, 10th century (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris).]]

To anoint is to pour or smear with perfumed oil, milk, water, melted butter or other substances, a process employed ritually by many religions. People and things are anointed to symbolize the introduction of a sacramental or divine influence, a holy emanation, spirit, power or god. It can also be seen as a spiritual mode of ridding persons and things of dangerous influences, as of demons (Persian drug, Greek κηρες Keres, Armenian dev) believed to be or to cause disease.

Unction is another term for anointing. The oil may be called chrism.

The word is known in English since c. 1303, deriving from Old French enoint "smeared on", pp. of enoindre "smear on", itself from Latin inunguere, from in- "on" + unguere "to smear." Originally it only referred to grease or oil smeared on for medicinal purposes; its use in the Coverdale Bible in reference to Christ (cf. The Lord's Anointed, see Chrism) has spiritualized the sense of it, a sense expanded and expounded upon by St Paul's writings in his "Epistles". The title Christ is derived from the Hebrew Messiah and means literally; covered in oil, anointed.

Eastern tradition

, image from the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia.]] .]]

Abhishek had believed that the virtues of one killed could be transferred to survivors if the latter rubbed themselves with his caul-fat. Other rites are associated with eating a victim whose virtues are coveted. So the Arabs of East Africa anoint themselves with lion's fat in order to gain courage and inspire fear in other animals. Human fat is likewise a powerful charm. W. Robertson Smith points out, after the blood, fat was peculiarly the vehicle and seat of life. This is why fat of a victim was smeared on a sacred stone, not only in homage but in consecration. The influence of the deity, communicated to the victim, passed with the unguent into the stone. Thus such divinity could, by anointing, be transferred into men as well. In several temple reliefs in Ancient Egypt the Pharaoh is depicted being anointed by Horus (sun god and "father" of Pharaoh) and Thoth (god of wisdom), the oil of which is symbolically depicted as a stream of ankhs (symbols of life). Also, especially from the New Kingdom onward, anointing is often depicted in intimate scenes between husband and wife, where the wife is shown anointing her spouse, as a sign of affection. The most famous example of this is on the throne of Tutankhamun.

Most famously in Pharaonic Egypt—along with many other ancient cultures—preparation for burial included anointing human remains with sweet-smelling oils in devotion as well with the practical intent of obscuring the stench of death. In sealing a coffin a ritual, final anointing of the mummy was observed.

In the Hindu belief systems anointment is freely practiced. To mark particular devotions, as a "consecration" to particular beliefs or as a ritualized blessing used especially to invoke auspicious beginnings, every stage of life features some gesture of anointment, from rituals accompanying birthing, to religious or educational initiations, royal enthronements to final rites. Even every new building and household is anointed, as well as some ritual instruments. Likewise, the installation and care of any deity's form (frequently appearing as a statue) can involve daily ritual anointing. In every case the direction of the smearing is significant. Persons are anointed from head to foot, downwards, as in India the ground is considered less clean than the uplifted head. Anointing is also used to aid persons within negative cycles—illnesses, demonic possession or streaks of "bad luck".

Though our western root word indicates a greasing of the head or skin with what is generally used as food, we understand "anointing" today to involve broader beliefs and practices, from ritual to talismanic. Yogurt, milk or butter produced by the Hindu's revered cow forms the base of much ritual anointing. Hindu ointments also include ashes, clay, wood (particularly sandal-wood) powders, herbal pastes, as well as endless waters, from sacred rivers or scented with saffron, tumeric, or flower-waters such as jasmine, gardenia, rose-water or infusions. More exotic are rinse-water used in bathing a deity and ink-water which has passed over the fresh calligraphy of appropriate scriptural verses—thus tinged with ink. Ayurvedic medicine practices include extensive herbal, mineral and talismanic preparations compounded and applied according to astrologic and Vedic prescription which tend to further expand monotheistic Western definitions of "anointment".

Buddhist practices of anointing are largely derived from Indian practices but tend to be much less free and noticeably less elaborate. The range of buddhist "anointments" typically include sprinkling assembled practitioners with water and the devotions shown to deities, images or ritual articles by marking statues of Buddhas, Bodhisatvvas and divinities with butter (including yak butter) and various waters including flower-waters, "saffron-waters" stained yellow using saffron or turmeric. Ointments including astrological and talismanic elements such as ink-water are also employed in Buddhist herbal medicine practice.

Hebrew Bible

Among the Hebrews, the act of anointing with the Holy anointing oil was significant in consecration to a holy or sacred use: hence the anointing of the high priest (; ) and of the sacred vessels (). Later, Kings and Prophets were given the right to partake in this sacrament as well.

Medicinal

Olive oil was used also for medicinal purposes. It was applied to the sick, and also to wounds (; ).

The expression, "anoint the shield" (), refers to the custom of rubbing oil on the leather of the shield so as to make it supple and fit for use in war.

Hospitality

It was the custom of the Jews in like manner to anoint themselves with oil, as a means of refreshing or invigorating their bodies (; ; ; , etc.). The Hellenes had similar customs. This custom is continued among the Arabs to the present day. Since about 3,000 years ago, Persian Zoroastrians honor their guests with rose extract [Golaab] out of a beautifully designed glass goose-necked bottle, while holding mirror in front of their guest's face. The guest holds his/her palm, collects the rose-water and then spreads the perfumed liquid onto face and sometimes on his/her head. The words of "Rooj kori aka" (have a nice day) might be said as well.

Priests and kings

The High Priest and the king are each sometimes called "the anointed" (, ; ; ). Prophets were also anointed with the Holy anointing oil.(; ; ).

Anointing a king was equivalent to crowning him; in fact, in Israel a crown was not required (; , etc.). Thus Saul (1 Sam 10:1) and David were anointed as kings by the prophet Samuel:

:Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.—.

Christian Gospels

The Messiah

Distinct from the Jewish view, Christians believe the "anointed" one referred to in various biblical verses such as and is the promised Messiah. According to the Jewish Bible, whenever someone was anointed with the specific Holy anointing oil formula and ceremony described in , the Spirit of God came upon this person, to qualify him or her for a God-given task. According to the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth is this Anointed One, the Messiah (; ; ; , ). The kings of the Old Testament were anointed with oil and only afterwards did they receive Power through the Holy Spirit that came upon them. Jesus on the other hand, was anointed because the Holy Spirit had come upon Him (Acts 10:38). Jesus was anointed with Power itself. God was pleased that Jesus should be His Son (Matthew 3:16) and Jesus was the anointed of God. So we can differentiate between the kind of power that the kings of Israel and the kind of Power that Jesus (The King of Israel) had – the difference is that the kings were anointed of a human high priest but The King was anointed of God Himself. The Gospels also state that he was physically "anointed" by an anonymous woman who is interpreted by some as Mary Magdalene; however, this anointing was not in the fashion described in Exodus, but rather an anointing done out of affection, which Jesus stated was to prepare him for his burial. The word Christ which is now used as though it were a surname is actually a title derived from the Greek Christos from the egyptian krs and krt meaning he who goes into the grave to become god (Osiris)roughly would be more cognate as translations).

Hospitality

Anointing was also an act of hospitality, as Jesus was anointed in the house of the Pharisee ().

Medicinal

The New Testament records that oil was applied to the sick, and also to wounds ; ).

The bodies of the dead were sometimes anointed (; ).

Christian monarchy

as King of France.]] , King of Prussia, being anointed by two Protestant bishops after his coronation at Königsberg in 1701.]] Nicholas II of Russia at his Coronation at Uspensky Cathedral, 1896 (Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow).]]

In Christian Europe, the Carolingian monarchy was the first to anoint the king in a coronation ceremony that was designed to epitomize the Catholic Church's conferring a religious sanction of the monarch's divine right to rule. Nevertheless, a number of Merovingian, Carolingian and Ottonian kings and emperors have avoided coronation and anointing.

English and Scottish monarchs in common with the French included anointing in the coronation rituals (sacre in French). The Sovereign of the United Kingdom is the last anointed monarch. For the coronation of King Charles I in 1626 the holy oil was made of a concoction of orange, jasmine, distilled roses, distilled cinnamon, oil of ben, extract of bensoint, ambergris, musk and civet.

Shakespeare reflected English popular culture in the indelible nature of anointing:

Not all the water in the rough rude sea
Can wash the balm off an anointed king.

However this does not symbolize any subordination to the religious authority, hence it is not usually performed in Catholic monarchies by the pope but usually reserved for the (arch)bishop of a major see (sometimes the site of the whole coronation) in the nation, as is sometime the very act of crowning. Hence its utensils can be part of the regalia, such as in the French kingdom an ampulla for the oil and a spoon to apply it with; in the Swedish and Norwegian kingdoms, an anointing horn (a form fitting the Biblical as well as the Viking tradition) is the traditional vessel.

The French Kings adopted the fleur-de-lis as a baptismal symbol of purity on the conversion of the Frankish King Clovis I to the Christian religion in 493. To further enhance its mystique, a legend eventually sprang up that a vial of oil--the Holy Ampulla--descended from Heaven to anoint and sanctify Clovis as King. The thus "anointed" Kings of France later maintained that their authority was directly from God, without the mediation of either the Emperor or the Pope.

Legends claim that even the lily itself appeared at the baptismal ceremony as a gift of blessing in an apparition of the blessed Virgin Mary.

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Anointing of an Orthodox Sovereign is considered a Sacred Mystery (Sacrament). The act was believed to bestow upon the ruler the empowerment, through the grace of the Holy Spirit, to discharge his God-appointed duties, and his ministry in defending the Orthodox Christian faith. The same Myron which is used in Chrismation is used for the Anointing of the Monarch. In the Russian Orthodox Church, during the Coronation of the Tsar, the Anointing took place just before the receipt of Holy Communion, toward the end of the service. The Sovereign and his Consort were escorted to the Holy Doors (Iconostasis) of the Cathedral, and were there anointed by the Metropolitan. After the Anointing, the Tsar alone was taken through the Holy Doors (an action normally reserved only for bishops or priests) and received Holy Communion at a small table set next to the Holy Table, or altar.

Christian sacramental usage

Early Christian usage

In early Christian times, sick people were anointed for healing to take place: : :14 Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: :15 And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Many early apocryphal and Gnostic texts indicate that anointing was part of the baptismal process, and in fact that the baptism with water (Johns baptism) is incomplete. The Gospel of Philip states; "The Chrism is superior to baptism, for it is from the word "Chrism" that we have been called "Christians", certainly not because of the word "baptism." And it from the "Chrism" that the "Christ" has his name. For the Father anointed the Son, and the Son anointed the apostles, and the apostles anointed us. He who has been anointed possesses everything. He possesses the Resurrection, the Light, the Cross, the Holy Spirit. The Father gave him this in the bridal chamber, he merely accepted the gift. The Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father. This is the Kingdom of Heaven." This coincides with 1 John 2:18-29 in the Bible, warning against antichrists; "But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth." And again; "As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit - just as it has taught you, remain in him." In the Acts of Thomas the anointing is in fact the beginning of the baptismal process and essential to becoming a "Christian." It claims that God knows his own children by his seal, and that we shall receive the seal by the oil. Many such baptisms/Chrismations are described in detail throughout the text.

Roman Catholic usage

The Roman Catholic Church blesses three types of holy oils for anointing: Oil of the Catechumens (traditionally abbreviated "OC"), Oil of the Infirm ("OI"), and Sacred Chrism ("SC"). The first two are said to be "blessed", while chrism is "consecrated".

The Oil of Catechumens is used to anoint the catechumens (adults preparing for reception into the church) just before receiving the Sacrament of Baptism. Anointing is part of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, and the Oil of the Infirm is used for this. The Sacred Chrism is used in the Sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders.

Any bishop may consecrate the holy oils, and normally do so every Holy Thursday at a special "Chrism Mass".

Orthodox usage

In the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches, Confirmation is known as Chrismation—from the Greek word chrisma (χρίσμα), meaning the medium and act of anointing. The Eastern Churches perform the Mystery of Chrismation immediately after the Mystery of Baptism during the same ceremony, even in the case of infant baptism, using the sacred myron (chrism) which they believe contains a remnant of oil blessed by the Twelve Apostles. This myron may be added to as needed, usually at a ceremony held on Holy Thursday at one of the Patriarchal Cathedrals. The new myron contains olive oil, myrrh, and numerous spices and perfumes. This myron is normally kept on the Holy Table (altar) or on the Table of Oblation. During Chrismation, the newly illuminate (i.e., newly baptized) person is anointed by making the sign of the cross with the myron on the forehead, eyes, nostrils, lips, both ears, breast, hands and feet. The priest uses a special brush for this purpose.

