Jesus

File:Ac.christ.jpg

Artists' renditions of Jesus as the Christ vary depending on the period and region in which the artist lived. The halo in this 12th century Byzantine icon emphasizes his divine nature.

Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30) is the central figure in Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ (from the Greek Ιησούς Χριστός; transliteration: "Iesous Christos"). He is also called Jesus of Nazareth.

Introduction

According to the New Testament, Jesus is the Son of God who served a ministry in Galilee and Judaea and was ultimately crucified in Jerusalem by order of the Roman governor Pontius Pilate before rising from the dead on the third day. Beyond the New Testament, there are many opinions of Jesus' life:

Most Christians believe Jesus was God incarnate (a man who was also God), who came to earth to save humanity from sin and death through his own blood sacrifice, and who returned from the dead to rejoin his father in heaven.

Some Christian groups, generally considered to be outside mainstream Christian thought, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, and Christian Scientists, believe Jesus was a divine man born of God but not God incarnate.

Many historians and critical Bible scholars accept the existence of the biblical Jesus, but reject his divinity, miracles, and any other supernatural elements in accounts of his life. They believe he was a Jewish apocalyptic teacher and healer who was crucified, and was subsequently the inspiration for Christianity whose adherents proclaimed him to be the sole incarnation of God.

Some skeptics believe Jesus was not a real person, but a fictional invention of Christians, based on morality stories and fables.

Other skeptics believe Jesus was nothing more than a Jewish troublemaker who was put to death by the Romans at the behest of the Jewish establishment. Alternatively, it has also been suggested that Jesus did not die on the cross, with a variety of theories being suggested (see below).

There are also many different accounts and perspectives of Jesus within a variety of different religions (See later in this article).

Date of birth and death

Main Article: Chronology of Jesus' Birth and Death

Brief timeline of Jesus

of important years from empirical sources.
(see also detailed timeline for Jesus Christ
and detailed Christian timeline)

c. 6 BC –
c. 4 BC –
c. AD 6 –
c. 26/27 –
c. 27 –
c. 36 –
c. 36/37 –

Suggested birth (Earliest)
Herod's death
Suggested birth (Latest). Quirinius census
Pilate appointed Judea governor
Suggested death (Earliest).
Suggested death (Latest);
Pilate removed from office

The most detailed historical information about Jesus' birth and death is contained in the Gospels, but unfortunately, they were written more to spread doctrine than to teach history. As a result, there is considerable debate about the exact date of birth and death of Jesus.

Dionysius Exiguus attempted to pinpoint the year of Jesus birth, which resulted in our current calendar system. According to his calculations, Jesus was born in December of the year 1 BC. However, based on a lunar eclipse that Josephus reports shortly before the death of Herod the Great, the birth of Christ must be some time before 4 BC, probably 5 or 6 BC. Allowing for the time of the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate and the dates of the Passover in those years, his death can be placed most probably in AD 30 or AD 33.

Jesus' life and teaching according to the New Testament

Childhood and Family Background

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This traditional image shows Jesus' birth in Bethlehem

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, while Nazareth in Galilee was his childhood home.

Jesus' mother was Mary. Two of the Gospels (Matthew and Luke, but not Mark or John), say that Jesus' father was the Holy Spirit, who miraculously caused Mary to conceive, giving rise to a virgin birth, meaning that Joseph was Jesus' foster father. The other two Gospels, Mark and John, make no mention of Joseph at all, but in their first chapters refer to Jesus as the son of God. Nothing is certain about Jesus' childhood or young adulthood. Certain events are mentioned in the various Gospels, but there is no common agreement.

The Gospel of 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. The Jewish historian Josephus and the Christian historian Eusebius (who wrote in the 4th century but quoted much earlier sources now unavailable to us) refer to James the Just as Jesus' brother (See Desposyni). Some churches reject this interpretation, saying that they were Jesus' cousins, which the Greek word for "brother" used in the Gospels would allow. The Gnostic Acts of Thomas identifies the Apostle Thomas as Jesus' twin brother. Other churches suggest that these were step brothers, children of Joseph and a previous wife who died before Mary was betrothed to him. This tradition probably originates with the Protevangelion of James, traditionally ascribed to James the Just and certainly dated sometime in the late 1st to middle of the 2nd century.

Some have interpreted Gnostic texts like the Gospel of Philip to suggest that Mary Magdalene was the wife of Jesus. The Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions do not record any wife of Jesus; the Roman Catholic hagiography of Mary Magdalene says that she traveled to France and lived the life of an ascetic. The Eastern Orthodox synaxarion says that she continued preaching the Gospel in various places, eventually settling in Ephesus to work with John the Evangelist.

