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Jesus

Specialty Definition: Jesus

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Specialty Definition: Fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article is part of the Jesus series.

Historical view of Jesus

Christian view of Jesus

Islamic view of Isa (Jesus)

Jewish view of Jesus

Other perspectives on Jesus

Sources about Jesus

Historicity of Jesus

Various authors and filmmakers have created fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ and his life.

A number of storytellers have wanted to portray an accurate depiction of what his life is believed to have been like, while others have used the persona of Jesus Christ as a narrative device to make a literary point and develop a story's theme. Because of the devotion of many people to the idea of Jesus Christ, fictional portrayals of Christ have been, almost without exception, fraught with controversy. Movie portrayals of Jesus have, in particular, attracted protests and criticism. Filmmakers and theater managers have even received death threats in the wake of some of the more controversial movies about Christ.

Novels portraying Jesus Christ

• Behold the Man by Michael Moorcock (1970)
• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Jesus' Childhood Friend by Christopher Moore (2001)
• Only Begotten Daughter by James Morrow
• The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov (1966)
• The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago (1991)
• Judas, My Brother
• The Robe by Thomas B. Costain
• The Last Temptation of Christ by Nikos Kazantzakis
• King Jesus by Robert Graves (1947)
• Ben Hur by Lew Wallace
• The Gospel of Corax by Paul Park

Motion pictures based on Biblical accounts

• The Gospel Road (1967)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• Jesus of Nazareth (1977)) (TV miniseries)
• King of Kings (1961, also a silent film version in 1927)
• The Passion of the Christ (2004), Mel Gibson's portrayal of what he describes as the last 12 hours of Jesus' life
• The Gospel of John (2003)

Motion pictures depicting Jesus Christ

• The Book of Life (1998)
• Godspell (1973)
• Hail Mary (1985) (modern-day retelling of the Virgin Birth)
• Intolerance (1916)
• Jesus Christ Superstar (1973, new video release in 1999)
• Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter (2001) (direct to video [1])
• Jesus of Montreal (1989)
• Johnny Got His Gun (1971), featuring Donald Sutherland as Jesus in a dream sequence
• The Last Temptation of Christ (1988)
• The Life of Brian (1979)

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ."

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Historicity of Jesus Christ

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article is part of the Jesus series.

Historical view of Jesus

Christian view of Jesus

Islamic view of Isa (Jesus)

Jewish view of Jesus

Other perspectives on Jesus

Sources about Jesus

Fictional portrayals of Jesus

Several scholars have investigated the historicity of Jesus Christ..

Taking a starting point loosely connected with the Tübingen school that initiated historical analysis of Biblical texts, which is generally referred to as the Higher criticism (q.v.), in the late 19th century, a number of radical critics have proposed that there was no historical Jesus at all. This position however, is a minority view among Biblical scholars. Among historians who are not Biblical scholars, the subtexts of Christian literature which reveal innate points of view and characteristic cultural bias, the documented activities of actual Christians and their influence on societal norms and culture are all of significance, while the 'historicity' of Jesus of Nazareth, minimally documented outside Christian sources, is not ordinarily addressed.

On the Christian side, the increased importance of the Christological argument for the existence of God in modern evangelical teachings have informed questions of the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth with an enhanced urgency. The usual historian's criteria of authenticity, documentation, and the like, tend to be removed from ordinary historical discourse, to take up newly important places in Christological theology.

On the oppsing side of the question, the most prolific of those Biblical scholars denying the historical existence of Jesus is a professor of German, George Albert Wells, who argues that Jesus was originally a myth. Another example is Earl Doherty, who suggests that Paul's idea of Jesus was derived from his reading of the Hebrew Bible. In this view, Paul never met or heard of any actual person named Jesus from Nazareth (or Bethlehem), but rather believed in a Jesus who died on some ethereal plane at the beginning of time, or some far-off time in history. The Jesus of Nazareth character was made up after Paul's time by a composite of Old Testament prophecies, with embellishments added by many people. In this view, the interpretation of the meaning of Jesus was also informed by messianic, apocalyptic and resurrectionist myths that were common during the late Hellenistic age.

Others contend that aspects of Jesus' life as related in the New Testament were derived from popular mystery religions in the Roman Empire at that time period. These religions worshipped saviour figures such as Isis, Horus, Osiris, Dionysus and Mithras, and Christian Gnosticism which flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries openly combined Christian imagery and stories with the beliefs and practices of Mediterranean mystery religions. Proponents of this view generally date the gospels much later than mainstream scholars and assert textual corruption in the passages supporting the existence of Jesus in Paul and Josephus as interpolated.

Most historians do not dispute the existence of a person named Jesus; evidence for Jesus' existence 2000 years ago are by historical standards actually rather strong. Jesus is obviously mentioned extensively within the Bible, but is also considered a historical figure within the traditions of Judaism, Islam, Mandeanism and alternative Christian traditions like Gnosticism. Apologists often contend that he gets a passing mention within historical accounts of the period, but sometimes without citing a source. John the Baptist, and James the Just are documented in Josephus, where Jesus Christ also receives a brief mention. See Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Jesus. There is also an alleged letter from Herod Antipas to the Roman Senate defending his (Herod's) actions concerning both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ, found among the records of the Roman Senate.

Moreover, historians generally agree that at least some of the source documents on which the Gospels are based were written within living memory of Jesus's lifetime. Historians therefore accept that the accounts of the life of Jesus in the Gospels provide a reasonable basis of evidence, by the standards of ancient history, for the historical existence of Jesus and the basic narrative of his life and death.

See also

• Alleged relics of Jesus Christ
• Sources of Jesus

External links

• Christian site on Josephus evidence
• Argument from Christian point of view
• Pro Jesus' existence
• Argues Jesus not historical

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Historicity of Jesus Christ."

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Jesus Christ

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Image of Jesus Christ from Agia Sophia, Istanbul (12th century)

This article is part of the Jesus series.

Christian view of Jesus as Messiah

Resurrection of Jesus Christ

Islamic view of Isa (Jesus)

Jewish view of Jesus as Messiah

Other perspectives on Jesus

Sources about Jesus

Historicity of Jesus

Fictional portrayals of Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth (or Jesus Christ, see alternate names below) (born: c. 6 BC- c. 6; died: c. 27 - c. 36) was a Jewish religious teacher and healer; who was crucified during the early years of the Roman Empire.

According to those religions conventionally designated as "Christian", Jesus is the messiah and Son of God; who brought salvation to humanity through his death and resurrection. Jesus is also regarded as an ascetic prophet, by Muslims; as a false Messiah, by Judaism and Mandaeanism; as a manifestation of God, by the Baha'i; a manifestation of Maitreya by some Buddhists; as an avatar, by some Hindus; as the savior and bringer of gnosis by various Gnostic sects; and, as a guru by many New Ageists.