The oil that is used to anoint the catechumens before baptism is simple olive oil which is blessed by the priest immediately before he pours it into the baptismal font. Then, using his fingers, he takes some of the blessed oil floating on the surface of the baptismal water and anoints the catechumen on the forehead, breast, shoulders, ears, hands and feet. He then immediately baptizes the catechumen with three-fold immersion in the name of the Trinity.

Anointing of the sick is called the Sacred Mystery of Unction. Although practices will vary, most of the Orthodox use Unction not only for physical ailments, but for spiritual ailments as well, and the faithful may request Unction any number of times at will. In some churches, it is normal for all of the faithful to receive Unction during a service on Holy Wednesday of Holy Week. The holy oil used at Unction is not stored in the church like the myron, but consecrated anew for each individual service. When an Orthodox Christian dies, if he has received the Mystery of Unction, and some of the consecrated oil remains, it is poured over his body just before burial.

It is also common to bless using oils which have been blessed either with a simple blessing by a priest (or even a venerated monastic or layperson), or by contact with some sacred object, such as relics of a saint, or which has been taken from an oil lamp burning in front of a wonderworking icon or some other shrine.

Consecration of Oil in the Orthodox Church

Among Eastern Orthodox Churches, the Myron (Μύρον, Holy Oil) for Chrismation (and, prior to the 20th century, for the Anointing of monarchs) is prepared periodically by the Orthodox Patriarchates (such as the Church of Constantinople -- see an announcement and process for preparation, with some sample dates of preparation) and by the various heads of autocephalous churches (such as the Orthodox Church in America -- see photos of the process). The Consecration of the Oil, when performed, occurs during Holy Week, and thereafter the Oil is distributed to the Orthodox parishes and monasteries under the authority of that ecclesiastical jurisdiction.

At the Patriarchate of Constantinople, the process is under the care of the Archontes Myrepsoi, lay officials of the Patriarchate. Various members of the clergy may also participate in the preparation, but the Consecration itself is always performed by the Patriarch or a bishop deputed by him for that purpose.

Pentecostal churches

As in the early Christian church, anointing with oil is used in Pentecostal churches for healing the sick and also for consecration or ordination of pastors and elders.

The word "anointing" is also frequently used by Pentecostal Christians to refer to the power of God or the Spirit of God residing in a Christian: a usage that occurs from time to time in the Bible (e.g. in ). A particularly popular expression is "the anointing that breaks the yoke", which is derived from : :And it shall come to pass on that day, that his burden shall be removed from upon your shoulder, and his yoke from upon your neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of oil.

The NIV translates this passage as, "the yoke will be broken because you have grown so fat." The context of this passage refers to the yoke of Sennacherib, and how his oppressive nature is overturned by that of Hezekiah who was said to be as mild as oil.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Melchizedek Priesthood holders may anoint the head of an individual who is ill and has requested a blessing. Pure olive oil must be used, and it must have been consecrated earlier in a short ordinance that any Melchizedek Priesthood holder may perform.

In addition to the reference, the Doctrine and Covenants contains numerous references to the anointing and healing of the sick by those with authority to do so.

Biblical metaphor

Anointing is not only used by Pentecostal churches but by many other denominations to describe the work of the Holy Spirit among believers. In so doing they only recognize the spiritual anointing that the Bible speaks of. But you have an anointing from the Holy One . But the anointing, which you have received from Him abides in you

Other uses

Because of its "smeared on" root, the word is also used for the unique practice by hedgehogs of coating their quills with a froth when encountering new smells or tastes in their environment.

See also

Chrism

Holy anointing oil

Anointing of the Sick

Holy unction

Anointing of Jesus

Anointing with oil

fleur-de-lis.

Notes

References

EtymologyOnLine - word history

Jesus Boat Museum - Wide variety of Anointing oils

Category:Christian liturgy, rites, and worship services Category:Jewish law and rituals Category:Eastern Christian liturgy Category:Catholic liturgy Category:Eastern Orthodoxy Category:Eastern Catholicism Category:Latter Day Saint ordinances, rituals, and symbolism Category:Religious behaviour and experience Category:Prayer Category:Christian terms

Name	Todd Bentley
Caption	Todd Bentley in April 2008
Birth date	January 10, 1976
Birth place	Sechelt, British Columbia, Canada
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Evangelist
Religion	Charismatic Christianity
Spouse	Shonnah Bentley (? – 2009) Jessa Hasbrook Bentley (2009 – present)

Todd Bentley (born 10 January 1976) is a Canadian Christian evangelist. He was the key figure of the Lakeland Revival.

Biography

Early life

Bentley was raised mainly in Gibsons, British Columbia, a small community on the western coast of Canada. Bentley's parents divorced while he was a child and he struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. At the age of 15, he was convicted for sexually assaulting a seven-year-old boy, Bentley credits his conversion to Jesus Christ for a change of lifestyle at 18. It was at this point that he began his Christian ministry. disclosed Bentley's teenage criminal activities. It reported multiple instances of sexual assault, including that of the seven year old boy, calling Bentley's behavior "heinous." In Canada, the criminal records of juvenile offenders are normally protected from public disclosure. Bentley later said that the Report Newsmagazine article was, in substance, true. This led to heated debate in the Christian media, asking whether Report NewsMagazine had acted correctly in publicizing Bentley's crimes, and whether this affected Bentley's position as an evangelist.

Fresh Fire Ministries

In 1998, the Fresh Fire Ministry group asked Bentley to give his testimony at one of their weekly meetings. Soon after, Bentley took over the leadership of the group, which became more of a revival movement. The religious services became focused on renewing the faith of believers and converting nonbelievers and began to highlight Bentley's vibrant preaching style, music, and dramatic descriptions of salvation and judgment. Bentley's talent for this kind of charismatic witnessing made him popular as a guest evangelist and speaker. He traveled to India, Africa, and South America taking part in religious crusades and revivals.

Leadership of Lakeland Revival

Beginning on April 2, 2008, Bentley was invited by Stephen Strader, pastor of Ignited Church, Lakeland, Florida, to lead a one-week revival. In addition to showcasing Bentley's evangelism, the revival featured colorful light shows and power-chord Christian rock music. The revival streamed live via Ustream – which received over 1 million hits in the first five weeks of transmissions. After the initial weeks, GOD TV, a religious satellite channel, decided to pre-empt its primetime programming and broadcast the Lakeland meetings nightly. was one. Another was Evangelist Hamilton Filmalter, who was commissioned by Bentley to begin the Portland Outpouring. Filmalter teamed up with Reverend Aaron Winter the founder of Hearts of Fire International Ministries and they began to witness many of the same things that were taking place in Lakeland. However, by the time these other revivals turned up in other cities, Bentley had stepped down from Fresh Fire Ministries.

Bentley was criticized in mainstream media and on internet blogs for occasional violence done to participants, in the tradition of Smith Wigglesworth. Todd Bentley was known to forcefully kick, hit, smack or knock over participants. In one incident, a man was knocked over and lost a tooth. In another, an elderly woman was intentionally kicked in the face. Bentley held that the Holy Spirit led him to such actions,

On 9 July 2008 ABC News' Nightline broadcast an investigative report on Bentley focusing on his faith healing claims, finances, and criminal past. Following the report, Bentley took time off from the revival but returned on 18 July 2008.

An important aspect of many of the meetings that Bentley has led, involves prayer for miraculous healing. The New Testament records many incidents of Jesus healing the sick; belief in its contemporary practice is important for Pentecostal and charismatic Christians. Healing testimonies were common at the Lakeland meetings. The lack of medical corroboration of the healings was questioned by mainstream media; the Nightline report concluded that "not a single miracle could be verified." and resigned from the Board of Fresh Fire. A statement released by the remaining Board members said "Todd Bentley has entered into an unhealthy relationship on an emotional level with a female member of his staff", and that he would 'refrain from all public ministry for a season to receive counsel in his personal life'.

Some of Bentley's Christian contemporaries called for Bentley to step down in the wake of the scandal, stating that Christian leadership is incompatible with marital unfaithfulness. In response, a committee made up of Rick Joyner, Jack Deere, and Bill Johnson was formed to oversee the process of spiritually restoring Bentley's family. In November 2008, the Board of Fresh Fire announced that Bentley was not submitting to the process. On March 9, 2009, Rick Joyner announced that Bentley had remarried.

A 2009 Charisma magazine interview with Rick Joyner refuted adultery claims while characterizing the relationship as wrong and premature. Joyner told Charisma that the new couple was committed to their marriage and would “continue to serve the Lord in the best way that they can.” He has stated that his priority is to help people experience the presence of God. He wants the "Holy Spirit to manifest His glory in such a way that people can't deny the presence of a living God and they have a true born-again experience". He also says: "Miracles and healings are evidence [...] they are signs of the Kingdom, and if we don't have signs then all we have is a bunch of theology."

Bentley's testimony includes an account of visiting Heaven and meeting with Paul the Apostle.

Pastor Strader of Ignited Church who invited Bentley to Lakeland said: "We watch over everything. Everything that happens on the platform is scriptural [...] The nightly message has been totally 100 percent nothing but Jesus. People are saved, people are healed, and Jesus is being glorified. [...] Even some of my so-called friends are questioning my integrity, but they never come to the services. It's not fair just to watch [them] on TV."

Joel's Army

Bentley has sponsored an internship program called 'Joel's Army' in addition to having the words "Joel's Army" tattooed across his sternum with military dog tags demonstrating a level of commitment to the Latter Rain doctrine of the Manifest Sons of God, (or Man-Child Generation) as preached by William M. Branham and George Warnock. The program's doctrine was associated to an interpretation of Revelation 12 that in the last age before Jesus returns, there will be a generation of especially endowed Christians who will be able to do many miracles, and will usher in the reign of God. This is in the tradition of William M. Branham and the healing revivals of the 50s, overlapping with Latter Rain Movement theology. Bentley's association with Paul Cain, an associate of Branham and himself a healing evangelist of the 50s, is a further connection to the movement.

Appearance

Bentley's physical appearance has been noted for being very unconventional for that of an evangelist. Bentley's preaching style is also flamboyant, known for mannerisms like shouting 'Bam!' during his delivery.

Bibliography

The Journey into the Miraculous (Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2008)

The Reality of the Supernatural World: Exploring Heavenly Realms and Prophetic Experiences (Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2008)

Kingdom Rising: Making the Kingdom Real in Your Life (Shippensburg: Destiny Image, 2008)

See also

Apostolic-Prophetic Movement

Bill Johnson

Paul Cain

Rick Joyner

James Goll

John Paul Jackson

References

External links

Todd Bentley's restoration

Fresh Fire Ministries

Todd Bentley resigns from Fresh Fire Ministries

Todd Bentley & the End-Times Apostasy a critical look at Todd Bentley's ministry and teachings

Category:1976 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian people convicted of child sexual abuse Category:Canadian television evangelists Category:Charismatic and Pentecostal Christianity Category:Christian mystics Category:Christian revivalists Category:Converts to Christianity Category:Members of the clergy convicted of rape Category:People from Gibsons, British Columbia

Name	Thomas Sowell
School tradition	New Social Economics
Color	maroon
Birth date	June 30, 1930Gastonia, North Carolina
Nationality	United States
Institution	Hoover Institution (1980–present)UCLA (1970–1972, 1974–1980)Urban Institute (1972–1974)Brandeis University (1969–1970)Cornell University (1965–1969)
Field	Economics, Education, Politics, History, Race relations, Child development
Alma mater	Howard UniversityHarvard University (A.B.) 1958Columbia University (M.A.) 1959University of Chicago (Ph.D.) 1969
Influences	Milton Friedman, George Stigler, F.A. Hayek, Edmund Burke
Influenced	Clarence Thomas
Signature
Repec prefix	| repec_id =

Thomas Sowell (born June 30, 1930) is an American economist, social critic, political commentator and author. He often writes as an advocate of laissez-faire economics, and his political outlook can generally be classified as libertarian. He is currently a senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. In 1990, he won the Francis Boyer Award, presented by the American Enterprise Institute. In 2002, Sowell was awarded the National Humanities Medal for prolific scholarship melding history, economics, and political science. In 2003, he was awarded the Bradley Prize for intellectual achievement.

