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This 11th-century portrait is one of many images of Jesus in which a halo with a cross is used. Such depictions are characteristic of Eastern Orthodox iconography. Characteristically, he is portrayed as similar in features and skin tone to the culture of the artist.

Jesus, also known as Jesus Christ*, Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus the Nazarene, is the central figure in Christianity. The main sources about Jesus and his teachings are the four Gospels, which depict him as a Torah-observant Jewish preacher and healer — often at odds with Jewish authorities at that time — who was crucified by the Romans.

Most Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the Messiah of the Jews as prophesied in the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible). They believe that Jesus was crucified by humanity, died and was buried, only to be resurrected on the third day to then rise to enter the Kingdom of Heaven and offer the promise of salvation to believers.

Muslims believe he was one of God's most important prophets and also the Messiah, though with a different meaning than this has for Christians. Because of his significance in these religions, many consider him one of the most influential and important historical figures of all time.

The Gospels focus primarily on his last one to three years, especially the last week before his crucifixion, which, based on some historical data mentioned, would have been anywhere from the years 27 to 36 in the current era. Both the Anno Domini system and the more recent Common Era system of reckoning years have their origin in a faulty 6th century attempt to calculate the year of his birth, which most now estimate would have been from 8 BC/BCE to 4 BC/BCE.

The historicity, teachings, and nature of Jesus are subject to debate and controversy among Christians and outside Christian communities. There are very few known textual references to Jesus from the 1st century, other than Christian texts. The historical significance of mentions of Jesus in works significantly post-dating the first century is disputable. While most historians and scholars have either assumed or concluded that Jesus probably lived, a number have seriously questioned this — and many have found the issue undecidable by historical means alone.

Historicity

Main articles: Historicity of Jesus and Jesus and textual evidence

The main sources for information about Jesus are the four canonical Gospels and several apocryphal gospels. Some writers, citing the lack of external evidence, argue that no such person as Jesus ever existed (for example, Acharya S, Earl Doherty, and Robert M. Price). Others, however, predominantly E.P. Sanders, Geza Vermes, Paula Fredricksen, John Dominic Crossan and John Meier, maintain that the source documents (see two-source hypothesis, Q document, and Gospel of Mark), on which the four canonical Gospels are based were written within living memory of Jesus's lifetime. They therefore consider that the accounts of the life of Jesus in those Gospels provide a reasonable basis of evidence for the historical existence of Jesus and the basic facts of his life and death (E.P. Sanders, for example, has argued that the documentary evidence for Jesus' existence is as strong or stronger than the documentary evidence for the existence of Alexander the Great). Even among those who do believe in his existence there are divisions over the extent of historicity of the Gospels' accounts. Some say that the Gospel accounts are neither objective nor accurate, since they were written or compiled by his followers. Those who have a naturalistic view of history do not believe in divine intervention or miracles without any evidence for them, such as the resurrection of Jesus mentioned by the Gospels.

There are many similarities between stories about Jesus and myths of Pagan Godmen such as Mithras, Apollo, Attis and Osiris Dionysus, leading to conjectures that the pagan myths were adopted by early accounts of Jesus. Devout Christian thinkers, such as C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, believed that such myths were created by ancient pagans with vague and imprecise knowledge of Gospel truth.

Benjamin Urrutia, a modern scholar, contends that Rabbi Yeshua Bar Abba was the historical Jesus of Nazareth and was the leader of the successful nonviolent Jewish resistance to Pilate's attempt to place Roman Eagles - symbols of the worship of Jupiter - on Jerusalem's Temple Hill. This episode is found in Josephus, who does not say who the leader of this resistance was, but shortly afterwards, in a passage whose authenticity is heavily disputed, states that Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified. (See articles "Josephus on Jesus" - especially the section "Arabic Version" - "Jesus as a Leader of Nonviolent Resistance," and "Rabbi Yeshua Bar Abba")

It is commonly thought that Jesus preached for a period of three years, yet this is never mentioned explicitly in any of the gospels. However, many interpretations of the synoptic gospels suggest only one year, and to achieve consistency with the Gospel of John, one theory suggests that the last gospel describes a timeline which depicts a ministry time period of approximately one year. This theory of a one year, Passover to Passover, ministry, would coincide with the type and shadow of the Passover lamb (lamb of God) being a yearling lamb. This, however, is not commonly taught (although it has a strong following in academic circles), and thus is not a widespread theory in general.

