Jesus

For other uses, see Jesus of Nazareth.

Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE – 29-36 AD/CE), also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity, in which context he is known as Jesus Christ, where Christ is a Greek title meaning "Anointed", corresponding to the Hebrew term "Messiah".

The main sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. Most scholars in the fields of biblical studies and history agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee who was regarded as a healer, was charged with sedition against the Roman Empire, and on the orders of Roman Governor Pontius Pilate was sentenced to death by crucifixion. As the Gospels were not written immediately after his death and there is little external documentation, a small minority of scholars question the historical existence of Jesus.

Christian views of Jesus (known as Christology) are both diverse and complex. Most Christians are Trinitarian and believe that Jesus is both the Son of God and God made incarnate, sent to provide salvation and reconciliation with God by atoning for the sins of humanity. Nontrinitarian Christians adopt various other interpretations of Jesus' divinity. Most Christians believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, crucified and entombed, resurrected on the third day of death, and ascended into Heaven where he resides with God the Father until the Second Coming. Most Christians also believe that Jesus performed miracles and fulfilled biblical prophecy.

In Islam, Jesus (called Isa) is considered one of God's most beloved and important prophets, a bringer of divine scripture, and also the Messiah. Muslims, however, do not share the Christian belief in the crucifixion or divinity of Jesus. Islam teaches that Jesus is alive in heaven and will return to the earth as Messiah in the company of the Mahdi once the earth has become full of sin and injustice.

Chronology

Main article: Chronology of Jesus

Adoration of the Shepherds, Gerard van Honthorst

The most detailed accounts of Jesus' birth are contained in the Gospel of Matthew (probably written between 65 and 85 AD/CE) and the Gospel of Luke (probably written between 65 and 100 AD/CE). There is considerable debate about the details of Jesus' birth even among Christian scholars, and few scholars claim to know either the year or the date of his birth or of his death.

Based on the accounts in the Gospels of the shepherds' activities, the time of year depicted for Jesus' birth could be spring or summer. However, as early as 354, Roman Christians celebrated it following the December solstice in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia (or more specifically, Sol Invictus). Before then, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6 as part of the feast of Theophany, also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in Jesus' life. The traditional date of Jesus' birth is celebrated as Christmas.

In the 248th year of the Diocletian Era (based on Diocletian's ascension to the Roman throne), Dionysius Exiguus attempted to pinpoint the number of years since Jesus' birth, arriving at a figure of 753 years after the founding of Rome. Dionysius then set Jesus' birth as being December 25 1 ACN (for "Ante Christum Natum", or "before the birth of Christ"), and assigned AD 1 to the following year—thereby establishing the system of numbering years from the birth of Jesus: Anno Domini (which translates as "in the year of our Lord"). This system made the then current year 532, and almost two centuries later it won acceptance and became the established calendar in Western civilization due to its championing by the Venerable Bede.

However, based on a lunar eclipse that Josephus reports shortly before the death of Herod the Great (who plays a major role in Matthew's account), as well as a more accurate understanding of the succession of Roman Emperors, Jesus' birth would have been some time before the year 4 BC/BCE. Having fewer sources and being further removed in time from the authors of the New Testament, establishing a reliable birth date now is particularly difficult.

The exact date of Jesus' death is also unclear. The Gospel of John depicts the crucifixion just before the Passover festival on Friday 14 Nisan, called the Quartodeciman, whereas the synoptic gospels (except for 14:2 Mark 14:2) describe the Last Supper, immediately before Jesus' arrest, as the Passover meal on Friday 15 Nisan. Further, the Jews followed a lunisolar calendar with phases of the moon as dates, complicating calculations of any exact date in a solar calendar. According to John P. Meier's A Marginal Jew, allowing for the time of the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate and the dates of the Passover in those years, his death can be placed most probably on April 7, 30 or April 3, 33 or March 30, 36.

Life and teachings based on the Gospels

Main article: New Testament view on Jesus' life

Family and early life

Main article: [[:Nativity, Child Jesus, Genealogy of Jesus, Desposyni]]

File:BethlehemBirth.gif

The traditional location of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.

Only two of the Gospels, Matthew and Luke, mention Jesus's birth. According to them, Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea to Mary, a virgin, by a miracle of the Holy Spirit. 1:26-28 Luke 1:26–28 gives an account of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary to tell her that she was chosen to bear the son of God. Catholics call this event the Annunciation. Joseph, Mary's betrothed husband, is Jesus' foster father, and appears only in stories of Jesus' childhood. With Jesus commending Mary into the care of the beloved disciple during his crucifixion, it is likely that Joseph had died by the time of Jesus's ministry (19:26-27 John 19:26–27).

Jesus's childhood home is represented as Nazareth in Galilee. Aside from a flight to Egypt in infancy to escape Herod's Massacre of the Innocents (2:13-20 matthew 2:13–20), and a short trip to Tyre and Sidon (7:31 mark 7:31; 15:21 matthew 15:21), all other events in the Gospels are set in ancent Judea and Samaria (part of Iudaea Province), or in Perea and Galilee (part of the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas; see map). The one incident between his infancy and his adult life, the Finding in the Temple, is only mentioned in 2:42-51, Luke 2:42–51 although New Testament apocrypha fill in the details of this time, some quite extensively.