Biography

Sowell, an African-American, was born in Gastonia, North Carolina. His father died before he was born, and Sowell's mother, a maid, already had four children. His great-aunt and her two grown daughters adopted Sowell. When Sowell was nine, his family moved from Charlotte, North Carolina to the Harlem borough of New York City. Sowell attended Stuyvesant High School, a selective school, even though no one in his family had an education beyond sixth grade. He dropped out at age 17 because of financial difficulties and a deteriorating home environment. To support himself he worked at various jobs, including in a machine shop and as a delivery man for Western Union. He was drafted in 1951, during the Korean War, and was assigned to the US Marine Corps. Due to prior experience in photography, he worked in a photography unit but also trained Marines in handgun use. He received a Master of Arts in economics from Columbia University in 1959 and a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1968.

Sowell has taught economics at Rutgers University, Howard University, Cornell University, Brandeis University, and UCLA. Since 1980 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, where he holds a fellowship named after Rose and Milton Friedman.

Sowell has stated that he was a Marxist “during the decade of my 20s." His experience working as a federal government intern during the summer of 1960 caused him to reject his Marxian economics in favor of free market economic theory. During his work, Sowell discovered a correlation between the rise of mandated minimum wages for workers in the sugar industry of Puerto Rico and the rise of unemployment in that industry. Studying the patterns led Sowell to allege that the government employees who administered the minimum wage law cared more about their own jobs than the plight of the poor.

Career highlights

Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, September 1980–present

Professor of Economics, UCLA, July 1974–June 1980

Visiting Professor of Economics, Amherst College, September–December 1977

Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University, April–August 1977

Fellow, Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, July 1976–March 1977

Project Director, The Urban Institute, August 1972–July 1974

Associate Professor of Economics, UCLA, September 1970–June 1972

Associate Professor of Economics, Brandeis University, September 1969–June 1970

Assistant Professor of Economics, Cornell University, September 1965–June 1969

Economic Analyst, American Telephone & Telegraph Co., June 1964–August 1965

Lecturer in Economics, Howard University, September 1963–June 1964

Instructor in Economics, Douglass College, Rutgers University, September 1962–June 1963

Labor Economist, U.S. Department of Labor, June 1961–August 1962

Writings

Sowell is both a syndicated columnist and an academic economist.

Besides scholarly writing, Sowell has written books, articles, and syndicated columns for a general audience in such publications as Forbes Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, and major newspapers. He is a regular contributor to GOPUSA, a conservative web and email newsletter run by Endeavor Media Group, LLC. He primarily writes on economic subjects, generally advocating a free market approach to capitalism. Sowell, whose autobiography describes his serious study of Karl Marx, opposes Marxism, providing a critique in his book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics. He also argues that, contrary to popular perception, Marx never held to a labor theory of value.

Sowell also writes on racial topics and is a critic of affirmative action and race based quotas. While often described as a black conservative, he prefers not to be labeled, and considers himself more libertarian than conservative.

In another departure from economics, Sowell wrote The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late, a follow-up to his Late-Talking Children. This book investigates the phenomenon of late-talking children, frequently misdiagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. He includes the research of—among others—Professor Stephen Camarata, Ph.D., of Vanderbilt University and Professor Steven Pinker, Ph.D., of Harvard University in this overview of a poorly understood developmental trait. It is a trait which he says affected many historical figures. He includes famous late-talkers such as physicists Albert Einstein, Edward Teller and Richard Feynman; mathematician Julia Robinson; and musicians Arthur Rubenstein and Clara Schumann. The book and its contributing researchers make a case for the theory that some children develop unevenly (asynchronous development) for a period in childhood due to rapid and extraordinary development in the analytical functions of the brain. This may temporarily “rob resources” from neighboring functions such as language development. The book contradicts Simon Baron-Cohen’s speculation that Einstein may have had Asperger syndrome (see also people speculated to have been autistic).

Sowell has also written A Conflict of Visions where he speaks about the origins of political strife.

Columns

Sowell has a nationally syndicated column distributed by Creators Syndicate that appears in various newspapers, as well as online on websites such as Townhall, WorldNetDaily, OneNewsNow and the Jewish World Review.

Sowell comments on issues he considers to be problematic in modern-day society, which include liberal media bias; judicial activism (while staunchly defending originalism); partial birth abortion; the minimum wage; socializing health care; affirmative action; government bureaucracy; militancy in U.S. foreign policy; the U.S. war on drugs, and multiculturalism.

Sowell supports free market and pro-growth economics. In one column he criticized as socialism for the rich, certain policies which he describes as benefiting the wealthy at the expense of the poor.

Sowell in a Townhall editorial, "The Bush Legacy", assessed President George W. Bush, deeming him "a mixed bag", but "an honorable man".

Sowell also favors decriminalization of all drugs.

Thought

The major themes and philosophies of Sowell’s writing range from social policy on race, ethnic groups, education and decision-making, to classical and Marxist economics, to the problems of children perceived as having disabilities. Sowell has also extended his research from the United States to the international sphere, finding supporting data and patterns from several cultures and nations. He has demonstrated that similar incentives and constraints often result in similar outcomes among very different peoples and cultures.

Five themes in his work cut across specific topics: #The importance of empirical evidence, not only in a narrow technical sense but as reflected in the broad record of history. #The competing basic visions of policy makers, and their role in the interactions of elites versus the ordinary masses. #An importance of trade-offs, constraints and incentives in human decision making. #The significance of human capital—attitudes, skills, and work. #The importance of systemic (orderly, structured) processes for decision-making—from free markets to the rule of law.

Importance of empirical evidence

Sowell repeatedly emphasized the need for empirical evidence and objective assessments of data, as opposed to the sweeping generalizations, wishful thinking, and distorted or false evidence provided by numerous writers in the field of social policy and economics. Sowell contends that in no field are these distortions greater than when the topic of race is discussed.

In his book Marxism: Philosophy and Economics Sowell contends that too often, social policy is made on the basis of sweeping assumptions, arbitrarily selected statistical data, and ideological dogma, without sufficient evidence.

History and culture

Sowell’s trilogy Race and Culture, Migrations and Culture, and Conquests and Cultures exemplifies his broad analytical approach to historical processes, cutting across centuries of history, and many different peoples. He compares nations and minority groups within nations, particularly migrants.

Race and intelligence

In Intelligence and Ethnicity, Sowell demonstrates how IQ scores have risen among many groups (see: Flynn effect). He notes that the roughly 15-point gap in contemporary black–white IQ scores is similar to that between the national average and the scores of particular ethnic white groups in years past. Indeed similar gaps have been reported within white populations, such as Northern Europeans versus Southern Europeans. Sowell references some of these points in his criticism of the book The Bell Curve.

In short, Sowell argues, IQ gaps are hardly startling or unusual between, or within, ethnic groups. What is distressing, he claims, is the sometimes hysterical response to the very fact that IQ research is being done, and movements to ban testing in the name of self-esteem or fighting racism. He argues that few would have known of black IQ progress if scholars like James Flynn had not undertaken allegedly racist research.

Authentic black culture, dysfunctional white southern redneck culture

Competing visions and intellectuals

Two visions

Sowell lays out these concepts in his A Conflict of Visions and The Vision of the Anointed. These two visions encompass a range of ideas and theories. The vision of the anointed relies heavily on sweepingly optimistic assumptions about human nature, distrust of decentralized processes like the free market, impatience with systemic processes that constrain human action, and absent or distorted empirical evidence. The constrained or tragic vision relies heavily on a reduced view of the goodness of human nature, and prefers the systematic processes of the free market, and the systematic processes of the rule of law and constitutional government.

Intellectuals are “idea” workers

In his 2009 book Intellectuals and Society, Sowell argues that intellectuals, defined as people whose occupations deal primarily with ideas (writers, historians, academics, etc.) usually consider themselves as anointed, endowed by superior intellect or insight to guide power-brokers and the masses.

Trade-offs, constraints and incentives

Ordinary citizens might benefit from analyzing issues and public policies in terms of costs, benefits and trade-offs, where scarce resources have alternative uses, rather than rely on lofty rhetoric from political leaders, activists and special interests

In Basic Economics and Applied Economics, Sowell attempts a popularization of economics. Sowell argues that there are no free lunches, only trade-offs at various levels. This transactional approach to social and economic policy is one of the hallmarks of Sowell’s writings:

Lofty talk about “non-economic values” too often amounts to very selfish attempts to impose one’s own values, without having to weigh them against other people’s values. Taxing away what other people have earned, in order to finance one’s own fantasy ventures, is often depicted as a humanitarian endeavor, while allowing others the same freedom and dignity as oneself, so they can make their own choices with their own earnings, is considered to be pandering to “greed.” Greed for power is more dangerous than greed for money and has shed far more blood in the process. Political authorities have often had “revolutionary values” that were devastating to the general population.

Government action is too often perceived as beneficial, just and noble, when in fact it often hurts those it is purportedly trying to help

As far back as 1975’s Race and Economics and continuing through his Affirmative Action Around The World and Basic and Applied Economics series, Sowell repeatedly shows that much government action in the social and economic domains has not only failed to achieve desired or claimed results but in many cases has created worse conditions than those previously existing. Examples given to bolster Sowell’s arguments range from rent control (which decreases the supply of housing) to busing for racial balance (schools in some areas under busing are just as segregated or worse than before) and crime control, zoning laws, and education.

Sowell also takes strong issue with the notion of government as a helper or savior of minorities, arguing that the historical record shows quite the opposite—from the lower level Jim Crow laws created and enforced by state and local regimes, to welfare subsidies at the federal level that have promoted family dependency and breakdown. The Montgomery Bus Company of the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott in the 1950s, for example, had originally pleaded with local segregationist officials not to impose Jim Crow on the bus lines. Before, such lines served both black and white customers with little problem. This plea was rejected, and the hand of government once again interfered with and hindered free markets that mutually benefited customers of all races. Unlike the free market, where the dollars held by blacks and whites have equal value, the governmental sphere in a massive number of historical instances imposed unequal values—with black votes having less value than white ones—and so Jim Crow expanded. Sowell maintains that, time and time again, the hand of government has negatively intervened to snuff out mutually desirable free market transactions between blacks and whites, raising business costs, dampening profits, and creating huge inefficiencies to local economies. The wasteful duplication of facilities and customer-service areas in the name of segregation are but one example of the waste and inefficiency imposed by government, reputed benefactor of minorities. Sowell draws upon a mass of historical data to question both the priorities and logic of those who call for even more government intervention and spending to “solve” the problems of minorities.

On several measures, black progress was much more positive prior to the significant rise of the welfare state, and prior to the era of affirmative action

Another of Sowell’s themes is to show the painful but steady rise of blacks in the US against heavy odds before massive intervention by government programs, a rise that contradicts some popular assumptions.

Social problems

In Affirmative Action Around the World (2004) and Civil Rights Sowell demonstrates that on several measures, black progress was actually better before the era of the expanding welfare state and affirmative action era of the 1970s, and even the Civil Rights Act of 1964, than in the contemporary era. In the decades immediately after the Civil War for example, blacks posted higher employment rates and lower divorce rates than whites. As regards family stability and out-of-wedlock births, black rates prior to WWII were hardly perfect, (19% in 1940 and 22% in 1960) but were still far lower than the 70% out-of-wedlock births afflicting the black community at the beginning of the 21st century. In every census between 1890 and 1940, blacks posted higher marriage rates than whites. Sowell also shows that numerous other European groups showed patterns of high dysfunction as they migrated to urban areas. He argues that this historical record undermines claims about hopelessly deficient black family patterns due to an alleged legacy of slavery or genetic handicaps, and maintains that the dependency induced by the welfare state undermined much that was stable and commendable about black family and community life, above and beyond the difficulties of rural to urban migration. The weakening of crime controls by judges and political elites during the 1960s fostered an atmosphere of lawlessness in the black community that also contributed to a negative harvest of social problems. As regards murder, for example, a crime that is not much influenced by fluctuations in victim reporting, rates doubled in the 1960s as plea bargaining, lighter sentences, “revolving door” early releases, restrictions on police procedures and probations increased. Although the weakening of controls was sometimes undertaken in the name of fairness for minorities, no community was harder hit by such rising rates than the black community.