Geza Vermes averred that the title "Lamb of God" does not necessarily refer to the metaphor of a sacrificial animal. He points out that in Galilean Aramaic the word talya, literally "lamb," had the common meaning of "male child." This is akin to "kid" meaning "child" in modern colloquial English. The female equivalent of "Talya" was "Talitha," literally "ewe lamb" and figuratively "girl." (The word is found in the narrative of the Daughter of Jairus). Thus, "Lamb of God" could have been a slangy way of saying "Son of God" or "God's Kid."

Religious perspectives

Part of a series on

Jesus in Christianity

Jesus in Islam

Background

Jesus in history

Perspectives on Jesus

Jesus in culture

Main article: Religious perspectives on Jesus

Christianity

Christianity has undergone several schisms in its understanding of Jesus. The vast majority of Christians subscribe to the creed that Jesus is God Incarnate (a man who is the earthly aspect of God, as part of the Holy Trinity), who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and came to earth to save mankind from sin and death through the shedding of his own blood in sacrifice (salvation), and who rose from the dead and later ascended into Heaven.

Some groups identifying themselves as Christian, such as Jehovah's Witnesses, and Christian Scientists, believe Jesus was divinely inspired but not God incarnate. See also Nicene Creed. Others such as Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) believe in a Trinity, but maintain that God the Father created Jesus as God the Son, and that Jesus created the universe. They also have additional sacred texts that continue on past the New Testament; and thus form a different sort of overall Christian history.

There are differing views within Christian groups as to whether or not Jesus ever claimed divinity. The majority of lay Christians, theologians and clergy hold that the Bible shows Jesus both as divine, and claiming divinity.

Unitarians

Unitarianism developed out of theological arguments about whether or not Jesus is God. Trinitarians coined the term 'unitarian' to describe the arguments of those who believed God, as one being, is a single person and not three. This historical argument gave birth to the Unitarian denomination and later the Unitarian Universalist Association. Today few Unitarian Universalists define their religion solely based on this theological characterization.

Some Unitarians consider themselves Christian because they are followers of the teachings of Jesus, while others do not self-identify as Christian. Unitarian Universalists who consider themselves Christian can be found in such groups as the Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship, congregations of the Unitarian Universalist Association, and the American Unitarian Conference.

Hinduism

Hinduism is divided on the issue of Jesus—some hold that it is unlikely he existed, or that he was just a man, others say he was a great guru or yogi, still others equate Jesus with an avatar. A great deal of earlier inclusion of Jesus within the Hindu pantheon is connected to the emergence of the Saint Thomas Christians. The Hare Krishna sect of Hinduism believes that Jesus is the son of Krishna (who they believe is God the Father that Jesus spoke of), and they accept many of his teachings.

Islam

Islam teaches that:

Jesus (Isa in the Qur'an) was one of God's many human prophets who were chosen to teach Islam to mankind at different stages; the final and completed stage being taught by God's final prophet, Muhammad.
Jesus was one of God's highest ranked and most beloved prophets sent for the guidance of Children of Israel and who was born miraculously without any human biological father by the will of God.
There is no god except the one true God. God does not have a son. Thus, as with all prophets, Jesus was a human being.
As with all prophets, Jesus was able to perform miracles, but only by the will of God.
Jesus renounced all worldly possessions and lived a life of strict nonviolence, abstaining from eating animal flesh and from drinking alcohol.
Jesus was neither killed nor crucified; but God made it appear so to his enemies.
Jesus is alive and will return to the world in the flesh along with the Mahdi once the world has become filled with injustice.