The primary source of historical knowledge about Jesus is contained within the Christian Gospels which the majority of historians believe to originated from primary sources written within living memory of Jesus. Supporting evidence for the historical Jesus is also provided, though less reliably from the perspective of historians, by other religious traditions and certain historians of the period. Therefore, most scholars accept the Gospels as evidence for the historical existence of Jesus; and, excepting certain miraculous claims, for the basic narrative of his life and death. There is, however, a minority of historians who disagree, viewing Jesus as purely a mythical figure.

Introduction

Most discussions about Jesus, including this one, involve a conflict between contrasting, and in some ways incompatible, views of the world and of how humans acquire knowledge (this subject is discussed in the disciplines epistemology and metaphysics).

Christians believe that humans can have direct personal knowledge of God and of Jesus and that this is confirmed through scripture, which is a form of divine revelation. Some Christians believe that Scripture must be interpreted in the light of Tradition, while others believe that individuals can interpret it for themselves. For some Christians, belief in Jesus is a matter of faith: they need no further confirmation of the existence of God and His son. Other Christians feel they have knowledge of God and Jesus based on the empirical existence of the Gospels and/or Bible as accurate historical documents, the Christian tradition passed on from generation to generation, and through their direct consequent religious experiences.

Historians meanwhile make statements about historical events or persons based on more pragmatic standards of empirical evidence. They look at scripture not as divinely inspired but as the work of fallible humans, who wrote in the light of their culture and time. However, most historians accept that the accounts of the life of Jesus in the Gospels and from other sources provide a reasonable basis of evidence, by the standards of ancient history, for the historical existence of Jesus.

Furthermore, Jesus is still more controversial because there are different accounts of Jesus within Islam, Judaism, Gnosticism, Mandaeanism, and other religions (see later in this article.)

There is a paucity of accepted contemporaneous sources and of direct empirical evidence. Therefore, it is difficult for representatives of the different religious and secular traditions of knowledge and faith to reach agreement on a "biography" of Jesus.This article therefore offers the differing views and beliefs.

The historical Jesus of Nazareth

This section provides a historical view of Jesus, based on empirical evidence that is considered satisfactory by the majority of historians.

The name Jesus Christ

Jesus is derived from the Latin Iesus, which in turn comes from the Greek Iesous (Ιησους). The Greek form is a transliteration of the Aramaic name Yeshua (ישוע), a short form of Hebrew Yehoshua (יהושע), which means the Lord is salvation, literally Yahweh/Jehovah saves. The English form of Yehoshua is Joshua. (Other common English transliterations from the Aramaic Yeshua (ישוע) include Jeshua and Yahshua.)

Christ is a title, and comes, via Latin, from the Greek Christos (Χριστος), which means anointed. The Greek form is a literal translation of Messiah from Hebrew mashiyakh (משיח) or Aramaic m'shikha (משיחא), words which typically signified "king" -- a man, chosen by God or descended from a man chosed by God, to serve as a civil and military authority. In Arabic, Jesus is known as the prophet Isa al Masih, from the aforementioned Aramaic for Jesus the Messiah.

Jesus spoke Aramaic as it was the common language of Galilee and Judea; thus, during his life, he was probably known as Yeshua.

Sources about Jesus Christ

Main article: Sources about Jesus Christ

Most historians do not dispute the existence of a person named Jesus; evidence for Jesus' existence two thousand years ago are by historical standards actually fairly strong. Jesus is obviously mentioned extensively within the New Testament, but is also considered a historical figure within the traditions of Judaism, Islam, Mandeanism and alternative Christian traditions like Gnosticism. Jesus also gets a passing mention within historical accounts of the period, though the reliability of these accounts is disputed.

Moreover, historians generally agree that at least some of the source documents on which the Gospels are based were written within living memory of Jesus. These historians therefore accept that the accounts of the life of Jesus in the Gospels, excepting certain miraculous claims and the details that surround them, provide a reasonable basis of evidence by the standards of ancient history, for the basic narrative of Jesus' life and death.

Date of birth and death

Brief timeline of Jesus of important years from empirical sources. (see also detailed Christian timeline) c.   6 BC - c.   4 BC - c.   6 AD - c. 26 AD - c. 27 AD - c. 36 AD - Suggested birth (Earliest) Herod's death Suggested birth (Latest). Quirinius census Pilate appointed Judea governor Suggested death (Earliest). Suggested death (Latest); Pilate removed from office

The exact month or day or even the year of Jesus's birth cannot be exactly ascertained. Due to a mistaken calculation based on the Roman Calendar by Dionysius Exiguus in 525, it was long held that Jesus was born in the year A.D. 1.

The Gospels are problematic, because they offer two seemingly incompatible accounts. Matthew states that Jesus was born while Herod the Great was still alive and that Herod ordered the slaughter of infants two years old and younger (Matt. 2:16), and based on the date of Herod's death in 4 BC (contra Dionysius Exiguus), many chronologists conclude that the year 6 BC is the most likely year of Jesus's birth. Consequently, Jesus would have been about four to six years old in the year A.D. 1. On the other hand, Luke's account places Jesus's birth during a census conducted under the governorship of Quirinius, who, according to Josephus, conducted a census in A.D. 6. In order to reconcile the two Gospel accounts, some have suggested that Josephus was mistaken or that Quirinius had a separate period of rule under Herod. In any case, the actual date of his birth remains historically unverifiable.

In the 6th century, Dionysius Exiguus proposed to make the birth of Jesus the basis of the calendar but he miscalculated the death of Herod. Years reckoned in this way are labelled "A.D.", which stands for Anno Domini, meaning "in the year of the Lord" in Latin. Since many non-Christians have come to use this calendar, an alternative notation "C.E." is sometimes used. It is presently uncertain what the original meaning of this abbreviation was, although today it is taken to mean either the Common Era or the Christian Era: many references cite both.

Based on inferences from gospel accounts, Jesus was executed by crucifixion on a Friday, and on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan under the administration of Pontius Pilate. Pontius Pilate held his position from 26-36 and the only years in which Nisan 14 fell on a Friday are 27, 33, and 36 and possibly in 30 depending on when the new moon would have been visible in Jerusalem. Scholars have defended all of the dates.

Jesus' life and teaching

Possibly born in Bethlehem, Jesus was brought up in Galilee. Gospel accounts state he brought up in Nazareth, however, many historians believe that Christian transcribers have mistaken the title "Nazarene" for a location. The town of Nazareth is unmentioned in contemporary historical sources.

Jesus' mother was Mary, who married Joseph, but he was only Jesus' foster father. We can say nothing with certainty about Jesus's childhood or young adulthood. Certain events are mentioned in the various gospels, but there is no common agreement.

The Gospel of Mark reports that Jesus had brothers, that he was "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also suggests that Jesus had sisters. The Jewish historian Josephus and the Christian historian Eusebius(who wrote in Fourth century but quoted much earlier sources now unavaliable to us) refer to James the Just as Jesus' brother. Some churches reject this interpretation, saying that they were Jesus' cousins, which the Greek word for "brother" used in the Gospels would allow. Other churches suggest that these were half brothers, children of Joseph and a previous wife who died before Mary was betrothed to him. This tradition probably originates with the Protevangelion of James, traditionally ascribed to James the Just and certainly dated sometime in the late first to middle of the second century.

