Jesus

Jesus, called Christ (anointed), is worshiped as God and savior by some and revered as a prophet by others.

The name "Jesus" was first used in Middle English. It was derived from the Late Latin Iesus, which in turn comes from the Greek Iesous, which derives from the Hebrew Yeshua, a short form of Yehoshua (Joshua), which means "the Lord is salvation" or "Jehovah saves". The title Christ derives from the Greek Christos, a translation of the Hebrew "moshiach", or "anointed." Hence the name "Jesus Christ."

The Christian Account of Jesus Christ

Jesus is the central object of attention and worship in Christianity and is held by most Christians to be the Messiah foretold in the Hebrew Bible. More importantly he is believed to be the savior of mankind, the son of God the Father, and God himself. The vast majority of self-described Christians regard belief in the divinity of Jesus to be part of what defines Christianity. According to traditional Christian theology, Jesus is one of the three persons of the Trinity, along with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. (see also Christology)

According to the Christian Bible, the nativity or birth of Jesus took place as Joseph and his wife Mary (also commonly referred as the Virgin Mary or Mary Mother of God) were visiting Bethlehem from their native Nazareth.

Of the four Gospels, the Nativity is mentioned only in the Gospels of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. Certain details of the two accounts cannot be reconciled. Luke reports that the parents lived at Nazareth. According to Matthew, they settled in Nazareth only after their return from Egypt - an event which Luke does not mention.

Mainstream Christian theology holds that Jesus was born after his mother Mary (betrothed to Joseph) was miraculously impregnated by the Holy Spirit, and was thereby the Messiah the Jews had been waiting for. According to a prophecy in Book of Isaiah 7:14 (see the articles on Biblical canon, Tanakh, Septuagint and Old Testament) a young woman would conceive a child called Immanuel (meaning "God with us"). There is a word in this passage for which the accurate translation is controversial. In Hebrew, the word almah, meaning young woman with the connotation of her being virginal, is used. The Greek Septuagint, which would have been used by the grecophone authors of the Gospels, translates almah as parthenos. The question is an open one with strong arguments on both sides. Matthew (Mt. 1:22-23) explicitly links the Isaiah prophecy to the birth of Jesus. Accordingly, many Christians understand the Isaiah prophecy as referring to Mary at the birth of Jesus. Others believe the story of his virgin birth to have been only metaphorical in nature.

The Bible tells little about Jesus' childhood or young adulthood. However, by the time he reached his early 30s, the gospels all report that he had become known as a religious teacher. After traveling as wandering rabbi and performing miracles for three years, he was convicted by the occupying Roman government of claiming to be king of the Jews. Shortly thereafter, he was crucified on Golgotha and died. According to the Gospels (the first 4 books in the New Testament of the Bible), he rose from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion and appeared to his disciples; forty days later he ascended into Heaven.

Jesus' Work

The New Testament reports that Jesus' message concentrated on benevolence towards others and called on his followers to abandon their worldly concerns, make disciples, and wait for the second coming of their Savior when he would establish the kingdom of God on Earth. The Early fathers of the church further expanded on this message, and much of the rest of the new testament is concerned with the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection, and its implications for humanity. One idea that has remained constant through Christian theology is the idea that humanity was redeemed, saved, or given an opportunity to achieve salvation through Jesus' death. "Jesus died for our sins" is a common Christian aphorism.

However, that idea of "salvation" has been interpreted in many ways, and a wide spectrum of Christian viewpoints exist and have existed throughout history up to the present day. Jesus himself summarizes his message in the famous two commandments (Matthew 22:37-40) "Jesus said to him 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hand the whole Law, and the Prophets too.'

The Historical Jesus of Nazareth

The exact year or month or day of Jesus' birth cannot now be exactly ascertained. Due to a mistaken calculation based on the Roman Calendar, it was long held that Jesus was born in the year 1 A.D. and died at age 33. Because Matthew states that Jesus was born while Herod the Great was still alive, and we know that Herod died in 4 BC, most chronologists are of the opinion that the year 4 before the Christian era was the most likely year of Jesus' nativity, and consequently that he was about four years old in the year 1 A.D.

Regardless, Christianity was of such importance to medieval Europe that the presumed birth of Jesus was used to mark the first year of the calendar (similarly, in modernity, Europe emerged to be of such political and economic importance in the world that most non-European countries have come to use the same calendar.) "A.D." stands for "Anno Domini," which means "in the year of our lord," or the number of years after the purported year of the birth of Jesus. Since many non-Christians have come to use this calendar, many have adopted the alternative notation, "C.E." It is presently uncertain what the original meaning of this abbreviation was, although today it is taken to mean either the Common Era or the Christian Era: many references cite both.

There are numerous lines of thought about the historicity of Jesus Christ. Scholar's like the members of the Jesus Seminar have attempted to glean through the techniques of textual analysis an idea of the man described in the New Testament. On the other side of the spectrum, there are scholars, most notably Earl Doherty, who have suggested that there was no historical Jesus and, and that the character is a gestalt of numerous individuals who lived and myths that were common currency during the late Hellenistic age. The problem for historians trying to reach a historical consensus, is that given that the best dates for the Synoptic Gospels place their writing decades after the time when Jesus is said to have died, there are no contemporaneus accounts of the Jesus' life. Furthermore, early secular references to him are scarce. The most famous reference is in Tacitus (see Tacitus on Jesus). Josephus' Antiquities is another secular source which is commonly mentioned (see Josephus on Jesus). It is worth noting that neither is a primary source, and that the passages in Josephus are highly controversial as to their authenticity.

There are other Christian accounts that are not part of the New Testament, including the Gospel of Thomas and The Infancy Gospel, but they are almost universally considered not reliable by secular and religious authors alike. It has been suggested, in recent times most notably by writers Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, that aspects of the story of Christ were derived from popular mystery religions in the Roman Empire at that time period. These religions worshipped savior figures such as Isis, Horus, Dionysus and Mithras, and Christian Gnosticism which flourished in the 2nd and 3rd centuries openly combined Christian imagery and stories with the beliefs and practices of Mediterranean mystery religions. For more information in this topic see Osiris-Dionysus.

This is a challenge to Christianities authenticity of which early Christians were aware. During the 100s, Justin Martyr acknowledged the existence of such similarities to mythology in the First Apology of Justin Martyr. He describes at great length how Jesus fulfilled the prophecies of Moses and the other Hebrew prophets, and how these prophets predate similar stories told in Greece and Egypt. He goes on to suggest that stories in Greece, Egypt and other parts of the world were based on flawed interpretations of the Hebrew prophecies, particularly in chapters 54 and 55. In chapter 60 Justin writes, "It is not, then, that we hold the same opinions as others, but that all speak in imitation of ours."

In 2002, an ossuary was discovered in Israel that contains the words Ya`aqov bar Yosef w'achu di Yeshua` i.e. "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus". The artifact is dated at 63 AD and is strong evidence for Jesus historical existence, although given that the names are all common, it can not be said to be conclusive.

Other Viewpoints

The Islamic faith recognizes Jesus (Isa, in Arabic) as a wise man and a prophet, but not a savior, a god or son of God. Traditional Muslims believe that Mary was a virgin, and that God caused her to conceive. According to Islam Isa never died and he was not crucified; instead he was raised into heaven still physically alive, where he lives now. Some Muslims are believe that Isa will physically return to the world, end all wars, and usher in a messianic era of peace.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes Jesus appeared in the Western Hemisphere after his resurrection and taught the ancestors of modern Native Americans, whom they believe to be one of the lost tribes of Israel.

The Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in the Trinity, and affirm that Jesus is only the first spiritual being created by Jehovah.