirinius had a separate period of rule under Herod. In any case, the actual date of his birth remains historically unverifiable. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints holds that Jesus was born on April 6, 1 BC, referring to revelation given by the prophet Joseph Smith.

In the 6th century, Dionysius Exiguus proposed to make the birth of Jesus the basis of the calendar but he miscalculated the death of Herod. Years reckoned in this way are labelled "A.D.", which stands for Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of the Lord" in Latin. Since many non-Christians have come to use this calendar, an alternative notation "C.E." is sometimes used. It is presently uncertain what the original meaning of this abbreviation was, although today it is taken to mean either the Common Era or the Christian Era: many references cite both.

Jesus' life

According to the gospel of Matthew, Joseph fled to Egypt from his hometown of Bethlehem with Mary and Jesus to escape Herod. After Herod died, they returned, but settled in Nazareth, seeking distance from Herod's heir. The gospel of Luke has them returning to a hometown of Nazareth immediately after dedication of the infant in Jerusalem. It is generally assumed that Jesus learned the trade of carpentry from Joseph, and worked as a carpenter, though the gospels identify him as 'tekton' or 'builder.' He began his public ministry around the age of thirty. He then spent about three years preaching, teaching, and working miracles, especially healing. The three year time frame is an educated guess based on three different Passovers mentioned in the Gospel of John.

Date of death

Based on inferences from gospel accounts, Jesus was executed by crucifixion on a Friday, and on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan under the administration of Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate held his position from 26-36 and the only years in which Nisan 14 fell on a Friday are 27, 33, and 36 and possibly in 30 depending on when the new moon would have been visible in Jerusalem. Scholars have defended all of the dates.

Jesus as Messiah

Christianity as we have come to know it emerged from Judaism in the first century of the Common Era. The first Christians were Jews, and likely subscribed to Jewish beliefs and practices common at the time. Among these was a belief that a messiah—a descendant of King David—would restore the monarchy and Jewish independence. According to mainstream Jewish beliefs, the failure of Jesus to restore the Kingdom, and his crucifixion by Romans, negated claims that he was the messiah (since most Jews do not accept that Jesus was the messiah, they reject the use of the full (Christian) name. See the Jewish conception of the messiah for a more detailed discussion of the Jewish understanding of the messiah). Nevertheless, many of Jesus's followers—perhaps inspired by encounters with Jesus after his crucifixion and entombment, but also drawing on alternative interpretations of Biblical passages—redefined the concept of messiah to encompass the resurrection and the promise of a second coming. In addition to this alternative understanding of the messiah, early Christians brought from Judaism its scriptures, fundamental doctrines such as monotheism, and other beliefs and practices. See Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity.

The historicity of Jesus

Starting with the Dutch Radical School in the late 19th century, a number of people have proposed that there was no historical Jesus at all. This position however, is a minority view among historians and Biblical scholars.

The most prolific of those denying the historical existence of Jesus is a professor of German, George Albert Wells, who argues that Jesus was originally a myth. Another example is Earl Doherty, who suggests that Paul's idea of Jesus was derived from his reading of the Hebrew Bible. In this view, Paul never met or heard of any actual person named Jesus from Nazareth (or Bethlehem), but rather believed in a Jesus who died on some ethereal plane at the beginning of time, or some faroff time in history. The Jesus of Nazareth character was made up after Paul's time by a composite of Old Testament prophecies, with embellishments added by many people. In this view, the story of Jesus was also embellished with the myths that were common during the late Hellenistic age.

Others contend that aspects of Jesus' life as related in the New Testament were derived from popular mystery religions in the Roman Empire at that time period. These religions worshipped saviour figures such as Isis, Horus, Osiris, Dionysus and Mithras, and Christian Gnosticism which flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries openly combined Christian imagery and stories with the beliefs and practices of Mediterranean mystery religions. Proponents of this view generally date the gospels much later than mainstream scholars and assert textual corruption in the passages supporting the existence of Jesus in Paul and Josephus as interpolated.

Most secular historians do not dispute the existence of a person named Jesus. They agree that at least some of the source documents on which the Gospels are based were written within living memory of Jesus's lifetime. Secular historians therefore accept that the accounts of the life of Jesus in the Gospels provide a reasonable basis of evidence, by the standards of ancient history, for the historical existence of Jesus and the basic narrative of his life and death.

Alleged relics of Jesus

There are many items that are purported to be authentic relics of the Gospel account. The Shroud of Turin is perhaps the most well-known Christian relic, and its authenticity was questioned due to Carbon dating analysis performed in 1988, the accuracy of which has itself been subsequently questioned. There are also many fragments of wood, held to be pieces of the True Cross of the crucifixion by some Christians, that have been similarly questioned.

