| Name | Jesus of Nazareth |
|---|
| Alt | Half-length portrait of younger man with shoulder-length hair and beard, with right hand raised over what appears to be a red flame. The upper background is gold. Around his head is a golden halo containing an equal-armed cross with three arms visible; the arms are decorated with ovals and squares. |
|---|
| Caption | 20th-century stained glass work of Jesus at St. John the Baptist's Church in Ashfield, Australia. |
|---|
| Language | Aramaic (perhaps some Hebrew, Koine Greek) |
|---|
| Birth date | c. 5 BC/BCE(Islamic view) virginal conception; |
|---|
Jesus of Nazareth (c. 5 BC/BCE – c. 30 AD/CE), also referred to as Jesus Christ or simply Jesus, is the central figure of Christianity. Most Christian denominations
venerate him as God the Son incarnated and believe that he rose from the dead after being crucified. Other prominent scholars, however, contend that Jesus' "Kingdom of God" meant radical personal and social transformation instead of a future apocalypse. performed miracles, founded the Church, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, from which he will return. Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in the Old Testament and as God, Numerous scholars see the gospels as blending together to give a comprehensive picture of Jesus teaching and ministry.
Logos
The Gospel of John opens with a
hymn identifying Jesus as the divine
Logos, or Word, that formed the universe.
Genealogy and family
Of the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke give accounts of Jesus' genealogy. However, the Greek word used in the Gospels means "builder", which could refer to a stonemason or some other type of artisan. Matthew omits this reference, emphasizing Jesus' superiority to John.
Following his baptism, Jesus was led into the desert by God where he fasted for forty days and forty nights. During this time, the Devil appeared to him and tempted Jesus three times. Each time, Jesus refused temptation with a quotation of scripture from the Book of Deuteronomy. The Devil departed and angels came and brought nourishment to Jesus. In John, Jesus leads a program of baptism in Judea, and his disciples baptize more people than John.
Ministry
In the synoptics as well as in John, Jesus has a ministry of teaching and miracles, at least part of which is in Galilee.
Jesus' purpose
, in the
Sea of Galilee, by
Raphael]]
Jesus said of his purpose, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
In the book of Matthew, Jesus says, "I desire mercy, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." Mark says that Jesus came to "give his life as a ransom for many"; Luke, that Jesus was sent to "preach the good news of the Kingdom of God"; and John, that Jesus came so that "those who believed in him would have eternal life".
Duration and location
John describes three different
Passover feasts over the course of Jesus' ministry, implying that Jesus preached for at least "two years plus a month or two".
Disciples
In the synoptic Gospels, Jesus calls some Jewish men to be his
Twelve Apostles. None of them seems to have been a peasant (an agricultural worker). At least four are described as fishermen and another as a tax collector. Three of them are presented as being chosen to accompany Jesus on certain special occasions, such as the
transfiguration of Jesus, the raising of the
daughter of Jairus, and the
Agony in the Garden. Jesus speaks of the demands of discipleship, telling a rich man to sell his possessions and give the money to the poor. He states that his message divides family members against each other. In Matthew and Luke, he speaks further about morality and prayer. In John, he speaks at length about himself and his divine role.
At the height of his ministry, Jesus is said to have attracted huge crowds numbering in the thousands, primarily in the areas of Galilee and Perea (in modern-day Israel and Jordan respectively).
In the Synoptics, Jesus often employs parables, such as the Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke) and the Parable of the Sower (all Synoptics).
His moral teachings in Matthew and Luke encourage unconditional self-sacrificing God-like love for God and for all people. Matthew describes false Messiahs, disasters, tribulations, and signs in the heavens that will portend Jesus' return, which is also described as unexpected.
