Jesus of Nazareth (
The principal sources of information regarding Jesus are the four canonical gospels,and most biblical scholars find them useful for reconstructing Jesus' life and teachings.Some scholars believe apocryphal texts such as the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of the Hebrews are also relevant.Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX/BI Battery
Most critical historians agree that Jesus was a Palestinian Jew who was regarded as a teacher and healer, that he was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on the orders of the Roman Prefect of Judaea, Pontius Pilate, on the charge of sedition against the Roman Empire.Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX Battery
CriticalBiblical scholars and historians have offered competing descriptions of Jesus as a self-described Messiah, as the leader of an apocalyptic movement, as an itinerant sage, as a charismatic healer, and as the founder of an independent religious movement. Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX/BI Battery
Most contemporary scholars of the historical Jesusconsider him to have been an independent, charismatic founder of a Jewish restoration movement, anticipating a future apocalypse. Other prominent scholars, however, contend that Jesus' "Kingdom of God" meant radical personal and social transformation instead of a future apocalypse.Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX Battery
Christians traditionally believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, :529–32 performed miracles,[10]:358–59 founded the Church, rose from the dead, andascended into heaven,[10]:616–20 from which he will return.[10]:1091–109 The majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, and "the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity".Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX/BI Battery
A few Christian groups, however, reject Trinitarianism, wholly or partly, believing it to be non-scriptural.[19][20]Most Christian scholars today present Jesus as the awaited Messiah promised in the Old Testament and as God,[21] arguing that he fulfilled many Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament.Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX/BI Battery
Judaism rejects assertions that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh.In Islam, Jesus (Arabic: ????? or ????, commonly transliterated as Isa or Yas?, respectively) is considered one of God's important prophets, a bringer of scripture, and the product of a virgin birth, but not to have experienced crucifixion.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX Battery
Islam and the Bahá'í Faith use the title "Messiah" for Jesus, but do not teach that he was God incarnate.
Etymology of name
“Jesus” is a transliteration, occurring in a number of languages and based on the Latin Iesus, of the Greek ?????? (I?soûs), itself a Hellenisation of the Hebrew ??????????(Y?h?šu?‘, Joshua) or Hebrew-Aramaic ???????? (Y?šû?‘).meaning "Yahweh delivers (or rescues)". Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/B Battery
The etymology of the name Jesus is generally explained by Christians as "God's salvation" usually expressed as "Yahweh saves","Yahweh is salvation" and at times as "Jehovah is salvation". The name Jesus appears to have been in use in Judaea at the time of the birth of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/G Battery
And Philo's reference (Mutatione Nominum item 121) indicates that the etymology of Joshua was known outside Judaea at the time.
In the New Testament, in Luke 1:26-33 the angel Gabriel tells Mary to name her child Jesus, and in Matthew 1:21 an angel tells Joseph to name the child Jesus. Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/L Battery
The statement in Matthew 1:21 "you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins" associates salvific attributes to the name Jesus in Christian theology.
"Christ" (/?kra?st/) is derived from the Greek ??????? (Khristós) meaning "the anointed one", a translation of the Hebrew ???????? (M?šîa?), usually transliterated intoEnglish as Messiah.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/P Battery
In the Septuagint version of the Hebrew Bible (written well over a century before the time of Jesus), the word Christ was used to translate into Greek the Hebrew word M?šîa?. In Matthew 16:16, Apostle Peter's profession: "You are the Christ" identifies Jesus as the Messiah.Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/W Battery
In post-biblical usage Christ became a name, one part of the name "Jesus Christ", but originally it was a title (the Messiah) and not a name.
Chronology
Although a few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure,most scholars involved with historical Jesus research believe his existence can be established using documentary and other evidence.Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX Battery
As discussed in the sections immediately below, the estimation of the year of death of Jesus places his lifespan around the beginning of the first century AD/CE, in the geographic region of Roman Judaea. The New Testament also refers to the Sea of Galilee which is about 75 miles north of Jerusalem.Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/B Battery
Roman involvement in Judaea began around 63 BC/BCE and by 6 AD/CE Judaea had become a Roman province. From 26-37 AD/CEPontius Pilate was the governor of Roman Judaea. In this time period, although Roman Judaea was strategically positioned between Asia and Africa, it was not viewed as a critically important province by the Romans.Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/W Battery
The Romans were highly tolerant of other religions and allowed the local populations such as the Jews to practice their own faiths.
Possible year of birth
Two independent approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus, Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX Battery
one by analyzing the Nativity accounts in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew along with other historical data, the other by working backwards from the estimation of the start of the ministry of Jesus, as also discussed in the section below.
In their Nativity accounts, both the Gospels of Luke and Matthew associate the birth of Jesus with the reign of Herod the Great, who is generally believed to have died around 4 BC/BCE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI Battery
Matthew 2:1 states that: "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king" and Luke 1:5 mentions the reign of Herod shortly before the birth of Jesus.Matthew also suggests that Jesus may have been as much as two years old at the time of the visit of the Magi and hence even older at the time of Herod's death.Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI Battery
But the author of Luke also describes the birth as taking place during the first census of the Roman provinces of Syria and Iudaea, which is generally believed to have occurred in 6 AD/CE.Most scholars generally assume a date of birth between 6 and 4 BC/BCE.Other scholars assume that Jesus was born sometime between 7–2 BC/BCE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX Battery
The year of birth of Jesus has also been estimated in a manner that is independent of the Nativity accounts, by using information in the Gospel of John to work backwards from the statement in Luke 3:23 that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry.Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI Battery
As discussed in the section below, by combining information from John 2:13 and John 2:20 with the writings of Josephus, it has been estimated that around 27-29 AD/CE, Jesus was "about thirty years of age".Some scholars thus estimate the year 28 AD/CE to be roughly the 32nd birthday of Jesus and the birth year of Jesus to be around 6-4 BC/BCE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX Battery
However, the common Gregorian calendar method for numbering years, in which the current year is 2011, is based on the decision of a monk Dionysius in the six century, to count the years from a point of reference (namely, Jesus’ birth) which he placed sometime between 2 BC/BCE and 1 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B Battery
Although Christian feasts related to the Nativity have had specific dates (e.g. December 25 forChristmas) there is no historical evidence for the exact day or month of the birth of Jesus.
Possible dates of ministry
There have been different approaches to estimating the date of the start of the ministry of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L Battery
One approach, based on combining information from theGospel of Luke with historical data about Emperor Tiberius yields a date around 28-29 AD/CE, while a second independent approach based on statements in theGospel of John along with historical information from Josephus about the Temple in Jerusalem leads to a date around 27-29 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P Battery
The estimation of the date based on the Gospel of Luke relies on the statement in Luke 3:1-2 that the ministry of John the Baptist which preceded that of Jesus began "in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar". Given that Tiberius began his reign in 14 AD/CE, this yields a date about 28-29 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W Battery
The estimation of the date based on the Gospel of John uses the statements in John 2:13 that Jesus went to the Temple in Jerusalem around the start of his ministry and in John 2:20 that "Forty and six years was this temple in building" at that time.According to Josephus (Ant 15.380) the temple reconstruction was started byHerod the Great in the 15th-18th year of his reign at about the time that Augustus arrived in Syria (Ant 15.354).Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX Battery
Temple expansion and reconstruction was ongoing, and it was in constant reconstruction until it was destroyed in 70 AD/CE by the Romans. Given that it took 46 years of construction, the Temple visit in the Gospel of John has been estimated at around 27-29 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B Battery
Luke 3:23 states that at the start of his ministry Jesus was "about 30 years of age", but the other Gospels do not mention a specific age. However, in John 8:57 the Jews exclaimed to Jesus: "Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham?" suggesting that he was much less than 50 years old during his ministry.Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX Battery
The length of the ministry is subject to debate, based on the fact that the Synoptic Gospels mention only one passover during Jesus' ministry, often interpreted as implying that the ministry lasted approximately one year, whereas the Gospel of John records multiple passovers, implying that his ministry may have lasted at least three years.Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery
Possible year and place of death
A number of approaches have been used to estimate the year of the death of Jesus, including information from the Canonical Gospels, the chronology of the life ofPaul the Apostle in the New Testament correlated with historical events, as well as different astronomical models, as discussed below.Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery
All four canonical Gospels report that Jesus was crucified in Calvary during the prefecture of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect who governed Judaea from 26 to 36 AD/CE. The late 1st century Jewish historian Josephus, writing in Antiquities of the Jews (c. 93 AD/CE), and the early 2nd century Roman historian Tacitus,Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery
writing in The Annals (c. 116 AD/CE), also state that Pilate ordered the execution of Jesus, though each writer gives him the title of "procurator" instead of prefect.