In 2002, an ossuary with the inscription Ya`aqov bar Yosef akhui di Yeshua` ("James son of Joseph brother of Jesus") came to light under questionable provenance and was thought by some to be historical evidence for Jesus's "brother" James. On June 18, 2003, the Israeli Antiquities Authority published a report concluding that the inscription on the ossuary is a modern forgery based on their analysis of the patina. Specifically, it appears that the inscription was added recently and made to look old by addition of a chalk solution. The dealer, Oded Golan, was arrested at his Tel Aviv home July 21, on suspicion of forging ancient artifacts. However, he was released on July 25; as of August 8 charges had not yet been filed against him. Allegedly, authorities found forgery equipment and partially completed forgeries in Oded Golan's home.

The Christian account of Jesus

The Christian account of Jesus' life is represented both in texts and in images.

Jesus is the central focus of attention and worship in Christianity and is held by most Christians to be the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible. More importantly, he is believed to be the saviour of mankind, the son of God the Father, and God himself. The vast majority of self-described Christians regard belief in the divinity of Jesus to be part of what defines Christianity. According to traditional Christian theology, Jesus is one of the three persons of the Trinity, along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, who are one and the same. Some relatively new denominations do not believe in the Trinity, believing that Jesus is in fact a separate and distinct being from God the Father and the Holy Ghost, and that Biblical references to the Father and the Son being one indicate a unity of purpose, rather than of being. See also Christology.

Christians see many passages in the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Birth and childhood

Of the four Gospels, the Nativity (birth) is mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Both infancy accounts support the doctrine of the Virgin Birth, in which Jesus was miraculously conceived in his mother's womb by the Holy Spirit, when his mother was still a virgin. According to these accounts, Jesus was born as Joseph and Mary, his betrothed, were visiting Bethlehem from their native Nazareth. Mary is also commonly referred as "the Virgin Mary" or, as the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox call her, "Mother of God" (see Theotokos).

Details of the two accounts are at variance with each other. For example, Luke reports that the parents lived at Nazareth, but, according to Matthew, they settled in Nazareth after their return from Egypt, an event that Luke does not mention. Matthew further explained that Joseph and Mary fled with the baby Jesus to Egypt after they had been warned by an angel of the Massacre of the Innocents.

While Mark reports that Jesus had brothers, that he was "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also suggests that Jesus had sisters, some churches reject this interpretation, saying that they were all Jesus' cousins.

The New Testament tells little more about Jesus's childhood or young adulthood. However, by the time he reached his 30s, the gospels all report that he had become known as a religious teacher.

The ministry and message of Jesus

Although the synoptic gospels focus mainly on the last year of Jesus's ministry, the Gospel of John indicates that his ministry spanned at least three Passovers from the time he was baptized by John the Baptist until his crucifixion. In his ministry, Jesus traveled as wandering rabbi and performed miracles.

Jesus' message was sometimes taught by him through the use of paradox. He taught that the first would be last, and that non-violence was the best way to combat violence. He advocated unconditional love for all, yet he said he came to bring strife, setting children against their parents, and spouses against their inlaws. The use of paradox is a recognised form of attempting to break through established forms of thinking to allow new insight. An example is the use of koan in some branches of Buddhism which seek to transcend harmful or false ways of thinking.

Jesus preached an apocalyptic message, saying that the end of the current world would come unexpectedly; as such, he called on his followers to abandon their worldly concerns, make disciples, and to wait for the immanent coming of the kingdom of God on Earth.

The early fathers of the church further expanded on his message, and much of the rest of the New Testament is concerned with the meaning of Jesus's death and resurrection, and its implications for humanity. One idea that has remained constant through Christian theology is the idea that humanity was redeemed, saved, or given an opportunity to achieve salvation through Jesus's death. "Jesus died for our sins" is a common Christian aphorism.

However, the idea of "salvation" has been interpreted in many ways, and a wide spectrum of Christian viewpoints exist and have existed throughout history up to the present day.

Some especially important or well-known events in the ministry of Jesus, recounted in the Gospels, include:

When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment in the law of Moses, Jesus answered (Mark 12:29-30) that the greatest commandment (echoing Deut. 6:5) is "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind", and at the same time he said that the commandment "You must love your neighbor as yourself" (found in Lev. 19:18) is as important.
Jesus asked his disciples "Who do you say [I] am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are a blessed man!... So now I say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of hell can never overpower it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
Seeing merchants doing money-changing at the Temple in Jerusalem, he used a whip to drive out the animals being bought and sold by the merchants, released the doves, and overturned the tables to scatter the money-changers' coins.
On the Thursday evening before Good Friday, Jesus shared a Passover meal with his disciples—the Last Supper. During the meal, he gave bread to his disciples, saying, "Take it and eat. This is my body", and then gave them a cup of wine, saying, "Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Many Christian denominations take this as the institution of the sacrament of Communion, or the Eucharist.