Ahmadiyyas believe that Jesus survived the crucifixion and travelled to Kashmir (See Yuz Asaf). They also believe that references to the Second Coming of Jesus in religious scriptures are allegorical and refer to the arrival of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad. Ahmadiyyas are not considered Muslim by most mainstream Muslims.

Some Muslims accept the Gospel of Barnabas as the most accurate testament of Jesus. However, almost all non-Muslim scholars dismiss this document as completely unauthentic.

Judaism

To the extent that Jesus is promoted as the Messiah, this claim is broadly rejected as heretical to Judaism. Jews do not believe in Jesus, especially as a prophet. Religious Jews view the world as unredeemed and are still awaiting the Messianic time. (A notable exception is the Lubavitcher sect, which views its last rebbe to be the Messiah and Son of Man and believes that he will someday return from the dead, often citing the same scriptures Christians use to point to a dead and resurrected Messiah, particularly in the book of Daniel.) As for the historical personality of Jesus, Judaism has fewer objections to quotes attributed to him than they do with subsequent confessions by early Christian adherents, Paul in particular. Many Jews see Jesus in varying degrees, from a failed rebel leader to a miracle worker to a misunderstood prophet. Others object to teachings attributed to Jesus by noting a passage in Deuteronomy 13:1-6, which speaks of prophets who tell you to follow another God. Some believe that Jesus is mentioned as Yeshu in the Jewish Talmud, although many scholars dispute this.Joseph Klausner, a prominent Israeli scholar, was vigorous in asserting the Judaism of Jesus.

Jewish religious authorities view Messianic Judaism as a Christian and not a Jewish movement.

Other perspectives

Atheists, by definition, do not believe in a divinity—and thus not in any divinity of Jesus. Some just do not think about it, some doubt he lived, some regard him as an important moral teacher, and some as a historical preacher like any other.

The Bahá'í Faith considers Jesus to be a manifestation (prophet) of God, while not being God incarnate. Some Buddhists believe Jesus may have been a Bodhisattva, one who gives up his own Nirvana to help others reach theirs.

The New Age movement has reinterpreted the life and teaching of Jesus in a large variety of ways (For example, see A Course in Miracles). He has also been claimed as an Ascended Master by Theosophy and some of its offshoots; related speculations have him studying mysticism in the Himalaya or hermeticism in Egypt in the period between his childhood and his public career. A Zen Buddhist interpretation of Jesus, based on the Gospel of Thomas, is also possible. The Multidinarian Doctrine teaches that Jesus is not one of three Persons in God (as taught by Trinitarian Doctrine), but one of a hundred trillion Persons in God. The discipline of Christology discusses who Jesus was or was not from a philosophical and theological perspective. The Christological argument attempts to prove the existence of God based on the existence of Jesus and his claims about himself as presented in the gospels.

The question of the divinity of Jesus was discussed and decided on by Ecumenical Councils, starting with the Council of Nicea and others of Constantine I's attempts at producing unity, enforcement of the resulting decision thus suggesting an air of politicisation to the religious issue. It is not the case that all scholars reject Jesus' divinity, yet some may choose to describe the social and cultural implications of claiming divinity in the 1st century. As such, scholars are interested in providing an historical context to the beliefs and tenets of Jesus' apparent Kingdom of God movement. As a consequence, some secular scholars believe he was simply a Jewish apocalyptic teacher and faith healer who was crucified, and was subsequently the inspiration for Christianity.

Date of birth and death

Main article: Chronology of Jesus' birth and death

Brief timeline of Jesus
of important years from empirical sources.

c. 6 BC/BCE	Suggested birth (earliest).
c. 4 BC/BCE	Herod's death.
c. AD 6/6 CE	Suggested birth (latest). Quirinius census.
c. 26/27	Pilate appointed Judea governor.
c. 27	Suggested death (earliest).
c. 36	Suggested death (latest).
c. 36/37	Pilate removed from office.