Outreach to outsiders
Table fellowship is central to Jesus' ministry in the Gospels. He and his disciples eat with sinners (who neglect purity rules) and tax collectors (imperial
publicani, despised as extortionists). The apostle
Matthew is a tax collector. When the
Pharisees object to Jesus eating with sinners and tax collectors, Jesus replies that it is the sick who need a physician, not the healthy. Jesus also defends his disciples against charges that they do not follow purity laws when eating. The Pharisees accused Jesus himself of being a drunk and a glutton. Jesus' miracles and teachings often involve food and feasting. He instructs his missionaries to eat with the people that they preach to and heal. In the Synoptics, Jesus institutes a new covenant with a ritual meal before he is crucified.
Jesus' outreach to outsiders includes the Samaritans, who followed a different form of the Israelite religion, as reflected in his preaching to the Samaritans of Sychar and in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.
At various times, Jesus makes a point of welcoming sinners, children, women, the poor, Samaritans, and foreigners.
Transfiguration and Jesus' divine role
In the synoptic gospels, Jesus leads three select disciples:
Peter,
John, and
James to the top of a mountain. While there, he is
transfigured before them, his face shining like the sun and his clothes brilliant white;
Elijah and
Moses appear adjacent to him. A bright cloud overshadows them, and a voice from the sky says, "This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased". Just before it and thereafter, Jesus warns that he is to suffer, die and rise again. Here he punctuates his ministry with several miraculous signs of his authority.
In John, Jesus declares that belief in the Son brings eternal life, that the Father has committed powers of judgment and forgiveness to the Son, and that he is the bread of life, the light of the world, the door of the sheep, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth, and the life, and the real vine. In Luke, Jesus prays briefly at the Mount of Olives, and his disciples fall asleep out of grief. At the Last Supper, Jesus washes the disciples' feet and there is no new covenant of bread and wine. Jesus gives the farewell discourses, discussing the persecution of his followers, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and more. He says a long final prayer with his disciples before heading to a garden where he knows Judas will show up. In an attempt to spare Jesus' life, Pilate offers the mob a chance to free him, but they choose Barabbas instead, so that the responsibility for Jesus' execution falls on the mob of Jews that the Pharisees have incited, rather than on the Romans as expressed in the Gospel of Matthew by the Jewish crowd's proclamation, “[h]is blood be upon us and on our children.” Outside of the gospel, historical documentation does not corroborate this as a customary practice among the Romans or the Jewish people of Israel. Matthew adds the details that Pilate's wife, tormented by a dream, urges Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus, and Pilate washes his hands of responsibility. Luke adds the detail that Pilate sends Jesus to Herod Antipas, who has authority over Galileans, but that Herod, like Pilate, finds him guilty of nothing treasonous. In John, Jesus makes no claim to be the Son of God or the Messiah to the Sanhedrin or to Pilate, even though this gospel proclaims Jesus' divinity from the beginning.
Death
, Jesus' mother Mary holds the body of her dead son, illustration by
Michelangelo, 16th c.]]
,Jerusalam]]
In Mark, Jesus is stripped, flogged, mocked, and crowned with thorns. He is crucified between two thieves, and his cross states that he is being executed for aspiring to be the king of the Jews. He begins to recite , "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me." He utters a loud cry and dies. According to all four Gospels, Jesus died before late afternoon at
Calvary, which was also called
Golgotha. In Luke, Jesus faces his crucifixion stolidly. One of the thieves states that Jesus has done nothing wrong and asks Jesus to remember him in the Kingdom, and Jesus replies that the thief will be with him in Paradise. The Synoptic Gospels tell of the
darkening of the sky from twelve until three that afternoon; Matthew also mentions an
earthquake, "At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split." Mathew also says many dead saints were resurrected and went into the city to appear before other people. John omits the phenomena accompanying Jesus' death. The tearing of the
temple parokhet, upon the death of Jesus, is referenced by Matthew, Mark and Luke. In Matthew, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and to the eleven on a mountain, at which point he commissions them to enlist followers, baptize, and teach what Jesus taught. Although his own mission and his disciples' missions had been to the Jews, here he sends the eleven to the whole world (see
Great Commission). In Luke, he appears to two disciples in the country and to the eleven. He proves to them that he has a body, opens their minds to understand the scripture about the Messiah, and directs them to wait in Jerusalem until they are invested with power. In John, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and to the eleven. He demonstrates his physical reality to
doubting Thomas. Later he appears to seven disciples who are fishing, and finally talks with Peter, foretelling Peter's death and assigning him the principal role as shepherd of the new community. In Mark, Jesus' Ascension to heaven, where he sits at God's right hand, is said to have taken place but not described as a visible event. John implies that Jesus will return to his Father but doesn't describe an Ascension.