Education

Black education was badly hurt by Jim Crow laws and practices; nevertheless Sowell demonstrates in Inside American Education (1993) and Black Education: Myths and Tragedies (1972) that even on this measure, blacks often showed progress that would be almost inconceivable in many of today’s inner city schools. While black education lagged heavily behind that of whites in the segregation era, several black schools were to emerge that produced excellent performances. All-black Dunbar High School in Washington D.C. prior to the 1960s, for example, achieved performance levels equal to or exceeding that of surrounding white schools. The average IQ at Dunbar was 111 in 1939, and again in 1950, and attendance records in some years showed lower levels of absenteeism than that of surrounding white schools in the District of Columbia. Dunbar also produced a impressive number of black firsts in many fields from naval officers, to the first black federal judge, military general, and cabinet member, and with alumni ranging from jazzman Duke Ellington to the black pioneer in the use of blood plasma. Nor could this be due to creaming of the crop to create a tiny elite of black students, Sowell contends. Attendance records suggest Dunbar’s student body was quite representative of the black community it served, and fully one-third of all black students in D.C. passed through its doors in some decades.

In his 1986 Education: Assumptions versus History, Sowell discusses several all-black public and private schools that achieved high performance standards like Dunbar. Ironically, some of these high-performing black schools declined after the Brown desegregation. Dunbar for example was torn down and rebuilt as a neighborhood school in a neighborhood that had descended into crime, poverty and decay. Similar patterns occurred with many other once thriving black institutions. Schools that once boasted high test scores, numerous academic awards, service to the community, and the development of black professionals became marked by low test scores, locations in decaying neighborhoods, lack of parental support and discipline problems. Policies such as busing for racial balance did little to stem this decline. There is little interest in such past achievements, Sowell argues, because the historical record would call into question prevailing policies and dogmas focused on racial headcounts, trendy black English, diversity, bigger budgets and more spending. The record also highlights counterproductive cultural attitudes towards education among some of today’s blacks as demonstrated by various research on the anti-intellectual “acting white” phenomenon, Sowell claims. Today’s Dunbar, he notes, has much finer physical facilities than the old school before its decline in the 1960s, but produces much more dismal academic results. More students went on to college from Dunbar during the Great Depression than they do in the contemporary ghetto school of today. He maintains that US blacks only became a largely urban people after WWII, when the booming war economy produced a third great migration north, allowing millions of blacks to escape the harsh, oppressive conditions of the South. While southern cities also saw some migration, it was this massive wartime move north that was much more significant, and the arrival of the rural black proletariat into difficult urban conditions broke down many of the social mores and community controls that had maintained its stability in the past.

Sowell notes that social problems occurring after such migrations are nothing new with other white ethnic groups, who had the advantage of entering, acculturating and adjusting to the urban economy in toto several decades earlier than blacks. The black migrants faced race discrimination above and beyond other ethnic groups but fundamentally experienced the same social pathologies others did in becoming urbanized. Difficulties with crime, schooling, substance abuse etc. are thus not uniquely "black" problems but are well represented in other urbanizing groups from peasant background. In Ethnic America (1981), for example, Sowell shows that white ethnic groups like the Irish were marked by many of the same patterns as blacks who migrated from rural backgrounds to the big urban centers, including high levels of violence and substance abuse. As regards out-of-wedlock births, the rate in some New York areas with heavy white Irish settlement was over 50%, comparable to what would develop in later black ghettos in the same city.

Sowell sums of some of these claims in his Pink and Brown People and Other Controversial Essays (1981), warning against what he calls the fallacy of presentism: :"Those who cannot swallow pseudo-biology can turn to pseudo-history as the basis for classification. Unique cultural characteristics are now supposed to neatly divide the population. In this more modern version, the ghetto today is a unique social phenomenon.. American ghettos have always had crime, violence, overcrowding, filth, drunkenness, bad school teaching, and worse learning. Nor are blacks historically unique even in the degree of these things. Crime and violence were much worse in the nineteenth-century slums, which were almost all white. The murder rate in Boston in the middle of the nineteenth century was about three times what it was in the middle of the twentieth century. All the black riots of the 1960s put together did not kill half as many people as were killed in one white riot in 1863.. Squalor, dirt, disease? Historically, blacks are neither the first nor last in any of these categories. There were far more immigrants packed into the slums (per room or per square mile) than is the case with blacks today - not to mention the ten thousand to thirty thousand children with no home at all in the nineteenth-century New York...

:Even in the area where many people get most emotional- educational and IQ test results- blacks are doing nothing that various European minorities did not do before them. As of about 1920, any number of European ethnic groups had I.Q.'s the same or lower than the I.Q.'s of blacks today. As recently as 1940, there were schools on the Lower East Side of New York with academic performances lower than those of schools in Harlem. Much of the paranoia that we talk ourselves into about race is a result of provincialism about our own time as compared to other periods in history."

The true beneficiaries of affirmative action are not the less fortunate but those already advantaged

In his 2004 Affirmative Action Around the World Sowell holds that affirmative action covers most of the American population, particularly women, and has long since ceased to be directed towards blacks, although blacks are often invoked as primary beneficiaries, and that the main beneficiaries are not the less fortunate but those already able to well help themselves:

As in other countries, however, these policies spread far beyond the initial beneficiaries. Blacks are just 12 percent of the American population, but affirmative action programs have expanded over the years to include not only other racial or ethnic groups, but also women, so that such such policies now apply to a substantial majority of the American population...

...the top 20 percent of black income earners had their income share rising at about the same rate as that of their white counterparts, while the bottom 20 percent of black income earners had their income share fall at more than double the rate of the bottom 20 percent of white income earners. In short, the affirmative action era in the United States saw the more fortunate blacks benefit while the least fortunate lost ground in terms of their share of incomes. Neither the gains nor the losses can be arbitrarily attributed to affirmative action but neither can affirmative action claim to have advanced lower-income blacks when in fact those fell behind."

Sowell shows that immigrants suffering no past discrimination in the United States have also sometimes been classified as “approved minorities” and have also benefited from Affirmative Action. The affluent Fanjul family from Cuba for example, with a fortune exceeding $500 million, received contracts set aside for minority businesses. European businessmen from Portugal received the bulk of the money paid to minority owned construction firms between 1986 and 1990 in Washington D.C. Asian businessmen immigrating to the United States have also received preferential access to government contracts. Sowell also argues that while affirmative action began as a program primarily intended to benefit blacks, a huge majority of minority- and female-owned businesses are in fact owned by groups other than blacks, including Asians, Hispanics, and women.

In addition, the vast majority of minority firms appear to gain little from government set-asides. In Cincinnati, for example, 682 minority forms appeared on the city’s approved list but 13% of these companies received 62% of preferential access and 83% of the money. Nationally, one-fourth of one percent of minority-owned enterprises are certified to receive preferences under the Small Business Administration, but even within this tiny number, 2% of the firms received 40% of the money.

Systemic processes

In several works—his Knowledge and Decisions, A Conflict of Visions, and The Economics and Politics of Race among them—Sowell stresses the importance of systemic processes like free markets, the rule of law, and constitutional government. On balance, Sowell maintains, systemic processes are superior to the dictates or condescension of those on high who presume to know better than ordinary people.

Criticism

Many of Sowell's remarks have been criticized by liberal-progressive groups such as Media Matters. These include Sowell's claims that President Obama's speech to students is similar to the "Hitler Youth" and that the Democratic party uses race baiting and that this could lead to Rwanda-like "slaughters".

The work of many economists such as Nobel laureate Amartya Sen and University of California, Berkeley professor and former International Monetary Fund adviser Barry Eichengreen often contradict Sowell's claims of government interference in issues such as price gouging and protectionism (respectively). In addition, some studies claim that welfare systems often reduce poverty, contrary to Sowell's claim that welfare generates poverty.

Reviewing Sowell's 1984 book Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality?, University of Chicago sociologist William Julius Wilson said that Sowell did not explore "reasonable alternative explanations and hypotheses" in his critiques of affirmative action. For instance, regarding Sowell's theory that women are underrepresented in fields like law and engineering because of the heavy responsibilities of marriage such as childrearing and other household work: "A plausible alternative to Mr. Sowell's hypothesis on women's pay differentials and occupational segregation is that women are virtually excluded from many desirable positions and therefore crowd into obtainable occupations."

Those influenced by Sowell

Sowell’s book Race and Economics greatly influenced Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Thomas read the book in 1975, and later said that the book changed his life. Bates College in Maine has an endowed professorship in economics named after Sowell. Playwright David Mamet has called Sowell “our greatest contemporary philosopher.” British Historian Paul Johnson shares Mamet’s opinion in his book A History of the American People. Rush Limbaugh is an admirer of Sowell’s writing and referred to him as an “honest thinker.”

Books by Sowell

2004. Basic Economics: A Citizen’s Guide to the Economy, revised and expanded ed. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08145-2 (1st ed. 2000)

2003. , ISBN 0-465-08143-6

2002. The Einstein Syndrome: Bright Children Who Talk Late, ISBN 0-465-08141-X

2002. Controversial Essays, ISBN 0-8179-2992-4

2002. A Personal Odyssey, ISBN 0-684-86465-7

2002. The Quest For Cosmic Justice, ISBN 0-684-86463-0

1998. Conquests and Cultures: An International History, ISBN 0-465-01400-3

1996. Migrations and Cultures: A World View, ISBN 0-465-04589-8 OCLC 41748039

1996. The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation As a Basis for Social Policy. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-08995-X

1995. Race and Culture: A World View. Description & chapter previews. ISBN 0-465-06796-4

1993. Inside American Education, ISBN 0-7432-5408-2

1987. A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles. William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-06912-6

1987. Compassion Versus Guilt and Other Essays. William Morrow, ISBN 0688-07114-7

1986. Marxism: Philosophy and Economics. Quill, ISBN 0-688-06426-4

1984. Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality? William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-03113-7

1983. The Economics and Politics of Race. William Morrow, ISBN 0-688-01891-2

1981. Ethnic America: A History. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-02074-7

1981. Markets and Minorities. Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-04399-2

1980. Knowledge and Decisions. Basic Books.

1975. Race and Economics. David McKay Company Inc, ISBN 0-679-30262-X

1972. Say's Law, An Historical Analysis. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04166-0

Notes

External links

Thomas Sowell’s home page

Thomas Sowell Features at Creators Syndicate

Column archive at Townhall.com

Free Podcasts of Sowell’s recent articles

Socialism for the rich by Thomas Sowell (October 6, 2006)

A Dangerous Obsession, Parts I II, III, IV, and V by Thomas Sowell

Too “Complex”?, Parts I, II, & III by Thomas Sowell

Economic Fallacies -- Interview with Thomas Sowell by Bill Steigerwald

Archive of Articles by Thomas Sowell at JewishWorldReview.com

Book review of The Einstein Syndrome by Isabelle Rapin, Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Snopes.com on Various articles attributed to Thomas Sowell

Articles and interviews

“10 Questions With Thomas Sowell”, John Hawkins, Right Wing News. Sowell on flat-tax vs. progressive tax, rent-control, balanced budget amendments, protectionist tariffs, poverty and welfare, profit-restriction, illegal immigration, a weak dollar vs. a strong dollar, affirmative action, and reparations.

'Q&A;' Interview (April 17, 2005)

'Booknotes' Interview (June 10, 1990)

'Uncommon Knowledge' discussion of affirmative action

Thomas Sowell- Columns on Jewish World Review website

“Race and IQ” Detailed discussion of Race and IQ including techniques that have masked the improvement of black IQ scores.

“Choosing a College” — discusses benefits and costs including college quality, size, specialty, intellectual rigor, social, political and sexual environment of today’s campuses. Recommends hard-nosed parental analysis (including campus visits) that ignores PR fluff and focuses on the bottom line

“Affirmative Action around the World” - critical analysis of Affirmative Action and its failures worldwide.

Salon interview with Sowell

Audio interview with National Review Online

Sowell on Economic Facts and Fallacies: Audio interview

Sowell en español

Category:1930 births Category:Living people Category:African American academics Category:African American social scientists Category:American columnists Category:American economics writers Category:American economists Category:American libertarians Category:American political pundits Category:American political writers Category:American skeptics Category:Brandeis University faculty Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Conservatism in the United States Category:Cornell University faculty Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Hoover Institute people Category:Howard University alumni Category:Howard University faculty Category:Libertarian theorists Category:National Humanities Medal recipients Category:National Review people Category:People from Charlotte, North Carolina Category:People from Harlem Category:People from Palo Alto, California Category:Rutgers University faculty Category:Scholars of Marxism Category:Stuyvesant High School alumni Category:United States Marines Category:University of California, Los Angeles faculty Category:University of Chicago alumni

Noel Andrew Stephen Jones (December 22, 1940 – November 21, 1995) was an Indian-born British diplomat, British ambassador to Kazakhstan from 1993 to 1995. He was the first British ambassador to have come from an ethnic minority.