Both Matthew 13:55 and mark 6:3 mention Jesus's family members. 6 Mark 6 reports that Jesus was "Mary's son and the relative of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also states that Jesus had female relatives. Josephus describes James as "the relative of Jesus who is called Christ", though this passage, which Origen was the first to reference, has been suggested as a very early interpolation (see Josephus on Jesus). The Gospel of Luke states that Mary was a relative of Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist (1:36. luke 1:36) Though some English translations, such as the King James Version, have called them cousins, the relationship is specified in Greek as sungenēs (συγγενής) or "a blood relative."

Ministry

Main article: [[:Baptism, Temptation, Sermon on the Mount, Appointed Twelve Apostles, Transfiguration]]

The Baptism of Christ, by Piero della Francesca, 1449.

The Gospels state that Jesus is the Messiah and the Son of God, sent to fulfill the Mosaic law and the Prophets. They describe the Baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist as the beginning of his public ministry. According to Luke, John the Baptist had begun preaching in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar, c. 28 AD/CE (3:1 Luke 3:1). Luke also states that Jesus was about thirty years old when he was baptized (3:23 Luke 3:23). The Gospel of John describes three different passover feasts over the course of Jesus' ministry. This implies that Jesus preached for a period of three years, although some interpretations of the Synoptic Gospels suggest a span of only one year.

Josephus records that there were four main sects of Judaism in the early first century: the Zealots, Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. In addition, Samaritans followed a different form of the Israelite religion than Jews did and inhabited Samaria, the land between Galilee and Judea. The Gospels record that some of Jesus' disciples were Zealots (6:15, Luke 6:15) and that he disagreed with the Sadducees because they did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (22:23-32 Matthew 22:23–32). The relationship between Jesus and the Pharisees is more complex. Although Jesus condemned the Pharisees for their hypocrisy (23:13-28 Matthew 23:13–28), he also dined with Pharisees (7:36-50 Luke 7:36–50), taught in their synagogues (1:21 Mark 1:21), specified their teachings to his followers (23:1-3 Matthew 23:1–3), and counted Pharisees such as Nicodemus among his disciples (7:50-51 John 7:50–51). The Gospel accounts do not mention the Essenes. According to Luke and John, Jesus also had a more liberal attitude towards Samaritans than Judeans did. This is reflected in the parable of the Good Samaritan (10:25-37 Luke 10:25–37) and his preaching to the Samaritans of Sychar, resulting in their conversion (4:1-42 John 4:1–42). 8:48 John 8:48 records a rumor that Jesus was himself a Samaritan.

Judaea and Galilee at the time of Jesus

Some of Jesus' most famous teachings come from the Sermon on the Mount, which contained the Beatitudes and the Lord's Prayer. He often used parables, such as the Prodigal Son and the Parable of the Sower. His teachings centered around unconditional self-sacrificing God-like love for God and for all people. He also preached about service and humility, the forgiveness of sin, pacifism, faith, and attaining everlasting life in "The Kingdom of God." Many interpret the Gospels to suggest that Jesus opposed strict and literal observance of traditional Jewish law, advocating more the spirit than the letter of the law. Some contend that Jesus preached a "higher level" of morality than in Jewish law, preaching love for not only one's "neighbor," but for one's "enemy" as well (5:43-48 Matthew 5:43–48). See also Jesus' sayings according to the Christian Bible.

According to the Gospels, Jesus also performed various miracles, including healings, exorcisms, walking on water, turning water into wine, and raising several people, such as Lazarus, from the dead. He was known as a social reformer, often befriending society's outcasts. At the height of his ministry, Jesus attracted huge crowds numbering in the thousands, primarily in the areas of Galilee (in modern-day northern Israel) and Perea (in modern-day western Jordan). Jesus led what many believe to have been an apocalyptic following. Though many of his followers were considered disciples, the focus of his ministry was toward his closest adherents, the Twelve Apostles.

All four Gospels record Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem at the end of his ministry. This was during the Passover Feast (15 Nisan in the spring) according to 12:12-29. John 12:12–19 The Hosanna shout and the waving of palm fronds were ordinarily part of the feast of Sukkoth (15 Tishri or fall), but appear to have been moved by the followers of Jesus to Passover because of their Messianic associations.

Arrest, trial and execution

Main article: [[:The Last Supper, Passion, Crucifixion, Descent to Hades]]

Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man!"), Antonio Ciseri's depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus of Nazareth to the people of Jerusalem

According to the Gospels, Jesus created a disturbance at Herod's Temple, (2:13-17 John 2:13–17), by overturning the tables of the moneychangers. Later that week, he enjoyed a meal, possibly the Passover Seder, with his disciples before going to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane. While in the garden, he was arrested on the orders of the Sanhedrin and the high priest, Caiaphas, for blasphemy, because he claimed to be the Messiah (14:62 Mark 14:62) and because, the Jews believed, he had made himself to be God (10:33. John 10:33) Judas Iscariot, one of his apostles, betrayed Jesus by identifying him to the guards with a kiss. Another apostle (identified as Simon Peter in 18:10, john 18:10) used a sword to attack one of the captors, cutting off his ear, which, according to Luke, Jesus immediately healed (22:51 luke 22:51). After his arrest, Jesus' apostles went into hiding. Jesus was condemned for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin and turned over to the Romans, charged with sedition for claiming to be King of the Jews. (27:11 Matthew 27:11; 15:12. Mark 15:2)

File:Cristo Velázquez lou2.jpg

Jesus's crucifixion as portrayed by Diego Velázquez

The usual penalty for sedition was a humiliating death by crucifixion. Galilee and Perea had been under indirect Roman rule under the tetrachy of Herod Antipas following the death of Herod the Great, while Judea, Samaria and Idumea had been under direct Roman rule as the province of Iudaea since 6 AD/CE. According to the Gospels, Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor from 26–36 AD/CE, personally felt that Jesus was not guilty of any crime against the Romans. According to the Gospel of Luke, upon learning that Jesus was from Galilee, Pilate sent Jesus to Antipas, who mocked Jesus before returning him to Pilate (23:8-12 Luke 23:8–12). Luke records that Pilate and Antipas had been enemies, but became friends after this. Antipas's involvement is not mentioned in any of the other gospels.