The estimation of the date of the conversion of Paul places the death of Jesus before this conversion, which is estimated at around 33-36 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery
(Also see the estimation of the start of Jesus' ministry as a few years before this date above). The estimation of the year of Paul's conversion relies on a series of calculations working backwards from the well established date of his trial before Gallio in Achaea Greece (Acts 18:12-17) around 51-52 AD/CE,Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery
the meeting of Priscilla and Aquilawhich were expelled from Rome about 49 AD/CE and the 14-year period before returning to Jerusalem in Galatians 2:1. The remaining period is generally accounted for by Paul's missions (at times with Barnabas) such as those in Acts 11:25-26 and 2 Corinthians 11:23-33, resulting in the 33-36 AD/CE estimate.Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery
For centuries, astronomers and scientists have used diverse computational methods to estimate the date of crucifixion, Isaac Newton being one of the first cases. Newton's method relied on the relative visibility of the crescent of the new moon and he suggested the date as Friday, April 23, 34 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery
In 1990 astronomerBradley E. Schaefer computed the date as Friday, April 3, 33 AD/CE. In 1991, John Pratt stated that Newton's method was sound, but included a minor error at the end. Pratt suggested the year 33 AD/CE as the answer.Using the completely different approach of a lunar eclipse model, Humphreys and Waddington arrived at the conclusion that Friday, April 3, 33 AD/CE was the date of the crucifixion.Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery
Life and teachings in the New Testament
Although the four canonical gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are the main sources for the biography of Jesus’ life, other parts of the New Testament, such as the Pauline Epistles which were likely written decades before them, also include references to key episodes in his life such as the Last Supper, as in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery
The Acts of the Apostles (10:37-38 and 19:4) refers to the early ministry of Jesus and its anticipation by John the Baptist. And Acts 1:1-11 says more about the Ascension episode (also mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:16) than the canonical gospels.Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery
The four gospel accounts
Three of the four canonical gospels, namely Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are known as the Synoptic Gospels, from the Greek ??? (syn "together") and ???? (opsis "view"). These three gospels display a high degree of similarity in content, narrative arrangement, language and paragraph structures.Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery
The presentation in the fourth canonical Gospel, i.e. the John, differs from these three in that it has more of a thematic nature rather than a narrative format. And scholars generally agree that it is impossible to find any direct literary relationship between the synoptic gospels and the Gospel of John.Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery
However, in general, the authors of the New Testament showed little interest in an absolute chronology of Jesus or in synchronizing the episodes of his life with the secular history of the age. The gospels were primarily written as theological documents in the context of early Christianity with the chronological timelines as a secondary consideration.Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery
One manifestation of the gospels being theological documents rather than historical chronicles is that they devote about one third of their text to just seven days, namely the last week of the life of Jesus in Jerusalem.
Although the gospels do not provide enough details to satisfy the demands of modern historians regarding exact dates, it is possible to draw from them a general picture of the life story of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery
However, as stated in John 21:25 the gospels do not claim to provide an exhaustive list of the events in the life of Jesus.
Gospel sources, similarities and differences
Scholars have debated the sources for the gospels for millenia, and have proposed various hypotheses of how the synoptic gospels were written and how they influenced each other, going back to theAugustinian hypothesis in the 5th century.Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery
In the 20th and 21st centuries hypotheses such as the two-source, four-source, Farrer or the Markan priority hypothesis have been debated.Each hypothesis assumes a specific order in which the gospels were written, or that other as yet unknown and hypothetical documents such as the Q source or the M source influenced various gospels in various ways.Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery
Each hypotheses has had support among some scholars, while problems with and weaknesses in it have been pointed out by opponents.
Since the 2nd century attempts have been made to harmonize the gospel accounts into a single narrative;Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery
Tatian's Diatesseron perhaps being the first harmony and other works such as Augustine' book Harmony of the Gospels followed.A number of different approaches to gospel harmony have been proposed in the 20th century, but no single and unique harmony can be constructed.Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery
While some scholars argue that combining the four gospel stories into one story is tantamount to creating a fifth story different from each original, others see the gospels as blending together to give an overall and comprehensive picture of Jesus' teaching and ministry.Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery
Although there are differences in specific temporal sequences, and in the parables and miracles listed in each gospel, the flow of the key events such as Baptism, Transfiguration and Crucifixion and interactions with people such as the Apostles are shared among the gospel narratives.Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery
Key elements and the five major milestones
The five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism, Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection and Ascension. These are usually bracketed by two other episodes: his Nativity at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete at the end.Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery
The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his "works and words", e.g. his ministry, parables and miracles.
The gospels include a number discourses by Jesus on specific occasions, e.g. the Sermon on the Mount or the Farewell Discourse,Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery
and also include over 30 parables, spread throughout the narrative, often with themes that relate to the sermons. Parables represent a major component of the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, forming approximately one third of his recorded teachings, and John 14:10 positions them as the revelations of God the Father.Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery
The gospel episodes that include descriptions of the miracle of Jesus also often include teachings, providing an intertwining of his "words and works" in the gospels.
Genealogy and Nativity
The accounts of the genealogy and Nativity of Jesus in the New Testament appear only in the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery
While there are documents outside of the New Testament which are more or less contemporary with Jesus and the gospels, many shed no light on the more biographical aspects of his life and these two gospel accounts remain the main sources of information on the genealogy and Nativity.Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery
Genealogy
Matthew begins his gospel in 1:1 with the genealogy of Jesus, and presents it before the account of the birth of Jesus, while Luke discusses the genealogy in chapter 3, after the Baptism of Jesus in Luke 3:22 when the voice from Heaven addresses Jesus and identifies him as the Son of God.Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery
At that point Luke traces Jesus' ancestry through Adam to God.
While Luke traces the genealogy upwards towards Adam and God, Matthew traces it downwards towards Jesus. Both gospels state that Jesus was begotten not byJoseph, but by God.Both accounts trace Joseph back to King David and from there to Abraham. Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery
These lists are identical between Abraham and David (except for one), but they differ almost completely between David and Joseph.Matthew gives Jacob as Joseph’s father and Luke says Joseph was the son of Heli. Attempts at explaining the differences between the genealogies have varied in nature,Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery
e.g. that Luke traces the genealogy through Mary while Matthew traces it through Joseph; or that Jacob and Heli were both fathers of Joseph, one being the legal father, after the death of Joseph's actual father—but there is no scholarly agreement on a resolution for the differences.Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery
Nativity
The Nativity is a prominent element in the Gospel of Luke, comprises over 10% of Luke's text, and is three times the length of the Nativity text in Matthew. Luke's Nativity account takes place mostly before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's story takes place mostly after the birth of Jesus and centers on Joseph.Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery
According to Luke and Matthew, Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, his betrothed, in Bethlehem. Both support the doctrine of the Virgin Birth in which Jesus was miraculously conceived in his mother's womb by the Holy Spirit, when his mother was still a virgin.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery
Luke is the only Gospel to provide an account of the birth of John the Baptist, and he uses it to draw parallels between the births of John and Jesus. Luke relates the two births in the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. He further connects the two births by noting that Mary and Elizabeth are cousins.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery
In Luke 1:31-38 Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus through the action of the Holy Spirit. When Mary is due to give birth, she and Joseph travel fromNazareth to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem to register in the census of Quirinius. In Luke 2:1-7. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery
Mary gives birth to Jesus and, having found no place in the inn, places the newborn in a manger. An angel visits the shepherds and sends them to adore the child in Luke 2:22. After presenting Jesus at the Temple, Joseph and Mary return home to Nazareth.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery
The Nativity appears in chapters 1 and 2 of the Gospel of Matthew, where, following the bethrothal of Joseph and Mary, Joseph is troubled in Matthew 1:19-20 because Mary is pregnant, but in the first of Joseph's three dreams an angel assures him not be afraid to take Mary as his wife, because her child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery
In Matthew 1:1-12, the Wise Men or Magi bring gifts to the young Jesus after following a star which they believe was a sign that the King of the Jews had been born. King Herod hears of Jesus' birth from the Wise Men and tries to kill him by massacring all the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two (the Massacre of the Innocents).Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery
Before the massacre, Joseph is warned by an angel in his dream and the family flees to Egypt and remains there until Herod's death, after which they leave Egypt and settle in Nazareth to avoid living under the authority of Herod's son and successor Archelaus.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery
Early life and profession
In the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, Jesus’ childhood home is identified as the town of Nazareth in Galilee. Joseph, husband of Mary, appears in descriptions of Jesus’ childhood and no mention is made of him thereafter.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery
The New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, and Galatians mention Jesus’ brothers and sisters, but the Greek word adelphos in these verses, has also be translated as brother or kinsman.
Luke 2:41–52 includes an incident in the childhood of Jesus, where he was found teaching in the temple by his parents after being lost.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery
The Finding in the Temple is the sole event between Jesus’ infancy and baptism mentioned in any of the canonical Gospels.
In Mark 6:3 Jesus is called a tekton (?????? in Greek), usually understood to mean carpenter. Matthew 13:55 says he was the son of a tekton.Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery
Tekton has been traditionally translated into English as "carpenter", but it is a rather general word (from the same root that leads to "technical" and "technology") that could cover makers of objects in various materials, even builders.