Jesus began his public ministry some time after he was baptized by John the Baptist, who inspired Mandaeanism. Jesus began preaching, teaching, and healing. There is no firm evidence for when his ministry started or how long it lasted. The detailed nature of Jesus' spiritual teaching cannot be fully agreed because accounts are fragmentary and because he made extensive use of paradox, metaphor and parable; making it is unclear how literally he wished to be taken and precisely what he meant.

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

Like the Pharisee, Jesus opposed stringent interpretations of Jewish law, and preached a more flexible understanding of the law. His teachings show an inclination to following a teleological approach, in which the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law. However, the Gospels record him as having many disagreements with the Pharisees, as he consistently takes differing views from the standard religious practice of the day. However, the interpretations of the law by the Sadducees were in most cases much stricter than Pharisee interpretations of the law, and the Sadducees were in the majority at that time, yet the Gospels record no sign of Jesus having much disagreement with their views. Some modern historians thus believe that Jesus may have been a liberal Pharisee in some respects, or an Essene (a sect with whom he shared many views); and that later Christian transcribers cast him as an enemy of the Pharisees, because when Christians and Jews came into conflict in later years the Pharisee's had become the dominant sect. This view receives some support in Acts of the Apostles, because Jesus' apostles were generally attacked by Sadduccees but were sometimes protected by Pharisee liberal interpretations of Jewish law.

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

In his role as a social reformer Jesus threatened the status quo. He was unpopular with many Jewish religious authorities, not least because he criticised them; but also because some of Jesus' followers held the controversial and inflammatory view that he was "The Messiah". It is not clear from strict analysis of the original Gospel texts that Jesus made this claim about himself, but he did not deny it. Neither is it wholly clear to historians that when Jesus spoke of being "Son of God" he meant this to be taken literally as Christians believe, rather than metaphorically in the sense that we are all children of God.

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

Jesus was crucified by the Romans on the orders of Pontius Pilate the Roman Governor of Judea in Jerusalem. The Gospels state that he did this at the behest of the Jewish religious leaders, but it may have been simply that Pilate considered Jesus' ability to incite public disturbance as a potential Messiah to be a threat to Roman order. Pilate was known as a harsh ruler who ordered many executions for far lesser reasons during his reign.

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

The historicity of Jesus

Main article: Historicity of Jesus Christ

Some historians have disputed the actual existence of Jesus, claiming his existence was either an invention or he was a figure from further back in history.

Alleged relics of Jesus

Main article: Alleged relics of Jesus Christ

There are many items that are purported to be authentic relics of the Gospel account. The most famous alleged relic of Jesus is the Shroud of Turin.

Christian perspectives on Jesus

Main articles: Jesus Christ as the Messiah and Messiah

Christianity is centered on the belief that Jesus is the savior of man. According to Christians, Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary. He preached the new covenant across Judea, which angered traditional Jews and disturbed the Romans as he was seen as a threat to public order. One of his twelve apostles, Judas, betrayed him. Judas would later commit suicide in remorse for what he did. Jesus was nailed to the cross and killed by the Romans. However, he rose from the dead three days later.

Jewish perspectives on Jesus

Main articles: Judaism and Christianity and Jewish Messiah

Jesus Christ is deemed a false prophet in most sects of Judaism, and religious Jews are still looking for the Messiah to arrive. Christianity had started as a sect of Judaism, but developed into its own religion.

Islamic perspectives on Jesus

Main article: Isa

Muslims believe that while Jesus, or Isa in Arabic, was a prophet and Messiah. However, they do not consider him to be a son of Allah (God), other than in the metaphorical sense that we are all children of Allah. Mohammed was the final prophet to mankind in Islam.

Other perspectives on Jesus

Main article: Other perspectives on Jesus

The Mandaeanists also see Jesus Christ as something of a false prophet. Some Hindus believe that Jesus is an avatar. Other types of new-age beliefs see him as a guru. There is also speculation concerning whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalen.

Latter-day Saints and those who believe in Mormonism believe that Jesus Christ visited the Americas shortly after His resurrection or ascension. The account may be found in the Book of Mormon.

Fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ

Main article: Fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ has been featured in many films and media, sometimes as a serious portrayal, and other times as satire.

Further reading

• The New Testament of the Bible, especially the Gospels.
• The Words: website that organises Jesus' sayings by topic
• Albright, William F. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: An Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths, ISBN 0931464013 [www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0931464013/qid=1066486079/]
• Paula Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity ISBN 0679767460
• Paula Fredriksen, From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Christ ISBN 0300084579, ISBN 0300040180
• Jaroslav Pelikan, Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture, Yale University Press, 1985, hardcover, 270 pages, ISBN 0300034962; trade paperback, HarperCollins reprint, 304 pages, ISBN 0060970804; trade paperback, Yale University Press, 1999, 320 pages, ISBN 0300079877
• E.P. Sanders, The historical figure of Jesus, Penguin, 1996, ISBN 0140144994. An up to date popular but thoroughly scholarly book.
• E.P. Sanders, Jesus and Judaism, Fortress Press, 1987, ISBN 0800620615. More specialistic than the previous book, still not inaccessible though.
• Gerd Theissen & Annette Merz, The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide, Fortress Press, 2003, ISBN 0800631226. An amazing book, tough but rewarding, exceptionally detailed.
• The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. Gerd Theissen. Fortress Press.
• Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity
• Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels ISBN 0800614437
• In Quest of the Hero:(Mythos Series)- Otto Rank, Lord Fitzroy Richard Somerset Raglan and Alan Dundes, Princeton University Press, 1990, ISBN 0691020620
• On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History- Thomas Carlyle
• The Jewish historian Josephus wrote about Jesus in Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, paragraph 3. http://www.josephus-1.com/
• Bloodline of the Holy Grail by Laurence Gardner

External links

General

• The Jewish Roman World of Jesus
  • Excellent university resource Articles on most issues concerning Jesus
• From Jesus to Christ
  • Extensive, professionally designed web site accompanying the American PBS television programme of the same name. A marvellous resource full of well-organised, useful information, though with a marked North American bias.
• Into His Own: Perspective on the World of Jesus
  • By Mahlon Smith: Excellent site exploring the world in which Jesus lived by means of well-organised, newly translated primary texts and other material.
• A Portrait of Jesus: From Galilean Jew to the Face of God
  • By Cam Howard: a splendid looking, useful web site based on the work of Marcus Borg.
• The Historical Jesus
  • University of Birmingham site
• 864 pictures
• A critical Jewish analysis
  • An examination of the historicity of Jesus, also examining the stories of the Talmud
• The Alpha Course
• Jesus Christ Catholic Encyclopedia article
• EWTN's Jesus Christ webpage
• Skeptics Guide to Jesus
  • Well written and detailed skeptics guide to Jesus. Violently anti-Christian. Alternatively argues Jesus did not exist or picks holes in Biblical accounts. Does however have a number of very intriguing articles.
• Article about the naming of Jesus
• another article about the naming of Jesus

Historical context

• Historical context
  • Long detailed article on the historical context of the time.
• Various Jewish sects during that time.