Pilate first had Jesus flogged, and then, remembering that it was a custom at Passover for the Roman governor to free a prisoner, offered the crowd a choice between Jesus of Nazareth and an insurrectionist named Jesus Barabbas (literally "Jesus son-of-the-father"). The crowd chose to have Barabbas freed and Jesus crucified. Pilate washed his hands to display that he himself was innocent of the injustice of the decision. All four Gospels say Pilate then ordered Jesus to be crucified with a charge placed atop the cross (called the titulus crucis) which read "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews." (The titulus crucis is often written as INRI, the Latin acronym.) According to Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34 his last words were "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (taken from 22 Psalm 22); according to John 19:30, "It is finished"; and according to Luke 23:46, "Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit."

While it was common practice to let a body hang upon the cross for days and decay, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus were allowed to take his body down and place it in a tomb 19:38-42. John 19:38–42

Resurrection and Ascension

A 16th-century painting of the resurrection of Jesus by Matthias Grünewald.

Main article: [[:Resurrection of Jesus, Great Commission, Ascension, Prophecy of Second Coming]]

According to the Gospels, Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. The Gospel of Matthew states that an angel appeared near the tomb of Jesus and announced his resurrection to the women who had arrived to anoint the body. According to Luke it was two angels, and according to Mark it was a youth dressed in white. The sight of this angel had apparently left the Roman guards unconscious (28:2-4 Matthew 28:2–4). (According to matthew 27:62–66, the high priests and Pharisees, with Pilate's permission, had posted guards in front of the tomb to prevent the body from being stolen by Jesus' disciples.) Mark 16:9 states that on the morning of his resurrection, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene. john 20:11–18 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 Acts of the Apostles tell that Jesus appeared to various people in various places over the next forty days. Hours after his resurrection, he appeared to two travellers on the road to Emmaus. To his assembled disciples he showed himself on the evening after his resurrection. According to John 20:24–29, during one of these visits, Jesus's disciple Thomas initially doubted the resurrection, but after being invited to place his finger in Jesus's pierced side, said to him, "My Lord and my God!" Thereafter, Jesus went to Galilee and showed himself to several of his disciples by the lake and on the mountain. These disciples were present when he returned to Mount Olivet, between Bethany and Jerusalem. Although his own ministry had been specifically to Israel, Jesus sent his apostles to the Gentiles with the Great Commission and ascended to heaven while a cloud concealed him from their sight. According to Acts, Paul of Tarsus also saw Jesus during his Road to Damascus experience (9:1-19. Acts 9:1–19). Jesus promises to come again to fulfill the remainder of Messianic prophecy.

Historicity

This 11th-century Greek image of Jesus is one of many in which a sun cross halo is used. Such depictions are characteristic of Eastern Orthodox iconography.

Name

Jesus probably spoke both Hebrew and Aramaic, and possibly Greek, but contemporary documents referring to him in Hebrew or Aramaic are not extant. Scholars reconstruct his name, based on Greek documents referring to him, and based on other ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts.

The Modern English name Jesus /ˈdʒi.zəs/ is a later pronunciation of the Middle English name Iēsus /dʒe:.sus/ that was borrowed from Late Latin Vulgate Bible. Near the end of Middle English, the vowels changed during the Great Vowel Shift in the 15th century, and the letter 'J' was first distinguished from 'I' by the Frenchman Pierre Ramus in the 16th, and did not become common in Modern English until the 17th century. (The first edition of the King James Version of the Bible in 1611 spelled the name with an I as Iesus.) This Late Latin name is transliterated from Koine Greek, according to Classical literary rules, where the Latin letters Iesus stand for the Greek letters Ἰησοῦς, Iēsous.

The earliest uses of Iēsous are found in the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible and in Philo of Alexandria, where it is used as a transliteration of Yehoshua (יְהוֹשׁוּעַ, Yĕhôshūa‘). According to the Anchor Bible Dictionary, it is also used as a transliteration for Yeshua (יֵשׁוּעַ, Yēshûa‘).

According to David Talshir, Yēshûa‘ is not an abbreviation of the traditional name Yehoshua (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, Yĕhôshūa‘) but an optional phonetic spelling for how the traditional name was actually pronounced in the Late Biblical Hebrew dialect (/je.ˈʃu.ʕă/). The pronunciation shifted from traditional to late (/jə.ho.ˈʃu.ʕă > jo.ˈʃu.ʕă > je.ˈʃu.ʕă/). There are numerous ways to spell this name in Hebrew of this period, including ישוע, יושוע, יהושוע, יהושע, and so on, often in the same text. It is also correct to use the traditional pronunciation, Yĕhôshūa‘. The Hebrew name Yĕhôshūa‘, is a compound of the words יָהוּ שׁוּעַ, Yāhû Shûa‘. It literally means, "Yahweh (is) a saving-cry", or in other words, when someone needs help they shout, “Yahweh”, and He responds. The second element, Shûa‘, is a form of the Hebrew root ש-ו-ע, “to cry for help”. It is not a form of the root י-ש-ע, “to save”, even though the root ש-ו-ע probably derives from it. The name Yēshûa‘ (יֵשׁוּעַ from ש-ו-ע) does not equate with the word “salvation”, yĕshû‘āh (יְשׁוּעָה from י-ש-ע), and the similarities in spelling may be coincidental. Older linguistic research, such at Strong's Concordance, translate Shûa‘ as "salvation". Philo of Alexandria gives the meaning of the name as "the salvation of the Lord."