Beyond the New Testament accounts, the specific association of the profession of Jesus with woodworking is a constant in the traditions of the 1st and 2nd centuries and Justin Martyr (d. ca. 165) wrote that Jesus made yokes and ploughs.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery
Baptism and temptation
In the gospels, the accounts of the Baptism of Jesus are always preceded by information about John the Baptist and his ministry. In these accounts, John was preaching for penance and repentance for the remission of sins and encouraged the giving of alms to the poor (as in Luke 3:11) Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery
as he baptized people in the area of the River Jordan around Perea about the time of the commencement of the ministry of Jesus. The Gospel of John (1:28) specifies "Bethany beyond the Jordan", i.e. Bethabara in Perea, when it initially refers to it and later John 3:23 refers to further baptisms in Ænon "because there was much water there".Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/D Battery
The four gospels are not the only references to John's ministry around the River Jordan. In Acts 10:37-38, Apostle Peter refers to how the ministry of Jesus followed "the baptism which John preached".In the Antiquities of the Jews (18.5.2) first century historian Flavius Josephus also wrote about John the Baptist and his eventual death in Perea.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/D Battery
In the gospels, John had been foretelling (as in Luke 3:16) of the arrival of a someone "mightier than I".Apostle Paul also refers to this anticipation by John in Acts 19:4.In Matthew 3:14, upon meeting Jesus, the Baptist states: "I need to be baptized by you." However, Jesus persuades John to baptize him nonetheless.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/G Battery
In the baptismal scene, after Jesus emerges from the water, the sky opens and a voice from Heaven states: "This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased". The Holy Spirit then descends upon Jesus as a dove in Matthew 3:13-17, Mark 1:9-11, Luke 3:21-23.In John 1:29-33 rather than a direct narrative, the Baptist bears witness to the episode.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/G Battery
This is one of two cases in the gospels where a voice from Heaven calls Jesus "Son", the other being in the Transfiguration of Jesus episode.
After the baptism, the Synoptic gospels proceed to describe the Temptation of Jesus, but John 1:35-37 narrates the first encounter between Jesus and two of his future disciples, who were then disciples of John the Baptist.Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/P Battery
In this narrative, the next day the Baptist sees Jesus again and calls him the Lamb of God and the "two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus".One of the disciples is named Andrew, but the other remains unnamed, and Raymond E. Brown raises the question of his being the author of the Gospel of John himself.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/P Battery
In the Gospel of John, the disciples follow Jesus thereafter, and bring other disciples to him, and Acts 18:24-19:6 portrays the disciples of John as eventually merging with the followers of Jesus.
The Temptation of Jesus is narrated in the three Synoptic gospels after his baptism.In these accounts, as in Matthew 4:1-11 and Luke 4:1-13, Jesus goes to the desert for forty days to fast. Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/W Battery
While there, Satan appears to him and tempts him in various ways, e.g. asking Jesus to show signs that he is the Son of God by turning stone to bread, or offering Jesus worldly rewards in exchange for worship.Jesus rejects every temptation and when Satan leaves, angels appear and minister to Jesus.Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/W Battery
Ministry
Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry.The date of the start of his ministry has been estimated at around 27-29 AD/CE, based on independent approaches which combine separate gospel accounts with other historical data.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/B Battery
The end of his ministry is estimated to be in the range 30-36 AD/CE.
The three Synoptic gospels refer to just one passover during his ministry, while the Gospel of John refers to three passovers, suggesting a period of about three years.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/D Battery
However, the Synoptic gospels do not require a ministry that lasted only one year, and scholars such as Köstenberger state that the Gospel of John simply provides a more detailed account.
The gospel accounts place the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the countryside of Judaea, near the River Jordan.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/G Battery
Jesus' ministry begins with his Baptism by John the Baptist (Matthew 3, Luke 3), and ends with the Last Supper with his disciples (Matthew 26, Luke 22) in Jerusalem. The gospels present John the Baptist's ministry as the pre-cursor to that of Jesus and the Baptism as marking the beginning of Jesus' ministry, after which Jesus travels, preaches and performs miracles.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/P Battery
The Early Galilean ministry begins when Jesus goes back to Galilee from the Judaean desert after rebuffing the temptation of Satan.In this early period Jesus preaches around Galilee and in Matthew 4:18-20 his first disciples encounter him, begin to travel with him and eventually form the core of the early Church.Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/W Battery
This period includes the Sermon on the Mount, one of the major discourses of Jesus.
The Major Galilean ministry which begins in Matthew 8 refers to activities up to the death of John the Baptist. It includes the Calming the storm and a number of other miracles and parables, as well as the Mission Discourse in which Jesus instructs the twelve apostles who are named in Matthew 10:2-3 to carry no belongings as they travel from city to city and preach. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC Battery
The Final Galilean ministry includes the Feeding the 5000 and Walking on water episodes, both in Matthew 14. The end of this period (as Matthew 16 and Mark 8 end) marks a turning point is the ministry of Jesus with the dual episodes of Confession of Peter and the Transfiguration - which begins his Later Judaean ministry as he starts his final journey to Jerusalem through Judaea. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/B Battery
As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the Later Perean ministry, about one third the way down from the Sea of Galilee along the Jordan, he returns to the area where he was baptized, and in John 10:40-42 "many people believed in him beyond the Jordan", saying "all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true".Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery
This period of ministry includes the Discourse on the Church in which Jesus anticipates a future community of followers, and explains the role of his apostles in leading it. At the end of this period, the Gospel of John includes the Raising of Lazarus episode.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery
The Final ministry in Jerusalem is sometimes called the Passion Week and begins with the Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. In that week Jesus drives the money changers from the Temple, and Judas bargains to betray him. This period includes the Olivet Discourse and the Second Coming Prophecy and culminates in the Last Supper, Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery
at the end of which Jesus prepares his disciples for his departure in the Farewell discourse. The accounts of the ministry of Jesus generally end with the Last Supper. However, some authors also consider the period between the Resurrection and the Ascensionpart of the ministry of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery
Teachings and preachings
In the New Testament the teachings of Jesus are presented in terms of his "words and works". The words of Jesus include a number of sermons, as well asparables that appear throughout the narrative of the Synoptic Gospels (the gospel of John includes no parables). The works include the miracles and other acts performed during his ministry.Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery
Although the Canonical Gospels are the major source of the teachings of Jesus, the Pauline Epistles, which were likely written decades before the gospels, provide some of the earliest written accounts of the teachings of Jesus.
The New Testament does not present the teachings of Jesus as merely his own preachings,Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery
but equates the words of Jesus with divine revelation, with John the Baptist stating in John 3:34: "he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God" and Jesus stating in John 7:16: "My teaching is not mine, but his that sent me" and again re-asserting that in John 14:10: "the words that I say unto you I speak not from myself: but the Father abiding in me doeth his works."Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery
In Matthew 11:27 Jesus claims divine knowledge, stating: "No one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son", asserting the mutual knowledge he has with the Father.
The gospels include a number discourses by Jesus on specific occasions, such as the Farewell discourse delivered after the Last Supper, the night before his crucifixion.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery
Although some of the teachings of Jesus are reported as taking place within the formal atmosphere of a synagogue (e.g. in Matthew 4:23) many of the discourses are more like conversations than formal lectures.
The Gospel of Matthew has a structured set of sermons, often grouped as the Five Discourses of Matthew which present many of the key teachings of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery
Each of the five discourses has some parallel passages in the Gospel of Mark or the Gospel of Luke. The five discourses in Matthew begin with the Sermon on the Mount, which encapsulates many of the moral teaching of Jesus and which is one of the best known and most quoted elements of the New Testament.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery
The Sermon on the Mount includes the Beatitudes which describe the character of the people of the Kingdom of God, expressed as "blessings". The Beatitudes focus on love and humility rather than force and exaction and echo the key ideals of Jesus' teachings on spirituality and compassion.Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery
The other discourses in Matthew include the Missionary Discourse in Matthew 10 and the Discourse on the Church in Matthew 18, providing instructions to the disciples and laying the foundation of the codes of conduct for the anticipated community of followers.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery
Parables represent a major component of the teachings of Jesus in the gospels, the approximately thirty parables forming about one third of his recorded teachings. The parables may appear within longer sermons, as well as other places within the narrative.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery
Jesus' parables are seemingly simple and memorable stories, often with imagery, and each conveys a teaching which usually relates the physical world to the spiritual world.
The gospel episodes that include descriptions of the miracle of Jesus also often include teachings, providing an intertwining of his "words and works" in the gospels.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery
Many of the miracles in the gospels teach the importance of faith, for instance in Cleansing ten lepers and Daughter of Jairus the beneficiaries are told that they were healed due to their faith.
Proclamation as Christ and Transfiguration
At about the middle of each of the three Synoptic Gospels, two related episodes mark a turning point in the narrative: the Confession of Peter and the Transfiguration of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery
These episodes begin in Caesarea Philippi just north of the Sea of Galilee at the beginning of the final journey to Jerusalem which ends in thePassion and Resurrection of Jesus. These episodes mark the beginnings of the gradual disclosure of the identity of Jesus to his disciples; and his prediction of his own suffering and death.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery
Peter's Confession begins as a dialogue between Jesus and his disciples in Matthew 16:13, Mark 8:27 and Luke 9:18. Jesus asks his disciples: But who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answers him: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. In Matthew 16:17 Jesus blesses Peter for his answer, and states: Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery
"flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." In blessing Peter, Jesus not only accepts the titles Christ and Son of God which Peter attributes to him, but declares the proclamation a divine revelation by stating that his Father in Heaven had revealed it to Peter.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery
In this assertion, by endorsing both titles as divine revelation, Jesus unequivocally declares himself to be both Christ and the Son of God.