His father, Ernest Walter Jones, was a domiciled European who worked in the Telegraph Department in India; his mother, Merlyn Edith Jones (née Jones), was an Anglo-Indian woman, daughter of a Postmaster of Madras.

Noel Jones came to live in England, where he married Jean Rosemary Cheval.

He entered the diplomatic service, and was appointed British ambassador to Kazakhstan in 1993. His career was cut short by his death in 1995, at the age of 54. He was survived by his widow, Jean, and his children Mark and Alison.

References

Who Was Who (1991 - 1995)

Birth record held at the British Library (OIOC)

Marriage certificate

Death certificate

Category:1940 births Category:1995 deaths Category:British diplomats Category:British ambassadors to Kazakhstan

Name	Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh
Office	Prime Minister of Iran
Term start	31 October 1981
Term end	3 August 1989
President	Ali Khamenei
Deputy	Mohsen Sazegara
Predecessor	Mahdavi Kani (Acting)
Successor	Position abolished
Office2	Minister of Foreign Affairs
Term start2	15 August 1981
Term end2	15 December 1981
President2	Mohammad Ali Rajai
Primeminister2	Mohammad-Javad BahonarMahdavi Kani (Acting)
Predecessor2	Mohammad-Ali Rajai
Successor2	Ali Akbar Velayati
Birth date
Birth place	Khameneh, Iran
Party	The Green Path of Hope (2009-present)
Otherparty	Islamic Republican Party (1979-1987)
Alma mater	National University of Tehran
Occupation	Architect, educator
Spouse	Zahra Rahnavard (m. 1969)
Children	Kokab MousaviNarges MousaviZahra Mousavi
Residence	Tehran, Iran
Religion	Twelver Shi'a Islam
Signature	Mir-Hossein Mousavi signature.svg
Signature alt	Mir-Hossein Mousavi
Website	kaleme.org

Mir-Hossein Mousavi Khameneh (, , Mīr-Hoseyn Mūsavī Khāmené; ; born 2 March 1942) is an Iranian reformist politician, painter and architect who served as the seventy-ninth and last Prime Minister of Iran from 1981 to 1989. He was a candidate for the 2009 presidential election. Mousavi served as the president of the Iranian Academy of Arts until 2009 when Conservative authorities removed him.

He was the last Prime Minister in Iran before the 1989 constitutional changes which removed the post of prime minister. Before that, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is also a member of the Expediency Discernment Council and the High Council of Cultural Revolution. However, he has not participated in their meetings for years, which is interpreted by political analysts and commentators as a sign of his disapproval. In the early years of the revolution, Mousavi was the editor-in-chief of the official newspaper of the Islamic Republican Party, the Islamic Republic newspaper. In 2009 presidential election, Mousavi chose green as his campaign color, a color which has since become pervasive in Iran. He is the Leader of the Green Movement and announced the Green Path of Hope as its social network. In 2010, Time Magazine named Mousavi one of the most influential leaders of the world.

Early life and career

Mir-Hossein Mousavi was born on 2 March 1942 in Khameneh, East Azarbaijan, Iran. Mousavi is a relative of fellow Khameneh native Ali Khamenei: Mousavi's grandmother is Khamenei's paternal aunt.

As a young man in the early sixties, Mousavi had a close relationship with the Freedom Movement of Iran., focusing primarily on traditional Iranian architecture. Rahnavard later became the Chancellor of Alzahra University as well as political adviser to Iran's former President Mohammad Khatami.

Mousavi and his wife had an active role in the success of the Iranian revolution. He was imprisoned for organizing street protests against the monarchy of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. became more actively involved in the struggle. Soon he joined ranks with Mohammad Beheshti, who was a close associate of the revolution leader, Ruholah Khomeini. As the chief editor of Jomhouri-e Eslami, he was a loud critic and opponent of Abolhassan Banisadr, the first president of the Islamic Republic, until the latter's 1981 flight to France, following a successful impeachment by parliament.

On August 15, 1981, as part of the restructuring of the government in Mohammad Ali Rajai's cabinet, Mousavi was appointed foreign minister.

In August 1981, President Mohammad-Ali Rajai and Prime Minister Mohammad-Javad Bahonar were assassinated in an explosion. Ali Khamenei was then elected as the third president of Iran in the Iranian presidential election, October 1981. He put forward Ali Akbar Velayati as his prime minister, but the Iranian parliament did not give him the vote of confidence, and he was defeated with a vote of 80 to 74. Mousavi became the 79th prime minister of Iran on 31 October 1981, and remained the prime minister of Iran until 3 August 1989, for eight years.

Many analysts praise his handling of Iran's economy, his civil and economic leadership during the Iran-Iraq War, and his efforts to end Iran's international isolation. Others remember him as being "unpredictable" and less able to navigate Iran's labyrinthine political system than were his rivals. In 1986, Mousavi played a great role in the Iran-Contra affair and secret negotiations and dealing with USA on helping them free the American hostages in Lebanon, in return for sale of the American weapons and spare-parts that Iran's army badly needed for Iran-Iraq War. According to one of the amendments, the prime minister's position was abolished. Mousavi criticized the current conservative President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his alleged economic mismanagement, asking, when Iran "was making profits from the high prices of oil, did he (Ahmadinejad) envisage a situation when the prices would fall?"

On March 16, 2009, the former Iranian President Khatami withdrew from the election in support of Mir-Hossein Mousavi.

Goals for presidential term

Mousavi has on numerous occasions indicated his wish to change the constitution in order to remove the existing ban on the private ownership of television stations (currently all Iranian television stations are state-owned), as well as transfer the control of the law-enforcement forces to the President (so that they represent the people, since the people directly elect the President through popular vote) from the Supreme Leader. He has said that "the issue of non-compliance with the Iranian rules and regulations is the biggest problem that the country is currently faced with" and that he wishes to put in place ways to enforce the laws further, and that it is also important to bring an end to keeping people in the dark about government matters.

Platform

Mousavi ran as an independent Principled Reformist candidate. Although he is one of the original founders of the Iranian reformist camp, he shares many principles of the conservatives. Many reformist parties, among them reformist Islamic Iranian Participation Front, whose main candidate was Khatami, have supported his candidacy after the latter withdrew from the race. Many supporters of the reformist movement have however objected to Mousavi's candidacy on the grounds that he is not committed to the principles of the reformist parties. Although Mousavi stated that he was not running as a reformist, he indicated that he welcomed the support of different parties, both reformist and conservative. He started his campaign from the center of Iranian politics, however over time he shifted more towards the left by declaring his support for reforms. Although some active members of the conservative camp, such as Emad Afroogh, as well as the conservative newspaper Islamic Republic newspaper, supported Mousavi's candidacy, he did not receive the official backing of any major conservative party. His candidacy made it harder for the conservatives to support Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and large conservative parties, such as the Combatant Clergy Association, did not back the current President for a second term of office.

The BBC reported that Mousavi "called for greater personal freedoms in Iran and criticized the ban on private television channels", but "refused to back down from the country's disputed nuclear programme, saying it is "for peaceful purposes".

On May 30, Mousavi pledged that if elected he would amend "discriminatory and unjust regulations" against women, and take other measures in favour of women's rights and equality.

Domestic policies

In his first press conference since the start of Iranian New Year in March 2009, Mousavi stated his policies on how he will govern the country. Among his policies are creation of a free environment for the flow of information and corrections to the national budget. He wants to promote the creation of private, non-governmental TV networks and stop the operation of the "Moral Police". He has spoken about his opposition to massive changes in ministries which he claims is what Ahmadinejad has done.

Regarding the Iranian nuclear program, his plan includes a reduction of the cost by opposing radical approaches while maintaining what he sees as "Iran's right to civilian nuclear technology". Mousavi has stated that giving up the country's nuclear program would be "irreparable" and that the Iranian people support the nuclear program.

He has also vowed to review laws that discriminate against women in Iran. He has said that he would seek to disband the so-called morality police force and ensure that Iranian women are treated equally, with the ability to attain financial empowerment and to serve at the highest levels of decision making bodies.

Foreign policies

Mousavi has directly addressed activating foreign policy to boost national interest by reducing tensions with other nations. This includes negotiating with U.S. President Barack Obama if "his actions are in keeping with his words". Mousavi has claimed victory, and called for his supporters to celebrate it. There have been large protests as a result.

Recount

in left in the protests in 2009]] Due to protests, from the opposition, the Supreme Leader ordered partial recount of the results. The recount was random counting of 10% of the ballots. In order to create transparency, a 12 member council, showed the recount on television, and concluded that President Ahmadinejad still led Mousavi after the recount. After the recount, the Guardian council certified the election, and concluded no evidence of irregularities, and closed the dossier on the election.

Green Movement

Green Movement refers to a series of actions after the Iranian presidential election, 2009, in which protesters demanded removal of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad from office. Green was originally the symbol of Mir Hossein Mousavi's campaign, but after the election it became a symbol of unity and hope for the protesters.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, Mehdi Karroubi, Hossein-Ali Montazeri and Mohammad Khatami are recognized as leaders of the Green Movement.

Where is my vote? () was a motto used during the protests. Anti-Ahmadinejad protesters chanted the English-language phrase in numbers not seen since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, in an attempt to receive international attention. The Iranian Government had released results claiming a two-thirds majority for Ahmadinejad, but supporters of Mousavi and Karroubi, the moderate opposition leaders, accused the government of rigging the votes.

In the aftermath of the election and ensuing comments by Ahmadinejad and other conservative leaders, calling the opposition "a pile of dust" (خس و خاشاک), protests were widened and massive peaceful protests were held around the country. Although the Iranian government prohibited any gatherings of protesters in Tehran and across the country, significantly slowed down internet access and censored any form of media supporting the opposition, hundreds of thousands of Iranians marched in defiance. Large numbers of protesters were arrested, and several were killed by the police and militia forces Basij. Neda Agha-soltan and Sohrab Aarabi were among the victims, and alleged cases of rape in prison (Taraneh Mousavi) were also brought to attention.

Since the election, the government has severely restricted the access of foreign and Iranian media to footage and information relating to opposition activities. As a result, scenes of the massive street protests and more frequent student protests have been filmed by participants, and are widely available on Youtube.

The Green Path of Hope

Mousavi and other reformist leaders are now working in peaceful and legal methods to widen the influence of their reforms. They have set up a new coalition, named The Green Path of Hope. Iranian political parties and movements need to be authorized by the Interior Ministry. Mousavi neither recognizes the current government as legitimate nor is likely to receive permission; so, the movement was named a "path" in order bypass this law.

The Green Path of Hope seeks to continue protests against Ahmadinejad's presidency following lawful and peaceful methods, and the full execution of the constitution, as Mousavi says:

Mousavi is quoted in describing the movement:

According to organization officials, the movement functions encompasses numerous political parties, NGO's and social networks. Mousavi emphasized that existent, autonomous social networks in the community are part of this movement:

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Name	John McCain
Jr/sr	Senior Senator
State	Arizona
Term start	January 3, 1987
Term end
Alongside	Jon Kyl
Predecessor	Barry Goldwater
State2	Arizona
District2	1st
Term start2	January 3, 1983
Term end2	January 3, 1987
Predecessor2	John Jacob Rhodes Jr.
Successor2	John Jacob Rhodes III
Order5	Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs
Term start5	January 3, 1995
Term end5	January 3, 1997January 3, 2005 January 3, 2007
Predecessor5	Daniel Inouye (1995)Ben Nighthorse Campbell (2005)
Successor5	Ben Nighthorse Campbell (1997)Byron Dorgan (2007)
Order6	Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation
Term start6	January 3, 1997
Term end6	June 6, 2001January 3, 2005 January 3, 2007
Predecessor6	Larry Pressler (1997)Ernest Hollings (2003)
Successor6	Ernest Hollings (1997)Ted Stevens (2005)
Birth date	August 29, 1936
Birth place	Coco Solo Naval Air Station, Panama Canal Zone
Birthname	John Sidney McCain III
Nationality	American
Party	Republican
Spouse	Carol Shepp (m. 1965, div. 1980)Cindy Lou Hensley (m. 1980)
Children	Douglas (b. 1959, adopted 1966),Andrew (b. 1962, adopted 1966),Sidney (b. 1966),Meghan (b. 1984),John Sidney IV "Jack" (b. 1986),James "Jimmy" (b. 1988),Bridget (b. 1991, adopted 1993)
Residence	Phoenix, Arizona
Alma mater	U.S. Naval Academy (B.S.)
Profession	Naval AviatorPolitician
Religion	Baptist congregant(Brought up Episcopalian)
Net worth	$40.4 million (USD)
Signature	John mccain signature2.svg
Website	U.S. Senator John McCain: Arizona
Footnotes	This article is part of the series At that time, the Panama Canal was under U.S. control.
Before	John Jacob Rhodes
State	Arizona
District	1
Years	1983–1987
After	John Jacob Rhodes III}}

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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
Birth place	Bethlehem, Judea, Roman Empire (traditional); Nazareth, Galilee (modern critical scholarship)
Death place	Calvary, Judea, Roman Empire (according to the New Testament, he rose on the third day after his death.)
Death date	c. 30 AD/CE (aged 33-35)
Death cause	Crucifixion
Resting place	Traditionally and temporarily, a garden tomb in Jerusalem
Ethnicity	Jewish
Nationality	Israelite
Home town	Nazareth, Galilee, Roman Empire
Parents	Father: (Christian view) God through virginal conception;(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.

