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147-409: Anglican prayer bead sets consist of a cross and thirty-three beads. The loop is formed of thirty-two beads. Twenty-eight of the beads are divided into four groups consisting of seven beads, each which are called "weeks". The four larger beads separating the four groups are called "cruciform" beads. When the loop of an Anglican prayer bead set is opened into a circular shape, the "cruciform" beads form

294-512: A careful and ordered transmission of it." David Jenkins , a former Anglican Bishop of Durham and university professor, has said: "Certainly not! There is absolutely no certainty in the New Testament about anything of importance." Chris Keith has called for the employment of social memory theory regarding the memories transmitted by the Gospels over the traditional form-critical approach emphasizing

441-507: A companion of Paul mentioned in a few epistles; and John by another of Jesus's disciples, the " beloved disciple ". According to the Marcan priority , the first to be written was the Gospel of Mark (written AD 60–75), followed by the Gospel of Matthew (AD 65–85), the Gospel of Luke (AD 65–95), and the Gospel of John (AD 75–100). Most scholars agree that the authors of Matthew and Luke used Mark as

588-467: A decrease in arguing for the existence of hypothetical sources behind the Gospel of John in scholarship. The fact that the format of John follows that set by Mark need not imply that the author knew Mark, for there are no identical or almost-identical passages; rather, this was most probably the accepted shape for a gospel by the time John was written. Nevertheless, John's discourses are full of synoptic-like material: some scholars think this indicates that

735-468: A distinction between 'authentic' and 'inauthentic' tradition. Keith observes that the memories presented by the Gospels can contradict and are not always historically correct. Chris Keith argues that the Historical Jesus was the one who could create these memories, both true or not. For instance, Mark and Luke disagree on how Jesus came back to the synagogue, with the likely more accurate Mark arguing he

882-487: A dual paternity, since there it is stated he descended from the seed or loins of David. By taking him as his own , Joseph will give him the necessary Davidic descent. Some scholars suggest that Jesus had Levite heritage from Mary, based on her blood relationship with Elizabeth . In Matthew, Joseph is troubled because Mary, his betrothed, is pregnant, but in the first of Joseph's four dreams an angel assures him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife because her child

1029-658: A final prayer on the cross as in the examples below. The entire circle may be done thrice, which signifies the lifetime of Jesus Christ and the Holy Trinity . The Cross In the Name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. The Invitatory O God make speed to save me (us), O Lord make haste to help me (us), Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in

1176-533: A follower of Christ) has been in use since the 1st century. The four canonical gospels ( Matthew , Mark , Luke , and John ) are the foremost sources for the life and message of Jesus. But other parts of the New Testament also include references to key episodes in his life, such as the Last Supper in 1 Corinthians 11 :23–26. Acts of the Apostles refers to Jesus's early ministry and its anticipation by John

1323-527: A further 200 verses (roughly) which are not taken from Mark: this is called the Q source . Q is usually dated about a decade earlier than Mark; some scholars argue that it was a single written document, others for multiple documents, and others that there was a core written Q accompanied by an oral tradition. Despite ongoing debate over its exact content - some Q materials in Matthew and Luke are identical word for word, but others are substantially different - there

1470-538: A more appropriate textual method. Most modern Bibles have footnotes to indicate passages that have disputed source documents. Bible Commentaries also discuss these, sometimes in great detail. While many variations have been discovered between early copies of biblical texts, most of these are variations in spelling, punctuation, or grammar. Also, many of these variants are so particular to the Greek language that they would not appear in translations into other languages. Three of

1617-497: A number of criteria to evaluate the probability or historical authenticity of an attested event or saying in the gospels. These criteria are the criterion of dissimilarity ; the criterion of embarrassment ; the criterion of multiple attestation ; the criterion of cultural and historical congruency; and the criterion of "Aramaisms". They are applied to the sayings and events described in the Gospels to evaluate their historical reliability. The criterion of dissimilarity argues that if

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1764-455: A priori arguments the Gospels are reliable, Alan Kirk criticizes allegations of memory distortion common in Biblical studies. Kirk finds that much research in psychology involves experimentation in labs decontextualized from the real world, making use of their results dubious, hence the rise of what he calls 'ecological' approaches to memory. Kirk claims that social contagion is one phenomenon that