The most detailed information about Jesus' birth and death is contained in the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke. There is considerable debate about the details of Jesus' birth even among Christian scholars. Few, if any, scholars claim to know either the year or the date of his birth or of his death.

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

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

However, based on a lunar eclipse that Josephus reports shortly before the death of Herod the Great, the birth of Christ would have been some time before the year 4 BC/BCE, probably 5 or 6 BC/BCE. This estimate itself relies on the historicity of the New Testament story involving Herod around the time of Jesus' birth. Having fewer sources and being even further removed in time from the authors of the New Testament, details surrounding Jesus' birth are regarded, even by many believers, as less likely to be historical fact.

As for Jesus' death, the exact date is also unclear. The Gospel of John depicts the crucifixion just before the Passover festival on Friday 14 Nisan, called the Quartodeciman, whereas the synoptic gospels describe the last supper, immediately before Jesus' arrest, as the Passover meal on Friday 15 Nisan. Further, the Jews followed a lunisolar calendar with phases of the moon as dates, complicating calculations of any exact date in a solar calendar. Allowing for the time of the procuratorship of Pontius Pilate and the dates of the Passover in those years, his death can be placed most probably on April 7, 30 or April 3, 33 or March 30, 36.

Life and teachings of Jesus

This stained glass window shows Jesus' birth in Bethlehem.

Main articles: New Testament view on Jesus' life and Historical Jesus

According to the texts of Christianity, Jesus was born in Bethlehem to Mary, a virgin, and the Holy Spirit himself. Joseph, Mary's husband, appears only in stories of Jesus' childhood; this is generally taken to mean that he was dead by the time of Jesus' ministry. In the gospels, Jesus' birth is attended by visits from shepherds told of the birth by angels, and 'wise men' from the East who were guided by a star to his location.

Mark 6:3 (and analogous passages in Matthew and Luke) reports that Jesus was "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also states that Jesus had sisters. The Jewish historian Josephus and the Christian historian Eusebius (who wrote in the 4th century but quoted much earlier sources now unavailable to us) refer to James the Just as Jesus' brother (See Desposyni). However, Jerome argued that they were Jesus's cousins, which the Greek word for "brother" used in the Gospels would allow. This was based on the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition that Mary remained a perpetual virgin, thus having no biological children before or after Jesus.

Nazareth in Galilee is represented as his childhood home. Only one incident between his infancy and his adult life is mentioned in the Gospels (although New Testament apocrypha go into these details, some quite extensively). At the age of 12, Jesus was left behind by his parents after a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. On being missed, he was found 'instructing the scholars in the temple'.

Just after he was baptized by John the Baptist he began his public teaching; he is generally considered to have been about 30 years old at that time. Luke's gospel records that Jesus' human mother, Mary, was the sister of John's mother, Elizabeth, making the two men first cousins.

Jesus used a variety of methods in his teaching, such as paradox, metaphor and parable. His teaching frequently centred on the Kingdom of God, or Kingdom of Heaven. Some of his most famous teachings are in the Sermon on the Mount, which also contains the Beatitudes. His parables (or stories with a hidden meaning) include the parable of the Good Samaritan, and the Prodigal Son. Jesus had a number of disciples. His closest followers were twelve apostles, headed by Peter. According to the New Testament, Jesus also performed various miracles in the course of his ministry, including healings, exorcisms, and raising Lazarus from the dead.

Jesus frequently put himself in opposition to the Jewish religious leaders including the opposing forces of Sadducees and Pharisees. His teaching castigated the Pharisees primarily for their legalism and hypocrisy, although he also had followers among the religious leaders (see Nicodemus). In his role as a social reformer, and with his followers holding the inflammatory view that he was the Jewish Messiah, Jesus threatened the status quo.