The account of the Transfiguration of Jesus appears in Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-8, Luke 9:28-36.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery
Jesus takes Peter and two other apostles with him and goes up to a mountain, which is not named. Once on the mountain, Matthew (17:2) states that Jesus "was transfigured before them; his face shining as the sun, and his garments became white as the light." At that point the prophets Elijah and Moses appear and Jesus begins to talk to them.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery
Luke is specific in describing Jesus in a state of glory, with Luke 9:32 referring to "they saw his glory". A bright cloud appears around them, and a voice from the cloud states: "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him".
The Transfiguration not only supports the identity of Jesus as the Son of God (as in his Baptism), but the statement "listen to him",Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery
identifies him as the messenger and mouth-piece of God. The significance is enhanced by the presence of Elijah and Moses, for it indicates to the apostles that Jesus is the voice of God, and instead of Elijah or Moses, he should be listened to, by virtue of his filial relationship with God.Sony VAIO VPCP119JC/BI Battery
2 Peter 1:16-18, echoes the same message: at the Transfiguration God assigns to Jesus a special "honor and glory" and it is the turning point at which God exalts Jesus above all other powers in creation.
At the end of both episodes, as in some other pericopes in the New Testament such as miracles, Jesus tells his disciples not to repeat to others, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/B Battery
what they had seen - the command at times interpreted in the context of the theory of the Messianic Secret. At the end of the Transfiguration episode, Jesus commands the disciples to silence about it "until the Son of man be risen from the dead", relating the Transfiguration to the Resurrection episode.Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/B Battery
In Jerusalem
In the four Canonical Gospels, Jesus' Triumphal entry into Jerusalem takes place a few days before the last Last Supper, marking the beginning of the Passion narrative. While at Bethany Jesus sent two disciples to retrieve a donkey that had been tied up but never ridden and rode it into Jerusalem,Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/D Battery
with Mark and John stating Sunday, Matthew Monday, and Luke not specifying the day.As Jesus rode into Jerusalem the people there lay down their cloaks in front of him, and also lay down small branches of trees and sang part of Psalms 118: 25-26.Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/D Battery
In the three Synoptic Gospels, entry into Jerusalem is followed by the Cleansing of the Temple episode, in which Jesus expels the money changers from the Temple, accusing them of turning the Temple to a den of thieves through their commercial activities. This is the only account of Jesus using physical force in any of the Gospels.Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/G Battery
John 2:13-16 includes a similar narrative much earlier, and scholars debate if these refer to the same episode. The synoptics include a number of well known parables and sermons such as the Widow's mite and the Second Coming Prophecy during the week that follows.Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/G Battery
In that week, the synoptics also narrate conflicts between Jesus and the elders of the Jews, in episodes such as the Authority of Jesus Questioned and theWoes of the Pharisees in which Jesus criticizes their hypocrisy. Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles approaches the Jewish elders and performs the Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/P Battery
"Bargain of Judas" in which he accepts to betray Jesus and hand him over to the elders. Matthew specifies the price as thirty silver coins.
Last Supper
In the New Testament, the Last Supper is the final meal that Jesus shares with his twelve apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion.Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/W Battery
The Last Supper is mentioned in all four Canonical Gospels, and Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians (11:23-26), which was likely written before the Gospels, also refers to it.
In all four gospels, during the meal, Jesus predicts that one of his Apostles will betray him.Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/W Battery
Jesus is described as reiterating, despite each Apostle's assertion that he would not betray Jesus, that the betrayer would be one of those who were present. In Matthew 26:23-25 and John 13:26-27 Judas is specifically singled out as the traitor.
In Matthew 26:26-29, Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:19-20 Jesus takes bread, breaks it and gives it to the disciples, Sony VAIO VPCP11Z9E/B Battery
saying: "This is my body which is given for you". In 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Apostle Paul provides the theological underpinnings for the use of the Eucharist, stating: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery
Although the Gospel of John does not include a description of the bread and wine ritual during the Last Supper, most scholars agree that John 6:58-59 (the Bread of Life Discourse) has a Eucharistic nature and resonates with the "words of institution" used in the Synoptic Gospels and the Pauline writings on the Last Supper.Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery
In all four Gospels Jesus predicts that Peter will deny knowledge of him, stating that Peter will disown him three times before the rooster crows the next morning. The synoptics mention that after the arrest of Jesus Peter denied knowing him three times, but after the third denial, heard the rooster crow and recalled the prediction as Jesus turned to look at him. Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery
Peter then began to cry bitterly. The Gospel of John provides the only account of Jesus washing his disciples' feet before the meal.John's Gospel also includes a long sermon by Jesus, preparing his disciples (now without Judas) for his departure. Chapters 14-17 of the Gospel of John are known as the Farewell discourse given by Jesus, and are a rich source of Christological content. Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery
Agony in the Garden, betrayal and arrest
In Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46 and John 18:1, immediately after the Last Supper, Jesus takes a walk to pray, Matthew and Mark identifying this place of prayer as Garden of Gethsemane.Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery
Jesus is accompanied by Peter, John and James the Greater, whom he asks to "remain here and keep watch with me." He moves "a stone's throw away" from them, where he feels overwhelming sadness and says "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. Nevertheless, let it be as you, not I, would have it."Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery
Only the Gospel of Luke mentions the details of the sweat of blood of Jesus and the visitation of the angel who comforts Jesus as he accepts the will of the Father. Returning to the disciples after prayer, he finds them asleep and in Matthew 26:40 he asks Peter: "So, could you men not keep watch with me for an hour?"Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery
While in the Garden, Judas appears, accompanied by a crowd that includes the Jewish priests and elders and people with weapons. Judas gives Jesus a kiss to identify him to the crowd who then arrests Jesus. One of Jesus' disciples tries to stop them and uses a sword to cut off the ear of one of the men in the crowd.Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery
Luke states that Jesus miraculously healed the wound and John and Matthew state that Jesus criticized the violent act, insisting that his disciples should not resist his arrest. In Matthew 26:52 Jesus makes the well known statement: all who live by the sword, shall die by the sword.Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery
Prior to the arrest, in Matthew 26:31 Jesus tells the disciples: "All ye shall be offended in me this night" and in 32 that: "But after I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee." After his arrest, Jesus' disciples go into hiding.
Trials by the Sanhedrin, Herod and Pilate
In the narrative of the four Canonical Gospels after the betrayal and arrest of Jesus, he is taken to the Sanhedrin, a Jewish judicial body.Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery
Jesus is tried by the Sanhedrin, mocked and beaten and is condemned for making claims of being the Son of God. He is then taken to Pontius Pilate and the Jewish elders ask Pilate to judge and condemn Jesus—accusing him of claiming to be the King of the Jews.Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery
After questioning, with few replies provided by Jesus, Pilate publicly declares that he finds Jesus innocent, but the crowd insists on punishment. Pilate then orders Jesus' crucifixion. Although the Gospel accounts vary with respect to various details, they agree on the general character and overall structure of the trials of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery
In, Matthew 26:57, Mark 14:53 and Luke 22:54 Jesus was taken to the high priest's house where he was mocked and beaten that night. The next day, early in the morning, the chief priests and scribes gathered together and lead Jesus away into their council.Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery
In John 18:12-14, however, Jesus is first taken to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, and then to Caiaphas. In all four Gospel accounts the trial of Jesus is interleaved with theDenial of Peter narrative, where Apostle Peter who has followed Jesus denies knowing him three times, at which point the rooster crows as predicted by Jesus during the Last Supper.Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery
In the Gospel accounts Jesus speaks very little, mounts no defense and gives very infrequent and indirect answers to the questions of the priests, prompting an officer to slap him. In Matthew 26:62 the lack of response from Jesus prompts the high priest to ask him: "Answerest thou nothing?"Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery
Mark 14:55-59 states that the chief priests had arranged false witness against Jesus, but the witnesses did not agree together. In Mark 14:61 the high priest then asked Jesus: "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am" at which point the high priest tore his own robe in anger and accused Jesus of blasphemy. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery
In 22:70 when asked: "Are you then the Son of God?" Jesus answers: "You say that I am" affirming the title Son of God. At that point the priests say: "What further need have we of witness? for we ourselves have heard from his own mouth" and decide to condemn Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery
In Matthew 27:3-5 Judas, who has watched the trial from a distance, is distraught by his betrayal of Jesus, and attempts to return the thirty pieces of silver he had received for betraying Jesus. The priests tell him that his guilt is of his own account. Judas throws the money into the temple, and then leaves and hangs himself.Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery
Taking Jesus to Pilate's Court, the Jewish elders ask Pontius Pilate to judge and condemn Jesus—accusing him of claiming to be the King of the Jews. In Luke 23:7-15 (the only Gospel account of this episode), Pilate realizes that Jesus is a Galilean, and is thus under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas.Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery
Pilate sends Jesus to Herod to be tried. However, Jesus says almost nothing in response to Herod's questions, or the continuing accusations of the chief priests and the scribes. Herod and his soldiers mock Jesus, put a gorgeous robe on him, as the King of the Jews, and sent him back to Pilate.Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery
Pilate then calls together the Jewish elders, and says that he has "found no fault in this man."