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Jesus Christ."

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Jesus Christ as the Messiah

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article is part of the Jesus series.

Historical view of Jesus

Islamic view of Isa (Jesus)

Jewish view of Jesus

Other perspectives on Jesus

Sources about Jesus

Historicity of Jesus

Fictional portrayals of Jesus

Image of Jesus Christ from Agia Sophia, Istanbul (12th century)

Jesus Christ as the Messiah is the Christian account of Jesus' life (which is represented both in texts and in images). Jesus is the central focus of attention and worship in Christianity and is held by most Christians to be the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible. He is believed to be the saviour of mankind, the son of God the Father, and God himself.

Belief in the divinity

The vast majority of self-described Christians regard belief in the divinity of Jesus to be part of what defines Christianity. According to traditional Christian theology, Jesus is one of the three persons of the Trinity, along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, who are one and the same.

Some relatively new denominations do not believe in the Trinity, believing that Jesus is in fact a separate and distinct being from God the Father and the Holy Ghost, and that Biblical references to the Father and the Son being one indicate a unity of purpose, rather than of being. These groups, such as Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses refer to themselves as Christian. Most other Christians reject them as being part of Christianity. This subject is discussed in the article on Christology.

Christians see many passages in the Gospels and other parts of the New Testament affirming the divinity of Jesus Christ.

Life biography

Detailed timeline of Christ of important years from biblical and historical sources. (see also brief timeline) c. 6 BC - Suggested birth (Earliest) : Bethlehem c. 5 BC - Visit by shepherds : Bethlehem Presentation in the temple : Jerusalem Visit by the Magi : Bethlehem Escape to Egypt : Nile Delta Return to Nazereth : Lower Galilee c. 4 BC - Herod's death John the Baptist born. c. 1 AD - Suggested birth : Bethlehem c. 6 AD - Suggested birth (Latest). [Quirinius census] c. 7 AD - Visit to temple as a boy : Jerusalem c.25 AD - Baptized : Jordan River 26 AD - Pilate appointed Judea governor c.26 AD - Tempted by Satan : Negev Desert Cleansing of the temple : Jerusalem Jesus and Nicodemus : Jerusalem c.27 AD - Talks to Samaritan woman : Samaria Heals nobleman's son ("first miracle") : Cana 4 fishermen become followers : Sea of Galilee Heals Peter's mother-in-law : Capernaum Town attempts to kill Jesus : Nazareth First preaching trip : Galilee Matthew joins Jesus : Capernaum Suggested death (Earliest) : Golgotha c.28 AD - Chooses 12 disciples : Capernaum Ministry begins : Galilee Preaches "Sermon on the Mount" : Capernaum Sinful woman anoints Jesus : Capernaum Travels through Galilee : Galilee Teaches parables about kingdom : Galilee Calms the storm : Sea of Galilee Jairus's daughter back to life : Capernaum Sends disciples to preach and heal : Capernaum John the Baptist killed by Herod : Machaerus c.29 AD - Feeds 5,000 people : Bethsaida Walks on water : Bethsaida Travels to Tyre/Sidon Feeds 4,000 people : Tyre/Sidon Peter states Jesus is "Son of God" : Tyre/Sidon States soon he will die : Caesarea Philippi Transfigured : Caesarea Philippi Pays temple taxes : Capernaum Attends the Feast of the Tabernacles : Jerusalem Heals a man who was born blind : Jerusalem c.30 AD - Second preaching trip : Galilee Begins last trip : Jerusalem Blesses little children : Jordon Talks to rich and young man : Jordon Tells about death and resurrection : Jordon Heals blind Bartimaeus : Jericho Talks to Zacchaeus : Jericho Visits Martha and Mary : Bethany Raises Lazarus from the dead : Bethany The Triumphal Entry : Jerusalem Curses the fig tree : Jerusalem Cleanses the temple : Jerusalem Authority of Jesus questioned : Jerusalem Teaches in the temple : Jerusalem Anointed : Bethany The plot against Jesus : Bethany The Last Supper : Bethany Comforts the disciples : Bethany Gethsemane : Bethany Possible Arrest and trial : Bethany Possible Crucifixion and death : Golgotha The burial of Jesus : Josheph's Tomb The empty tomb : Jerusalem Mary Magdalene : Jerusalem Appears to the two travelers : Emmaus Appears to 10 disciples : Jerusalem Appears to the 11 disciples : Jerusalem Talks with some disciples : Sea of Galilee Possible Resurrection : Mount of Olives c.33 AD - Suggested death (Friday, April 3rd, 3:00 pm). [1] Possible Resurrection : Mount of Olives c.36 AD - Suggested death (Latest); Pilate removed Possible Resurrection : Mount of Olives

Birth and childhood

Of the four Gospels, the Nativity (birth) is mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Both infancy accounts 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. According to these accounts, Jesus was born as Joseph and Mary, his betrothed, were visiting Bethlehem from their native Nazareth. Mary is also commonly referred as "the Virgin Mary" or, as the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox call her, "Mother of God" (see Theotokos).

Details of the two accounts appear to be at variance with each other. For example, Luke reports that the parents lived at Nazareth, but, according to Matthew, they settled in Nazareth after their return from Egypt, an event that Luke does not mention. Matthew further explained that Joseph and Mary fled with the baby Jesus to Egypt after they had been warned by an angel of the Massacre of the Innocents.

While Mark reports that Jesus had brothers, that he was "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also suggests that Jesus had sisters, some churches reject this interpretation, saying that they were all either Jesus' cousins, or else half brothers, children of Joseph and Joseph's previous wife. This latter tradition sees Joseph as a much older man than Mary, a widower at the time of his betrothal to Mary, with their planned marriage being primarily a social arrangement to ensure Mary was economically provided for.

The New Testament tells little more about Jesus's childhood or young adulthood. However, by the time he reached his 30s, the gospels all report that he had become known as a religious teacher.

The ministry and message of Jesus

Although the synoptic gospels focus mainly on the last year of Jesus's ministry, the Gospel of John indicates that his ministry spanned at least three Passovers from the time he was baptized by John the Baptist until his crucifixion. In his ministry, Jesus traveled as wandering rabbi and performed miracles.

Jesus advocated universal love between people, and adherence to the will of God. His message seems to have been that universal love is a more direct fulfilling of God's will, rather than observing the laws which were contained in the Hebrew Bible.

Jesus' message was sometimes taught by him through the use of paradox. He taught that the first would be last, and that non-violence was the best way to combat violence. He said that he gives peace to those who believe in him, yet he warned that he was bringing strife to the world, setting family members against one another (due to disagreement regarding belief in him). The use of paradox is a recognised form of attempting to break through established forms of thinking to allow new insight. For example, the use of koans in some branches of Buddhism, which seek to transcend harmful or false ways of thinking, is similar.