Names and titles in the New Testament
Jesus lived in
Galilee for most of his life and spoke
Aramaic and possibly
Hebrew and some Greek.
Many New Testament scholars state that Jesus claimed to be God through his frequent use of "I am" (e.g. Before Abraham was, I am), his act of forgiving sins which gave Jews an impression of blasphemy, and his statement that "I and the Father are one."
"Son of God" was often used to designate a person as especially righteous.
"Emmanuel" or "Immanuel" derives from the Hebrew name Immanu-El, which translates as "God (is) with us" and is based on a Messianic interpretation of a verse in the Hebrew Bible, , "They shall call his name Immanuel."
Historical views
Biblical scholars have used the
historical method to develop plausible reconstructions of Jesus' life. Contemporary efforts benefit from a better understanding of 1st-century Judaism, renewed Roman Catholic biblical scholarship, broad acceptance of critical historical methods, sociological insights, and literary analysis of Jesus' sayings.
Constructing a historical view
Historians of Christianity analyze the gospels to try to discern the historical man on whom these stories are based. They compare what the gospels say to historical events relevant to the times and places where the gospels were written. They try to answer historical questions about Jesus, such as why he was crucified.
Most Biblical scholars agree the Gospel of Mark was written about the time of the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans under Titus in the year 70 AD/CE, and that the other gospels were written between 70 and 100 AD/CE.
Teaching
Jewish focus – Jesus taught among fellow Jews. Geza Vermes concludes that Jesus' message was exclusively for the Jews, while Gerd Theissen asserts that Jesus' message included themes related to the Gentiles being welcomed into the coming Kingdom. He consistently presented himself as Messiah/Christ - i.e. God's anointed king.
Apocalyptic vision – Most scholars hold that the movement Jesus led was apocalyptic, expecting God to intervene imminently to restore Israel. John the Baptist's movement was apocalyptic, and Jesus began his public career as one of his students. Jesus likened the Kingdom of Heaven to small and lowly things, such as yeast or a mustard seed, He used his sayings to elicit responses from the audience, engaging them in discussion.
The family of God – Jesus repeatedly set himself at odds with traditional family duties in order to emphasize that the true family of a believer was God's family, forming a community of believers as children of God.
God as a loving father – Jesus placed a special emphasis on God as one's heavenly father. This teaching contrasts with the more common practice of depicting God as a king or lord.
Virtue of being childlike – Jesus was remarkable in stating that one must become like a child to enter the Kingdom of God.
Importance of faith and prayer – Jesus identified faith or trust in God as a primary spiritual virtue.
Healing and exorcism – Jesus taught that his healings and exorcisms indicated that a new eschatological age had arrived or was arriving.
Crucifixion
Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem were wary of Galilean patriots, many of whom advocated or launched violent resistance to Roman rule. The gospels demonstrate that Jesus, a charismatic leader regarded as a potential troublemaker, was executed on political charges. Jesus' criticism of the Temple, disturbance he caused there, and refusal to renounce claims of kingship convinced the Jewish high priest to allow Jesus to be transferred into Roman custody. Vermes doubts that Jesus foretold his own crucifixion., although other scholars, such as
Craig Blomberg,
F. F. Bruce and
Gregory Boyd, disagree.