The use of the term king is central in the discussion between Jesus and Pilate. In John 18:36 Jesus states: "My kingdom is not of this world", but does not directly deny being the King of the Jews.Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery
And when in John 19:12 Pilate seeks to release Jesus, the priests object and say: "Every one that makes himself a king speaks against Caesar . . . We have no king but Caesar." Pilate then writes "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" as a sign (abbreviated as INRI in depictions) to be affixed to the cross of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery
In Matthew 27:19 Pilate's wife, tormented by a dream, urges Pilate not to have anything to do with Jesus, and Pilate publicly washes his hands of responsibility, yet orders the crucifixion in response to the demands of the crowd. The trial by Pilate is followed by the flagellation episode,Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery
the soldiers mock Jesus as the King of Jews by putting a purple robe (that signifies royal status) on him, place aCrown of Thorns on his head, and beat and mistreat him in Matthew 27:29-30, Mark 15:17-19 and John 19:2-3. Jesus is then sent to Calvary for crucifixion.Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery
Crucifixion and burial
Jesus' crucifixion is described in all four Canonical gospels, and is attested to by other sources of that age (e.g. Josephus and Tacitus), and is regarded as an historical event.
After the trials, Jesus made his way to Calvary (the path is traditionally called via Dolorosa) and the three Synoptic Gospels indicate that he was assisted by Simon of Cyrene, the Romans compelling him to do so.Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/P Battery
In Luke 23:27-28 Jesus tells the women in multitude of people following him not to cry for him but for themselves and their children.Once at Calvary (Golgotha), Jesus was offered wine mixed with gall to drink — usually offered as a form of painkiller. Matthew's and Mark's Gospels state that he refused this.Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/PC Battery
The soldiers then crucified Jesus and cast lots for his clothes. Above Jesus' head on the cross was the inscription King of the Jews, and the soldiers and those passing by mocked him about the title. Jesus was crucified between two convicted thieves, one of whom rebuked Jesus, while the other defended him.Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/T Battery
Each gospel has its own account of Jesus' last words, comprising the seven last sayings on the cross. In John 19:26-27 Jesus entrusts his mother to the disciple he loved and in Luke 23:34 he states: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do", usually interpreted as his forgiveness of the Roman soldiers and the others involved.Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/W Battery
In the three Synoptic Gospels, various supernatural events accompany the crucifixion, including darkness of the sky, an earthquake, and (in Matthew) the resurrection of saints. The tearing of the temple veil, upon the death of Jesus, is referenced in the synoptic.Sony VAIO VPCW111XXP Battery
The Roman soldiers did not break Jesus' legs, as they did to the other two men crucified (breaking the legs hastened the crucifixion process), as Jesus was dead already. One of the soldiers pierced the side of Jesus with a lance and water flowed out.In Mark 13:59, impressed by the events the Roman centurion calls Jesus the Son of God.Sony VAIO VPCW111XXT Battery
Following Jesus' death, Joseph of Arimathea asked the permission of Pilate to remove the body. The body was removed from the cross, was wrapped in a clean cloth and buried in a new rock-hewn tomb, with the assistance of Nicodemus. In Matthew 27:62-66 the Jews go to Pilate the day after the crucifixion and ask for guards for the tomb and also seal the tomb with a stone as well as the guard, to be sure the body remains there.Sony VAIO VPCW111XXW Battery
Resurrection and ascension
The New Testament accounts of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, state that the first day of the week after the crucifixion (typically interpreted as a Sunday), his followers encounter him risen from the dead, after his tomb is discovered to be empty.Sony VAIO VPCW115XG Battery
The resurrected Jesus appears to them that day and a number of times thereafter, delivers sermons and commissions them, before ascending to Heaven. Two of the Canonical gospels (Luke and Mark) include a brief mention of the Ascension, but the main references to it are elsewhere in the New Testament.Sony VAIO VPCW115XGP Battery
In the four Canonical Gospels, when the tomb of Jesus is discovered empty, in Matthew 28:5, Mark 16:5, Luke 24:4 and John 20:12 his resurrection is announced and explained to the followers who arrive there early in the morning by either one or two beings (either men or angels) dressed in bright robes who appear in or near the tomb.Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/P Battery
The gospel accounts vary as to who arrived at the tomb first, but they are women and are instructed by the risen Jesus to inform the other disciples. All four accounts include Mary Magdalene and three include Mary the mother of Jesus. The accounts of Mark 16:9,Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/T Battery
John 20:15 indicate that Jesus appeared to the Magdalene first, and Luke 16:9 states that she was among the Myrrhbearers who informed the disciples about the resurrection. In Matthew 28:11-15, to explain the empty tomb, the Jewish elders bribe the soldiers who had guarded the tomb to spread the rumor that Jesus' disciples took his body.Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/W Battery
After the discovery of the empty tomb, the Gospels indicate that Jesus made a series of appearances to the disciples.These include the well known Doubting Thomas episode, where Thomas did not believe the resurrection until he was invited to put his finger into the holes made by the wounds in Jesus' hands and side; and the Road to Emmaus appearance where Jesus meets two disciples.Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/P Battery
The catch of 153 fish appearance includes a miracle at the Sea of Galilee, and thereafter Jesus encourages Apostle Peter to serve his followers.
The final post-resurrection appearance in the Gospel accounts is when Jesus ascends to Heaven where he remains with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/T Battery
The Canonical Gospels include only brief mentions of the Ascension of Jesus, Luke 24:51 states that Jesus "was carried up into heaven". The ascension account is further elaborated in Acts 1:1-11and mentioned 1 Timothy 3:16. In Acts 1:1-9, forty days after the resurrection, as the disciples look on, "he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight."Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/W Battery
1 Peter 3:22 describes Jesus as being on "the right hand of God, having gone into heaven".
The Acts of the Apostles also contain "post-ascension" appearances by Jesus. These include the vision by Stephen just before his death in Acts 7:55, and the road to Damascus episode in whichApostle Paul is converted to Christianity.Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ Battery
The instruction given to Ananias in Damascus in Acts 9:10-18 to heal Paul is the last reported conversation with Jesus in the Bible until the Book of Revelation was written.
Title attributions
The New Testament attributes a wide range of titles to Jesus by the authors of the Gospels, by Jesus himself, Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/P Battery
a voice from Heaven (often assumed to be God) during the Baptism and Transfiguration, as well as various groups of people such as the disciples, and even demons throughout the narrative. The emphasis on the titles used in each of the four canonical Gospels gives a different emphasis to the portrayal of Jesus in that Gospel.Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/W Battery
Two of the key titles used for Jesus in the New Testament are Christ and Son of God. The opening words in Mark 1:1 attribute both Christ and Son of God as titles, reaffirming the second title again in Mark 1:11. The Gospel of Matthew also begins in 1:1 with the Christ title and reaffirms it in Matthew 1:16.Sony VAIO VPCW11AXJ Battery
Beyond the declarations by the Gospel writers, titles are attributed in the narrative. The statement by Apostle Peter in Matthew 16:16 ("you are the Christ, the Son of the living God") is a key turning point in the Gospel narrative, where Jesus is proclaimed as both Christ and Son of God by his followers and he accepts both titles.Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/P Battery
The immediate declaration by Jesus that the titles were revealed to Peter by "my Father who is in Heaven" not only endorses both titles as divine revelation but includes a separate assertion of sonship by Jesus within the same statement.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus refers to himself as the Son of God far more frequently than in the Synoptic Gospels.Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/T Battery
In a number of other episodes Jesus claims sonship by referring to the Father, e.g. in Luke 2:49 when he is found in the temple a young Jesus calls the temple "my Father's house", just as he does later in John 2:16 in the Cleansing of the Temple episode. However, scholars still debate if Jesus specifically accepted divinity in these statements.Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/W Battery
In John 11:27Martha tells Jesus "you are the Christ, the Son of God", signifying that both titles were later used (yet considered distinct) in the narrative. While the Gospel of John frequently uses the Son of God title, the Gospel of Luke emphasizes Jesus as a prophet.Sony VAIO VPCW121AX Battery
One of the most frequent titles for Jesus in the New Testament is the Greek word Kyrios (??????) which may mean God, Lord or master and is used to refers to him over 700 times. In everyday Aramaic, Mari was a very respectful form of polite address, well above "Teacher" and similar to Rabbi. In Greek this has at times been translated as Kyrios.Sony VAIO VPCW126AG Battery
The Rabbi title is used in several New Testament episodes to refer to Jesus, but more often in the Gospel of John than elsewhere and does not appear in the Gospel of Luke at all.Although Jesus accepts this title in the narrative, in Matthew 23:1-8 he rejected the title of Rabbi for his disciples, saying: "But be not ye called Rabbi".Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/P Battery
Many New Testament scholars state that Jesus claimed to be God through his frequent use of "I am" (Ego eimi in Greek and Qui est in Latin). This term is used by Jesus in the Gospel of John on several occasions to refer to himself, seven times with specific titles.[318][319] It is used in the Gospel of John both with or without a predicate.Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/T Battery
The seven uses with a predicate that have resulted in titles for Jesus are: Bread of Life, Light of the World, the Door, the Good Shepherd, the Resurrection of Life, the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Vine. It is also used without a predicate, which is very unusual in Greek and Christologists usually interpret it as God's own self-declaration.Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/W Battery
In John 8:24 Jesus states: "unless you believe that I am you will die in your sins" and in John 8:59 the crowd attempts to stone Jesus in response to his statement that "Before Abraham was, I am". However, some scholars state that Jesus never made a direct claim to divinity.Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/WZ Battery
The Gospel of John opens by identifying Jesus as the divine Logos in John 1:1-18. The Greek term Logos (?????) is often translated as "the Word" in English. The identification of Jesus as the Logos which became Incarnate appears only at the beginning of the Gospel of John and the term Logos is used only in two other Johannine passages: 1 John 1:1 and Revelation 19:13.Sony VAIO VPCW12AAJ Battery
John's Logos statements build on each other: the statement that the Logos existed "at the beginning" asserts that as Logos Jesus was an eternal being like God; that the Logos was "with God" asserts the distinction of Jesus from God; and Logos "was God" states the unity of Jesus with God.Sony VAIO VPCW12AKJ Battery
Some authors have suggested that other titles applied to Jesus in the New Testament had meanings in the 1st century quite different from those meanings ascribed today, e.g. “Son of David” is found elsewhere in Jewish tradition to refer to the heir to the throne.Sony VAIO VPCW12AVJ Battery
Existence of Jesus
The Christian gospels were written primarily as theological documents rather than historical chronicles. However, the question of the existence of Jesus as a historical figure should be distinguished from discussions about the historicity of specific episodes in the gospels, the chronology they present, or theological issues regarding his divinity.Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P Battery
A number of historical non-Christian documents, such as Jewish and Greco-Roman sources, have been used in historical analyses of the existence of Jesus. Most critical historians agree that Jesus existed and regard events such as his baptism and his crucifixion as historical.Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/T Battery
Robert E. Van Voorst states that the non-historicity of the existence of Jesus has always been controversial, and has consistently failed to convince scholars of many disciplines, and that classical historians, as well as biblical scholars now regard it as effectively refuted.Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/W Battery
Walter P. Weaver, among others, states that the denial of Jesus’ existence has never convinced any large number of people, in or out of technical circles.