Jesus preached an apocalyptic message, saying that the end of the current world would come unexpectedly; as such, he called on his followers to abandon their worldly concerns, make disciples, and to wait for the immanent coming of the kingdom of God on Earth.

The early fathers of the church further expanded on his message, and much of the rest of the New Testament is concerned with the meaning of Jesus's death and resurrection, and its implications for humanity. One idea that has remained constant through Christian theology is the idea that humanity was redeemed, saved, or given an opportunity to achieve salvation through Jesus's death. "Jesus died for our sins" is a common Christian aphorism.

However, the idea of "salvation" has been interpreted in many ways, and a wide spectrum of Christian viewpoints exist and have existed throughout history up to the present day.

Some especially important or well-known events in the ministry of Jesus, recounted in the Gospels, include:

• When Jesus was asked what is the most important commandment in the law of Moses, Jesus answered (Mark 12:29-30) that the greatest commandment is "You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind" (echoing Deut. 6:5), and at the same time he said that the commandment "You must love your neighbor as yourself" (found in Lev. 19:18) is as important.
• Jesus asked his disciples "Who do you say [I] am?" Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "You are a blessed man!... So now I say to you: You are Peter and on this rock I will build my community. And the gates of hell can never overpower it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of Heaven: whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
• Seeing merchants doing money-changing at the Temple in Jerusalem, he used a whip to drive out the animals being bought and sold by the merchants, released the doves, and overturned the tables to scatter the money-changers' coins.
• On the Thursday evening before Good Friday, Jesus shared a Passover meal with his disciples—the Last Supper. During the meal, he gave bread to his disciples, saying, "Take it and eat. This is my body", and then gave them a cup of wine, saying, "Drink from this, all of you, for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Many Christian denominations take this as the institution of the sacrament of Communion, or the Eucharist.

Some contemporary scholars are focusing on Jesus' parables, a unique type of teaching story found only in the three synoptic gospels. Much of this work gained a foothold in America during the early 1980s by a group of biblical scholars known as the Jesus Seminar.

There is renewed interest in the teachings of Jesus, after decades of decline in Church membership in the developed world.The Alpha Course has allowed many people to study the message of Jesus in non-evangelistic settings.

Arrest, sentencing, and crucifixion

According to the Gospels, Jesus, riding a colt, entered Jerusalem on a Sunday—celebrated now as Palm Sunday—and was greeted by throngs of people waving palm branches, and shouting "Hosanna".

On Thursday of that week, he shared the Last Supper, and afterward took a walk to pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he felt overwhelming sadness and anguish, and said "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it." Then, a little while later, he said, "If this cup cannot pass by, but I must drink it, your will be done!"

Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' twelve disciples, who had left in the middle of the Last Supper, had in the meantime betrayed Jesus by informing the Jewish authorities of his location. The authorities had decided to arrest Jesus, since some of them had come to consider him a threat to their power due to his growing popularity, his new interpretations of scripture, and his revelations of their hypocrisy. Judas and a group of men armed with swords and clubs then appeared, and Judas helped to identify Jesus by kissing him, a pre-arranged signal. Although one of the bystanders drew a sword, cutting off the ear of one of the armed men, Jesus rebuked the follower, saying, "Put your sword back, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword." Then the disciples deserted him and ran away. Jesus was brought before the Jewish authorities, and, after implying the affirmative when asked if he was the son of God, was handed over to Pontius Pilate, the local governor in the occupying Roman government.

Pilate asked Jesus whether he considered himself the "king of the Jews", which would have been considered an attempt at usurping Roman authority, and either received no answer from Jesus, or the reply, "It is you who say it". Pilate then allowed a crowd that had gathered to decide whether Jesus or another prisoner should be released. The crowd decided that Jesus should not be released, so Pilate, attempting to placate the crowd, had Jesus scourged, and some Roman soldiers fashioned a crown out of thorns and placed it on Jesus' head. But the crowd demanded that Jesus be crucified, and Pilate relented. That same day, having carried his own cross, he was crucified on Golgotha, with a sign reading (in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek) "Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews" placed on the cross upon the direction of Pilate. According to the Gospel of Luke, as he was crucified, Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; they do not know what they are doing." As he hung on the cross, he was mocked by passersby, and, according to the Gospel of John, was visited by his mother and others, then died; his death was confirmed by a Roman soldier piercing his side with a sword.

While hanging on the cross, the Gospel of Mark has Jesus asking,"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Many readers find this theologically perplexing, believing that God left him to die on the cross. According to a common interpretation of the scriptures, God the Father was turning away from Jesus at this time because He was suffering in the place of sinners. Others recognise this as an exact quotation of the first verse of Psalm 22, a common way at the time to refer to an entire Psalm. That Psalm begins with cries of despair, but ends on a note of hope and trust in God's triumph and deliverance. It also contains several details that have been taken to apply to Jesus' crucifixion, such as the soldiers casting lots for Jesus' garments and leaving his bones unbroken.

The Gospel of John, on the other hand, has Jesus in total control from the cross, saying "It is finished" upon his death, and instead of asking the "bitter cup" to be taken away from him while praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before, he actually asks for it in John's account.

Resurrection, Ascension, and Second Coming

According to the New Testament, he rose from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion and appeared to his disciples; the Acts of the Apostles reports that forty days later he ascended bodily into Heaven. Paul's letters to the Romans, Ephesians and Colossians, as well as the letter to the Hebrews (traditionally attributed to Paul) claim that Jesus presently exercises all authority in heaven and on earth for the sake of the Church, until all of the earth is made subject to his rule through the preaching of the Gospel. Based on the New Testament, Christians believe that Jesus will return bodily from heaven at the end of the age, to judge the living and the dead.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) believe that Jesus appeared in the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection. Church members believe that Jesus taught the ancestors of modern Native Americans, whom they believe to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.

''Lazarus raised from the grave by Jesus
painting by the Swedish artist Karl Isakson (c. 1920)''

Miracles performed

Miracles performed by Jesus, as recounted in the Gospels, include:

- Turning water into wine for a wedding feast.

- Curing a sick child who was near death.

- Curing a lame man, a man with a virulent skin disease, a paralyzed man.

- Feeding a crowd of five thousand using only fives loaves of bread and two fish.

- Walking on water to reach his disciples who were in a boat, (and enabling Peter to walk on water, also).

- Giving sight to a man born blind.

- Bringing a man (Lazarus) who had been dead for four days back to life.

- Appearing to Peter, James, and John in a transfigured state, with unearthly, brilliant white clothes, and with Elijah and Moses.