Sadducees were particularly powerful in Jerusalem. They accepted the written Law only, rejecting the traditional interpretations accepted by the Pharisees, such as belief in retribution in an afterlife, resurrection of the body, angels, and spirits. After Jesus caused a disturbance at the Temple, it was to have been the Sadducees who had him arrested and turned over to the Romans for execution. After the fall of Jerusalem, they disappeared from history. The notion that Jesus himself was a Zealot does not do justice to the earliest Synoptic material describing him.
Critical scholars consider scriptural accounts more likely when they are attested in multiple texts, plausible in Jesus' historical environment, and potentially embarrassing to the author's Christian community. The "criterion of embarrassment" holds that stories about events with aspects embarrassing to Christians (such as the denial of Jesus by Peter, or the fleeing of Jesus' followers after his arrest) would likely not have been included if those accounts were fictional.
The earliest extant texts which refer to Jesus are Paul's letters (mid-1st century), which affirm Jesus' crucifixion. Keulman and Gregory hold that the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, predates the four orthodox gospels, and believe it may have been composed around mid-1st century.
Textual criticism
Scholars use
textual criticism to determine which variants among manuscripts is original and how much they may have changed.
Contemporary textual critic Bart D. Ehrman cites numerous places where he maintains that the gospels, and other New Testament books, were apparently altered by Christian scribes.
Craig Blomberg, F. F. Bruce and Gregory Boyd view the evidence as conclusive that very few alterations were made by Christian scribes, while none of them (three or four in total) were important (see Textual Criticism). According to Normal Geisler and William Nix, "The New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great book─a form that is 99.5% pure"
Mythical view
Although the historicity of Jesus is accepted by almost all Biblical scholars and classical historians, According to the
Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be God's final revelation, Jesus was born to Mary (Arabic: Maryam) as the result of
virginal conception, and was given the ability to perform
miracles. However, Islam rejects historians assertions that Jesus was
crucified by the Romans, instead claiming that he had been raised alive up to
heaven. Islamic traditions narrate that he will return to earth near the
day of judgement to restore justice and defeat
al-Masīḥ ad-Dajjāl (
lit. "the false Messiah", also known as the
Antichrist) and the enemies of Islam. As a just ruler, Jesus will then die.
Ahmadiyya views
The
Ahmadiyya Movement considers Jesus a mortal man who died a natural death. According to the early 20th century writings of
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement) , Jesus survived his ordeal on the cross, and after his apparent death and resurrection, he fled Palestine and migrated eastwards to further teach the gospels. Jesus eventually died a natural death of old age in India –
Kashmir - and is believed to be buried at
Roza Bal.
Although the view of Jesus having migrated to India has also been researched in the publications of independent historians with no affiliation to the movement, the Ahmadiyya Movement are the only religious organization to adopt these views as a characteristic of their faith. The general notion of Jesus in India is older than the foundation of the movement, and is discussed at length by Grönbold and Klatt.
The movement also interprets the second coming of Christ prophesied in various religious texts would be that of a person "similar to Jesus" (mathīl-i ʿIsā). Thus, Ahmadi's consider that the founder of the movement and his prophetical character and teachings were representative of Jesus and subsequently a fulfillment of this prophecy.
Bahá'í views
The
Bahá'í Faith, founded in 19th-century
Persia, considers Jesus, along with
Muhammad, the
Buddha,
Krishna, and
Zoroaster, and other messengers of the great religions of the world to be
Manifestations of God (or
prophets), with both human and divine stations.
God is one and has manifested himself to humanity through several historic Messengers. Bahá'ís refer to this concept as Progressive Revelation, which means that God's will is revealed to mankind progressively as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity. In this view, God's word is revealed through a series of messengers: Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Bahá'u'lláh (the founder of the Bahá'í Faith) among them. In the Book of Certitude, Bahá'u'lláh claims that these messengers have a two natures: divine and human. Examining their divine nature, they are more or less the same being. However, when examining their human nature, they are individual, with distinct personality. For example, when Jesus says "I and my Father are one", Bahá'ís take this quite literally, but specifically with respect to his nature as a Manifestation. When Jesus conversely stated "...And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me", Bahá'ís see this as a simple reference to the individuality of Jesus. This divine nature, according to Bahá'u'lláh, means that any Manifestation of God can be said to be the return of a previous Manifestation, though Bahá'ís also believe that some Manifestations with specific missions return with a "new name". and a different, or expanded purpose. Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is, in both respects, the return of Jesus.
