| Name | Jesus |
|---|
| Caption | Jesus as Good Shepherd (stained glass at St John's Ashfield). |
|---|
| Birth date | 7–2 BC/BCE |
|---|
| Language | Aramaic (perhaps some Hebrew, Koine Greek) |
|---|
| 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 | 30–36 AD/CE |
|---|
| 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; |
|---|
Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC/BCE – 30–36 AD/CE), commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, 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 are the four canonical gospels,
and most critical scholars find them, at least the Synoptic Gospels,
useful for reconstructing Jesus’ life and teachings.
Some scholars believe apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of 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 a future apocalypse.
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in the Old Testament and as God, arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.
Judaism rejects assertions that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh. In Islam, Jesus ( or , commonly transliterated as or , respectively) 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 Bahá'í Faith use the title "Messiah" for Jesus, but do not teach that he was God incarnate.
Etymology of the name
“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)".
The etymology of the name Jesus is generally explained as "God's salvation" usually expressed as "Yahweh saves" "Yahweh is salvation" and at times as "Jehovah is salvation". The name Jesus appears to have been in use in Judaea at the time of the birth of Jesus. And Philo's reference (Mutatione Nominum item 121) indicates that the etymology of Joshua was known outside Judaea at the time.
In the New Testament, in an angel tells Mary to name her child Jesus, and in an angel tells Joseph to name the child Jesus. The statement in Matthew 1:21 "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" associates salvific attributes to the name Jesus in Christian theology.
"Christ" () is derived from the Greek (Khristós) meaning "the anointed one", a translation of the Hebrew מָשִׁיחַ (), usually transliterated into English as Messiah. In the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible (written well over a century before the time of Jesus), the word Christ was used to translate into Greek the Hebrew word . In , Apostle Peter's profession: "You are the Christ" identifies Jesus as the Messiah. In post-biblical usage Christ became a name, one part of the name "Jesus Christ", but originally it was a title (the Messiah) and not a name.
Chronology
and
Galilee at the time of Jesus]]
Although a few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure most scholars involved with historical Jesus research believe his existence can be established using documentary and other evidence. As discussed in the sections immediately below, the estimation of the year of death of Jesus places his lifespan around the beginning of the first century AD/CE, in the geographic region of
Roman Judaea.
Roman involvement in Judaea began around 63 BC/BCE and by 6 AD/CE Judaea had become a Roman province. In this time period, although Roman Judaea was strategically positioned between Asia and Africa, it was not viewed as a critically important province by the Romans. The Romans were highly tolerant of other religions and allowed the local populations such as the Jews to practice their own faiths.
Possible year of birth
Two independent approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus, one by analyzing the
Nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew along with other historical data, the other by working backwards from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus, as also discussed in the section below.
In their Nativity accounts, both the Gospels of Luke and Matthew associate the birth of Jesus with the reign of Herod the Great, who is generally believed to have died around 4 BC/BCE. states that: "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king" and mentions the reign of Herod shortly before the birth of Jesus. 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.
The year of birth of Jesus has also been estimated in a manner that is independent of the Nativity accounts, by using information in the Gospel of John to work backwards from the statement in that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry.
However, the common Gregorian calendar method for numbering years, in which the current year is , is based on the decision of a monk Dionysius in the six century, to count the years from a point of reference (namely, Jesus’ birth) which he placed sometime between 2 BC/BCE and 1 AD/CE. Although Christian feasts related to the Nativity have had specific dates (e.g. December 25 for Christmas) there is no historical evidence for the exact day or month of the birth of Jesus.
Possible dates of ministry
model of
Herod's Temple, referred to in .]]
There have been different approaches to estimating the date of the start of the ministry of Jesus. One approach, based on combining information from the
Gospel of Luke with historical data about Emperor
Tiberius yields a date around 28-29 AD/CE, while a second independent approach based on statements in the
Gospel of John along with historical information from
Josephus about the Temple in Jerusalem leads to a date around 27-29 AD/CE.
The estimation of the date based on the Gospel of Luke relies on the statement in that the ministry of John the Baptist which preceded that of Jesus began "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar".