Miracles performed by Jesus, as recounted in the Gospels, include:

turning water into wine for a wedding feast
curing a sick child who was near death
curing a lame man, a man with a virulent skin disease, a paralyzed man
feeding a crowd of five thousand using only fives loaves of bread and two fish
walking on water to reach his disciples who were in a boat, and causing Peter to walk on water, also.
giving sight to a man born blind
bringing a man (Lazarus) who had been dead for four days back to life
appearing to Peter, James, and John in a transfigured state, with unearthly, brilliant white clothes, and with Elijah and Moses.

Well-known quotations of Jesus include:

The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12)
The Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13)
No one can be the slave of two masters... You cannot be the slave of both God and money. (Matt. 6:24)
Do not judge, and you will not be judged. (Matt. 7:1)
Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs... (Matt. 7:6)
Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find." (Matt. 7:7)
Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it." (Matt. 7:13)
Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword... A person's enemies will be the members of his own household. (Matt. 10:34)
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 19:24)
Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. (Matt. 22:21)
The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak. (Matt. 26:41)
Love your enemies, do good to those who treat you badly. To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well. (Luke 6:27)
Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? (Luke 6:41)
I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)
I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give to you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. (John 14:27)

Some contemporary scholars are focusing on Jesus' parables, a unique type of teaching story found only in the three synoptic gospels. Much of this work gained a foothold in America during the early 1980s by a group of biblical scholars known as the Jesus Seminar.

There is renewed interest in the teachings of Jesus, after decades of decline in Church membership in the developed world.The Alpha Course has allowed many people to study the message of Jesus in non-evangelistic settings.

Arrest, sentencing, and crucifixion

According the the Gospels, Jesus, riding a colt, entered Jerusalem on a Sunday—celebrated now as Palm Sunday—and was greeted by throngs of people waving palm branches, and shouting "Hosanna".

On Thursday of that week, he shared the Last Supper, and afterward took a walk to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he felt overwhelming sadness and anguish, and said "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it." Then, a little while later, he said, "If this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!"

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, who had left in the middle of the Last Supper, had in the meantime betrayed Jesus by informing the Jewish authorities of his location. The authorities had decided to arrest Jesus, since some of them had come to consider him a threat to their power due to his growing popularity, his new interpretations of scripture, and his revelations of their hypocrisy. Judas and a group of men armed with swords and clubs then appeared, and Judas helped to identify Jesus by kissing him, a pre-arranged signal. Although one of the bystanders drew a sword, cutting off the ear of one of the armed men, Jesus rebuked the follower, saying, "Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Then the disciples deserted him and ran away. Jesus was brought before the Jewish authorities, and, after implying the affirmative when asked if he was the son of God, was handed over to Pontius Pilate, the local governor in the occupying Roman government.

Pilate asked Jesus whether he considered himself the "king of the Jews", which would have been considered an attempt at usurping Roman authority, and either received no answer from Jesus, or the reply, "It is you who say it". Pilate then allowed a crowd that had gathered to decide whether Jesus or another prisoner should be released. The crowd decided that Jesus should not be released, so Pilate, attempting to placate the crowd, had Jesus scourged, and some Roman soldiers fashioned a crown out of thorns and placed it on Jesus' head. But the crowd demanded that Jesus be crucified, and Pilate relented. That same day, having carried his own cross, he was crucified on Golgotha, with a sign reading (in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek) "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews" placed on the cross upon the direction of Pilate. According to the Gospel of Luke, as he was crucified, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing." As he hung on the cross, he was mocked by passersby, and, according to the Gospel of John, was visited by his mother and others, then died; his death was confirmed by a Roman soldier piercing his side with a sword.

While hanging on the cross, the Gospel of Mark has Jesus asking,"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Many readers find this theologically perplexing, believing that God left him to die on the cross. According to a common interpretation of the scriptures, God the Father was turning away from Jesus at this time because He was suffering in the place of sinners. Others recognise this as an exact quotation of the first verse of Psalm 22, a common way at the time to refer to an entire Psalm. That Psalm begins with cries of despair, but ends on a note of hope and trust in God's triumph and deliverance. It also contains several details that have been taken to apply to Jesus' crucifixion, such as the soldiers casting lots for Jesus' garments and leaving his bones unbroken.

The Gospel of John, on the other hand, has Jesus in total control from the cross, saying "It is finished" upon his death, and instead of asking the "bitter cup" to be taken away from him while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before, he actually asks for it in John's account.

Resurrection, Ascension, and Second Coming According to the New Testament, he rose from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion and appeared to his disciples; the Acts of the Apostles reports that forty days later he ascended bodily into Heaven. Paul's letters to the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians, as well as the letter to the Hebrews (traditionally attributed to Paul) claim that Jesus presently exercises all authority in heaven and on earth for the sake of the Church, until all of the earth is made subject to his rule through the preaching of the Gospel. Based on the New Testament, Christians believe that Jesus will return bodily from heaven at the end of the age, to judge the living and the dead.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) believe that Jesus appeared in the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection. Church members believe that Jesus taught the ancestors of modern Native Americans, whom they believe to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.