Quotes

Well-known quotations of Jesus include:

- The Beatitudes (Matt. 5:3-12)

- The Lord's Prayer (Matt. 6:9-13)

- No one can be the slave of two masters... You cannot be the slave of both God and money. (Matt. 6:24)

- Do not judge, and you will not be judged. (Matt. 7:1)

- Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls in front of pigs... (Matt. 7:6)

- ''Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find." (Matt. 7:7)

- ''Enter by the narrow gate, since the road that leads to destruction is wide and spacious, and many take it." (Matt. 7:13)

- Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth: it is not peace I have come to bring, but a sword... A person's enemies will be the members of his own household. (Matt. 10:34)

- It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for someone rich to enter the kingdom of Heaven. (Matt. 19:24)

- Render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what belongs to God. (Matt. 22:21)

- The spirit is willing enough, but human nature is weak. (Matt. 26:41)

- Love your enemies, do good to those who treat you badly. To anyone who slaps you on one cheek, present the other cheek as well. (Luke 6:27)

- Why do you observe the splinter in your brother's eye and never notice the great log in your own? (Luke 6:41)

- I am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

- I am the Way; I am Truth and Life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

- Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give to you, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. (John 14:27)

Differences in interpretation

Adherents of Judaism, as well as some modern Bible scholars, reject the idea that the Hebrew Bible ever prophetically referred specifically to Jesus. One reason for these differences of interpretation is the use of different versions of the Bible. Christians have historically relied on the Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. In it, many prophecies have a much clearer correlation to Jesus than in the Masoretic Hebrew text we have now available. For instance, one passage says in the Septuagint that the Messiah would be born of a "virgin", while in the Hebrew it says "young woman." The Septuagint was translated by a group of about 70 Jews more than 200 years before the birth of Jesus Christ; the oldest surviving complete manuscript dates to the third or fourth century A.D. It was widely accepted among the Alexandrian Jewish community, but was not accepted by the Jewish community elsewhere. The text accepted by the rest of the Jewish world was known as the Tanakh, and had a number of differences, none of which had anything to do with the messiah. The oldest surviving Hebrew Masoretic text dates to the eighth or ninth century A.D., although parts of it have been corroborated by the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Jesus of Nazareth came to be seen as a possible Messiah (or Greek Khristos, thus the appellation "Jesus the Christ") to the Jews, some believed and followed him. This caused a division in the Jewish religion; those who followed Jesus were eventually called (at first pejoratively) Christians. Jews then and now interpreted the prophecies to mean a great political or military leader, who would liberate them from the oppressive Roman rule. The reason that Jesus was not accepted by the majority of the Jewish community was that he did not fulfill any of the conditions that moshiach is required to fulfill by Jewish law and tradition. Jesus was accepted as a messiah mainly by non-Jewish converts in the Roman Empire, though there was for a time a Jewish Christian sect, sometimes called the Ebionites.

See also

General
AD | Advocate | Aloes | Anno Domini | Anoint | Antichrist | Apostle | Aramaic language | Ascension | Baptism | BC | Behistun Inscription | Bible story | Bible | Blessed Sacrament | Blood Atonement | Blood | Capernaum | Christus Dominus | Church of the Nativity | Cross | Crucifix | Crucifixion | Deicide |

Religious
Abrahamic religion | Abhidhamma | Adoptionism | Adventist | Allah | Altar | Anabaptist | Apocrypha | Arguments for the existence of God | Basilica of the Sacre Coeur | Baptist General Convention of Texas | Baptist | Billy Graham | Bishop Henry | Book of Mormon controversies | Born again | Children of Israel | Chosen people | Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity | Clerical celibacy | Confessing Church | Council of Chalcedon | Covenant | Creed | Damnation | Dispensationalism | Doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses |

Christian
Christian Identity | Christian cross | Christian theosophy | Christian view of marriage | Christian | Christianity and Jewish prophecy | Christianity | Christianity | Christianity | Christo-Islamic tradition | Christological argument | Decalogue

Gospels and acts
Acts of Pilate | Gospel of John | Gospel of Mark | Gospel of Matthew | Gospel of Peter | Gospel | Dating the Bible |

Other
A Plea for Captain John Brown | And did those feet in ancient time | Corcovado | Emich of Leiningen | End times | Enlightenment | Epistle of Jude | Epistle to the Colossians | Epistle to the Ephesians | Epistle to the Romans | Eucharist | Evangelicalism | Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus | First Council of Nicaea | First Vision | Fundamentalism | Fundamentalist Christianity | Gnosticism | God and gender | God | Good Friday | Government Warehouse | Grace | Halo | Heresy |

Hippolytus | History of Christianity | Holiness movement | Holy Grail | Holy Orders | Holy Prepuce | Holy Spirit | Hot cross bun | INRI | Icon | Iconoclasm | Idolatry | Images of Jesus | Immanuel | Impeccability | Incarnation | Isa | Jehovah's Witnesses | Jesus Christ Superstar | Jesus Movement | Jesus Only doctrine | Jesus and John the Baptist | Jesus of Nazereth | Jewish Messiah | Jews for Jesus | Jews in the New Testament | John the Baptist | Jude | Judeo-Christian tradition | Julian calendar | Kingdom of Heaven | Knights Hospitaller | Lamb of God | Laurentius Valla | Laying on of hands | Leviticus | Life-death-rebirth deity | List of Bible stories | List of Biblical figures | List of Biblical names starting with C | List of Latin phrases | List of famous suicides | List of people by name: J | List of political entities named after people | List of religious topics | Logos | Lord's Prayer | Lord | Madonna | Mannerism | Marcionism | Mary Magdalene | Mary, sister of Lazarus | Massacre of the Innocents | Medieval art | Medieval poetry | Messiah | Midwest Christian Outreach | Millennialism | Monoenergism | Morning Star | Mount of Olives | Names for books of Judeo-Christian scripture | Names given to the divine | National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc | Native American Church | Nativity scene | Nativity | Nazarene | Nazareth | Near sacrifice of Isaac | Nestorianism | Notre-Dame de Reims | Old Testament | Original sin | Parable | Paschal candle | Passe-dix | Passion flower | Passion play | Passion | Peace symbol | Pentecostalism | Persecution of Christians | Perseverance of the saints | Peter the Hermit | Pharisee | Philipp Melanchthon | Pietà | Pontius Pilate | Pope | Prayer | Predestination | Presbyterian Church in America | Priest | Promise Keepers | Prophet | Q document | Rapture | Rastafarianism | Reconcilation | Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America | Relic | Religion | Religious Society of Friends | Religious conversion | Religious festival | Religious law | Religious pluralism | Repentance | Resurrection of the dead | Resurrection | Revelation | Revised Standard Version | Righteousness | Rio de Janeiro | Sabbath | Sacrament | Sacred Heart | Sacred language | Salvation | Samaritan's Purse | Sea of Galilee | Season of advent | Second Coming | Semiotic literary interpretation | Sermon on the Mount | Seventh-day Adventist Church | Silent Night | Simeon | Sin-offering | Sin | Slogan 'Jesus is Lord' | Solemnity | Son of God | Soul | Spear of Destiny | Spiritual warfare | Stations of the Cross | Superman | Supernatural | Ten Commandments | The Antichrist and the last days | The Bible and history | The Chronicles of Narnia | The Four Spiritual Laws | The Golden Bough | The Last Supper (Leonardo) | The Last Supper | The Lesser Key of Solomon | The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe | The Magician card | The Passion | The Robe | The nature of God in Western theology | The nature of God | The supernatural in monotheistic religions | Theology | Thirteen | Three Wise Men | Throne | Tomb | Torah | Transfiguration | Transubstantiation | Trinity | True Cross | Turin | Twelve | Veil | WWJD (What would Jesus Do) | Zacheus the Tax Collector |

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Jesus Christ as the Messiah."