The estimation of the date based on the Gospel of John uses the statements in that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem around the start of his ministry and in that "Forty and six years was this temple in building" at that time. According to Josephus (Ant 15.380) the temple reconstruction was started by Herod the Great in the 15th-18th year of his reign at about the time that Augustus arrived in Syria (Ant 15.354). Temple expansion and reconstruction was ongoing, and it was in constant reconstruction until it was destroyed in 70 AD/CE by the Romans. Given that it took 46 years of construction, the Temple visit in the Gospel of John has been estimated at around 27-29 AD/CE.
states that at the start of his ministry Jesus was "about 30 years of age", but the other Gospels do not mention a specific age. However, in the Jews exclaimed to Jesus: "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" suggesting that he was much less than 50 years old during his ministry.
Possible year and place of death
A number of approaches have been used to estimate the year of the death of Jesus, including information from the Canonical Gospels, the chronology of the life of Paul the Apostle in the New Testament correlated with historical events, as well as different astronomical models, as discussed below.
All four canonical Gospels report that Jesus was crucified in Calvary 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 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 gives him the title of "procurator" instead of prefect.
The estimation of the date of the conversion of Paul places the death of Jesus before this conversion, which is estimated at around 33-36 AD/CE. The remaining period is generally accounted for by Paul's missions (at times with Barnabas) such as those in and , resulting in the 33-36 AD/CE estimate. In 1990 astronomer Bradley E. Schaefer computed the date as Friday, April 3, 33 AD/CE. In 1991, John Pratt stated that Newton's method was sound, but included a minor error at the end. Pratt suggested the year 33 AD/CE as the answer. Using the completely different approach of a lunar eclipse model, Humphreys and Waddington arrived at the conclusion that Friday, April 3, 33 AD/CE was the date of the crucifixion.
Life and teachings in the New Testament
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). Critical scholars use 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.
The gospel of John is not a biography of Jesus but a theological presentation of him as the divine Logos. To combine these four stories into one story is tantamount to creating a fifth story, one different from each original.
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.
Genealogy and Nativity
The accounts of the genealogy and Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear only in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. While there are documents outside of the New Testament which are more or less contemporary with Jesus and the gospels, many shed no light on the more biographical aspects of his life and these two gospel accounts remain the main sources of information on the genealogy and Nativity.
Genealogy
Mathew begins his gospel in with the genealogy of Jesus, and presents it before the account of the birth of Jesus, while Luke discusses the genealogy in chapter 3, after the
Baptism of Jesus in when the voice from Heaven addresses Jesus and identifies him as the
Son of God.
While Luke traces the genealogy upwards towards Adam and God, Matthew traces it downwards towards Jesus. Both gospels state that Jesus was begotten not by Joseph, but by God. Both accounts trace 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. Matthew gives Jacob as Joseph’s father and Luke says Joseph was the son of Heli. Attempts at explaining the differences between the genealogies have varied in nature, e.g. that Luke traces the genealogy through Mary while Matthew traces it through Joseph; or that Jacob and Heli were both fathers of Joseph, one being the legal father, after the death of Joseph's actual father - but there is no scholarly agreement on a resolution for the differences.
Nativity
The Nativity is a prominent element of the Gospel of Luke, comprises over 10% of Luke's text and is three times the length of the Nativity text in Matthew. Luke's Nativity account takes place mostly before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's story takes place mostly after the birth of Jesus and centers on Joseph. According to Luke and Matthew, 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.
Luke is the only Gospel to provide an account of the birth of John the Baptist, and he uses it to draw parallels between the births of John and Jesus. Luke relates the two birth in the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. In Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus through the action of the Holy Spirit. When Mary is due to give birth, she and Joseph travel from Nazareth to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem to register in the census of Quirinius. In . Mary gives birth to Jesus and, having found no place for themselves in the inn, places the newborn in a manger. An angel visits the shepherds and sends them to adore the child in . After presenting Jesus at the Temple, Joseph and Mary return home to Nazareth.
The Nativity appears in chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospel of Matthew, where following the bethrothal of Joseph and Mary, Joseph is troubled in because Mary is pregnant but in the first of Joseph's three dreams an angel assures him not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because her child was conceived by the Holy Spirit. In , 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). Before the massacre, Joseph is warned by an angel in his dream and the family flees to Egypt and remains there until Herod’s death, after which they leave Egypt and settle in Nazareth to avoid living under the authority of Herod’s son and successor Archelaus.
Early life and profession
In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, Jesus’ childhood home is identified as the town of
Nazareth in
Galilee.