The English naming convention of the King James Version of the Bible uses the English names Joshua and Jeshua to represent the names Yĕhôshūa‘ and Yēshûa‘, respectively, in the Hebrew Bible, but uses the English name Jesus to represent the Greek name Iēsous in the Apocrypha and the New Testament, except for Luke 3:29 where Jose is used. The NIV uses Joshua at Luke 3:29, Acts 7:45, Hebrews 4:8.

The forms Yahshuah and Yahshua are neologisms from the Renaissance Period and later, which derive from mystical formulas that blend the name Yeshua with the letters of God's name YHWH and Yahu, respectively. There is no evidence that these neologisms existed in antiquity.

Historical reconstructions of Jesus's life

Main article: Historical Jesus

Most scholars agree the Gospels were written shortly before or after the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans. According to most critical historians, Jesus probably lived in Galilee for most of his life and he probably spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. Many have sought to reconstruct Jesus's life in terms of contemporaneous political, cultural, and religious currents in Israel, including differences between Galilee and Judea; between different sects such the Pharisees, Sadducees and Essenes, and in terms of conflicts among Jews in the context of Roman occupation.

The Gospels record that Jesus was the Nazarene, but the meaning of this word is vague. Some scholars assert that Jesus was himself a Pharisee. In Jesus' day, the two main schools of thought among the Pharisees were the House of Hillel 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 (10:1-12 Mark 10:1–12). Jesus also commented on the House of Hillel's teachings (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a) concerning the greatest commandment (12:28-34 Mark 12:28–34) and the Golden Rule (7:12 Matthew 7:12). Other scholars assert that Jesus was an Essene, a sect of Judaism not mentioned in the New Testament. Still other scholars assert that Jesus led a new apocalyptic sect, possibly related to John the Baptist,which became Early Christianity after the Great Commission spread his teachings to the Gentiles. This is distinct from an earlier commission Jesus gave to the twelve Apostles, limited to "the lost sheep of Israel" and not including the Gentiles or Samaritans (10 Matthew 10). See Cultural and historical background of Jesus and Aramaic of Jesus for more about Israel in Jesus' day and what effect this may have had on his life.

Examining the New Testament account of Jesus in light of historical knowledge about the time when Jesus was purported to live, as well as historical knowledge about the time during which the New Testament was written, has led several scholars to reinterpret many elements of the New Testament accounts. Of special interest has been the names and titles ascribed to Jesus. Christ (which is a title and not a part of his name) is an Anglicization of the Greek term for Messiah, and literally means "anointed one". Historians have debated what this title might have meant at the time Jesus lived; some historians have suggested that other titles applied to Jesus in the New Testament (e.g. Lord, Son of Man, and Son of God) had meanings in the first century quite different from those meanings ascribed today: see Names and titles of Jesus. The Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution brought skepticism regarding the historical accuracy of these texts. Although some critical scholars, including archeologists, continue to use them as points of reference in the study of ancient Near Eastern history others have come to view the texts as cultural and literary documents, generally regarding them as part of the genre of literature called hagiography, an account of a holy person regarded as representing a moral and divine ideal. Hagiography has a principal aim of the glorification of the religion itself and of the example set by the perfect holy person represented as its central focus.

Historicity of the texts

See also: Historicity of Jesus

Most modern 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. The earliest extant texts which refer to Jesus are Paul's letters, which are usually dated from the mid-1st century. Paul wrote that he only saw Jesus in visions, but that they were divine revelations and hence authoritative (Galatians 1:11-12). The earliest extant texts describing Jesus in any detail were the four New Testament Gospels. These texts, being part of the Biblical canon, have received much more analysis and acceptance from Christian sources than other possible sources for information on Jesus.

Many other early Christian texts have surfaced detailing events in Jesus' life and teachings, though they were not included when the Bible was canonised due to a belief that they were pseudopigraphical, not inspired, or written too long after his death, while others were suppressed because they contradicted what had become the Christian orthodoxy. It took several centuries before the list of what was and wasn't part of the Bible became finally fixed, and for much of the early period the Book of Revelation was not included while works like The Shepherd of Hermas were.

The books that didn't make it into the final list have since become known as the New Testament apocrypha, and the chief amongst them, heavily suppressed by the Church as heresy and only rediscovered in the 20th Century, is the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of logia - phrases and sayings attributed to Jesus without a narrative framework. Other important apocryphal works that had a heavy influence in forming traditional Christian beliefs include the Apocalypse of Peter, Protevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and Acts of Peter. A number of Christian traditions (such as Veronica's veil and the Assumption of Mary) are found not in the canonical gospels but in these and other apocryphal works.