Early Life

The Evangelists do not describe much of Jesus' life between birth and the beginning of his ministry, except that as a young teen he instructed the scholars in the temple. The apocryphal Infancy Gospels describe the child Jesus performing miraculous works. The 19th-century Russian scholar Nicolai Notovich suggested, based on a document he claimed to see in a Ladakh monastery in the Kashmir region, that Jesus traveled the world, including India, as an adolescent and youth, and was exposed to religious traditions such as Hinduism and Buddhism. While the monastery Jesus is alleged to have studied at by Notovich in India was not built until the 16th century, and there is no independent evidence confirming that particular story, there are still persisting minorities in some circles who say that references to a man named something like Issa place Jesus even in the holy Hindu city of Kashi. However, the evidence proffered here, too, has been deemed by most unreliable. These theories are not considered orthodox by any major Christian church.

Works and Miracles

Jesus began his public ministry some time after he was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus began preaching, teaching, and healing. There is no firm evidence for when his ministry started or how long it lasted. The Gospel of John, however, mentions three separate Passovers during Jesus' ministry, which has led to the tradition that Jesus ministered for approximately three years. The detailed nature of Jesus' spiritual teaching cannot be fully agreed because accounts are fragmentary and because he made extensive use of paradox, metaphor and parable; leaving it unclear how literally he wished to be taken and precisely what he meant.

According to the Bible, Jesus performed various miracles in the course of his ministry. These ranged from cures to exorcisms, with several others that show a dominion over nature. Scholars are divided about how to interpret the miracle stories associated with Jesus, though they generally do not view them as having supernatural origin.

Jesus also preached the imminent end of the current era of history, in some sense a literal end of the world as people of his time knew it; in this sense he was an apocalyptic preacher bringing a message about the imminent end of the world the Jews knew.

Jesus opposed stringent interpretations of Jewish law, and preached a more flexible understanding of the law. His teachings show an inclination to following a teleological approach, in which the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law, and the Gospels record him as having many disagreements with the Pharisees.

The Gospels record no sign of Jesus having much disagreement with Sadducee views, though they were the dominant authority at that time, and their interpretations of the law were in most cases much stricter than those of the Pharisees. Nevertheless, according to the Gospels, it was the priests – aligned with the Sadducees – who ultimately arrested Jesus. A few modern scholars thus believe that Jesus may have been a liberal Pharisee in some respects, or an Essene (a sect with whom he shared many views). In this view Jesus was later cast as an enemy of the Pharisees because by the time Christians transcribed the Gospels, the Pharisees had become the dominant sect of Judaism. This view receives some support in the Acts of the Apostles, where Jesus' apostles were generally attacked by Sadducees but were sometimes protected by Pharisees with more liberal interpretations of Jewish law.

Jesus increasingly gained followers as his fame grew, though within his lifetime Jesus' core following remained no more than a small religious sect. Jesus had by the time of his death taught a number of his disciples or apostles to preach his teachings and perform faith healing to both Jews and Gentiles alike.

In his role as a social reformer Jesus threatened the status quo. He was unpopular with many Jewish religious authorities. According to the Gospels, this was because he criticised them, and, moreover, because some of Jesus' followers held the controversial and inflammatory view that he was "The Messiah", and worshipped him as God. It is not clear from strict analysis of the original Gospel texts that Jesus made this claim about himself, but he did not deny it. The Gospels record Jesus referring to himself both as "Son of Man" and as "Son of God", and of accepting his disciples' worship without rebuking them. Still, it is not wholly clear to scholars that when Jesus spoke of being "Son of God" he meant this to be taken literally as Christians believe, rather than metaphorically in the sense that we are all children of God. Scholars currently suggest that whether Jesus claimed to be a political rebel or not, Jewish authorities would very likely have feared that his activities would provoke a riot in Jerusalem – something Roman authorities absolutely forbade.

Final Days

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Michelangelo's Pietà shows Mary holding the dead body of Jesus.

Jesus came with his followers to Jerusalem during the Passover festival. He was involved in a public disturbance at the Temple in Jerusalem when he overturned the tables of the moneychangers there. At some point later, he was betrayed to the Jewish religious authorities of the city – either the full council (Sanhedrin) or perhaps just the High Priest – by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot. The High Priest of the city was appointed by the government in Rome and the current holder of the post was Joseph Caiphas. The Romans ruled the city through the High Priest and Sanhedrin, so often the Jewish authorities of the city had to arrest people in order to obey Roman orders to maintain the peace. Jesus' disciples went into hiding after he was arrested.