Jesus also preached the imminent end of the current era (αίών) of history, in some sense a literal end of the world as people of his time knew it; in this sense he was an apocalyptic preacher bringing a message about the imminent end of the world the Jews knew. Some interpretations of the text, particularly amongst Protestants, suggest that Jesus opposed stringent interpretations of Jewish law, supporting the spirit more than the letter.

The Bible does not indicate that Jesus had any romantic relationships.

File:Michelangelo.pieta.650pix.jpg

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

Arrest and trial

Jesus came with his followers to Jerusalem during the Passover festival, and created a disturbance at the Temple by overturning the tables of the moneychangers there. He was subsequently arrested on the orders of the Sanhedrin and the High Priest, Joseph Caiaphas. He was identified to the guards by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot, who is portrayed as having betrayed Jesus by a kiss.

He was condemned for blasphemy by the Sanhedrin and turned over to the Romans for execution - but not for blasphemy, but for sedition against the Empire. According to the gospels, Jesus was crucified by the Romans on the reluctant orders of Pontius Pilate, bowing to the Jewish religious leaders' pressure. Some scholars argue that it was an ordinary Roman trial of a rebel, whose Messianic claims made him especially dangerous. (See Barabbas.) All four gospels mention that the charge attached by orders of Pilate atop the cross included the term "King of the Jews." This charge is known as the titulus crucis, and is often written as INRI, the Latin acronym for "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

Following the crucifixion, a deal with Pilate by Joseph of Arimathea resulted in the body being taken down and entombed, in the presence of Mary and other women, notably Mary Magdalene.

Resurrection and Ascension

Main article: Resurrection of Jesus

Christians believe that Jesus was raised from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. This event is referred to in Christian terminology as the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and is commemorated and celebrated by most groups who consider themselves Christians each year at Easter (on the Sunday).

No one was a witness to the resurrection, though the women who went to anoint the body found the tomb empty, and the Synoptic gospels further state that an angel was waiting at the tomb to explain that Jesus had been resurrected; Mark further claims that Mary Magdalene saw Jesus himself later that morning. The Gospel of John makes no mention of an angel, but states that after Mary returned to the gravesite, the risen Jesus appeared to her. After the resurrection, the Gospels (and the book of Acts) give various accounts of Jesus meeting various people in various places over a period of forty days before "ascending into heaven".

Most Christians — even those who do not hold to the literal truth of everything in the gospels — accept the New Testament story of the Resurrection as a historical account of an actual event central to their faith; however, some liberal Christians do not accept a literal bodily resurrection (e.g. John Shelby Spong).

According to most Christian interpretations of the Bible, the theme of Jesus' preaching was that of apocalyptic repentance. Later, Jesus extensively trained twelve Apostles to continue his teachings. Most Christians who hold that Jesus' miracles were literally true, not allegory, think that the Apostles gained the power to perform healing for both Jews and Gentiles alike after they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit which he was to send to them following his Ascension (this event is variously referred to as Pentecost or Whitsun).

Names and titles

Main article: Names and titles of Jesus

Jesus is derived from the Koine Greek Ιησους (Iēsoûs) via Latin. The earliest uses of Iēsoûs are found in the writings of Philo of Alexandria, Josephus, and the Septuagint, as a transliteration of the Hebrew name Yehoshua (יהושע — known in English as Joshua when transliterated directly from Hebrew), and also Yeshua (ישוע). Jesus' original name is not reported by contemporary or near-contemporary sources, but modern scholars have suggested that Jesus' name was the Aramaic ישׁוע / Yēšûaʿ (as in the Syriac New Testament) a shortened form of Yehoshua used in Ezra, Nehemiah and Chronicles), which was a fairly common name at the time. Josephus, a first century Jewish historian, mentions no fewer than nineteen different people with this name, about half of them contemporaries of Jesus of Nazareth. Other Aramaic forms of the name include Yeshu`, Ishu`, and Eshu`. His patronymic would have been, bar Yosef, for "son of Joseph".