Possible earlier texts

Some texts with even earlier historical or mythological information on Jesus are speculated to have existed prior to the Gospels, though none have been found. Based on the unusual similarities and differences (see synoptic problem) between the Synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark and Luke, the first three canonical gospels — many Biblical scholars have suggested that oral tradition and logia (such as the Gospel of Thomas and the theoretical Q document) probably played a strong role in initially passing down stories of Jesus, and may have inspired some of the Synoptic Gospels.

Specifically, many scholars believe that the Q document and the Gospel of Mark were the two sources used for the gospels of Matthew and Luke; however, other theories, such as the older Augustinian hypothesis, continue to hold sway with some Biblical scholars. Another theoretical document is the Signs Gospel, believed to have been a source for the Gospel of John. There is little consensus concerning how and when any of these documents were circulated, if they existed at all.

Questions of reliability

As a result of the several-decade time gap between the writing of the Gospels and the events they describe, the accuracy of all early texts claiming the existence of Jesus or details of Jesus' life have been disputed by various parties. However, most scholars accept many details of the Gospel narratives. The authors of the Gospels are traditionally thought to have been witnesses to the events included. After the original oral stories were written down, they were transcribed, and later translated into other languages. However, several Biblical historians have responded to claims of the unreliability of the gospel accounts by pointing out that historical documentation is often biased and second-hand, and frequently dates from several decades after the events described. Some say that the Gospel accounts are neither objective nor accurate, since they were written or compiled by his followers and seem to exclusively portray a positive, idealized view of Jesus, whilst others point to the lack of contemporary non-Christian sources. Those who have a naturalistic view of history generally do not believe in divine intervention or miracles, such as the resurrection of Jesus mentioned by the Gospels. One method used to estimate the factual accuracy of stories in the gospels is known as the "criterion of embarrassment", which holds that stories about events with embarrassing aspects (such as the denial of Jesus by Peter, or the fleeing of Jesus's followers after his arrest) would likely not have been included if those accounts were fictional.

External influences on gospel development

See also: Historicity of Jesus, Historical Jesus, and Jesus-Myth

An image in one of the oldest parts of the vatican portraying Jesus as the mythical Sol Invictus

Many scholars, such as Michael Grant, do not see significant similarity between the pagan myths and Christianity. Grant states in Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels that "Judaism was a milieu to which doctrines of the deaths and rebirths, of mythical gods seemed so entirely foreign that the emergence of such a fabrication from its midst is very hard to credit."

However, some scholars believe that the gospel accounts of Jesus have little or no historical basis. At least in part, this is because they see many similarities between stories about Jesus and older myths of pagan godmen such as Mithras, Apollo, Attis, Horus and Osiris-Dionysus, leading to conjectures that the pagan myths were adopted by some authors of early accounts of Jesus to form a syncretism with Christianity. A small minority, such as Earl Doherty, carry this further and propose that the gospels are actually a reworking of the older myths and not based on a historical figure.While these connections are disputed by many, it is nevertheless true that many elements of Jesus' story as told in the Gospels have parallels in pagan mythology, where miracles such as virgin birth were well-known. Some Christian authors, such as C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, account for this with the belief that such myths were created by ancient pagans with vague and imprecise foreknowledge of the Gospels.

Religious perspectives

Main article: Religious perspectives on Jesus

Jesus has an important role in two religions, Christianity and Islam. Most other religions, however, do not consider Jesus to have been a supernatural or holy being. Some of these religions, like Buddhism, do not take any official stance on Jesus' life. Judaism rejects claims of his divinity and of his being the Mashiach.

Christian views

Pauline Christian views

Main article: Christian views of Jesus

Jesus Carrying the Cross as portrayed by El Greco - Domenikos Theotokopoulos, 1580

The nature of Jesus is the central issue of Christology. The theological concept of Jesus as Christ was refined by a series of seven ecumenical councils between 325 and 787 AD/CE. While most Christians believe that the councils were guided by the Bible and the Holy Spirit, some Christians question one or more of the councils. Restorationists reject all the councils and seek to restore what they believe was the original Christian faith.

Most Christians believe that Jesus is God incarnate and a member of the Holy Trinity, distinct and yet of the same being as God the Father and the Holy Spirit. They believe Jesus is the Son of God, and also the Messiah. Following 1:1, john 1:1 Christians have identified Jesus as "the Word" (or Logos) of God. Most also believe that Jesus' miracles and resurrection are additional proof that he is God. Most trinitarian Christians further believe that Jesus has two natures in one person: that he is fully God and fully human, a concept known as the hypostatic union. However, Oriental Orthodoxy professes a Miaphysite interpretation, while the Assyrian Church of the East professes a form of Nestorianism.

Paul of Tarsus wrote that just as sin entered the word through Adam (known as The Fall of Man), so salvation from sin comes through Jesus, the second Adam (5:12–21 Romans 5:12–21; corinthians 15:21-22 1_Corinthians 15:21–22). Most Christians believe that Jesus' death and resurrection provide salvation not only from personal sin, but from the condition of sin itself. This ancestral or original sin separated humanity from God, making all liable to condemnation to eternal punishment in Hell (3:23 Romans 3:23). However, Jesus' death and resurrection reconciled humanity with God, granting eternal life in Heaven to the faithful (14:2-3 John 14:2–3).