Jesus was crucified by the Romans on the orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Governor of Judea in Jerusalem. The Gospels state that he did this at the behest of the Jewish religious leaders, but it may have been simply that Pilate considered Jesus' ability to incite public disturbance as a potential Messiah to be a threat to Roman order. Pilate was known as a harsh ruler who ordered many executions for lesser reasons during his reign (then again, he'd been in trouble twice with his Roman superiours for being too harsh in his rule). Furthermore, the plaque placed on the cross was used by the Romans to detail the crime of the crucified individual. In the case of Jesus the plaque reads "Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Ivdaeorvm" (INRI)—"Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews", indicating that Jesus was crucified for the crime of rebelling against the authority of Rome by being declared the "King of the Jews". In the Aramaic it would have had the letters of the tetragrammon or YHWH , Yeshua HaNazarei v Melech HaYehudim: Jesus the Nazarei, King of the Jews.

All the Gospel accounts agree that Joseph of Arimathea, variously a secret disciple or sympathiser to Jesus, and possible member of the Sanhedrin, arranged with Pilate for the body to be taken down and entombed. According to most accounts Jesus' mother, Mary, and other women, notably a female follower of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, were present during this process.

The resurrection

Main article: Resurrection of Jesus

According to the Christian Gospels, Jesus' disciples encountered him again on the third day after his death, raised to life. No one was a witness of the actual resurrection event, though all four Gospels report that women who went to anoint the body found the tomb empty. After the resurrection, the Gospels give conflicting accounts of Jesus meeting various people in various places over a period of forty days before "ascending into heaven". This belief is the basis of Christianity, and so has been frequently challenged. The Qur'an, for example, says "yet they did not slay him, neither crucified him, only a likeness of that was shown to them" (Qur'an 4:156).

Various problems with the Gospel narrative have been pointed out by critics. For example, the resurrection narrative in Mark (the oldest Gospel) seems to be a late addition (see Mark 16). Also, various details in the resurrection narratives are difficult to reconcile from Gospel to Gospel. Finally, the Gospels indicate that the disciples were unable to recognize Jesus at first after the resurrection.

There have also been a number of modern theories seeking to disprove the resurrection. These include arguing that the disciples stole the body from the tomb and reported that he had risen. Alternatively, Jesus somehow escaped death and continued his life by marrying or travelling to various parts of the world. However, these theories often lack empirical evidence, and are widely considered to be only speculation.

Christian perspectives on Jesus

Main articles: Jesus as Christ and Messiah and Messiah

Christianity is centered on the belief that Jesus is the saviour of humanity. According to Christians, Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary. He preached the new covenant across Judea, which angered the Pharisaic Jews and disturbed the Romans as he was seen as a threat to public order. One of his twelve apostles, Judas, betrayed him; and later committed suicide in remorse. Jesus was crucified by the Romans. However, he rose from the dead three days later.

The names and titles of Jesus

Main article: Names and titles of Jesus

Besides Jesus' personal name, many other titles have been either by him or to describe him, many of which emphasise different aspects of theological understanding of Jesus.

Personal name

Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, which in turn comes from the Greek Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs). The earliest use of Iēsoûs is found in the Septuagint, where it is used to transliterate the Hebrew name Yehoshua (יהושע - known in English as Joshua), and also Yeshua (ישוע); the latter is used in the Hebrew Bible either as short form or an Aramaic equivalent of Yeshoshua. Yeshoshua means the Lord is salvation (literally Yahweh saves), while Yeshua means salvation.

Christ

Christ is not a name but a title, and comes, via Latin, from the Greek Christos (Χριστός Khristós), which means "anointed" (to anoint is to rub with perfumed oil). The Greek form is a literal translation of Messiah from Hebrew mashiyakh (משיח) or Aramaic m'shikha (משיחא), a word which occurs often in the Old Testament and typically signifies "high priest" or " king" – a man, chosen by God or descended from a man chosen by God, to serve as a religious, civil, and/or military authority. To Muslims, Jesus is known as the prophet Isa al Masih (عيسى المسيح ), the equivalent of Jesus the Messiah.