The principal sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical gospels. Most critical scholars believe that other parts of the New Testament are also useful for reconstructing Jesus' life; some scholars believe apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel according to the Hebrews are also relevant.

Most critical historians agree that Jesus was a Jew who was regarded as a teacher and healer, that he was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, on the charge of sedition against the Roman Empire. Critical Biblical scholars and historians have offered competing descriptions of Jesus as a self-described Messiah, as the leader of an apocalyptic movement, as an itinerant sage, as a charismatic healer, and as the founder of an independent religious movement. Most contemporary scholars of the Historical Jesus consider him to have been an independent, charismatic founder of a Jewish restoration movement, anticipating an imminent apocalypse.

Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, one of three divine persons of a Trinity. A few Christian groups, however, reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, believing it to be non-scriptural.

Judaism rejects assertions that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh. In Islam, Jesus (, commonly transliterated as ) is considered one of God's important prophets, a bringer of scripture, and the product of a virgin birth; but did not experience a crucifixion. Islam and the Baha'i Faith use the title "Messiah" for Jesus, but do not teach that he was God incarnate.

Etymology

"Jesus" () is a transliteration, occurring in a number of languages and based on the Latin Iesus, of the Greek (), itself a Hellenisation of the Hebrew (Yĕhōšuă‘, Joshua) or Hebrew-Aramaic (Yēšûă‘), meaning "Yahweh delivers (or rescues)". "Christ" () is a title derived from the Greek (), meaning the "Anointed One", a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (Messiah).

A "Messiah," in this context, is a king anointed at God's direction or with God's approval, and Christians identify Jesus as the one foretold by Hebrew prophets.

Chronology

, 1640]]

Possible year of birth

There is no contemporary historical evidence demonstrating the date of Jesus' birth. The common Gregorian calendar method for numbering years, in which the current year is , is based on an early medieval attempt to count the years from a point of reference — namely, Jesus' birth — which Dionysius Exiguus placed, either mistakenly or intentionally, sometime between 2 BC/BCE and 1 AD/CE. The Gospel of Matthew states Jesus' birth occurred during the reign of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC/BCE, but also with the intimation that Jesus may have been as much as two years old when Herod ordered the Massacre of the Innocents, and therefore that he may have been even older at the time of Herod's death. The Gospel of Luke similarly points to Jesus' birth as having occurred during the reign of Herod the Great (i.e., sometime between 37 and 4 BC/BCE), but the author of Luke also describes the birth as taking place during the first census of the Roman provinces of Syria and Iudaea, which is generally believed to have occurred in 6 AD/CE. Most scholars generally assume a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC/BCE. Other scholars assume that Jesus was born sometime between 7—2 BC/BCE and died sometime between 26—36 AD/CE. Additional evidence uncovered in 1923 by archeologists digging in the ruins of a Roman Temple near Ankara, Turkey points to 8 BC based on descriptions of three empire-wide censuses, one of which occurred in 8 BC.

Christmas or Christmas Day is a holiday observed mostly on December 25 to commemorate the birth of Jesus. The earliest evidence of celebration of Jesus' birth comes from Clement of Alexandria, who describes Egyptian Christians as celebrating it on May 20, although other early sources have Christians celebrating the event in March, April, or January. According to Epiphaneus, Christians in the East had largely settled on January 6 by the 4th century. The wide-spread affiliation of Christmas with the Roman festival of Sol Invictus is disputable: there is no evidence that the feast of Sol Invictus was affixed by Aurelian to December 25. The celebration of Sol Invictus feast on December 25 is not mentioned until the calendar of 354 and, subsequently, in 362 by Julian the Apostate in his Oration to King Helios. However, there is no month of the year to which respectable authorities have not assigned Jesus' birth.

Ministry

Jesus' ministry, which according to the Gospel of Luke began when Jesus was "about 30 years of age", followed that of John the Baptist, whose ministry is said to have begun "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar", which would be about 28 or 29 AD/CE. According to the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus' ministry lasted approximately one year, whereas the Gospel of John implies that his ministry may have lasted approximately three years. Thus, the earliest generally accepted date for the crucifixion is 29 AD/CE (i.e., the 15th year of Tiberius' reign plus one year for Jesus' ministry), and the latest is 36 AD/CE (i.e., the final year of Pontius Pilate's prefecture).

Possible year of death

All four canonical Gospels report that Jesus was crucified during the prefecture of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who governed Judaea from 26 to 36 AD/CE. The late 1st century Jewish historian Josephus, writing in The Antiquities of the Jews (c. 93 AD/CE), and the early 2nd century Roman historian Tacitus, writing in The Annals (c. 116 AD/CE), also state that Pilate ordered the execution of Jesus, though each writer incorrectly gives him the title of "procurator" instead of prefect.

Most Christians commemorate the crucifixion on Good Friday and celebrate the resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Life and teachings as told in the Gospels

The four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are the main sources for the biography of Jesus' life; nevertheless, these Gospels were written with the intention of glorifying Jesus and are not strictly biographical in nature. For example, the Gospels primarily characterize Jesus as the Messiah: he performs miracles and is often described as having a very close relationship to the Jewish God — the phrase "Son of God" is attributed to Jesus at least once in each Gospel. The Gospels (especially Matthew) present Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection as fulfillment of prophecies found in the Hebrew Bible (e.g., the virgin birth, the flight into Egypt, Immanuel from , and the suffering servant). However, critical scholars find historical information about Jesus' life and ministry in the synoptic gospels, while interpreting the miraculous and theological content in light of what is known of Jewish beliefs at the time.

Similarities and differences among the Gospels

Three of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are known as the synoptic Gospels because they display a high degree of similarity in content, narrative arrangement, language, and sentence and paragraph structures. These Gospels are also considered to share the same point of view. The fourth canonical Gospel, John, differs greatly from these three, as do the Apocryphal gospels.

According to the two-source hypothesis, Mark was a source for Matthew and Luke, both of whom also independently used a now lost sayings source called the Q Gospel. Mark defined the sequence of events from Jesus' baptism to the empty tomb and included parables of the Kingdom of God.

Character of Jesus

Each gospel portrays Jesus' life and its meaning with different emphasis. The gospel of John is not a biography of Jesus but a theological presentation of him as the divine Logos. One modern scholar writes that to combine these four stories into one story is tantamount to creating a fifth story, one different from each original. The author describes the Logos in relation to God and the created order, declares that he "became flesh", and identifies him as Jesus Christ. According to the Fourth Gospel, Jesus Christ is God active in creation, in revelation (Light), and in redemption (Life). Jesus' earthly life was the Logos incarnate. The accounts in the two gospels are substantially different. Several explanations have been suggested (see Genealogy of Jesus). The earliest recorded explanation is in the 3rd century by Africanus, who argued that the discrepancy arose from a levirate marriage in Jesus' ancentry. Such a marriage could have resulted in one ancestor having two "fathers", one legal and the other physical, and so making two branches in the genealogy. However, it has been traditional to assume that Luke's genealogy traces through Mary and Matthew's through Joseph since at least 1490.

Some contemporary scholars generally view the genealogies as theological constructs. More specifically, some have suggested that the author of Matthew wants to underscore the birth of a Messianic child of royal lineage. (Solomon is included in the list); whereas, in this interpretation, Luke's genealogy is priestly (e.g., it mentions Levi). Mary is mentioned in passing in the genealogy given by Matthew, but not in Luke's, while Matthew gives Jacob as Joseph's father and Luke says Joseph was the son of Heli. Both accounts, when read at face value, trace Jesus' line though his human father Joseph back to King David and from there to Abraham. These lists are identical between Abraham and David (except for one), but they differ almost completely between David and Joseph (having only Zerubbabel and Shealtiel in common).

Joseph, husband of Mary, appears in descriptions of Jesus' childhood. No mention, however, is made of Joseph during the ministry of Jesus. The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Galatians tell of Jesus' relatives, including words sometimes translated as "brothers" and "sisters". Luke also mentions that Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, was a "cousin" or "relative" of Mary, which would make John a distant cousin of Jesus.

Nativity and early life

, 17th century]] While there are documents outside of the New Testament which are more or less contemporary with the Historical Jesus, many shed no light on the more biographical aspects of his life. The main sources of Jesus himself that are available to modern scholars are the gospels.

Of the four Gospels, the Nativity (birth) is mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. According to these accounts, Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, his betrothed, in Bethlehem. Both 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.

In Luke, the angel Gabriel visits Mary to tell her that she was chosen to bear the Son of God. An order of Caesar Augustus had forced Mary and Joseph to leave their homes in Nazareth and travel to Bethlehem, the home of Joseph's ancestors, the house of David, for the Census of Quirinius. After Jesus' birth, the couple was forced to use a manger in place of a crib because of a shortage of accommodation. An angel announced Jesus' birth to shepherds who left their flocks to see the newborn child and who subsequently publicized what they had witnessed throughout the area (see The First Noël).

In Matthew, the "Wise Men" or "Magi" bring gifts to the young Jesus after following a star which they believe was a sign that the King of the Jews had been born. King Herod hears of Jesus' birth from the Wise Men and tries to kill him by massacring all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two (the "massacre of the innocents"). The family flees to Egypt and remains there until Herod's death, whereupon they settle in Nazareth to avoid living under the authority of Herod's son and successor Archelaus.

Jesus' childhood home is identified as the town of Nazareth in Galilee. Except for Matthew's "flight into Egypt", and a short trip to Tyre and Sidon (in what is now Lebanon), the Gospels place all other events in Jesus' life in ancient Israel. However, infancy gospels began to appear around the beginning of the 2nd century.

In Mark, Jesus is called a tekton, usually understood to mean carpenter. Matthew says he was the son of a tekton.

Baptism and temptation

by Francesco Trevisani]] , 1854]] All the gospels report that he had become known as a religious teacher by the time he had reached his 30's. Luke says Jesus was "about thirty years of age" when he was baptized. All three synoptic Gospels describe the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, an event which Biblical scholars describe as the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. According to these accounts, Jesus came to the Jordan River where John the Baptist had been preaching and baptizing people in the crowd. After Jesus was baptized and rose from the water, Mark states Jesus "saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.'"

Mark starts his narration with Jesus' baptism, specifying that it is a token of repentance and for forgiveness of sins. Matthew describes John as initially hesitant to comply with Jesus' request for John to baptize him, stating that it was Jesus who should baptize him. Jesus persisted, "It is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness". In Matthew, God's public dedication informs the reader that Jesus has become God's anointed ("Christ").

The Gospel of John does not describe Jesus' baptism, or the subsequent Temptation, but it does attest that Jesus is the very one about whom John the Baptist had been preaching—the Son of God. The Baptist twice declares Jesus to be the "Lamb of God", a term found nowhere else in the Gospels. John also emphasizes Jesus' superiority over John the Baptist. In the synoptics, Jesus speaks in parables and aphorisms, exorcises demons, champions the poor and oppressed, and teaches mainly about the Kingdom of God. In John, Jesus speaks in long discourses, with himself as the theme of his teaching. The Synoptic Gospels suggest a span of only one year. In the synoptics, Jesus' ministry takes place mainly in Galilee, until he travels to Jerusalem, where he cleanses the Temple and is executed. In John, his ministry in and around Jerusalem is more prominently described, cleansing the temple at his ministry's beginning.