1911-452: A saying or action is dissimilar or contrary to the views of Judaism in the context of Jesus or the views of the early church, then it can more confidently be regarded as an authentic saying or action of Jesus. Commonly cited examples of this are Jesus's controversial reinterpretation of Mosaic law in his Sermon on the Mount and Peter 's decision to allow uncircumcised gentiles into what was at

2058-683: A saying that lacks Aramaic roots. Most scholars believe that the Historical Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet who predicted the imminent end or transformation of the world, though others, notably the Jesus Seminar , disagree. As eyewitnesses began to die, and as the missionary needs of the church grew, there was an increasing demand and need for written versions of the founder's life and teachings. The stages of this process can be summarised as follows: The New Testament preserves signs of these oral traditions and early documents: for example, parallel passages between Matthew, Mark and Luke on one hand and

2205-513: A severely factual account of events." Regardless EP Sanders claimed that the sources for Jesus are superior to the ones for Alexander the Great . New Testament scholar James D.G. Dunn believed that "the earliest tradents within the Christian churches [were] preservers more than innovators...seeking to transmit, retell, explain, interpret, elaborate, but not create de novo ...Through the main body of

2352-448: A source for their gospels. Since Matthew and Luke also share some content not found in Mark, many scholars assume that they used another source (commonly called the " Q source ") in addition to Mark. One important aspect of the study of the Gospels is the literary genre under which they fall. Genre "is a key convention guiding both the composition and the interpretation of writings". Whether

2499-507: A successful ministry, and the second shows Jesus rejected and killed when he travels to Jerusalem. Often referred to as " rabbi ", Jesus preaches his message orally. Notably, Jesus forbids those who recognize him as the messiah to speak of it, including people he heals and demons he exorcises (see Messianic Secret ). John depicts Jesus's ministry as largely taking place in and around Jerusalem, rather than in Galilee; and Jesus's divine identity

2646-515: A tactile aid to prayer and as a counting device. The standard Anglican set consists of the following pattern, starting with the cross , followed by the Invitatory Bead, and subsequently, the first Cruciform bead, moving to the right, through the first set of seven beads to the next Cruciform bead, continuing around the circle. He or she may conclude by saying the Lord's Prayer on the invitatory bead or

2793-493: A town in Galilee in present-day Israel , where he lived with his family. Although Joseph appears in descriptions of Jesus's childhood, no mention is made of him thereafter. His other family members, including his mother, Mary , his four brothers James , Joses (or Joseph) , Judas , and Simon , and his unnamed sisters, are mentioned in the Gospels and other sources. Jesus's maternal grandparents are named Joachim and Anne in

2940-585: A tradition shaped and refracted through such memory "type." Le Donne too supports a conservative view on typology compared to some other scholars, transmissions involving eyewitnesses, and ultimately a stable tradition resulting in little invention in the Gospels. Le Donne expressed himself thusly vis-a-vis more skeptical scholars, "He ( Dale Allison ) does not read the gospels as fiction, but even if these early stories derive from memory, memory can be frail and often misleading. While I do not share Allison's point of departure (i.e. I am more optimistic), I am compelled by

3087-430: A tradition that predates the sources. The criterion of cultural and historical congruency says that a source is less credible if the account contradicts known historical facts, or if it conflicts with cultural practices common in the period in question. The criterion of "Aramaisms" is that if a saying of Jesus has Aramaic roots , reflecting his Palestinian cultural context , it is more likely to be authentic than

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3234-448: Is a rendering of Joshua (Hebrew Yehoshua , later Yeshua ), and was not uncommon in Judea at the time of the birth of Jesus. Popular etymology linked the names Yehoshua and Yeshua to the verb meaning "save" and the noun "salvation". The Gospel of Matthew tells of an angel that appeared to Joseph instructing him "to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". Since

3381-601: Is an exact quotation from Psalm 22:1 ). Matthew contains all Mark's quotations and introduces around 30 more, sometimes in the mouth of Jesus, sometimes as his own commentary on the narrative, and Luke makes allusions to all but three of the Old Testament books. Tradition holds that the gospel was written by Mark the Evangelist , St. Peter 's interpreter, but its reliance on several underlying sources, varying in form and in theology, makes this unlikely. Most scholars believe it