Most Christians accept the New Testament presentation of the Resurrection as a historical account of an actual event central to faith. Belief in the resurrection is one of the most distinctive elements of Christian faith; and defending the historicity of the resurrection is usually a central issue of Christian apologetics. Conservative Christian scholars such as Gary Habermas, F.F. Bruce, Norman Geisler and William Lane Craig believe that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead and that he was raised in spiritual body. Some liberal Christians such as John Shelby Spong and Tom Harpur, do not accept that Jesus was raised bodily from the dead, or that he still lives bodily.

Some Christians profess various nontrinitarian views. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains that Jesus is the very same as Yahweh of the Old Testament, but is distinct being from God the Father (see also Jesus in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Arianism, denounced as a heresy by the early Church, taught that Jesus is subordinate to God the Father. Binitarians believe that Jesus is God, although a separate being from God the Father, and that the Holy Spirit is an impersonal force. Unitarian Christians believe that Jesus was a prophet of God, and merely human.

Jehovah's Witnesses view the term "Son of God" as an indication of Jesus' importance to the creator and his status as God's "only-begotten (unique, one and only) Son" (3:16 John 3:16), the "firstborn of all creation" (1:15 Colossians 1:15), the one "of whom, and through whom, and to whom, are all things" (11:36 romans 11:36). Most Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus to be Michael the Archangel, who became a human to come down to earth (see also Jehovah's Witnesses and Jesus).

Different Christians also have different interpretations of Jesus' family members mentioned in the Gospels. Eastern Christianity, following Eusebius, believes that they were "Joseph's children by his (unrecorded) first wife." Roman Catholicism, following Jerome, believes that they were Jesus' cousins, which the Greek word for "brother" or "relative" used in the Gospels would encompass. Both beliefs are based on the tradition that Mary remained a perpetual virgin, thus having no biological children before or after Jesus. Most Protestants believe that these family members were the biological children of Mary and Joseph, and thus half-siblings of Jesus.

Other views arising from early Christianity

The Ebionites, an early Jewish Christian community, believed that Jesus was the last of the prophets and the Messiah. They believed that Jesus was the natural-born son of Mary and Joseph, and thus they rejected the Virgin Birth. The Ebionites were adoptionists, believing that Jesus was not divine, but became the son of God at his baptism. They rejected the Epistles of Paul, believing that Jesus kept the Mosaic Law perfectly and wanted his followers to do the same. However, they felt that Jesus' crucifixion was the ultimate sacrifice, and thus animal sacrifices were no longer necessary. Therefore, some Ebionites were vegetarian and considered both Jesus and John the Baptist to have been vegetarians. Shemayah Phillips founded a small community of modern Ebionites in 1985. These Ebionites identify as Jews rather than as Christians, and do not accept Jesus as the Jewish Messiah.

In Gnosticism, Jesus is said to have brought the secret knowledge (gnosis) of the spiritual world necessary for salvation. Their secret teachings were paths to gnosis, and not gnosis itself. While some Gnostics were docetics, most Gnostics believed that Jesus was a human who became possessed by the spirit of Christ during his baptism. Many Gnostic Christians believed that Christ was an Aeon sent by a higher deity than the evil demiurge who created the material world. Some Gnostics believed that Christ had a syzygy named Sophia. The Gnostics tended to interpret the New Testament as allegory, and some Gnostics interpreted Jesus himself as an allegory. Modern Gnosticism has been a growing religious movement since fifty-two Gnostic texts were rediscovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945.

Marcionites were 2nd century Gentile followers of the Christian theologian Marcion of Sinope. They believed that Jesus rejected the Mosaic Law, or at least the parts that were incompatible with his teachings. Seeing a stark contrast between the vengeful God of the Old Testament and the loving God of Jesus, Marcion came to the conclusion that the Jewish God and Jesus were two separate deities. Like some Gnostics, Marcionites saw the Jewish God as the evil creator of the world, and Jesus as the savior from the material world. They also believed Jesus was not human, but instead a completely divine spiritual being whose material body, and thus his crucifixion and death, were divine illusions. Marcion was the first known early Christian to have created a canon, which consisted of ten Pauline epistles, and a version of the Gospel of Luke (possibly with the first two chapters missing, and Jewish references removed), and his Antithesis of Law and Gospel. Marcionism was declared a heresy by proto-orthodox Christianity.

Islamic views

Main article: Isa

In Islam, Jesus (known as Isa, Arabic: عيسى), is considered one of God's most-beloved and important prophets. Like Christian writings, the Qur'an holds that Jesus was born without a biological father to the virgin Mary, by the will of Allah (God) and for this reason is consistently termed "Isa ibn Maryam", a matronymic (since he had no biological father). (Qur'an 3:45; 19:21; 19:35; 21:91.) Similarly, Islamic belief also holds that Jesus could perform miracles, and that he will one day return to the world to rid it of evil. However, very much unlike Christians, Muslims do not consider Jesus to have been God or the Son of God. The Qur'an warns against believing that Jesus was divine. (Qu'ran, 3:59; 4:171; 5:116-117).

Muslims do not believe that Jesus died on the cross. Instead, the Qur'an states that his death was only an illusion (done by God) to deceive his enemies, and that Jesus ascended bodily to heaven. (Qur'an 4:157-158.) Muslims believe that Jesus will return to the world in the flesh following Imam Mahdi to defeat the Dajjal (an Antichrist-like figure, translated as "Deceiver") once the world has become filled with sin, deception and injustice, and then live out the rest of his natural life.