Separate non-Christian sources used to establish the historical existence of Jesus include the works of first century Roman historians Flavius Josephus andTacitus.Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/L Battery
Josephus scholar Louis H. Feldman has stated that few have doubted the genuineness of Josephus' reference. Bart D. Ehrman states that the existence of Jesus and his crucifixion by the Romans is attested to by a wide range of sources, including Josephus and Tacitus.Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/P Battery
A very small number of modern scholars argue that Jesus never existed, but that view is a distinct minority, and a somewhat recent argument. Karl Rahnerhas observed that "in antiquity, even the most bitter enemies of Christianity never expressed doubts about the existence of Jesus."Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/T Battery
The Cambridge companion to Jesus states that the "farfetched theories that Jesus' existence was a Christian invention are highly implausible."
Language, race and appearance
Jesus grew up in Galilee and much of his ministry took place there. The languages spoken in Galilee and Judea during the first century AD/CE include Aramaic,Hebrew and Greek, with Aramaic being the predominant language.Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/W Battery
Most scholars agree that during the early part of first century AD/CE Aramaic was the mother tongue of virtually all women in Galilee and Judae. Most scholars support the theory that Jesus spoke Aramaic and that he may have also spoken Hebrew and Greek.Sony VAIO VPCW215AG/L Battery
The New Testament includes no description of the physical appearance of Jesus before his death and its narrative is generally indifferent to racial appearances and does not refer to the features of the people it discusses.The Synoptic Gospels include the account of the Transfiguration of Jesus during which he was glorified with "his face shining as the sun" but do not provide details of his everyday appearance.Sony VAIO VPCW217JC Battery
The Book of Revelation describes the features of a glorified Jesus in a vision (1:13-16), but the vision refers to Jesus in heavenly form, after his death. Old Testament references about the coming Messiah have been projected forward to form conjectures about the appearance of Jesus on theological, rather than historical grounds; e.g. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/P Battery
Isaiah 53:2 which refers to the coming Messiah as "no beauty that we should desire him" and Psalm 45:2-3 which in contrast describes him as "fairer than the children of men".
Despite the lack of direct biblical or historical references, from the second century, various theories about the race of Jesus were advanced, e.g. by Justin Martyrbased on arguments on the geneology of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/T Battery
These arguments have been subject to debate for centuries, with no general agreement among modern scholars. By the Middle Ages a number documents, generally of unknown origin, were circulating with details of the appearance of Jesus, e.g. a forged letter byPublius Lentulus, the Governor of Judea, Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/W Battery
to the Roman Senate, which according to most scholars dates to around the year 1300 and was composed to compensate for the lack of any physical description of Jesus in the Bible. Other spurious references include the Archko Volume and the letter of Pontius Pilate to Tiberius Caesar, the descriptions in which were most likely composed in the Middle Ages.Sony VAIO VPCW218JC Battery
By the 19th century theories that Jesus was European, and in particular Aryan, were developed and later appealed to those who wanted nothing Jewish about Jesus, e.g. Nazi theologians. These theories usually also include the reasoning that Jesus was Aryan because Galilee was an Aryan region, but have not gained scholarly acceptance.Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/L Battery
By the 20th century, theories had also been proposed that Jesus was of black African descent, e.g. based on the argument that Mary his mother was a descendant of black Jews. By the 21st century the race of Jesus was being addressed on television, e.g. a 2001 BBC program that suggested specific physical characteristics for him.Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/P Battery
In the 21st century, the race of Jesus also had a cultural component in cinematic portrayals, e.g. actor James Caviezel was made-up to look semitic as he portrayed Jesus.
Depictions of Jesus
Despite the lack of biblical references or historical records, for two millennia a wide range of depictions of Jesus have appeared, often influenced by cultural settings, political circumstances and theological contexts.Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/T Battery
As in other Christian art, the earliest depictions date to the late second or early third century, and are primarily found in Rome.[371]In these early depictions (e.g. as the Good Shepherd) Jesus is usually shown as a youthful figure without a beard and with curly hair, often with different features from the other men in the scenes, e.g. his disciples or the Romans.Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/W Battery
Although some images exist at the synagogue at Dura-Europos, Judaism forbade images, and there is no record of its influence on the depictions of Jesus. Christian depictions of the 3rd and 4th centuries typically focused on New Testament scenes of healings and other miracles.Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/L Battery
Following the conversion of Constantine in the 4th century, Christian art found many wealthy donors and flourished. In this period Jesus began to have more mature features, and was shown with a beeard. A new development at this time was the depiction of Jesus without a narrative context, but just as a figure by himself.Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/P Battery
By the 5th century depictions of the Passion began to appear, perhaps reflecting a change in the theological focus of the early Church. The 6th centuryRabbula Gospels include some of the earlies images of the crucifixion and resurrection. By the 6th century the bearded depiction of Jesus had become standard, both in the East and the West.Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/W Battery
These depictions with reddish brown hair parted in the middle and with almond shaped eyes showed consistency for several centuries. At this time various legends were developed to attempt to validate the styles of depiction, e.g. the image of Edessa and later the Veil of Veronica.Sony VAIO VPCW21AAJ Battery
The Byzantine Iconoclasm acted as a barrier to developments in the East, but by the 9th century art was permitted again. The Transfiguration of Jesus was a major theme in the East and every Eastern Orthodox monk who took up iconogrophy had to start his craft by painting the icon of the Transfiguration.Sony VAIO VPCW21AKJ Battery
However, while Western depictions aim for proportion, in the Eastern icons the abolition of perspective and alterations in the size and proportion of an image aim to reaches beyond man's earthly dwellings.
The 13th century witnessed a turning point in the portrayal of the powerful Kyrios image of Jesus as a wonder worker in the West,Sony VAIO VPCW21AVJ Battery
as the Franciscans began to emphasize the humility of Jesus both at his birth and his death via the nativity scene as well as the crucifixion.The Franciscans approached both ends of this spectrum of emotions and as the joys of the Nativity of were added to the agony of crucifixion a whole new range of emotions were ushered in, with wide ranging cultural impact on the image of Jesus for centuries thereafter. Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery
The Renaissance brought forth a number of artistic masters who focused on the depictions of Jesus and after Giotto, Fra Angelico and others systematically developed unclutered images that focused on the depiction of Jesus with an ideal human beauty. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery
Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper which is considered the first work of High Renaissance art due to its high level of harmony became well known for depicting Jesus surrounded by varying emotions of the individual apostles at the announcement of the betrayal.Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery
By the end of the 19th century, new reports of miraculous images of Jesus had appeared and continue to receive significant attention, e.g. Secondo Pia's 1898 photograph of the Shroud of Turin, one of the most controversial artifacts in history, which during its May 2010 exposition it was visited by over 2 million people.Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery
Another 20th century depiction of Jesus, namely the Divine Mercy image based on Faustina Kowalska's reported vision has over 100 million followers. The first cinematic portrayal of Jesus was in the 1897 film La Passion du Christ produced in Paris, which lasted 5 minutes.Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery
Thereafter cinematic portrayals have continued to show Jesus with a beard in the standard western depiction that resembles Renaissance images.