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Jesus College, Oxford

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Jesus College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Although it accepts students from all over the UK and indeed the world, Jesus has a particular association with Wales and is often referred to as "the Welsh college".

History

Famous Former Students

• Harold Wilson
• Magnus Magnusson
• Paul Jones
• T. E. Lawrence
• Norman Manley

Academics/Teachers

• Sir Leoline Jenkins

External Link

Official website

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Jesus College, Oxford."

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Other perspectives on Jesus

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article is part of the Jesus series.

Historical view of Jesus

Christian view of Jesus

Islamic view of Jesus

Jewish view of Jesus

Sources about Jesus

Historicity of Jesus

Fictional portrayals of Jesus

Other perspectives on Jesus recognize Jesus Christ as, sometimes, a historical and, othertimes, a religious figure.

The Baha'i Faith consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God. God is one, and has manifested himself to us through several historic Messengers. Bahá'í's refer to the concept of "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 Bah'ai faith) among them. In the Book of Certitude, Bahá'u'lláh acknowledges that what these messengers say about themselves is inevitably true, thus if Jesus claims Divinity then this cannot be denied, since God is speaking through him. According to Baha'is there will not be another messenger for many hundred of years.

Many Gnostic sects believe that Jesus was an Aeon, an emanation of the One, original, unknowable God, who came to Earth to provide the gnosis (knowledge) necessary for humans to divest themselves of the physical world and return to the spiritual world. The Nag Hammadi Library of Gnostic texts discovered in 1945 is a deeply fascinating find for anyone interested in early Christianity and the spiritual teachings of Jesus.

The Jehovah's Witnesses, and some other nontrinitarian churches, affirm that Jesus is only the first spiritual being created by Jehovah, and as such are Arian in their understanding of Christology. The Jehovah's Witnesses also claim that he is the archangel Michael mentioned in the Old Testament.

Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) believe that Jesus appeared in the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection. Church members believe that Jesus taught the ancestors of modern Native Americans, whom they believe to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.

Hinduism is divided on the issue of Jesus. Some Hindus hold that he was just a man, if he existed at all. Others say he was a great teacher. And some speculate he visited India and studied Hinduism/Buddhism during the years of his life that are not accounted for in the Bible. Some Hindus go as far as to equate Jesus with an avatar (incarnation of God on earth), along with Rama and Krishna.

Arius thought that Jesus was a creation of God, i.e he was not to be put on the same level as the Father. His doctrine was condemned by the First Ecumenical Council in 325, but was very widespread during the 4th century until it was condemned again at the Second Ecumenical Council in 381.

Some Buddhist teachings go as far as to describe Jesus as a Buddha, finding an equivalent of the Virgin Mary in Kwan Yin, a Chinese goddess.

See also: Judaism and Christianity, Jewish Messiah, Isa, Fictional portrayals of Jesus Christ

Was Jesus Married?

There has been controversial speculation over the years concerning whether Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. Gnostic tradition holds that this was the case, though the authorized Gospels make no mention of his marriage. However they also make no direct reference to him remaining single which, it can be argued, would have been noteworthy in a society where marriage would have been expected. See Mary Magdalene for a further discussion.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Other perspectives on Jesus."

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Sources about Jesus Christ

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

This article is part of the Jesus series.

Historical view of Jesus

Christian view of Jesus

Islamic view of Isa (Jesus)

Jewish view of Jesus

Other perspectives on Jesus

Historicity of Jesus

Fictional portrayals of Jesus

The written sources about Jesus Christ lifetime are used in modern scholarship to investigate the information about the life of Jesus.

The Gospels in the Bible

The only sources for the life of Jesus which most historians accept as containing even some historically reliable information about the life of Jesus are the four canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which present a narrative of Jesus' life and death. According to modern scholarship these documents were written within a span of time from about 30 to 70 years after the crucifixion of Jesus (i.e., within 60-100). This is important to historians, because it means the original documents were written within living memory of the events.

Also, some of the details of Jesus's life and teachings are attested prior to the writing of the Gospels, in the letters of Paul, which were written in the 50s and 60s, about 20 to 30 years after the crucifixion.

The infancy gospels of Matthew and Luke also present narratives of Jesus's childhood, but these are considered by modern scholars not to be reliable historical evidence because they include different details and in some places appear to contradict each other and are believed to have been written at a later date than the Gospels.

Non orthodox early Christian sources

From the late 20th century non-canonical and Gnostic Christian sources for Jesus have been increasingly cited as historical sources for the life of Jesus and his teachings. Previously non-canonical Christian writings had been fragmented and limited in quality owing partly to the fact that some of their esoteric teachings were secret, but largely due to a series of campaigns by the orthodox Church and Roman Empire from the fourth century (post council of Nicaea) to repress various alternative early Christian sects and their writings, which according to orthodox belief were heretical.

Most knowledge about Gnostic and other alternative early Christian sects had been transmitted through the obviously biased secondary source of polemics against heresy. The most famous and valuable of these polemics is Against Heresies by Irenaeus of Lyons, an orthodox Christian bishop, which descibes in some detail, though obviously from his perspective, a number of different alternative Christian doctrines and systems of teaching current in the second century.

Archaeological finds and reappraisals of ancient libraries have led to a rediscovery of a number of non-canonical Christian texts. The major find of the 20th Century was a library of gnostic and Christian materials discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945. Once the Nag Hammadi library was fully translated in the 1970s it provided a deeply fascinating discovery for anyone interested in early Christian and Gnostic beliefs about Christianity and the spiritual teachings of Jesus. Dating the Nag Hammadi material places them in A.D 350-400. However, scholars sharply disagree about dating the original texts, which is vitally important to Christians and historians, because the earlier the dating the more likely the teachings can be attributed to Jesus himself. Debate among scholars and Christians has tended to become more narrowly focused on the reliability of the Gospel of Thomas, probably because it shows the least obvious gnostic influence. A number of scholars have suggested that it is an independent transmission of teaching from Jesus created at approximately the same time as the Biblical Gospels within living memory of Jesus in the second half of the 1st century, while scholars on the other extreme dismiss it as derivative development of the 2nd century AD. Others have focused more specifically on the question of which of the 114 sayings can be reliably attributed to Jesus and which may be later creations or adaptions.