Muslims believe that Jesus received a gospel from God (called the Injil) that corresponds to the Christian New Testament, but that it and the Old Testament have both been changed by mankind over time so that they no longer accurately represent God's original message to mankind (See Tahrif). In Muslim traditions, Jesus lived a perfect life of nonviolence, showing kindness to humans and animals (similar to the other Islamic prophets), without material possessions and abstaining from sin. He also abstained from alcohol and from animal flesh, according to these traditions.

The Ahmadiyya Muslim Movement (accounting for a fairly small percentage of total Muslim population) believes that Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to Kashmir, where he lived and died as a prophet under the name of Yuz Asaf. Mainstream Muslims, however, consider these views heretical.

Judaism's view

Main article: Judaism's view of Jesus

Judaism considers the idea of Jesus being God, or part of a Trinity, or a mediator to God, as heresy.(Emunoth ve-Deoth, II:5) Judaism also does not consider Jesus to be the Messiah primarily because it does not consider him to have fulfilled the Messianic prophecies of the Tanakh, nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah.

The Jews commonly refer to Jesus as Yeshu -ישו- which has been used as an acronym for the Hebrew expression yemach shemo vezichro, meaning "May his name and memory be obliterated", a term used for those guilty of enticing Jews to idolatry and used in place of the real names of individuals guilty of such sins who are deemed not worthy of being remembered in history.

The Mishneh Torah (an authoritative work of Jewish law) states:

Even Jesus the Nazarene who imagined that he would be Messiah and was killed by the court, was already prophesied by Daniel. So that it was said, “And the members of the outlaws of your nation would be carried to make a (prophetic) vision stand. And they stumbled” (Daniel 11.14). 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 commandmends. 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.” (Zephaniah 3.9). 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 uncircumcized of heart. (Hilkhot Melakhim 11:10–12.)

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. (Contemporary American Reform Responsa, #68).

According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after 420 BC/BCE, Malachi being the last prophet, who lived centuries before Jesus. 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, Judaism states that no prophet or dreamer can contradict the laws already stated in the Torah (Deuteronomy 13:1–5)

Hinduism's views

Hindu beliefs in Jesus vary. Some believe that Jesus was a normal man, or even purely a fable. Many Trimurti Hindus see Jesus as a wise guru or yogi who was not God, but a devotee of Krishna, whom they consider "The Father" and an incarnation of Vishnu, the second person of the Hindu Trinity. Some suggest that Jesus spent his "lost years" learning Hinduism in India, and that he returned to India after surviving crucifixion. Some historians have claimed that either Jesus was Krishna, or that the New Testament was influenced by Vaishnavite Hinduism.

Some Hindus believe that Ramakrishna Paramahamsa was the reincarnation of Jesus. Many in the Surat Shabd Yoga tradition regard Jesus as a Satguru. Swami Vivekananda has praised Jesus and cited him as a source of strength and the epitome of perfection. Paramahansa Yogananda taught that Jesus was the reincarnation of Elisha and a student of John the Baptist, the reincarnation of Elijah. Mahatma Gandhi considered Jesus one of his main teachers and inspirations for Nonviolent Resistance, saying "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."

Other views of Jesus

Although Buddhism in general attributes no spiritual significance to Jesus, some Buddhists believe that Jesus may have been a Bodhisattva, one who has dedicated his or her future to the happiness of all beings. Some Buddhists also interpret Jesus through Zen Buddhism, sometimes basing their perspective on the koan-like (and gnostic) Gospel of Thomas. The Bahá'í Faith considers Jesus to be one of many "Manifestations" (or prophets) of God, with both human and divine stations. While some Bahá'í views of Jesus agree with Christian views, Christians do not accept the Bahá'í view of Jesus. Mandaeanism regards Jesus as a deceiving prophet (mšiha kdaba) of the false Jewish god Adunay, and an opponent of the good prophet John the Baptist, although they do believe that John baptized Jesus.

The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus, with some representatives (such as A Course In Miracles) going so far as to trance-channel him. Many recognize him as a "great teacher" (or "Ascended Master") similar to Buddha, and teach that Christhood is something that all may attain. At the same time, many New Age teachings, such as reincarnation, appear to reflect a certain discomfort with traditional Christianity. Numerous New Age subgroups claim Jesus as a supporter, often incorporating contrasts with or protests against the Christian mainstream. Thus, for example, Theosophy and its offshoots have Jesus studying esotericism in the Himalayas or Egypt during his "lost years."

There are others who 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 (4:23 Matthew 4:23), who taught peace (5:9 Matthew 5:9) and love (5:44 Matthew 5:44), rights for women (10:42 Luke 10:42) and respect for children (19:14 Matthew 19:14), and who spoke out against the hypocrisy of religious leaders (13:15 Luke 13:15) and the rich (19:24 Matthew 19:24). Many humanists, atheists and agnostics empathize with these moral principles. Thomas Jefferson, a deist, edited the Jefferson Bible to include only Jesus's ethical teachings.

Cultural impact of Jesus

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

See also: Images of Jesus, Dramatic portrayals of Jesus, and Jesus in Pop culture

According to most Christian interpretations of the Bible, the theme of Jesus' preachings was that of repentance, forgiveness of sin, grace, and the coming of the Kingdom of God. Jesus extensively trained disciples who, after his death, interpreted and spread his teachings. Within a few decades his followers comprised a religion clearly distinct from Judaism. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire under a version known as Nicene Christianity and became the state religion under Constantine the Great. Over the centuries, it spread to most of Europe, and around the world.