3528-837: Is crazy . Jesus responds that his followers are his true family. In the Gospel of John, Jesus and his mother attend a wedding at Cana , where he performs his first miracle at her request. Later, she follows him to his crucifixion, and he expresses concern over her well-being. Jesus is called a τέκτων ( tektōn ) in Mark 6:3 , a term traditionally understood as carpenter but could also refer to makers of objects in various materials, including builders. The Gospels indicate that Jesus could read, paraphrase, and debate scripture, but this does not necessarily mean that he received formal scribal training. The Gospel of Luke reports two journeys of Jesus and his parents in Jerusalem during his childhood. They come to

3675-480: Is described as both imminent and already present in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus promises inclusion in the Kingdom for those who accept his message. He talks of the " Son of man ", an apocalyptic figure who will come to gather the chosen. Jesus calls people to repent their sins and to devote themselves completely to God. He tells his followers to adhere to Jewish law , although he is perceived by some to have broken

3822-402: Is fairly widely accepted, although many details are disputed, including whether they were written or oral, or the invention of the gospel authors, or Q material that happened to be used by only one gospel, or a combination of these. The Gospel of John is a relatively late theological document containing little accurate historical information that is not found in the three synoptic gospels, which

3969-474: Is general consensus about the passages that belong to it. It has no passion story and no resurrection, but the Aramaic form of some sayings suggests that its nucleus reaches back to the earliest Palestinian community and even the lifetime of Jesus. Identifying the community of Q and the circumstances in which it was created and used is difficult, but it probably originated in Galilee, in a movement in opposition to

4116-514: Is greatly lessened or even ruled out by new study. Kirk claims that there is also an imprudent reliance on a binary distinction between exact information and later interpretation in research. Kirk argues that the demise of form criticism means that the Gospels can no longer be automatically considered unreliable and that skeptics must now find new options, such as the aforementioned efforts at using evidence of memory distortion. Reviewing Kirk's essay "Cognition, Commemoration, and Tradition: Memory and

4263-513: Is impossible to find any direct literary relationship between the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John. While the flow of many events (e.g., Jesus's baptism, transfiguration , crucifixion and interactions with his apostles ) are shared among the Synoptic Gospels, incidents such as the transfiguration and Jesus's exorcising demons do not appear in John, which also differs on other matters, such as

4410-545: Is openly proclaimed and immediately recognized. Scholars divide the ministry of Jesus into several stages. The Galilean ministry begins when Jesus returns to Galilee from the Judaean Desert after rebuffing the temptation of Satan . Jesus preaches around Galilee, and in Matthew 4:18–20 , his first disciples , who will eventually form the core of the early Church, encounter him and begin to travel with him. This period includes

4557-415: Is that Matthew originated in a "Matthean community" in the city of Antioch , located in modern-day Turkey ; Luke was written in a large city west of Judaea , for an educated Greek-speaking audience. Scholars doubt that the authors were the apostles Matthew and Luke: it seems unlikely, for example, that Matthew would rely so heavily on Mark if its author had been an eyewitness to Jesus's ministry, or that

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4704-512: Is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen. The Cross I bless the Lord. (Let us bless the Lord Thanks be to God.) Jesus Christ Jesus ( c.  6 to 4 BC  – AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ , Jesus of Nazareth , and many other names and titles , was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader, and

4851-431: Is why most historical studies have been based on the earliest sources Mark and Q. Nonetheless, since the third quest, John's gospel is seen as having more reliability than previously thought or sometimes even more reliable than the synoptics. It speaks of an unnamed "disciple whom Jesus loved" as the source of its traditions, but does not say specifically that he is its author; Christian tradition identifies him as John

4998-601: The Acts of Apostles (by the same author as the gospel of Luke) would so frequently contradict the Pauline letters if its author had been Paul's companion, though most scholars still believe the author of Luke-Acts met Paul. Instead, the two took for their sources the gospel of Mark (606 of Matthew's verses are taken from Mark, 320 of Luke's), the Q source, and the "special" material of M and L. Mark has 661 verses, 637 of which are reproduced in Matthew and/or Luke. Matthew and Luke share