Joseph, husband of
Mary, appears in descriptions of Jesus’ childhood and no mention is made of him thereafter. The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and
Galatians mention Jesus’ brothers and sisters, but the Greek word
adelphos in these verses, has also be translated as brother or kinsman.
includes an incident in the childhood of Jesus, where he was found teaching in the temple by his parents after being lost. The Finding in the Temple is the sole event between Jesus’ infancy and baptism mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.
In Mark 6:3, Jesus is called a tekton (τέκτων in Greek), usually understood to mean carpenter. Matthew 13:55 says he was the son of a tekton.
Beyond the New Testament accounts, the specific association of the profession of Jesus with woodworking is a constant in the traditions of the 1st and 2nd centuries and Justin Martyr (d. ca. 165) wrote that Jesus made yokes and ploughs.
Baptism and temptation
, Jesus calls
Peter and
Andrew as
Apostles in , by Harold Copping.]]
All the gospels report that he had become known as a religious teacher by the time he had reached his 30s. 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 omits this reference, emphasizing Jesus’ superiority to John. 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
- ancient
mosaic from
Hagia Sophia]]
In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus speaks primarily about the Kingdom of God.
His moral teachings in Matthew and Luke encourage unconditional self-sacrificing God-like love for God and for all people. 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. Only after his resurrection does he command his disciples to "make disciples of all nations."
At various times, Jesus makes a point of welcoming sinners, children, women, the poor, Samaritans, and foreigners.
Transfiguration and Jesus' divine role
In the Synoptic Gospels, Jesus leads three select disciples:
Peter,
John, and
James to the top of a mountain. 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.
Betrayal, arrest, trial, and death
In Jerusalem
relates
Jesus' entry to
Zechariah (): "the King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass." Traditionally, arrival on a donkey signifies peace, while war waging kings ride horses. While at
Bethany Jesus sent two disciples to retrieve a donkey that had been tied up but never ridden and rode it into Jerusalem, with Mark and John stating Sunday, Matthew Monday, and Luke not specifying the day. includes a similar narrative much earlier, and scholars debate if these refer to the same episode. Matthew specifies the price as
thirty silver coins.
(detail), by Juan de Juanes, mid-late 16th century.]]
In all four gospels, during the meal, Jesus predicts that one of his Apostles will betray him. Jesus is described as reiterating, despite each Apostle's assertion that he would not betray Jesus, that the betrayer would be one of those who were present. In and Judas is specifically singled out as the traitor. Although the Gospel of John does not include a description of the bread and wine ritual during the Last Supper, most scholars agree that (the Bread of Life Discourse) has a Eucharistic nature and resonates with the "words of institution" used in the Synoptic Gospels and the Pauline writings on the Last Supper.
In all four Gospels Jesus predictes that Peter will deny knowledge of him, stating that Peter will disown him three times before the rooster crows the next morning. The synoptics mention that after the arrest of Jesus Peter denied knowing him three times, but after the third denial, heard the rooster crow and recalled the prediction as Jesus turned to look at him. Peter then began to cry bitterly.
The Gospel of John provides the only account of Jesus washing his disciples' feet before the meal. John's Gospel also includes a long sermon by Jesus, preparing his disciples (now without Judas) for his departure. of the Gospel of John are known as the Farewell discourse given by Jesus, and are a rich source of Christological content.
Agony in the Garden, betrayal and arrest
In , , and , immediately after the Last Supper, Jesus takes a walk to pray, Matthew and Mark identifying this place of prayer as Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus is accompanied by Peter, John and James the Greater, whom he asks to "remain here and keep watch with me." He moves "a stone's throw away" from them, where he feels overwhelming sadness and says "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it."
Trials by the Sanhedrin, Herod and Pilate
In the narrative of the four
Canonical Gospels after the
betrayal and arrest of Jesus, he is taken to the
Sanhedrin, a Jewish judicial body. Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin, mocked and beaten and is condemned for making claims of being the
Son of God. He is then taken to
Pontius Pilate and the Jewish elders ask Pilate to judge and condemn Jesus - accusing him of claiming to be the
King of the Jews. Although the Gospel accounts vary with respect to various details, they agree on the general character and overall structure of the trials of Jesus.]]
In, ,
and Jesus was taken to the high priest's house where he was mocked and beaten that night. The next day, early in the morning, the chief priests and scribes gathered together and lead Jesus away into their council. In , however, Jesus is first taken to
Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, and then to Caiaphas.