The Arabic form of the name used by Christians, following Syriac, is Yasu`. Muslims, following Qur'anic usage, refer to him by the name `Isa (possibly cognate with the Hebrew name Esau.)

Christ is not a name but a title, which comes from the Greek Χριστός (Christos) via Latin, meaning anointed with chrism. The Greek form is a liberal translation of Messiah from Hebrew mashiach (משיח) or Aramaic m'shikha (משיחא), a word which occurs often in the Hebrew Bible and typically refers to the "high priest" or "king". The title does not imply, either in Greek or in Hebrew, a divine nature for the possessor of it. In fact, it would seem prima facie that an inherently divine being would not be in need of being anointed. The title Christ is also sometimes identified with the Greek chrestos, meaning "good", although the words are unrelated in terms of etymology, and Chrestus was often used as a pet name for slaves.

The Gospels record Jesus referring to himself both as Son of Man and as Son of God, but not as God the Son. However, some scholars have argued that Son of Man was an expression that functioned as an indirect first person pronoun, and that Son of God was an expression that signified "a righteous person". Evidence for these positions is provided by similar use by other persons than Jesus at a similar time to the writing of the Gospels, such as Jewish priests and judges.

In the Gospels, Jesus has many other titles, including Prophet (a title that he applied to himself, unlike others), Lord, and King of the Jews. Together, the majority of Christians understand these titles as attesting to Jesus' divinity. Some historians argue that when used in other Hebrew and Aramaic texts of the time, these titles have other meanings, and therefore may have other meanings when used in the Gospels as well.

Cultural and historical background

Main article: Cultural and historical background of Jesus

Desert hills in southern Judea, looking east from the town of Arad

The world in which Jesus lived was volatile, marked by cultural and political dilemmas. Culturally, Jews had to grapple with the values and philosophy of Hellenism, together with the paradox that their Torah applied only to them, but revealed universal truths. This situation led to new interpretations of the Torah, influenced by Hellenic thought and in response to Gentile interest in Judaism.

All of the land of Israel belonged to the Roman Empire at the time of Jesus' birth, but it was directly ruled by King Herod the Great. In AD 6/6CE the Roman Emperor Augustus deposed Herod Archelaus, and Judea and Samaria and Idumea were under direct Roman administration and supervision by a Roman procurator who appointed a Jewish High Priest. This situation existed till 64 and the start of the first Jewish War. Galilee, where Jesus grew up (according to the gospels), remained under the jurisdiction of Herod's son, the Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea Herod Antipas from 4 BC/BCE to AD 39/39 CE. At this time Jesus' childhood hometown of Nazareth (Hebrew Natserath) was, as revealed by archaeology, a tiny hamlet of a few hundred inhabitants. It had no synagogue, nor any public buildings. No gold, silver or imported goods have been found in it by archaeological excavation.

Within Judaism, there were several parties, primarily the Sadducees, closely connected with the priesthood and the Temple, and the Pharisees, who were teachers and leaders of the synagogues. They resented Roman occupation, but at Jesus' time were not particularly political. Isolated in small communities from these main groups, by choice, lived the Essenes, whose theology and philosophy are thought, by some scholars, to have influenced Jesus and/or John the Baptist.

Many Jews hoped that the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king (or Messiah) of the line of David — in their view the last legitimate Jewish regime. Most Jews believed that their history was governed by God, meaning that even the conquest of Judea by the Romans was a divine act. Therefore the Romans would be replaced by a Jewish king only through divine intervention. Some, like John the Baptist in the first half of the century, and Yehoshua ben Ananias in the second half, claimed that a messianic age was at hand. Zealots believed that the kingdom should be restored immediately, even through violent human action, and advocated direct action against the Romans. Roman reaction to these zealots eventually led to the destruction of the temple, and the subsequent decline of the Sadducees and Essenes.