5145-532: The Apocryphon of James , and many other apocryphal writings . Most scholars conclude that these were written much later and are less reliable accounts than the canonical gospels. The canonical gospels are four accounts, each by a different author. The authors of the Gospels are pseudonymous, attributed by tradition to the four evangelists , each with close ties to Jesus: Mark by John Mark , an associate of Peter ; Matthew by one of Jesus's disciples; Luke by

5292-590: The Apostle Paul , who did not know him personally. Jens Schroter argued that a mass of material from various sources, such as Christian prophets issuing sayings in the name of Jesus, the Hebrew Bible, miscellaneous sayings, alongside the actual words of Jesus, were all attributed by the Gospels to the singular historical Jesus. However, James DG Dunn and Tucker Ferda point out that the early Christian tradition sought to distinguish between their own sayings and those of

5439-551: The Cleansing of the Temple . The Synoptics emphasize different aspects of Jesus. In Mark, Jesus is the Son of God whose mighty works demonstrate the presence of God's Kingdom . He is a tireless wonder worker, the servant of both God and man. This short gospel records a few of Jesus's words or teachings. The Gospel of Matthew emphasizes that Jesus is the fulfilment of God's will as revealed in

5586-491: The Gnostic writings of Valentinus come from the 2nd century AD, and these Christians were regarded as heretics by the mainstream church. The sheer number of witnesses presents unique difficulties, although it gives scholars a better idea of how close modern bibles are to the original versions. Bruce Metzger says "The more often you have copies that agree with each other, especially if they emerge from different geographical areas,

5733-607: The Gospel of James . The Gospel of Luke records that Mary was a relative of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Extra-biblical contemporary sources consider Jesus and John the Baptist to be second cousins through the belief that Elizabeth was the daughter of Sobe , the sister of Anne. The Gospel of Mark reports that at the beginning of his ministry , Jesus comes into conflict with his neighbours and family. Jesus's mother and brothers come to get him because people are saying that he

5880-520: The Gospels , especially the four canonical Gospels in the New Testament . Academic research has yielded various views on the historical reliability of the Gospels and how closely they reflect the historical Jesus . Jesus was circumcised at eight days old, was baptized by John the Baptist as a young adult, and after 40 days and nights of fasting in the wilderness, began his own ministry . He

6027-456: The Jordan River and the temptations he suffered while spending forty days in the Judaean Desert , as a preparation for his public ministry . The accounts of Jesus's baptism are all preceded by information about John the Baptist . They show John preaching penance and repentance for the remission of sins and encouraging the giving of alms to the poor as he baptizes people in the area of

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6174-676: The M source (or Special Matthew) for Matthew and the L source (Special Luke) for Luke. This includes some of the best-known stories in the gospels, such as the birth of Christ and the Parable of the Good Samaritan (unique to Luke) and the Parable of the Pearl of Great Price (unique to Matthew). The Hebrew scriptures were also an important source for all three, and for John. Direct quotations number 27 in Mark, 54 in Matthew, 24 in Luke, and 14 in John, and

6321-574: The Pauline epistles and the Epistle to the Hebrews on the other are typically explained by assuming that all were relying on a shared oral tradition, and the dedicatory preface of Luke refers to previous written accounts of the life of Jesus. The early traditions were fluid and subject to alteration, sometimes transmitted by those who had known Jesus personally, but more often by wandering prophets and teachers like

6468-489: The Roman government, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate , the Roman prefect of Judaea . After his death, his followers became convinced that he rose from the dead , and following his ascension, the community they formed eventually became the early Christian Church that expanded as a worldwide movement . It is hypothesized that accounts of his teachings and life were initially conserved by oral transmission , which

6615-927: The Sea of Galilee along the Jordan River . The final ministry in Jerusalem begins with Jesus's triumphal entry into the city on Palm Sunday . In the Synoptic Gospels, during that week Jesus drives the money changers from the Second Temple and Judas bargains to betray him. This period culminates in the Last Supper and the Farewell Discourse . Near the beginning of his ministry, Jesus appoints twelve apostles . In Matthew and Mark, despite Jesus only briefly requesting that they join him, Jesus's first four apostles, who were fishermen, are described as immediately consenting, and abandoning their nets and boats to do so. In John, Jesus's first two apostles were disciples of John