In the Gospel accounts Jesus speaks very little, mounts no defense and gives very infrequent and indirect answers to the questions of the priests, prompting an officer to slap him. In the lack of response from Jesus prompts the high priest to ask him: "Answerest thou nothing?" states that the chief priests had arranged false witness against Jesus, but the witnesses did not agree together. In the high priest then asked Jesus: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am" at which point the high priest tore his own robe in anger and accused Jesus of blasphemy. In when asked: "Are you then the Son of God?" Jesus answers: "You say that I am" affirming the title Son of God. At that point the priests say: "What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth" and decide to condemn Jesus. Pilate sends Jesus to Herod to be tried. However, Jesus says almost nothing in response to Herod's questions, or the continuing accusations of the chief priests and the scribes. Herod and his soldiers mock Jesus, put a gorgeous robe on him, as the King of the Jews, and sent him back to Pilate. And when in Pilate seeks to release Jesus, the priests object and say: "Every one that makes himself a king speaks against Caesar... We have no king but Caesar." Pilate then writes "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" as a sign (abbreviated as INRI in depictions) to be affixed to the cross of Jesus.
In Pilate's wife, tormented by a dream, urges Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus, and Pilate publicly washes his hands of responsibility, yet orders the crucifixion in response to the demands of the crowd. The trial by Pilate is followed by the flagellation episode, the soldiers mock Jesus as the King of Jews by putting a purple robe (that signifies royal status) on him, place a Crown of Thorns on his head, and beat and mistreat him in , and . Jesus is then sent to Calvary for crucifixion.
Crucifixion and burial
's depiction of the
Crucifixion as
Stabat Mater, 1482.]]
Jesus' crucifixion is described in all four
Canonical gospels, and is attested to by other sources of that age (e.g.
Josephus and
Tacitus), and is regarded as an historical event.
After the trials, Jesus made his way to Calvary (the path is traditionally called via Dolorosa) and the three Synoptic Gospels indicate that he was assisted by Simon of Cyrene, the Romans compelling him to do so. Each gospel has its own account of Jesus' last words, comprising the seven last sayings on the cross. In Jesus entrusts his mother to the disciple he loved and in he states: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do", usually interpreted as his forgiveness of the Roman soldiers and the others involved.
In the three Synoptic Gospels, various supernatural events accompany the crucifixion , including darkness of the sky, an earthquake, and (in Matthew) the resurrection of saints. The tearing of the temple veil, upon the death of Jesus, is referenced in the synoptic.
Following Jesus' death, Joseph of Arimathea asked the permission of Pilate to remove the body. The body was removed from the cross, was wrapped in a clean cloth and buried in a new rock-hewn tomb, with the assistance of Nicodemus.
Resurrection and ascension
by
Noel Coypel, 1700, using a
hovering depiction of Jesus.]]The New Testament accounts of the
resurrection and
ascension of Jesus, state that the first day of the week after the crucifixion (typically interpreted as a Sunday), his followers encounter him risen from the dead, after his tomb is discovered to be empty. The resurrected Jesus appears to them that day and a number of times thereafter, delivers sermons and
commissions them, before ascending to Heaven. Two of the Canonical gospels (Luke and Mark) include a brief mention of the Ascension, but the main references to it are elsewhere in the New Testament. and the
road to Damascus episode in which
Apostle Paul is converted to Christianity.
Title attributions
The New Testament attributes a wide range of titles to Jesus by the authors of the Gospels, by Jesus himself, a voice from Heaven (often assumed to be God) during the Baptism and Transfiguration, as well as various groups of people such as the disciples, and even demons throughout the narrative. The emphasis on the titles used in each of the four canonical Gospels, gives a different emphasis to the portrayal of Jesus in that Gospel.
, applying 2 titles to Jesus:"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God".]]
Two of the key titles used for Jesus in the New Testament are Christ and Son of God. The opening words in attribute both Christ and Son of God as titles, reaffirming the second title again in . The Gospel of Matthew also begins in with the Christ title and reaffirms it in . The immediate declaration by Jesus that the titles were revealed to Peter by "my Father who is in Heaven" not only endorses both titles as divine revelation but includes a separate assertion of sonship by Jesus within the same statement.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of God far more frequently than in the Synoptic Gospels. In a number of other episodes Jesus claims sonship by referring to the Father, e.g. in when he is found in the temple a young Jesus calls the temple "my Father's house", just as he does later in in the Cleansing of the Temple episode. In Martha tells Jesus "you are the Christ, the Son of God", signifying that both titles were later used (yet considered distinct) in the narrative. While the Gospel of John frequently uses the Son of God title, the Gospel of Luke emphasizes Jesus as a prophet.