Jewish perspective on Jesus Judaism teaches that it is heretical for any man to claim to be a part of god; Jews view Jesus as just one in a long list of Jewish claimants to be the messiah. The article on the concept of the messiah contains a list of many people who claimed to be the messiah, son of God, or both. Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) writes why Jews believe that Jesus was wrong to create Christianity (and why they believe that Mohammed was wrong to create Islam;) he laments the pains that Jews felt as a result of these new faiths that attempted to surplant Judaism. However, Maimonides then goes on to say that both faiths help God redeem the world.

Jesus was instrumental in changing the Torah and causing the world to err and serve another beside God. But it is beyond the human mind to fathom the designs of our Creator, for our ways are not God's ways, neither are our thoughts His. All these matters relating to Jesus of Nazareth, and the Ishmaelite (Mohammed) who came after him, only served to clear the way for the King Messiah to prepare the whole world to worship God with one accord, as it is written 'For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language, that they all call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent.' (Zephaniah 3:9). Thus the messianic hope, and the Torah, and the commandments have become familiar topics of conversation among those evn on far isles, and among many people, uncircumcized of flesh and heart. (Mishneh Torah, Maimonides, XI.4. This paragraph used to be censored from many printed versions of the Mishneh Torah because it contained verses explicitly critical of Jesus.) Based on the Tanach's statements that gentiles can be prophets, some rabbis theorized that "God permitted to every people something he forbade to others...God sends a prophet to every people according to their own language." This is the view of Nethanel ibn Fayyumi, a Yemenite Jewish theologian (12th century). (The Garden of Wisdom, translated D. Levene, Columbia Univ. Press, 1907/1966.)

Islamic perspectives on Jesus Islam recognizes Jesus (Isa, in Arabic) as one of the greatest prophets and the forecasted Messiah, but not as God or son of God. Muslims believe in the Virgin Birth, but believe that God caused Mary to conceive without a father as proof of God's power, not of Jesus' divinity. According to Islam, Jesus was never crucified and did not die; instead he was raised into heaven still physically alive, and made the illusion that he died on the cross to keep his enemies in ignorance. Muslims believe that Jesus will physically return to the world as prophesied and fight the Antichrist, end all wars, convert the Jews and Christians to Islam, stop the eating of pork, and usher in a messianic era of peace.

Other perspectives on Jesus Many Gnostic sects believe that Jesus was an Aeon, an emanation of the One, original, unknowable God, who came to Earth to provide the gnosis (knowledge) necessary for humans to divest themselves of the physical world and return to the spiritual world. The Nag Hammadi Library of Gnostic texts discovered in 1945 is a deeply fascinating find for anyone interested in early Christianity and the spiritual teachings of Jesus.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, and some other nontrinitarian churches, affirm that Jesus is only the first spiritual being created by Jehovah, and as such are Arian in their understanding of Christology. The Jehovah's Witnesses also claim that he is the archangel Michael mentioned in the Old Testament.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) believe that Jesus appeared in the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection. Church members believe that Jesus taught the ancestors of modern Native Americans, whom they believe to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.

The Baha'i consider Jesus to be the Son of God due to his divine conception. He promised to return to humankind once again, though it's for debate whether that will be in physical or spiritual form, or possibly both.

Hinduism is divided on the issue of Jesus. Some Hindus hold that he was just a man, if he existed at all. Others say he was a great teacher. And some speculate he visited India and studied Hinduism/Buddhism during the years of his life that are not accounted for in the Bible. Some Hindus go as far as to equate Jesus with an avatar (incarnation of God on earth), along with Rama and Krishna.

Arius thought that Jesus was a creation of God, i.e he was not to be put on the same level as the Father. His doctrine was condemned by the First Ecumenical Council in 325, but was very widespread during the 4th century until it was condemned again at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381.

Some Buddhism go as far as to describe Jesus as a Buddha, finding an equivalent of the Virgin Mary in Kwan Yin, a Chinese goddess.

Fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ Various authors and filmmakers have created fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ and his life. A number of storytellers have wanted to portray an accurate depiction of what his life is believed to have been like, while others have used the persona of Jesus Christ as a narrative device to make a literary point and develop a story's theme. Because of the devotion of many people to the idea of Jesus Christ, fictional portrayals of Christ have been, almost without exception, fraught with controversy. For further details, see the Wikipedia entry on fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ.

External links

864 pictures An examination of the historicity of Jesus, also examining the stories of the Talmud The Alpha Course Jesus Christ Catholic Encyclopedia article EWTN's Jesus Christ webpage [1] A Jewish historian's commentary on Bible days