Jesus has been drawn, painted, sculpted, portrayed on stage and in films in many different ways, both serious and humorous. Many of the sayings attributed to Jesus have become part of the culture of Western civilization. There are many items purported to be relics of Jesus, of which the most famous are the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo.

Other legacies include a view of God as more fatherly, merciful, and more forgiving, and the growth of a belief in an afterlife and in the resurrection of the dead. Jesus and his message have been interpreted, explained and understood by many people. Jesus has been explained notably by Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, and more recently by C.S. Lewis.

For some, the legacy of Jesus has been a long history of Christian anti-Semitism, although in the wake of the Holocaust many Christian groups have gone to considerable lengths to reconcile with Jews and to promote inter-faith dialogue and mutual respect. For others, Christianity has often been linked to European colonialism (see British Empire, Portuguese Empire, Spanish Empire, French colonial empire, Dutch colonial empire); conversely, Christians have often found themselves as oppressed minorities outside of Europe and the Americas.

See also

• General Topics
  • Anno Domini and Common Era (which show how Jesus' birth has influenced the modern day calendar)
  • INRI
  • Nazarene
  • The Bible
  • Comparative religion, and its sub-school, Comparative mythology, studies, among other things, the similarities between Jesus and heroes found in traditions other than Christianity.
  • List of books about Jesus
• Jesus and History
  • Christian apologetics
  • Apostolic Succession of Jesus
  • Genealogy of Jesus
  • Historical Jesus
  • Historicity of Jesus
• Environment of Jesus
  • Cultural background of Jesus
  • Race of Jesus
  • Biblical Jesus

• New Testament Jesus
  • Q document
  • Miracles of Jesus
  • Resurrection of Jesus
  • Fleur de lys
  • Sermon on the Mount
• Views on Jesus
  • Religious perspectives on Jesus
  • Isa - Jesus in Islam
  • Pauline Christianity
  • Apocrypha, Christian mythology, and Folk Christianity include many stories about Jesus besides those in the Bible.
  • Jesus in Pop culture
  • Jesus-Myth
• Related topics
  • List of founders of major religions
  • List of people who have been considered deities

References

• Allison, Dale. Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet, Augsburg Fortress, 1999. ISBN 0800631447
• Brown, Raymond E., An Introduction to the New Testament, Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1997. ISBN 0-385-24767-2
• Cohen, Shaye J.D., From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, Westminster John Knox Press, 1988. ISBN 0-664-25017-3
• Cohen, Shaye J.D. The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties, University of California Press, 2001. ISBN 0-520-22693-3
• Crossan, John Dominic, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, HarperSanFrancisco, 1993. ISBN 0060616296
• De La Potterie, Ignace. "The Hour of Jesus." Alba House, New York, 1989.
• Durant, Will, Caesar and Christ, Simon and Schuster, 1944, ISBN 0671115006
• Ehrman, Bart (2003). The Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 0195141830.
• Ehrman, Bart The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0195154622
• Fredriksen, Paula Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity, Vintage, 2000. ISBN 0679767460
• Fredriksen, Paula, From Jesus to Christ, Yale University Press, 2000. ISBN 0-300-04864-5
• Finegan, Jack, Handbook of Biblical Chronology, revised ed., Hendrickson Publishers, 1998. ISBN 1565631439.
• O'Collins, Gerald. "Interpreting Jesus." Paulist Press, Mahwah, New Jersey, 1983.
• Robinson, John A. T. Redating the New Testament, Wipf & Stock, 2001 (original 1977). ISBN 1-579-10527-0.
• Sanders, E.P. The Historical Figure of Jesus, Penguin, 1996. ISBN 0140144994
• Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism, Fortress Press, 1987. ISBN 0800620615
• Vermes, Geza Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels, Augsburg Fortress Pub, 1981. ISBN 0800614437
• Vermes, Geza, The Religion of Jesus the Jew, Augsburg Fortress Pub, 1993. ISBN 0800627970
• Vermes, Geza, Jesus in his Jewish context, Augsburg Fortress Pub, 2003. ISBN 0800636236
• Wright, N.T. Jesus and the Victory of God, Augsburg Fortress, 1997. ISBN 0800626826
• Wright, N.T. The Resurrection of the Son of God: Christian Origins and the Question of God, Augsburg Fortress, 2003. ISBN 0800626796

External links

• About-Jesus.org
• Theopedia on Jesus (conservative Calvinist)
• So what colour was Jesus?
• Jesus Christ at WikiChristian
• Jesus Christ Catholic Encyclopedia article
• Complete Sayings of Jesus Christ - The complete sayings of Jesus Christ in parallel English and Latin
• An Hindu prespective on Jesus
• An Islamic perspective on Jesus
• Jehovah's Witnesses' perspective
• Latter-day Saint (Mormon) beliefs about Jesus
• What think ye of Christ? (Mormon)
• Unitarian Universalist Views of Jesus: prophet; dissident; one of many Christs
• The Historic & Reformation View of Jesus Christ: Solus Christus, Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Soli Deo Gloria
• Jesus Christ - Smith's Bible Dictionary article
• Template:Nndb name

Historical and skeptical views

• Overview of the Life of Jesus A summary of New Testament accounts.
• From Jesus to Christ -- A Frontline documentary on Jesus and early Christianity.
• The Words and Life of Historical Jesus by Jesus Institute
• The Jewish Roman World of Jesus
• The Jesus Puzzle
• Skeptic's Guide to Jesus

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