6762-612: The Sermon on the Mount , one of Jesus's major discourses, as well as the calming of the storm , the feeding of the 5,000 , walking on water and a number of other miracles and parables . It ends with the Confession of Peter and the Transfiguration. As Jesus travels towards Jerusalem, in the Perean ministry, he returns to the area where he was baptized, about a third of the way down from

6909-488: The Synoptic Gospels , are the primary sources of historical information about Jesus and the religious movement he founded. The fourth gospel, John , differs greatly from the other three. A growing majority of scholars consider the Gospels to be in the genre of Ancient Greco-Roman biographies, the same genre as Plutarch 's Life of Alexander and Life of Caesar . Typically, ancient biographies written shortly after

7056-621: The Temple in Jerusalem for the presentation of Jesus as a baby in accordance with Jewish Law, where a man named Simeon prophesies about Jesus and Mary. When Jesus, at the age of twelve, goes missing on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover , his parents find him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions, and the people are amazed at his understanding and answers. Mary scolds Jesus for going missing, to which Jesus replies that he must "be in his father's house". The synoptic gospels describe Jesus's baptism in

7203-427: The "memoirs of the Apostles". Around 185 Iraneus , a bishop of Lyon who lived c.130–c.202, attributed them to: 1) Matthew, an apostle who followed Jesus in his earthly career; 2) Mark, who while himself not a disciple was the companion of Peter, who was; 3) Luke, the companion of Paul, the author of the Pauline epistles ; and 4) John, who like Matthew was an apostle who had known Jesus. Most scholars agree that they are

7350-513: The Apostle , but the majority of modern scholars have abandoned this or hold it only tenuously. Most scholars believe it was written c . 90–110 AD, at Ephesus in Anatolia (although other possibilities are Antioch, Northern Syria, Judea and Alexandria) and went through two or three "edits" before reaching its final form, although a minority continue to support unitary composition. There has been

7497-496: The Baptist . Acts 1:1–11 says more about the Ascension of Jesus than the canonical gospels do. In the undisputed Pauline letters , which were written earlier than the Gospels, Jesus's words or instructions are cited several times. Some early Christian groups had separate descriptions of Jesus's life and teachings that are not in the New Testament. These include the Gospel of Thomas , Gospel of Peter , and Gospel of Judas ,

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7644-559: The Baptist testifies that he saw the Spirit descend on Jesus. John publicly proclaims Jesus as the sacrificial Lamb of God , and some of John's followers become disciples of Jesus. Before John is imprisoned, Jesus leads his followers to baptize disciples as well, and they baptize more people than John. The Synoptics depict two distinct geographical settings in Jesus's ministry. The first takes place north of Judea , in Galilee, where Jesus conducts

7791-616: The Baptist. The Baptist sees Jesus and calls him the Lamb of God; the two hear this and follow Jesus. In addition to the Twelve Apostles, the opening of the passage of the Sermon on the Plain identifies a much larger group of people as disciples. Also, in Luke 10:1–16 Jesus sends 70 or 72 of his followers in pairs to prepare towns for his prospective visit. They are instructed to accept hospitality, heal

7938-499: The Children of God because it would divide Satan's house and bring his kingdom to desolation; furthermore, he asks his opponents that if he exorcises by Beelzebub , "by whom do your sons cast them out?". In Matthew 12:31–32 , he goes on to say that while all manner of sin, "even insults against God" or "insults against the son of man", shall be forgiven, whoever insults goodness (or "The Holy Spirit ") shall never be forgiven; they carry

8085-585: The Confession of Peter and the Transfiguration of Jesus. These two events are not mentioned in the Gospel of John. In his Confession, Peter tells Jesus, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus affirms that Peter's confession is divinely revealed truth. After the confession, Jesus tells his disciples about his upcoming death and resurrection. In the Transfiguration, Jesus takes Peter and two other apostles up an unnamed mountain, where "he

8232-621: The Earth, while the number seven signifies wholeness or completion in the faith, the days of creation , and the seasons of the Church year . Anglican prayer bead sets are made with a variety of crosses or, occasionally, crucifixes. Christian crosses such as the Celtic cross and the San Damiano cross are two which are often used, though other styles are used too. Anglican prayer beads are most often used as