Relics

Main article: Relics of Jesus

There are many items that are purported to be authentic relics of the Gospel account. The most famous alleged relics of Jesus are the Shroud of Turin, which is claimed to be the burial shroud used to wrap his body, the Sudarium of Oviedo, which is claimed to be the cloth which was used to cover his face, and the Holy Grail which is said to have been used to collect his blood during his crucifixion and possibly used at The Last Supper. Many modern Christians, however, do not accept any of these as true relics. Indeed, this skepticism has been around for centuries, with Erasmus joking that so much wood formed parts of the True Cross, that Jesus must have been crucified on a whole forest.

Artistic portrayals

Main articles: Dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ and Images of Jesus

Jesus has been portrayed in countless paintings and sculptures throughout the middle ages, renaissance, and modern times. Often he is portrayed as looking like a male from the region of the artist creating the portrait. According to historians, forensic scientists, and genetics experts, he was most likely a bronze-skinned man—resembling a modern-day man of Middle Eastern descent.

Jesus has been featured in many films and media forms, sometimes seriously, and other times satirically. Many of these portrayals have attracted controversy, whether they were intended to be based on the Biblical accounts (such as Mel Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of the Christ and Pier Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew) or intentionally added extra material (such as The Last Temptation of Christ). Another recurring theme is the up-dating of aspects of the life of Jesus, or imagining his Second Coming (for example, The Seventh Sign). In many films Jesus himself is a minor character, used to develop the overall themes or to provide context. For example, in Ben-Hur and The Life of Brian Jesus only appears in a few scenes.

In music, many songs refer to Jesus and Jesus provides the theme for many classical works throughout musical history.