One of the most frequent titles for Jesus in the New Testament is the Greek word Kyrios (κύριος) which may mean God, Lord or master and is used to refers to him over 700 times. In everyday Aramaic, Mari was a very respectful form of polite address, well above "Teacher" and similar to Rabbi. In Greek this has at times been translated as Kyrios. The Rabbi title is used in several New Testament episodes to refer to Jesus, but more often in the Gospel of John than elsewhere and does not appear in the Gospel of Luke at all. Although Jesus accepts this title in the narrative, in he rejected the title of Rabbi for his disciples, saying: "But be not ye called Rabbi".
Many New Testament scholars state that Jesus claimed to be God through his frequent use of "I am" (Ego eimi in Greek and Qui est in Latin). This term is used by Jesus in the Gospel of John on several occasions to refer to himself, seven times with specific titles. It is used in the Gospel of John both with or without a predicate.
The Gospel of John opens by identifying Jesus as the divine Logos in . The Greek term Logos () is often translated as "the Word" in English. The identification of Jesus as the Logos which became Incarnate appears only at the beginning of the Gospel of John and the term Logos is used only in two other Johannine passages: and . John's Logos statements build on each other: the statement that the Logos existed "at the beginning" asserts that as Logos Jesus was an eternal being like God; that the Logos was "with God" asserts the distinction of Jesus from God; and Logos "was God" states the unity of Jesus with God.
Some authors 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, e.g. “Son of David” is found elsewhere in Jewish tradition to refer to the heir to the throne.
Historical views
Biblical scholars have used the
historical method to develop plausible reconstructions of Jesus' life.
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.
The principal sources of information regarding Jesus’ life and teachings are the three Synoptic Gospels.
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
Jesus lived in
Galilee for most of his life and spoke
Aramaic and possibly
Hebrew and some Greek.
Historians of Christianity generally describe Jesus as a healer who preached the restoration of God's kingdom.
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, according to Geza Vermes, the confused and fearful actions of the disciples suggest that it came as a surprise to them. 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.
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. Christians believe that Christ is the true head of the one holy universal and apostolic church.
Orthodox Christians believe that the Godhead is triune, a "Trinity," and that Jesus, as the second person of the Trinity, is fully God. As the 6th-century Athanasian Creed says, the Trinity is "one God" and "three persons... and yet they are not three Gods, but one God." Some unorthodox Christian groups do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Unitarianism, Jehovah's Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, Sabbatarian Churches of God and the Christadelphians. (See also Nontrinitarianism)
Christians consider the Gospel and other New Testament accounts of Jesus to be divinely inspired. Christian writers, such as Benedict XVI, proclaim the Jesus of the Gospels, discounting the historical reconstruction of Jesus as entirely inadequate.
Jewish views
Judaism, including Orthodox Judaism, Hareidi Judaism, Reform Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism, rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. Judaism also holds that 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.
The Babylonian Talmud include stories of Yeshu ; the vast majority of contemporary historians disregard these as sources on the historical Jesus.
The Mishneh Torah, an authoritative work of Jewish law, provides the last established consensus view of the Jewish community, 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".
Islamic views
In Islam, Jesus (Arabic: عيسى; `Īsā) is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Masih ("Messiah") who was sent to guide the Children of Israel (banī isrā'īl) with a new scripture, the Injīl or Gospel. 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
General topics
* Christian mythology
* INRI (stands for "Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews")
Views on Jesus
* Cultural depictions of Jesus
* Jesusism
* Pauline Christianity
* Sexuality of Jesus
New Testament Jesus
* King of Kings
* Miracles of Jesus
* Race of Jesus
Jesus and history
* Apostolic succession
* Christian apologetics
* Historical reliability of the Gospels
* Historicity of Jesus
* The life of Jesus in the New Testament
Related lists
* List of books about Jesus
* List of founders of religious traditions
* List of messiah claimants
* List of people claimed to be Jesus
* List of people who have been considered deities
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 — 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:Roman era Jews
Category:Savior gods
Category:Self-declared messiahs
.jpg)
.svg)
.png)
![Jury selection slow-moving in Casey Anthony trial [NBC: 5-10-2011]](http://web.archive.org./web/20110519011723im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lFxD_307gcY/0.jpg "Jury selection slow-moving in Casey Anthony trial [NBC: 5-10-2011]")