Buddhist views
Buddhists' views of Jesus differ. Some
Buddhists, including
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama regard Jesus as a
bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. The 14th century Zen master
Gasan Jōseki indicated that the sayings of Jesus in the Gospels were written by an enlightened man.
Other views
Mandaeanism, a very small Mideastern, Gnostic sect that reveres
John the Baptist as God's greatest prophet, regards Jesus as a false prophet of the false Jewish god of the Old Testament,
Adonai, and likewise rejects
Abraham,
Moses, and
Muhammad.
Manichaeism accepted Jesus as a prophet, along with Gautama Buddha and Zoroaster.
The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus. The creators of A Course In Miracles claim to trance-channel his spirit. However, the New Age movement generally teaches that Christhood is something that all may attain. Theosophists, from whom many New Age teachings originated (a Theosophist named Alice A. Bailey invented the term New Age), refer to Jesus of Nazareth as the Master Jesus and believe he had previous incarnations.
Many writers emphasize Jesus' moral teachings. Garry Wills argues that Jesus' ethics are distinct from those usually taught by Christianity. The Jesus Seminar portrays Jesus as an itinerant preacher who taught peace and love, rights for women and respect for children, and who spoke out against the hypocrisy of religious leaders and the rich. Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a deist, created the Jefferson Bible entitled "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" that included only Jesus' ethical teachings because he did not believe in Jesus' divinity or any of the other supernatural aspects of the Bible.
See also
New Testament Jesus
* Biblical Jesus
* Christian views about women
* Christian views of Jesus
* Crucifixion of Jesus and Resurrection of Jesus
* Miracles of Jesus
* Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament
* King of kings
* Race of Jesus
* Sermon on the Mount
Jesus and history
* Apostolic Succession of Jesus
* Christian apologetics
* Genealogy of Jesus
* Gospel Harmony
* Historicity of Jesus
* Historicity of the Gospels
* Jesus and comparative mythology
* New Testament view on Jesus' life
General topics
* Christian mythology
* INRI (stands for "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews")
* Nazarene
Views on Jesus
* Apocrypha
* Christology
* Pauline Christianity
* Religious perspectives on Jesus
* Sexuality of Jesus
Related lists
* List of books about Jesus
* List of founders of major religions
* List of Messiah claimants
* List of people who have been considered deities
* List of people who have claimed to be Jesus
Notes
References
The Bible
Allison, Dale. Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1999. ISBN 0-8006-3144-7
Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Doubleday, 1997. ISBN 0-385-24767-2
Cohen, Shaye J.D.. From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-664-21911-6
Cohen, Shaye J.D. The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001. ISBN 0-520-22693-3
Crossan, John Dominic.