Analysis of the gospels
The historical-critical method (or higher criticism) is used to examine the bible for clues about the historical Jesus, Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery
whereby sayings and events that are more likely to be genuine in the opinion of scholars are used to construct their portraits of Jesus. Standard historical methods are used to discern the authorship of each book, and its likely date of composition. Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery
The earliest extant texts which refer to Jesus are Paul's letters (mid-1st century), which affirm Jesus' crucifixion. Keulman and Gregory hold that the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, predates the four orthodox gospels, and believe it may have been composed around mid-1st century.Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery
Biblical scholars hold that the works describing Jesus were initially communicated by oral tradition, and were not committed to writing until several decades after Jesus' crucifixion. After the original oral stories were written down in Greek, they were transcribed, and later translated into other languages. Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery
The books of the New Testament had mostly been written by 100 AD/CE, making them, at least the Synoptic Gospels, historically relevant.The Gospel tradition certainly preserves several fragments of Jesus' teaching. The Markan priority hypothesis holds that the Gospel of Mark was written first c. 70 AD/CE.Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery
Matthew is placed at being sometime after this date and Luke is thought to have been written between 70 and 100 AD/CE.According to the Q source hypothesis supported by a majority of modern scholars, the gospels were written not by the four evangelists themselves but derived from other sources.Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery
A minority of prominent scholars, such as J. A. T. Robinson, have maintained that the writers of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and John were either apostles and eyewitness to Jesus' ministry and death, or were close to those who had been.
Critical scholars consider scriptural accounts more likely when they are attested in multiple texts, plausible in Jesus' historical environment, and potentially embarrassing to the author's Christian community. Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery
The "criterion of embarrassment" holds that stories about events with aspects embarrassing to Christians (such as the denial of Jesus by Peter, or the fleeing of Jesus' followers after his arrest) would likely not have been included if those accounts were fictional.Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery
Sayings attributed to Jesus are deemed more likely to reflect his character when they are distinctive, vivid, paradoxical, surprising, and contrary to social and religious expectations, such as "Blessed are the poor". Short, memorable parables and aphorisms capable of being transmitted orally are also thought more likely to be authentic.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery
Scholars use textual criticism to determine which variants among manuscripts is original and how much they may have changed. Contemporary textual critic Bart D. Ehrman cites numerous places where he maintains that the gospels, and other New Testament books, were apparently altered by Christian scribes.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery
Craig Blomberg, F. F. Bruce and Gregory Boyd view the evidence as conclusive that very few alterations were made by Christian scribes, while none of them (three or four in total) were important. According to Normal Geisler and William Nix, "The New Testament, then, has not only survived in more manuscripts than any other book from antiquity, but it has survived in a purer form than any other great book?a form that is 99.5% pure" .Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery
Historical analysis
The historical method is used to develop plausible reconstructions of Jesus' life.Since the 19th century, these scholars have constructed a Jesus different in ways from the image found in the gospels. Scholars of the “historical Jesus” distinguish their concept from the “Jesus Christ” of Christianity.Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery
The principal sources of information regarding Jesus’ life and teachings are the three Synoptic Gospels. Historians of Christianity generally describe Jesus as a healer who preached the restoration of God's kingdom.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery
The English title of Albert Schweitzer’s 1906 book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, is a label for the post-Enlightenment effort to describe Jesus using critical historical methods. Since the end of the 18th century, scholars have examined the gospels and tried to formulate historical biographies of Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery
Contemporary efforts benefit from a better understanding of 1st-century Judaism, renewed Roman Catholic biblical scholarship, broad acceptance of critical historical methods, sociological insights, and literary analysis of Jesus' sayings.
The historical outlook on Jesus relies on critical analysis of the Bible, especially the gospels.Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery
Many Biblical scholars have sought to reconstruct Jesus’ life in terms of the political, cultural, and religious crises and movements in late 2nd Temple Judaism and in Roman-occupied Palestine, including differences between Galilee and Judaea, and between different sects such as the Pharisees, Sony VAIO VPCZ110 Battery
Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots, and in terms of conflicts among Jews in the context of Roman occupation.
Most scholars hold that the movement Jesus led (and his eschatology) were apocalyptic, as were the preachings of John the Baptist, but some scholars makes a distinction between John's apocalyptic ministry and Jesus' ethical teachings.Sony VAIO VPCZ110GB/BI Battery
Some historians argue that Jewish and Roman authorities in Jerusalem were wary of Galilean patriots, many of whom advocated violent resistance to Roman rule. These arguments contend that as a charismatic leader Jesus was regarded as a potential troublemaker, and was hence executed on political charges.Sony VAIO VPCZ112GD/S Battery
Jesus' criticism of the Temple, the disturbance he caused there, and his refusal to renounce claims of kingship convinced the Jewish high priest to allow Jesus to be transferred into Roman custody.
Jewish religious movements in Jesus' day
Scholars refer to the religious background of the early 1st century to better reconstruct Jesus' life. Some scholars identify him with one or another group.Sony VAIO VPCZ112GX/S Battery
Pharisees were a powerful force in 1st-century Judaea. Early Christians shared several beliefs of the Pharisees, such as resurrection, retribution in the next world, angels, human freedom, and Divine Providence. After the fall of the Temple, the Pharisee outlook was established in Rabbinic Judaism. Some scholars speculate that Jesus was himself a Pharisee.Sony VAIO VPCZ114GX/S Battery
In Jesus' day, the two main schools of thought among the Pharisees were the House of Hillel, which had been founded by the eminent Tanna, Hillel the Elder, and the House of Shammai. Jesus' assertion of hypocrisy may have been directed against the stricter members of the House of Shammai, although he also agreed with their teachings on divorce.Sony VAIO VPCZ115 Battery
Jesus also commented on the House of Hillel's teachings (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a) concerning the greatest commandment and the Golden Rule. Historians do not know whether there were Pharisees in Galilee during Jesus' life, or what they would have been like.Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/B Battery
Sadducees were particularly powerful in Jerusalem. They accepted the written Law only, rejecting the traditional interpretations accepted by the Pharisees, such as belief in retribution in an afterlife, resurrection of the body, angels, and spirits. After Jesus caused a disturbance at the Temple, Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/S Battery
it was to have been the Sadducees who had him arrested and turned over to the Romans for execution. After the fall of Jerusalem, they disappeared from history.
Essenes were apocalyptic ascetics, one of the three (or four) major Jewish schools of the time, though they were not mentioned in the New Testament.Sony VAIO VPCZ116 Battery
Some scholars theorize that Jesus was an Essene, or close to them. Among these scholars is Pope Benedict XVI, who supposes in his book on Jesus that "it appears that not only John the Baptist, but possibly Jesus and his family as well, were close to the Qumran community."Sony VAIO VPCZ116GX/S Battery
Zealots were a revolutionary party opposed to Roman rule, one of those parties that, according to Josephus inspired the fanatical stand in Jerusalem that led to its destruction in the year 70 AD/CE. Luke identifies Simon, a disciple, as a "zealot", which might mean a member of the Zealot party (which would therefore have been already in existence in the lifetime of Jesus) or a zealous person.Sony VAIO VPCZ117 Battery
The notion that Jesus himself was a Zealot does not do justice to the earliest Synoptic material describing him.
Mythical view
Although most scholars involved with historical Jesus research believe his existence can be established using documentary and other evidence, a few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure. Sony VAIO VPCZ117FC/B Battery
Among the proponents of non-historicity was Bruno Bauer in the 19th century. Non-historicity was somewhat influential in biblical studies during the early 20th century. More recently, arguments for non-historicity have been discussed by authors such as George Albert Wells and Robert M. Price, Earl Doherty, Timothy Freke, and Peter Gandy.Sony VAIO VPCZ118 Battery
The views of scholars who entirely reject Jesus’ historicity are based on a suggested lack of eyewitnesses, a lack of direct archaeological evidence, lack of any known written references to Jesus during his lifetime, the scarcity and questionable veracity of non-Christian reference to him in the 1st century, Sony VAIO VPCZ118GC/B Battery
and perceived parallels between the biography of Jesus and those of Greek, Egyptian, and other gods, especially those figuring in myths about dying and rising deities.
Classicist Michael Grant stated that standard historical criteria prevent one from rejecting the existence of a historical Jesus.Sony VAIO VPCZ118GX/S Battery
Professor of Divinity James Dunn describes the mythical Jesus theory as a ‘thoroughly dead thesis’.
Religious perspectives
By and large, the Jews of Jesus' day rejected his claim to be the Messiah, as do Jews today. For their part, Christian Church Fathers, Ecumenical Councils, Reformers, and others have written extensively about Jesus over the centuries. Sony VAIO VPCZ119 Battery
Christian sects and schisms have often been defined or characterized by competing descriptions of Jesus. Meanwhile, Gnostics, Mandaeans, Manichaeans, Muslims, Baha'is, and others have found prominent places for Jesus in their own religious accounts.Sony VAIO VPCZ119FJ/S Battery
Christian views
Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize key elements of the shared beliefs among major denominations such as Catholics, theEastern Orthodox, and most Protestant groups, based on their catechetical or confessional texts.Sony VAIO VPCZ119GC/X Battery
Almost all Christian groups regard Jesus as the "Savior and Redeemer", as the Messiah (Greek: Christos; English: Christ) prophesied in the Old Testament, who, through his life, death, and resurrection, restored humanity's communion with God in the blood of the New Covenant.Sony VAIO VPCZ119L Battery
His death on a cross is understood as the redemptive sacrifice: the source of humanity's salvation and the atonement for sin, which had entered human history through the sin of Adam. Christians profess that Jesus suffered death by crucifixion, and rose bodily from the dead in the definitive miracle that foreshadows the resurrection of humanity at the end of time,Sony VAIO VPCZ119R/B Battery
when Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, resulting in either entrance into heaven or damnation.