Even with the find of the Nag Hammadi library it is difficult to know what the Gnostic Christian sects actually believed, or if there was any consistent core of teachings; but it is clear that the Gnostic Christians fundamentally disagreed with the orthodox Christians in their understanding of Jesus. Their writings represent a far more private and "Eastern" perspective on Jesus' teachings, producing a diversity of views and practice, compared to which the current differentiation between the main Christian denominations is minor. These writings have proved attractive among liberal Christians and New Ageists in modern times.

Besides these gnostic writings, other non-canonical Christian writings about the life of Jesus include:

• The Protevangelion of James
• The Gospel of Nicodemus
• The Epistles of Jesus Christ and Abgarus King of Prussia
• The Epistle of St. Paul the Apostle to the Laodiceans and Seneca
• The Acts of St. Paul and Tecla
• The Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians
• The General Epistle of Barnabas
• The Epistles of Ignatius and Polycarp

While these works are not part of the New Testament canon, they were circulated among various Christian communities in the early centuries of the Church; most are available in some form today, although original manuscripts are not available for all of them.

Other Sources

Historical sources cite as evidence for the life of Jesus include Josephus, Suetonius, Tacitus, and Pliny the Younger, written between 93 and 112. None of these authors provide first-hand or contemporary accounts. They basically affirm only the existence and execution of Jesus (and his founding of Christianity) at around the time the Gospels state (e.g., under governorship of Pontius Pilate). All of these sources are considered to be of doubtful significance, primarily because their information could easily have been derived from Christian sources.

Probably the most important reference to Jesus is by Josephus in Jewish Antiquities which is a history of the Jewish people. There is a reference to Jesus and a seperate reference to James the Just (Jesus' disciple, possible brother, and leader of Jesus' followers in Jerusalem after his death) and some of his followers being killed by stoning for blasphemy. Unfortunately for historical purposes, many historians consider the reference to Jesus by Josephus to have been the subject of alteration by a Christian transcriber, opinions vary along the continuum from it being subject to only minor alteration to that of it being a completely spurious entry. The reference to James is generally considered to be reliable.

There is no evidence of any record of Jesus generated by the Roman bureaucracy. This is, however, unsurprising given that Jesus' following would have been just one relatively small sect among many within the Jewish territories.

Another important source is The History of the Church from Christ to Constantine written by Eusebius of Caesarea by 324. The great value of Eusebius' History lies in the quotations which it contains from earlier ecclesiastical writers. The works of many of them are lost, and are known to us only through the extracts made by Eusebius. Most notably Hegesippus (who is quoted giving detailed reference to James the Just in 165-75 [1]) and Julius Africanus. Eusebius was able to make use of the Christian libraries of Caesarea and Jerusalem.

References to Jesus in the Jewish Talmud compiled in Late Antiquity but preserving traditions that go back to the Tannaitic period (1st century BC-2nd century) are even less detailed, indicating that Jesus had some disciples, that he was executed, and that he practiced some form of "sorcery" (Sanhedrin 43a). The Talmud also preserves traditions about Jesus's illegitimate birth under the name Ben Pantera or ben Pandeira (Shabbat 104b, Sanhedrin 64a), whose currency around 180 is corroborated by the anti-Christian polemic philosopher, Celsus, who reported hearing the story from an anonymous Jew.

The story of his allegedly illegitimate birth reports that Mary, the mother of Jesus, while engaged to Joseph the Betrothed, had an affair with a Roman soldier named Pantera or Pantheras and that Jesus was the result of this affair. Ben Pantera so means "Son of Pantera". It should be noted that the name of this alleged father probably comes from Panthera, which is Latin for Panther, and Pantheras is Greek for Panther. The word "panther" was also used as a metaphor for unbridled sexual desire, so this could have begun as an allegation that Jesus was born out of wedlock because of his mother's sexual waywardness. Another theory is that "pantheras" is a deliberate distortion of and play on the Greek word for virgin, "parthenos".

See also

• Historicity of Jesus
• Tacitus on Jesus
• Josephus on Jesus

  Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sources about Jesus Christ."

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Synonyms within Context: Jesus

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Modern Usage: Jesus

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Commercial Usage: Jesus

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Image Slideshow: Jesus

Photos: Jesus More pictures...

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Photo Album: Jesus

Thumbnail	Description & Credit	Thumbnail	Description & Credit
	Pictured are various views of portions of the Mormon Temple, Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City. The Mormons are being studied for their low cancer death rate, about 20% lower than the national average. Credit: Linda Bartlett (photographer).		Senior Airman Jesus Ortega and Airman 1st Class Jonathan Fisher, 8th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighters defend Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea, against opposing forces at their defensive fighting positions during Foal Eagle 2000. Foal Eagle 2000 is a.
	Inez Moran feeds her son Jesus in their self help home in Sunnyside, WA. Credit: USDA.		ARS chemist Raul Rivera (left), technician Jesus Maldonado (center), and entomologist William Wilson use smoke and a specially modified hand held vacuum to collect Africanized honey bees to study the impact of parasitic mites on them. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer..
	La Circoncision de Jesus Christ, par François le Parmesan. / Francoise le Parmesan [Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola]. Credit: National Library of Medicine.		Statue by Michelangelo Buonarotti of the Virgin Mary holding dead body of Jesus Christ. Credit: Library of Congress.
	People in front of the side door of Santuário do Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, Congonhas do Campo, Brazil. Credit: Library of Congress.		Fighting Filipino pilot. Manila. Captain Jesus Villamor, commanding officer of the 6th Pursuit Squadron, Philippine Army Air Corps, is pictured getting out of plane after returning from a flight to Batangas Field. The youth, who leads a daredevil squadron. Credit: Library of Congress.
	Manila, the Philippine Islands. In one of the last pictures to leave the Philippines before Manila fell to the Japs, General Douglas MacArthur (left) is shown pinning a Distinguished Service Cross on Captain Jesus A. Villamor, of the Philippine Air Force,. Credit: Library of Congress.		Side altar in the church dedicated to San Lorenzo and San Felipe de Jesus, Trampas, New Mexico. Credit: Library of Congress.
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

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Digital Photo Gallery: Jesus
 

"Jesus" by Filipe Placido Commentary: "Interior of a church in a village near Coimbra."	"Jesus" by Steve Mulford Commentary: "This is Jesus, or rather a painting of him in a church in Budapest."
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

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Familiar Quotations: Jesus

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Use in Literature: Jesus

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Non-Fiction Usage: Jesus

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Spoken Usage: Jesus

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Usage Frequency: Jesus

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

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Name Usage Frequency: Jesus

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Derived & Related Names: Jesus

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Expressions: Jesus

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Frequency of Internet Keywords: Jesus

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Modern Translation: Jesus

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Ancestral Language Translations: Jesus

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Bible Trace: Jesus

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Matched Bible Translations: Jesus

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Derivations & Misspellings: Jesus

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Rhyming with "Jesus"

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Anagrams: Jesus

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