* The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. ISBN 0-06-061629-6
* Who Killed Jesus?: exposing the roots of anti-semitism in the Gospel story of the death of Jesus. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1995. ISBN 978-0-06-061671-7
Davenport, Guy; and Urrutia, Benjamin (trans.) The Logia of Yeshua: The sayings of Jesus. Washington, DC: Counterpoint, 1996. ISBN 978-1-887178-70-9
De La Potterie, Ignace. The hour of Jesus: The passion and the resurrection of Jesus according to John. New York: Alba House, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8189-0575-9
Durant, Will. Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1944. ISBN 0-671-11500-6
Ehrman, Bart. The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-514183-0
Ehrman, Bart. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0-19-515462-2
Fredriksen, Paula. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity. New York: Vintage, 2000. ISBN 0-679-76746-0
Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ: The origins of the New Testament images of Christ. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2000. ISBN 978-0-300-08457-3
Finegan, Jack. Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised ed. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998. ISBN 1-56563-143-9
Fuller, Reginald H., The Foundations of New Testament Christology. New York: Scribners, 1965. ISBN 0-227-17075-X
Meier, John P., , New York: Anchor Doubleday,
: V. 1,
The Roots of the Problem and the Person, 1991. ISBN 0-385-26425-9
: V. 2,
Mentor, Message, and Miracles, 1994. ISBN 0-385-46992-6
: V. 3,
Companions and Competitors, 2001. ISBN 0-385-46993-4
O'Collins, Gerald. Interpreting Jesus. "Introducing Catholic theology". London: G. Chapman; Ramsey, NJ: Paulist Press, 1983. ISBN 978-0-8091-2572-2
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-300-07987-7
Robinson, John A. T. Redating the New Testament. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 2001 (original 1977). ISBN 1-57910-527-0.
Sanders, E.P. The Historical Figure of Jesus. London: Allen Lane Penguin Press, 1993. ISBN 978-0-7139-9059-1
Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1987. ISBN 0-8006-2061-5
Vermes, Géza. Jesus in his Jewish Context. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2003. ISBN 0-8006-3623-6
Vermes, Géza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1981. ISBN 0-8006-1443-7
Vermes, Géza. The Religion of Jesus the Jew. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1993. ISBN 0-8006-2797-0
Wilson, A.N. Jesus. London: Pimlico, 2003. ISBN 0-7126-0697-1
Wright, N.T. Jesus and the Victory of God. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 1997. ISBN 0-8006-2682-6
Wright, N.T. The Resurrection of the Son of God: Christian Origins and the Question of God. Minneapolis: Augsburg Fortress, 2003. ISBN 0-8006-2679-6
External links
Complete Sayings of Jesus Christ In Parallel Latin & English
"Jesus Christ." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 12 Nov. 2009
From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians — Frontline documentary about Jesus' life and the early Church.
The Jewish Roman World of Jesus
Category:0s BC births
Category:1st-century deaths
Category:1st-century executions
Category:Apocalypticists
Category:Carpenters
Category:Christian mythology
Category:Christian religious leaders
Category:Creator gods
Category:Deified people
Category:Founders of religions
Category:God in Christianity
Category:Islamic mythology
Category:Jewish Messiah claimants
Category:Life-death-rebirth gods
Category:Messianism
Category:New Testament people
Category:People executed by crucifixion
Category:People executed by the Roman Empire
Category:People from Bethlehem
Category:People from Nazareth
Category:Prophets in Christianity
Category:Prophets of Islam
Category:Rabbis of the Land of Israel
Category:Roman era Jews
Category:Savior gods
Category:Self-declared messiahs
![Sri Dalada Maligawa is the focal point of Buddhism in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka has a multi ethnic and multi religious population. Buddhism constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the population of the island,[41][42] most of whom follow the Theravada school of Buddhism.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110409170122im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/3d/a3/ba000d92a2b6864c8b86a1663de2_grande.jpg "Sri Dalada Maligawa is the focal point of Buddhism in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka has a multi ethnic and multi religious population. Buddhism constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the population of the island,[41][42] most of whom follow the Theravada school of Buddhism.")
![Sri Dalada Maligawa is the focal point of Buddhism in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka has a multi ethnic and multi religious population. Buddhism constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the population of the island,[41][42] most of whom follow the Theravada school of Buddhism.](http://web.archive.org./web/20110409170122im_/http://cdn.wn.com/pd/3d/a3/ba000d92a2b6864c8b86a1663de2_thumb.jpg "Sri Dalada Maligawa is the focal point of Buddhism in Sri Lanka Sri Lanka has a multi ethnic and multi religious population. Buddhism constitutes the religious faith of about 70% of the population of the island,[41][42] most of whom follow the Theravada school of Buddhism.")