Other titles

In the Gospels, Jesus has many titles besides "Messiah", including Prophet, Lord, Son of man, and Son of God. Together Christians understand these titles as attesting to Jesus' divinity. Some historians argue that when used in other Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the time, these titles have other meanings, and therefore may have other meanings when used in the Gospels as well. These are further discussed in the main article.

The historicity of Jesus

See: Historicity of Jesus, Sources about Jesus Christ

Debates concerning Jesus as a historical figure center on two issues: the role of God in natural and human history, and the veracity of the New Testament as a historical source.

The question of God's role in natural and human history involves not only assumptions about God, but about how humans acquire knowledge (this subject is discussed in the disciplines of epistemology and metaphysics).

The 19th century was particularly marked by a movement toward higher criticism, where previously universally accepted tenets were closely inspected to determine their veracity. One of the major centers of this study with respect to the Bible and the life of Jesus was Eberhard Karls university in Tübingen, Germany. Some scholars in this group reached the conclusion that there was no historical Jesus at all.

As might be expected, opinions about the historicity of Jesus run the gamut from "myth" (Earl Doherty) to "mythologized" (Rudolf Bultmann) to "basically historical, with additions" (Will Durant) to "fully historical" (most conservative Christians).

"Consensus" on such an issue is particularly hard to measure and even harder to reach, given that the subject touches on deeply held religious (or areligious) beliefs. However, the majority of scholars (with the caveat of the previously mentioned Tübingen school and their modern followers) admit that a person named Jesus did exist in the first century. Beyond that, little has been absolutely agreed upon. Today, every aspect of Jesus' life -- cures, other miracles, parables, teachings, actions -- has been minutely examined by large numbers of scholars, with equally wide-ranging results. Consequently, consensus seems very unlikely in the near future.

Cultural and historical background

Main Article: Cultural and historical background of Jesus

To understand Jesus properly it is generally agreed (by scholars and Christians alike) that it is necessary to understand the world in which he lived. This was a volatile period marked by cultural and political dilemmas. Culturally, Jews had to grapple with the values of Hellenism and Hellenistic philosophy. Moreover, as many Jews lived in the Diaspora, and Judea itself was populated by many Gentiles, Jews had to confront a paradox in their own tradition: their Torah applied only to them, but revealed universal truths. This situation led to new interpretations of the Torah, influenced by Hellenic thought and in response to Gentile interest in Judaism.

All of Palestine belonged to the Roman empire at the time of Jesus' birth, but it was indirectly ruled by King Herod the Great. After Herod's death in 4 BC, Judea and Samaria were combined into the Roman province of Palestina, ruled by a procurator. Galilee, where Jesus grew up remained under the jurisdiction of Herod's son, Herod Antipas, who held the title of tetrarch.

Within Judaism, there were several parties, primarily the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees were closely connected with the priesthood and the temple, and tended to cooperate with the Roman authorities. The Pharisees were the leaders of the synagogues and teachers of the people. They resented Roman occupation, but at Jesus' time were not particularly political.

The Essenes were another religious group closely connected with the priesthood. However, they lived in isolation in small communities. Many scholars think that Jesus and/or John the Baptist had contact with such a community. It is debated whether the Zealots, who later rebeled against the Romans, leading to the destruction of the temple, were an active party at the time of Jesus.

Many Jews hoped that the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king (or Messiah, see above) of the line of David – the last legitimate Jewish regime. However, Jews were divided over how this might occur. Most Jews believed that their history was governed by God, meaning that even the conquest of Judea by the Romans was a divine act. Therefore the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king only through divine intervention; thus, the majority of Jews accepted Roman rule. Others believed that the kingdom should be restored immediately, through violent human action.

Alleged relics of Jesus

Main article: Alleged relics of Jesus Christ

There are many items that are purported to be authentic relics of the Gospel account. The most famous alleged relic of Jesus is the Shroud of Turin, which is claimed to be the burial shroud used to wrap the body of Jesus. Other such items include:

Pieces of the True Cross
Iron Crown of Lombardy, purportedly made from nails used during the crucifixion
The Holy Prepuce or foreskin of Jesus, removed during his circumcision
The Spear of Destiny or Spear of Longinus
The Crown of Thorns which was placed upon the head of Jesus at his crucifixion by Pontius Pilate
The Holy Grail which is said to have been used by Jesus during the Last Supper
A veil used by Jesus to wipe sweat from his brow as he carried the cross, known as Veronica's Veil

The majority of modern Christians, however, do not accept any of these as true relics. Indeed, this skepticism has been around for centuries, with Erasmus joking that so much wood formed parts of the True Cross, that Jesus must have been crucified on a whole forest.