Christians profess Jesus to be the only Son of God, the Lord, and the eternal Word (a translation of the Greek word Logos), who became man in theincarnation, so that those who believe in him might have eternal life.Sony VAIO VPCZ119R/S Battery
They further hold that he was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit in an event described as the miraculous virgin birth or incarnation.[454] Christians believe that Christ is the true head of the one holy universal and apostolic church.Sony VAIO VPCZ11AFJ Battery
Most Christian denominations believe in some form of the doctrine of the Trinity, i.e. that Jesus, as the second person of the Trinity, is fully God. As the 6th-century Athanasian Creed says, the Trinity is "one God" and "three persons... and yet they are not three Gods, but one God." This belief is not shared by non-Trinitarian denominations.Sony VAIO VPCZ11AGJ Battery
Christians consider the Gospel and other New Testament accounts of Jesus to be divinely inspired. Christian writers, such as Benedict XVI, proclaim the Jesus of the Gospels, discounting the historical reconstruction of Jesus as entirely inadequate.Sony VAIO VPCZ11AVJ Battery
Jewish views
Judaism, including Orthodox Judaism, Hareidi Judaism, Reform Judaism, Karaite Judaism, Conservative Judaism, and Reconstructionist Judaism, rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, Sony VAIO VPCZ11CGX/X Battery
arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC/BCE.Sony VAIO VPCZ11DGX/SJ Battery
The Talmud includes stories which some consider accounts of Jesus in the Talmud, although there is a spectrum from scholars, such as Maier (1978), who considers that only the accounts with the name Yeshu ?????? refer to the Christian Jesus, and that these are late redactions, to scholars such as Klausner (1925),Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX/XQ Battery
who suggested that accounts related to Jesus in the Talmud may contain traces of the historical Jesus. However the majority of contemporary historians disregard this material as providing information on the historical Jesus. Many contemporary Talmud scholars view these as comments on the relationship between Judaism and Christians or other sectarians, Sony VAIO VPCZ11V9R/B Battery
rather than comments on the historical Jesus. The Mishneh Torah, an authoritative work of Jewish law, provides the last established consensus view of the Jewish community, in Hilkhot Melakhim 11:10–12 that Jesus is a "stumbling block" who makes "the majority of the world err to serve a divinity besides God".Sony VAIO VPCZ11X9E/B Battery
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."Sony VAIO VPCZ11Z9E/B Battery
Because, is there a greater stumbling-block than this one? So that all of the prophetsspoke that the Messiah redeems Israel, and saves them, and gathers their banished ones, and strengthens their commandments. And this one caused (nations) to destroy Israel by sword, and to scatter their remnant, and to humiliate them, and to exchange the Torah,Sony VAIO VPCZ125GX/S Battery
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, Sony VAIO VPCZ127FC Battery
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."Sony VAIO VPCZ128GC Battery
Look how all the world already becomes full of the things of the Messiah, and the things of the Torah, and the things of the commandments! And these things spread among the far islands and among the many nations uncircumcised of heart.
According to Conservative Judaism, Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have "crossed the line out of the Jewish community".Sony VAIO VPCZ12M9E/B Battery
Reform Judaism, the modern progressive movement, states "For us in the Jewish community anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate".
Islamic views
In Islam, Jesus (Arabic: ????; `?s?) is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Messiah who was sent to guide the Children of Israel with the Gospel.Sony VAIO VPCZ13M9E/B Battery
Jesus is seen in Islam as a precursor toMuhammad, and is believed by Muslims to have foretold the latter's coming. Jesus is mentioned more times in the Qur'an, by name, than Muhammad. According to the Qur'an, believed by Muslims to be God's final revelation, Jesus was born to Mary as the result of virginal conception, and was given the ability to perform miracles.Sony VAIO VPCZ13V9E/X Battery
Islamic traditions narrate that he will return to earth near the day of judgement to restore justice and defeat the Antichrist.
Ahmadiyya views
The Ahmadiyya Movement considers Jesus a mortal man who died a natural death. Sony VAIO VPCZ13Z9E/X Battery
According to the early 20th century writings of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (the founder of the Ahmadiyya movement), Jesus survived his ordeal on the cross, and after his apparent death and resurrection, he fled Palestine and migrated eastwards to further teach the gospels. Jesus eventually died a natural death of old age in India – Kashmir – and is believed to be buried at Roza Bal.Sony VAIO VPCZZZHJ Battery
Although the view of Jesus having migrated to India has also been researched in the publications of independent historians with no affiliation to the movement, the Ahmadiyya Movement are the only religious organization to adopt these views as a characteristic of their faith. Sony VAIO VPZ117 Battery
The general notion of Jesus in India is older than the foundation of the movement, and is discussed at length by Grönbold and Klatt.
The movement also interprets the second coming of Christ prophesied in various religious texts would be that of a person "similar to Jesus" (math?l-i ?Is?). Sony VAIO VPZ118 Battery
Thus, Ahmadi's consider that the founder of the movement and his prophetical character and teachings were representative of Jesus and subsequently a fulfillment of this prophecy.
Bahá'í views
The Bahá'í Faith, founded in 19th-century Persia, considers Jesus, along with Muhammad, the Buddha, Krishna, and Zoroaster,Sony VAIO VPZ119 Battery
and other messengers of the great religions of the world to beManifestations of God (or prophets), with both human and divine stations.
God is one and has manifested himself to humanity through several historic Messengers. Bahá'ís refer to this concept as Progressive Revelation,Sony VPCM11M1E/B Battery
which means that God's will is revealed to mankind progressively as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity. In this view, God's word is revealed through a series of messengers: Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Bahá'u'lláh (the founder of the Bahá'í Faith) among them. Sony VPCM11M1E/W Battery
In the Book of Certitude, Bahá'u'lláh claims that these messengers have a two natures: divine and human. Examining their divine nature, they are more or less the same being. However, when examining their human nature, they are individual, with distinct personality. Sony VPCM12M1E/L Battery
For example, when Jesus says "I and my Father are one", Bahá'ís take this quite literally, but specifically with respect to his nature as a Manifestation. When Jesus conversely stated "...And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me", Bahá'ís see this as a simple reference to the individuality of Jesus. Sony VPCM12M1E/P Battery
This divine nature, according to Bahá'u'lláh, means that any Manifestation of God can be said to be the return of a previous Manifestation, though Bahá'ís also believe that some Manifestations with specific missions return with a "new name", and a different, or expanded purpose. Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is, in both respects, the return of Jesus.Sony VPCM12M1E/W Battery
Buddhist views
Buddhists' views of Jesus differ. Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama regard Jesus as a bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. The 14th century Zen master Gasan J?seki indicated that the sayings of Jesus in the Gospels were written by an enlightened man.Sony VPCM13M1E/L Battery
Hindu views
In a letter to his daughter Indira Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote, "All over Central Asia, in Kashmir and Ladakh and Tibet and even farther north, there is a strong belief that Jesus or Isa travelled about there."
During the "lost years" not mentioned in the New Testament, Jesus reportedly studied in Nalanda and further in Tibet.Sony VPCM13M1E/P Battery
Other views
Mandaeanism, a very small Mideastern, Gnostic sect that reveres John the Baptist as God's greatest prophet, regards Jesus as a false prophet of the false Jewish god of the Old Testament,Adonai, and likewise rejects Abraham, Moses, and Muhammad.
Manichaeism accepted Jesus as a prophet, along with Gautama Buddha and Zoroaster.Sony VPCM13M1E/W Battery
The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus. The creators of A Course In Miracles claim to trance-channel his spirit. However, the New Age movement generally teaches thatChristhood is something that all may attain. Theosophists, from whom many New Age teachings originated (a Theosophist named Alice A. Sony VAIO VGN-Z11MN/B Battery
Bailey invented the term New Age), refer to Jesus of Nazareth as the Master Jesus and believe he had previous incarnations.
Many writers emphasize Jesus' moral teachings. Garry Wills argues that Jesus' ethics are distinct from those usually taught by Christianity.Sony VAIO VGN-Z11VN/X Battery
The Jesus Seminar portrays Jesus as an itinerant preacher who taught peace and love, rights for women and respect for children, and who spoke out against the hypocrisy of religious leaders and the rich.Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a deist, Sony VAIO VGN-Z11WN/B Battery
created the Jefferson Bible entitled "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" that included only Jesus' ethical teachings because he did not believe in Jesus' divinity or any of the other supernatural aspects of the Bible.Sony VAIO VGN-Z11XN/B Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z15 Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z15N Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z17 Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z17N Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z19 Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z19N Battery
No comments:
Post a Comment