Sources and further reading

The New Testament of the Bible, especially the Gospels.
The Greek New Testament, Aland, United Bible Societies
A Textual Commentary on the Greek NT, Metzger
Teach Yourself NT Greek, Hudson, ISBN 0844237892
The Apostolic Fathers, Lightfoot, Harmer, Holmes
Acharya S The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold ISBN 0932813747
Akers, Keith, "The Lost Religion of Jesus," ISBN 1930051263
Albright, William F. Yahweh and the Gods of Canaan: An Historical Analysis of Two Contrasting Faiths, ISBN 0931464013
Badenas, Robert. Christ the End of the Law, Romans 10.4 in Pauline Perspective, ISBN 0905774930
Brown, Raymond. Does the NT call Jesus God?, Theological Studies #26, 1965
Crossan, John Dominic. Who Killed Jesus?: Exposing the Roots of Anti-Semitism in the Gospel Story of the Death of Jesus
Davenport, Guy and Urrutia, Benjamin. The Logia of Yeshua: The Sayings of Jesus, ISBN 1887178708
Doherty, Earl. The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ?: Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus, ISBN 0968601405
Dunn, James D.G. Jesus, Paul and the Law, ISBN 0664250955
Ehrman, Bart. Jesus: apocalyptic prophet of the new millennium, ISBN 019512474X
Ehrman, Bart. The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, ISBN 0195154622
Fredriksen, Paula. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews: A Jewish Life and the Emergence of Christianity ISBN 0679767460
Fredriksen, Paula. From Jesus to Christ: The Origins of the New Testament Images of Christ ISBN 0300084579, ISBN 0300040180
Funk, Robert W. The Five Gospels: What Did Jesus Really Say? The Search for the Authentic Words of Jesus
Gaus, Andy. The Unvarnished New Testament, A new translation from the original Greek free of doctrines and dogmas, ISBN 0933999992
Lewis, C.S. "Mere Christianity" A book on Christianity and logical support for Jesus as God. ISBN 0060652926
McDowell, Josh. Evidence that Demands a Verdict, Two volumes looking at Jesus from the point of view of evidence. Vol I: ISBN 0918956463 , Vol. II: ISBN 0918956730
Meier, John P. A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus
Mendenhall, George E. The Tenth Generation: The Origins of the Biblical Tradition, The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973. ISBN 0-8018-1654-8. A study of the earliest traditions of Israel from linguistic and archaeological evidence which also treats the teachings and followers of Jesus in that context.
Mendenhall, George E. Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context, Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22313-3. Another, less technical, study of the earliest traditions of Israel from linguistic and archaeological evidence which also treats the teachings and followers of Jesus in that context.
Messori, Vittorio. Jesus hypotheses, St Paul Publications, 1977, ISBN 0854391541; The translation from Italian Ipotesi su Gesù. An amazing and very readable book that shows how Vittorio Messori, a recognized Italian historian who didn't care about faith, explores the question of Jesus, starting from two points of view, mythical (Jesus never lived) and critical (Jesus was not God) and finally comes to the third hypothesis, the one of the faith. The author is also famous as one of the rare who did an interview with Pope John Paul II.
Miller, Robert, The Complete Gospels, the Scholars Version translation of gospels from the first three centuries, includes canonical gospels, thomas, james, mary, infancy gospels, fragments, ISBN 0944344305
Pelikan, Jaroslav. Jesus Through the Centuries: His Place in the History of Culture, Yale University Press, 1985, hardcover, 270 pages, ISBN 0300034962; trade paperback, HarperCollins reprint, 304 pages, ISBN 0060970804; trade paperback, Yale University Press, 1999, 320 pages, ISBN 0300079877
Price, Robert M. Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable Is the Gospel Tradition? ISBN 1591021219
Sanders, E.P. The historical figure of Jesus, Penguin, 1996, ISBN 0140144994. An up-to-date, popular, but thoroughly scholarly book.
Sanders, E.P. Jesus and Judaism, Fortress Press, 1987, ISBN 0800620615. More specialistic than the previous book, though not inaccessible.
Schaberg, Jane. Illegitimacy of Jesus: A Feminist Theological Interpretation of the Infancy Narratives
Theissen, Gerd, and Annette Merz. The Historical Jesus: A Comprehensive Guide, Fortress Press, 2003, ISBN 0800631226. An amazing book, tough but rewarding, exceptionally detailed.
Theissen, Gerd. The Shadow of the Galilean: The Quest of the Historical Jesus in Narrative Form. Fortress Press.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity ISBN 0060652926
Vermes, Geza. Jesus the Jew: A Historian's Reading of the Gospels ISBN 0800614437
Vermes, Geza. The Religion of Jesus the Jew ISBN 0800627970
Vermes, Geza. Jesus in his Jewish context ISBN 0800636236
Walvoord, John F. Jesus Christ Our Lord. Moody Press, 1969. ISBN 0802443265
Wilson, Ian Jesus: The evidence ISBN 0297835297
Yoder, John H. The Politics of Jesus ISBN 0-8028-0734-8
Yogananda, Paramahansa: The Second Coming of Christ, ISBN 0876125550
In Quest of the Hero:(Mythos Series) — Otto Rank, Lord Fitzroy Richard Somerset Raglan and Alan Dundes, Princeton University Press, 1990, ISBN 0691020620
Carlyle, Thomas. On Heroes, Hero-Worship, & the Heroic in History.
The Superhuman life of Gesar of Ling — Alexandra David-Neel (A divine hero still in oral tradition)
The Jewish historian Josephus allegedly wrote about Jesus in Jewish Antiquities, Book 18, chapter 3, paragraph 3 www.josephus-1.com in the year 94. Most scholars regard this passage as a later insertion.
Jesus and the Victory of God N.T.Wright, SPCK (London), 1996 ISBN 0281047170. Second in a projected massive five or six volume series on Christian origins, dealing with the life and death of Christ from a very open Evangelical perspective. The author is now Bishop of Durham (Church of England).
Michael H. Hart, The 100, Carol Publishing Group, July 1992, paperback, 576 pages, ISBN 0806513500

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