Other religions' perspectives on Jesus

Main article: Non-Christian perspectives on Jesus

There has been a wide range of reactions to Jesus from adherents of other faiths, from ignoring him completely to seeing him as an important figure, while rejecting the exclusive claims of Christianity.

Jewish perspectives on Jesus

Main article: Jewish view of Jesus Supplementary articles: Judaism and Christianity and Jewish Messiah

Judaism has deemed Jesus a false messiah, and religious Jews are still awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. Christianity originated as a sect of Judaism, but developed into its own religion; there are thus many similarities dating to the time of origin, but also many radical and fundamental differences dating to the period in which the two were in competition and then antagonism. Today, following the work of critical historians, many Jews minimize Jesus' role as miracle worker, but a small number consider him a great teacher.

Islamic perspectives on Jesus

Main article: Isa

Muslims believe that Jesus, or Isa in Arabic, was one of the prophets of Israel and the Messiah. However, they do not consider him to be the son of God, and consider any belief that he is divine to be a heresy irreconcilable with monotheism. The Qur'an also says that Jesus was a 'word' from God, but it is unclear what this means given that he is not considered to be divine.

Also, Muslims do not believe that Jesus was crucified; the Qur'an narrates that God removed Jesus, and replaced him on the cross. This account has some similarities to the early Christian belief of docetism, which held that only an image (Greek 'dokesis') of Jesus was crucified.

According to Ahmadi Muslims, Jesus survived the crucifixion, migrated to Kashmir, and lived a long life there under the name Yuza Asif. They believe a particular tomb in Kashmir is the tomb of Jesus.

Other religious perspectives

Jesus is considered as a manifestation of God by the Baha'is. Mandaeanists see Jesus as something of a false prophet as compared to John the Baptist. Jesus was seen as the savior and bringer of gnosis by various Gnostic sects, such as the extinct Manichaeism. In modern times many New Agers have reinterpreted Jesus as a misunderstood guru preaching enlightenment.

Sizable minorities of Buddhists and Hindus have beliefs about Jesus; some of these Buddhists have seen Jesus as manifestation of Maitreya, while some Hindus have considered Jesus to be a yogi, guru or even avatar.

Latter-day Saints and other adherents of Mormonism believe that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God and part of the Godhead like other Christians, but they also believe that Jesus personally visited The Americas shortly after His resurrection or ascension. The account is found in the Book of Mormon. (see Mormonism and Christianity).

Followers of Urantia consider Jesus to be divine, but also believe that Joseph was Jesus' genetic father. The Urantia Book gives a different picture of the life of Jesus from that found in the Gospel accounts, and restates many of his teachings.

Dramatic portrayals of Jesus

Main article: Dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ

Jesus has been featured in many films and media, sometimes as a serious portrayal, and other times as satire. Many of these portrayals have attracted controversy, whether they were intended to be based on the Biblical accounts (such as Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ.) or intentionally added extra material (such as The Last Temptation of Christ). Another recurring theme is the up-dating of aspects of the life of Jesus, or imagining his Second Coming (for example, The Seventh Sign).

In many portrayals Jesus himself is a minor character, used to develop the overall themes. For example, in Ben Hur Jesus only appears in a few scenes, and there is always partially obscured.

External links

The Jewish Roman World of Jesus
From Jesus to Christ
Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus
A Portrait of Jesus: From Galilean Jew to the Face of God
University of Birmingham: The Historical Jesus
864 pictures
Jesus Christ (Christology)Essays on the Deity of Jesus, Jesus' Offices of Prophet, Priest & King & The Historic Jesus.
A Jewish response to Christian missionaries
The Alpha Course
Christ Notes
Jesus Christ Catholic Encyclopedia article
EWTN's Jesus Christ webpage
The Jesus Puzzle
Skeptic's Guide to Jesus
The Creation of Christ The theory that Jesus was a myth based on Julius Caesar.
The theory that the story of Jesus is based on the older Hindu story of Krishna
Article about the naming of Jesus
another article about the naming of Jesus
Jesus' birth (Jehovah's Witnesses official site)
Latter-day Saint (Mormon) beliefs about Jesus
Unitarian Universalist Views of Jesus: prophet; dissident; one of many Christs
Historical context of Jesus' time
Jewish sects during Jesus' time
Christ and the Other Religions
The theory and evidence of Jesus having lived in Ladakh, in the Himalaya from 12 to 29 years