In Mark, the disciples are strangely obtuse, failing to understand Jesus' deeds and parables. In Matthew, Jesus directs the apostles' mission only to those of the house of Israel, Luke places a special emphasis on the women who followed Jesus, such as Mary Magdalene.

Teachings and preachings

,illustration by Carl Heinrich Bloch, 19th c.]] In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus speaks primarily about the Kingdom of God.

Some of Jesus' most famous teachings come from the Sermon on the Mount, which contains the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer. It is one of five collections of teachings in Matthew. During his sermons, he preached about service and humility, the forgiveness of sin, faith, turning the other cheek, love for one's enemies as well as friends, and the need to follow the spirit of the law in addition to the letter.

In the Synoptics, Jesus relays an apocalyptic vision of the end of days. He preaches that the end of the current world will come unexpectedly, and that he will return to judge the world, especially according to how they treated the vulnerable. He calls on his followers to be ever alert and faithful. In Mark, the Kingdom of God is a divine government that will appear by force within the lifetimes of his followers. The Transfiguration is a turning point in Jesus ministry.

In Mark, Jesus' identity as the Messiah is obscured (see Messianic secret). Mark states that "this generation" will be given no sign, while Matthew and Luke say they will be given no sign but the sign of Jonah. In John, and not in the synoptics, Jesus is outspoken about his divine identity and mission. Here Jesus uses the phrase "I am" in talking of himself in ways that designate God in the Hebrew Bible, a statement taken by some writers as claiming identity with God.

Arrest, trial, and death

, 1626.]]

In Jerusalem

According to the Synoptics, Jesus came with his followers to Jerusalem during the Passover festival where a large crowd came to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel!" Following his triumphal entry, Jesus created a disturbance at Herod's Temple by overturning the tables of the moneychangers who set up shop there, and claiming that they had made the Temple a "den of robbers". Later that week, Jesus celebrated the Passover meal with his disciples — an event subsequently known as the Last Supper — in which he prophesied that he would be betrayed by one of his disciples, and would then be executed. In this ritual he took bread and wine in hand, saying: "this is my body which is given for you" and "this cup which is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood", and instructed them to "do this in remembrance of me." Following the supper, Jesus and his disciples went to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane.

In Mark and Matthew, Jesus is anguished in the face of his fate. He prays and accepts God's will, but his chosen disciples repeatedly fall asleep on the watch.

In John, Jesus has already cleansed the temple a few years before and has been preaching in Jerusalem. He raises Lazarus on the Sabbath, the act that finally gets Jewish leaders to plan his death.

(Behold the Man!) Pontius Pilate presents a scourged Jesus of Nazareth to onlookers. Illustration by Antonio Ciseri, 19th c.]]

Betrayal and arrest

While in the Garden, Jesus is arrested by temple guards on the orders of the Sanhedrin and the high priest, Caiaphas. The arrest takes place clandestinely at night to avoid a riot, as Jesus is popular with the people at large. Judas Iscariot, one of his apostles, betrays Jesus by identifying him to the guards with a kiss. Simon Peter, another one of Jesus' apostles, uses a sword to attack one of Jesus' captors, cutting off his ear, which, according to Luke, Jesus immediately heals miraculously. Jesus rebukes the apostle, stating "all they that take the sword shall perish by the sword". After his arrest, Jesus' apostles go into hiding; Judas, distraught by his betrayal of Jesus, commits suicide shortly after.

Trials before the Sanhedrin and Pilate

, painting by D. Velázquez, 17th c.]] Jesus affirms that he is the Messiah before the Sanhedrin,. The Jewish leaders turn him over to Pilate for execution, but Pilate is reluctant to execute Jesus. He asks God to forgive those who are crucifying him, possibly the Romans and possibly the Jews.

Resurrection and ascension

, illustration by Matthias Grünewald, 16th c.]] The Gospels state that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday. All the Gospels portray Jesus' empty tomb. In Matthew, an angel appears near the tomb of Jesus and announces his resurrection to Mary Magdalene and "another Mary" who had arrived to anoint the body. Jewish elders bribe the soldiers who had guarded the tomb to spread the rumor that Jesus' disciples took his body. In Luke, there are two angels and in Mark the angel appears as a youth dressed in white. The "longer ending" to Mark, which is known as the Markan Appendix and which did not form part of the original manuscripts, states that on the morning of his resurrection, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. John states that when Mary looked into the tomb, two angels asked her why she was crying; and as she turned round she initially failed to recognize Jesus until he spoke her name.

The Gospels all record appearances by Jesus, including an appearance to the eleven apostles. In Mark, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, to two disciples in the country, and to the eleven, at which point Jesus commissions them to announce the gospel, baptize, and work miracles.

In Mark and Luke, Jesus ascends to the heavens; after these appearances. In Luke, Jesus ascends on Easter Sunday evening when he is with his disciples. The name "Jesus" comes from an alternate spelling of the Latin (Iēsus) which in turn comes from the Greek name Iesous (). In the Septuagint, is used as the Greek version of the Hebrew name Yehoshua (, "God delivers" from Yeho — Yahweh [is] shua` — deliverance/rescue) in the Biblical book of the same name, usually Romanized as Joshua. Some scholars believe that one of these was likely the name that Jesus was known by during his lifetime by his peers. Thus, the name has been translated into English as "Joshua".

Christ (which started as a title, and has often been used as a name for Jesus) is an Anglicization of the Greek term χριστός, christos. In the Septuagint, this term is used as the translation of the , "Anointed One" in reference to priests, and kings and King Cyrus. In Isaiah and Jeremiah the word began to be applied to a future ideal king. The New Testament has some 500 uses of the word χριστός applied to Jesus, used either generically or in an absolute sense, namely as the Anointed One (the Messiah, the Christ). The Gospel of Mark has as its central point of its narrative Peter's confession of Jesus as the Messiah.

indicates that the strong belief that Jesus was the Messiah predates the letters of Paul the Apostle. These letters also show that the Messiah title was already beginning to be used as a name.

Some have suggested that other titles applied to Jesus in the New Testament had meanings in the 1st century quite different from those meanings ascribed today. Géza Vermes has argued that "Son of man" was not a title but rather the polite way in which people referred to themselves, i.e. a pronominal phrase. However, a number of New Testament scholars argue that Jesus himself made no claims to being God. Most Christians identified Jesus as divine from a very early period, although holding a variety of views as to what exactly this implied.

Other names and titles

"Son of David" is found elsewhere in Jewish tradition to refer to the heir to the throne. Over the past two hundred years, these scholars have constructed a Jesus different in ways from the image found in the gospels. Scholars of the "historical Jesus" distinguish their concept from the "Jesus Christ" of Christianity. Other scholars, however, hold that the figure presented in the gospels is the real Jesus and that his life and influence only make sense if the gospel stories are accurate.

The principal sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four gospels. Scholars conclude the authors of the gospels wrote a few decades after Jesus' crucifixion (between 60-100AD), in some cases using sources (the author of Luke-Acts references this explicitly). A great majority of biblical scholars accept the historical existence of Jesus.

The English title of Albert Schweitzer's 1906 book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, is a label for the post-Enlightenment effort to describe Jesus using critical historical methods. Since the end of the 18th century, scholars have examined the gospels and tried to formulate historical biographies of Jesus. The historical outlook on Jesus relies on critical analysis of the Bible, especially the gospels. Many Biblical scholars have sought to reconstruct Jesus' life in terms of the political, cultural, and religious crises and movements in late 2nd Temple Judaism and in Roman-occupied Palestine, including differences between Galilee and Judea, and between different sects such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots, and in terms of conflicts among Jews in the context of Roman occupation.

Descriptions

Historians of Christianity generally describe Jesus as a healer who preached the restoration of God's kingdom and agree he was baptized by John the Baptist and crucified by the Romans.

Baptism by John the Baptist

John the Baptist led a large apocalyptic movement. He demanded repentance and baptism. Jesus was baptized and later began his ministry. After John was executed, some of his followers apparently took Jesus as their new leader. Historians are nearly unanimous in accepting Jesus' baptism as a historical event.

Arrival of the Kingdom – Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God. He said that the age of the Kingdom had in some sense arrived, starting with the activity of John the Baptist. Scholars commonly surmise that Jesus' eschatology was apocalyptic, like John's.

Parables – Jesus taught in pithy parables and with striking images. His teaching was marked by hyperbole and unusual twists of phrase. that have great effects. Significantly, he never described the Kingdom in military terms. Associated with this main theme, Jesus taught that one should rely on prayer and expect prayer to be effective.

The Gospels report that Jesus foretold his own Passion, but the actions of the disciples suggest that it came as a surprise to them.

Jewish religious movements in Jesus' day

Scholars refer to the religious background of the early 1st century to better reconstruct Jesus' life. Some scholars identify him with one or another group.

Pharisees were a powerful force in 1st-century Judea. Early Christians shared several beliefs of the Pharisees, such as resurrection, retribution in the next world, angels, human freedom, and Divine Providence. After the fall of the Temple, the Pharisee outlook was established in Rabbinic Judaism. Some scholars speculate that Jesus was himself a Pharisee. In Jesus' day, the two main schools of thought among the Pharisees were the House of Hillel, which had been founded by the eminent Tanna, Hillel the Elder, and the House of Shammai. Jesus' assertion of hypocrisy may have been directed against the stricter members of the House of Shammai, although he also agreed with their teachings on divorce. Jesus also commented on the House of Hillel's teachings (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a) concerning the greatest commandment and the Golden Rule. Historians do not know whether there were Pharisees in Galilee during Jesus' life, or what they would have been like.

Essenes were apocalyptic ascetics, one of the three (or four) major Jewish schools of the time, though they were not mentioned in the New Testament. Some scholars theorize that Jesus was an Essene, or close to them. Among these scholars is Pope Benedict XVI, who supposes in his book on Jesus that "it appears that not only John the Baptist, but possibly Jesus and his family as well, were close to the Qumran community."

Zealots were a revolutionary party opposed to Roman rule, one of those parties that, according to Josephus inspired the fanatical stand in Jerusalem that led to its destruction in the year 70 AD/CE. Luke identifies Simon, a disciple, as a "zealot", which might mean a member of the Zealot party (which would therefore have been already in existence in the lifetime of Jesus) or a zealous person.

Higher criticism and Christian scripture

Contemporary historians of Christianity use the historical-critical method (or higher criticism) to examine scripture for clues about the historical Jesus. They sort out sayings and events that are more likely to be genuine and use those to construct their portraits of Jesus. They use standard historical methods to discern who wrote each book, where and when they were written, what sources the authors used, what the authors' agendas were.

Biblical scholars hold that the works describing Jesus were initially communicated by oral tradition, and were not committed to writing until several decades after Jesus' crucifixion. After the original oral stories were written down in Greek, they were transcribed, and later translated into other languages. The books of the New Testament had mostly been written by 100 AD/CE, making them, at least the synoptic gospels, historically relevant. The Gospel tradition certainly preserves several fragments of Jesus' teaching. The Gospel of Mark is believed to have been written c. 70 AD/CE. Matthew is placed at being sometime after this date and Luke is thought to have been written between 70 and 100 AD/CE. According to the majority viewpoint, the gospels were written not by the evangelists identified by tradition but by non-eyewitnesses who worked with second-hand sources and who modified their accounts to suit their religious agendas. Sayings attributed to Jesus are deemed more likely to reflect his character when they are distinctive, vivid, paradoxical, surprising, and contrary to social and religious expectations, such as "Blessed are the poor". Short, memorable parables and aphorisms capable of being transmitted orally are also thought more likely to be authentic.

A minority of prominent scholars, such as J. A. T. Robinson, have maintained that the writers of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John were either apostles and eyewitness to Jesus' ministry and death, or were close to those who had been. a few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure. Among the proponents of non-historicity was Bruno Bauer in the 19th century. Non-historicity was somewhat influential in biblical studies during the early 20th century. The views of scholars who entirely rejected Jesus' historicity then were based on a suggested lack of eyewitnesses, a lack of direct archaeological evidence, the failure of certain ancient works to mention Jesus, and similarities early Christianity shared with then-contemporary religion and mythology.

More recently, arguments for non-historicity have been discussed by authors such as George Albert Wells and Robert M. Price, Earl Doherty, Timothy Freke, and Peter Gandy.

Classicist Michael Grant stated that standard historical criteria prevent one from rejecting the existence of a historical Jesus. Professor of Divinity James Dunn describes the mythical Jesus theory as a 'thoroughly dead thesis'.

Religious perspectives

By and large, the Jews of Jesus' day rejected his claim to be the Messiah, as do Jews today. For their part, Christian Church Fathers, Ecumenical Councils, Reformers, and others have written extensively about Jesus over the centuries. Christian sects and schisms have often been defined or characterized by competing descriptions of Jesus. Meanwhile, Gnostics, Mandaeans, Manichaeans, Muslims, Baha'is, and others have found prominent places for Jesus in their own religious accounts.

Christian views

Though Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to describe a general majority Christian view by examining the similarities between specific Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant doctrines found in their catechetical or confessional texts. Almost all Christian groups regard Jesus as the "Savior and Redeemer", as the Messiah (Greek: Christos; English: Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament, who, through his life, death, and resurrection, restored humanity's communion with God in the blood of the New Covenant. His death on a cross is understood as the redemptive sacrifice: the source of humanity's salvation and the atonement for sin, which had entered human history through the sin of Adam. Christians profess that Jesus suffered death by crucifixion, and rose bodily from the dead in the definitive miracle that foreshadows the resurrection of humanity at the end of time, when Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, resulting in either entrance into heaven or damnation.

Christians profess Jesus to be the only Son of God, the Lord, and the eternal Word (which is a translation of the Greek Logos), who became man in the incarnation, so that those who believe in him might have eternal life. They further hold that he was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit in an event described as the miraculous virgin birth or incarnation.

A nearly universal belief within Christianity is that the Godhead is triune ("Trinity"). As the ancient Athanasian Creed is worded, the Trinity is "one God" and "three persons... and yet they are not three Gods, but one God." The doctrine of the Trinity has been rejected by many non-Christians throughout its history. They teach that Jesus is a separate and distinct being from God the Father and the Holy Spirit, and that Biblical references to the Father and the Son being one do not indicate a unity of being. While most of these groups refer to themselves as Christian, they are not generally accepted by Mainline Protestants and more conservative denominations because of the extra-biblical and unorthodox teachings of these groups. Some religious groups that do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity include The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), Unitarianism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, Sabbatarian Churches of God and the Christadelphians. (See also Nontrinitarianism)

Benedict XVI, in his book, Jesus of Nazareth, readily and gratefully acknowledges that, thanks to historical-critical scholarship, we know much more, today, about the different literary genres of the Bible; about the ways in which a Gospel writer's intent affected his portrait of Jesus; about the theological struggles within early Christianity that shaped a particular Christian community's memory of its Lord. The difficulty, according to Benedict XVI, is that, "amidst all the knowledge gained in the biblical dissecting room, the Jesus of the Gospels has tended to disappear, to be replaced by a given scholar's reconstruction from the bits and pieces left on the dissecting room floor." And that makes what Benedict calls "intimate friendship with Jesus" much more difficult, not just for scholars, but for everyone.

Jewish views

Judaism, including Orthodox Judaism, Hareidi Judaism, Reform Judaism, and Conservative Judaism, holds the view Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC/BCE. Judaism states that Jesus did not fulfill the requirements set by the Torah to prove that he was a prophet. Even if Jesus had produced such a sign that Judaism recognized, Judaism states that no prophet or dreamer can contradict the laws already stated in the Torah, which Jesus did.

The Babylonian Talmud and Toledot Yeshu include stories of Yeshu . This name is etymologically unconnected to the Hebrew or Aramaic words for Joshua, and many religious Jews read it as the acronym for Yimakh sh'mo u'shem zikhro (meaning "be his name and memory erased"), an expression used to describe deceased enemies. Historians agree that these narratives do not refer to a historical Jesus. Historians disagree as to whether these stories represent a Jewish comment on and reaction against the Christian Jesus, or refer to someone unconnected to Jesus.

The Mishneh Torah (an authoritative work of Jewish law) states in Hilkhot Melakhim 11:10–12 that Jesus is a "stumbling block" who makes "the majority of the world err to serve a divinity besides God". Because, is there a greater stumbling-block than this one? So that all of the prophets spoke that the Messiah redeems Israel, and saves them, and gathers their banished ones, and strengthens their commandments. And this one caused (nations) to destroy Israel by sword, and to scatter their remnant, and to humiliate them, and to exchange the Torah, and to make the majority of the world err to serve a divinity besides God. However, the thoughts of the Creator of the world — there is no force in a human to attain them because our ways are not God's ways, and our thoughts not God's thoughts. And all these things of Jesus the Nazarene, and of (Muhammad) the Ishmaelite who stood after him — there is no (purpose) but to straighten out the way for the King Messiah, and to restore all the world to serve God together. So that it is said, "Because then I will turn toward the nations (giving them) a clear lip, to call all of them in the name of God and to serve God (shoulder to shoulder as) one shoulder." Look how all the world already becomes full of the things of the Messiah, and the things of the Torah, and the things of the commandments! And these things spread among the far islands and among the many nations uncircumcised of heart.}}

According to Conservative Judaism, Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have "crossed the line out of the Jewish community". Reform Judaism, the modern progressive movement, states "For us in the Jewish community anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate".

According to Geza Vermes, the historical Jesus was a Jew in good standing. Modern Jews, he says, would find the historical Jesus an appealing figure, one quite different from the Christ of the Gospels.

Islamic views

Mainstream Islam considers Jesus an ordinary man who, like other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God's message. Jesus is seen in Islam as a precursor to Muhammad, and is believed by Muslims to have foretold the latter's coming. 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

Name	Toufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn
Birth date	December 03, 1952
Birth place	Jaffa, Israel
Occupation	TelevangelistAuthorSpeaker
Spouse	Suzanne Harthern (m. 4 August 1979, Divorced)
Children	three daughters, one son
Website	http://www.bennyhinn.org/default.cfm

Toufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn (, , Hebrew: תאופיק בנדיקטוס (בני) הין; born December 3, 1952) is a televangelist, best known for his regular "Miracle Crusades" – revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television program, This Is Your Day.

History

Hinn was born in Jaffa, in 1952, in the then newly established state of Israel. His father was of Greek heritage and in communion with the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem of the Eastern Orthodox Churches and his mother an Armenian in communion with the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem. He was raised within the Eastern Orthodox tradition.

Soon after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War (the Six-Day War), Hinn's family emigrated to Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where he attended but later prematurely left the Georges Vanier Secondary School. In his books, Hinn states that his father was the mayor of Jaffa at the time of his birth, and that as a child, he was socially isolated and was handicapped by a severe stutter, but was nonetheless a first-class student. These claims, however, have been disputed by critics of Hinn. As a teenager in Toronto, Hinn converted from Greek Orthodoxy to Pentecostalism, eventually joining a singing troupe made up of young evangelicals. According to a 2004 CBC report on Hinn, his newfound religious devotion during this period became so intense that his family became concerned that he was turning into a religious fanatic. Hinn was taught the bible and mentored by Dr. Winston I. Nunes of Broadview Faith Temple in Toronto

He has written that on December 21, 1973, he traveled by charter bus from Toronto to Pittsburgh to attend a "miracle service" conducted by evangelist Kathryn Kuhlman. Although he never met her personally, he often attended her “healing services” and has often cited her as an influence in his life. Hinn is frequently welcomed during his crusades by kings, prime ministers, and heads of state.

Hinn's teachings are Evangelical and charismatic, accepting the validity of spiritual gifts, and Word of Faith in origin, with a focus on financial prosperity. Some doctrine and practices that Hinn teaches would be thought unusual in mainstream Christianity. The charismatic Christian community (who, according to a recent study by The Barna Group, make up 46% of United States Protestants and 36% of United States Catholics), is very diverse, and Hinn's ideas would only be accepted in some constituencies.

Missions

Benny Hinn Ministries supports 60 mission organizations across the world and several orphanages around the world. Housing and feeding over 100,000 children a year and also supporting 45,000 children daily because of his donors, includinga Hospital and Emergency Care in Calcutta, India. 200,000 hospital patients are provided free medical care every year and much more.

Benny Hinn Ministries donated $100,000 for Relief Supplies to Hurricane Katrina Victims in 2005, and $250,000 to Tsunami Relief Effort in 2007.

Criticism and controversy

A controversial aspect of Hinn's ministry is his teaching and demonstration of the "anointing"; the power given, by God, carry out supernatural acts. At Hinn's Miracle Crusades, he has allegedly healed attendees of blindness, deafness, cancer, AIDS, and severe physical injuries. Since 1993, however, investigative news reports by programs such as Inside Edition, Dateline NBC, the Australian edition of 60 Minutes, and several network affiliates in the United States have called these claims into question.

Hinn also appeared on the Trinity Broadcasting Network in October 1999 to claim that God had given him a vision that thousands of dead people would be resurrected after watching the network—laying out a scenario of people placing their dead loved ones' hands on TV screens tuned into the station—and that TBN would be "an extension of Heaven to Earth."

A Question of Miracles

In April 2001, HBO aired a documentary entitled A Question of Miracles that focused on Hinn and a well-documented fellow minister based in Africa, Reinhard Bonnke. Both Hinn and Bonnke offered full access to their events to the documentary crew, and the documentary team followed seven cases of "miracle healings" from Hinn's crusade over the next year. The film's director, Antony Thomas, claimed to CNN's Kyra Phillips that they did not find any cases where people were actually healed by Hinn. Thomas said in a New York Times interview that "If I had seen miracles [from Hinn's ministry], I would have been happy to trumpet it...but in retrospect, I think they do more damage to Christianity than the most committed atheist."

"Do You Believe in Miracles"

In November 2004, the CBC Television show The Fifth Estate did a special titled "Do You Believe in Miracles" on the apparent transgressions committed by Benny Hinn's ministry. With the aid of hidden cameras and crusade witnesses, the producers of the show demonstrated Benny's apparent misappropriation of funds, his fabrication of the truth, and the way in which his staff chose crusade audience members to come on stage for televised healings. and has attended numerous Hinn crusades since 2000 as part of his research for his thesis and for a seminar he developed about the Word of Faith movement entitled A Call for Discernment, also demonstrated to the hidden cameras that "people who look like me"--Peters has cerebral palsy, walks with arm-crutches, and is obviously and visibly disabled--"are never allowed on stage[...]it's always somebody who has some disability or disease that cannot be readily seen." Like Grace and her mother, Peters was quickly intercepted as he came out of the wheelchair section (there is one at every crusade, situated at the back of the audience, far away from the stage, and never filmed for Hinn's TV show) in an attempt to join the line of those waiting to go onstage, and was told to take a seat. Benny Hinn Ministries is not a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

BHM raises funds for a Gulfstream jet

In December 2006, BHM sent out a mailing asking for donations towards a new Gulfstream G4SP jet valued at an estimated US$36 million and costing over US$600,000/year to maintain and operate.

Senate investigation

On November 6, 2007, United States senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa announced an investigation of Hinn's ministry by the United States Senate Committee on Finance. In a letter to BHM, Grassley asked for the ministry to divulge financial information to the Senate Committee on Finance to determine if Hinn made any personal profit from financial donations, and requested that Hinn's ministry make the information available by December 6, 2007. The investigation also scrutinized five other televangelists: Paula White, Kenneth Copeland, Eddie L. Long, Joyce Meyer, and Creflo Dollar . On December 6, 2007, Hinn told the Associated Press that he would not respond to the inquiry until 2008. Hinn's ministry has since responded to the inquiry, and Senator Grassley commented that, "... Benny Hinn [has] engaged in open and honest dialogue with committee staff. They have not only provided responses to every question but, in the spirit of true cooperation, also have provided information over and above what was requested."

Personal life

Hinn married Suzanne Harthern on August 4, 1979. The couple have four children together. Harthern filed papers in Orange County (CA) Superior Court on February 1, 2010 seeking a divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences".

Bibliography

See also

Charismatic movement

Kathryn Kuhlman

Prosperity Gospel

Televangelism

Word of Faith

References

External links

Benny Hinn Ministries – Official website

Faith World – Official website Hinn's former church

Ministry Watch Report on Benny Hinn

Category:1952 births Category:American television evangelists Category:Canadian television evangelists Category:Christian ministers Category:Faith healers Category:Israeli expatriates in the United States Category:Living people Category:Converts to Protestantism from Eastern Orthodoxy Category:People from Jaffa Category:People from Toronto