8379-417: The Gospels are generally accurate and often 'got Jesus right'. Dale Allison finds apocalypticism to be recurrently attested, among various other themes. Reviewing his work, Rafael Rodriguez largely agrees with Allison's methodology and conclusions while arguing that Allison's discussion on memory is too one-sided, noting that memory "is nevertheless sufficiently stable to authentically bring the past to bear on

8526-554: The Historiography of Jesus Research" (2010), biblical scholar Judith Redman provides a reflection based on her view of memory research: They [The Gospels] are not ordinary historical accounts and cannot be treated as though they are, but nor are they simply ahistorical materials designed to convince the reader of the author's particular theological perspective. That we have increasing scientific evidence of this has important implications for Christians, but does not, I think, invalidate

8673-508: The Jordan River around Perea and foretells the arrival of someone "more powerful" than he. In the Gospel of Mark, John the Baptist baptizes Jesus, and as he comes out of the water he sees the Holy Spirit descending to him like a dove and a voice comes from heaven declaring him to be God's Son. This is one of two events described in the Gospels where a voice from Heaven calls Jesus "Son",

8820-644: The Last Supper and betrayal, numerous details surrounding his death and resurrection (e.g. crucifixion, Jewish involvement in putting him to death, burial, resurrection, seen by Peter, James, the twelve and others) along with numerous quotations referring to notable teachings and events found in the Gospels. The four canonical gospels were first mentioned between 120 and 150 by Justin Martyr , who lived in 2nd century Flavia Neapolis (Biblical Shechem , modern day Nablus ) .Justin had no titles for them and simply called them

8967-584: The New Testament that are present in the King James Version (KJV) but are absent from most modern Bible translations. Most modern textual scholars consider these verses interpolations (exceptions include advocates of the Byzantine or Majority text ). The verse numbers have been reserved, but without any text, so as to preserve the traditional numbering of the remaining verses. The biblical scholar Bart D. Ehrman notes that many current verses were not part of

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9114-599: The Old Testament, and the Lord of the Church. He is the " Son of David ", a "king", and the Messiah. Luke presents Jesus as the divine-human saviour who shows compassion to the needy. He is the friend of sinners and outcasts, who came to seek and save the lost. This gospel includes well-known parables, such as the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son . The prologue to the Gospel of John identifies Jesus as an incarnation of

9261-536: The Synoptic tradition, I believe, we have in most cases direct access to the teaching and ministry of Jesus as it was remembered from the beginning of the transmission process (which often predates Easter) and so fairly direct access to the ministry and teaching of Jesus through the eyes and ears of those who went about with him." Anthony Le Donne, a leading memory researcher in Jesus studies, elaborated on Dunn's thesis, basing "his historiography squarely on Dunn’s thesis that

9408-624: The Synoptics, the last week in Jerusalem is the conclusion of the journey through Perea and Judea that Jesus began in Galilee. Jesus rides a young donkey into Jerusalem, reflecting the tale of the Messiah's Donkey , an oracle from the Book of Zechariah in which the Jews' humble king enters Jerusalem this way. People along the way lay cloaks and small branches of trees (known as palm fronds ) in front of him and sing part of Psalms 118:25–26. Jesus next expels

9555-551: The World , the True Vine and more. 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. As stated in John 21:25 , the Gospels do not claim to provide an exhaustive list of the events in Jesus's life. The accounts were primarily written as theological documents in

9702-406: The accuracy of the accounts, viewpoints run the gamut from considering them inerrant descriptions of Jesus's life, to doubting whether they are historically reliable on a number of points, to considering them to provide very little historical information about his life beyond the basics. According to a broad scholarly consensus, the Synoptic Gospels (the first three—Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are

9849-418: 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 from Nazareth to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem to register in the census ordered by Caesar Augustus . While there Mary gives birth to Jesus, and as they have found no room in the inn, she places the newborn in a manger . An angel announces

9996-438: The author knew the synoptics, although others believe it points instead to a shared base in the oral tradition. John nevertheless differs radically from them: Textual criticism resolves questions arising from the variations between texts: put another way, it seeks to decide the most reliable wording of a text. Ancient scribes made errors or alterations (such as including non-authentic additions). In attempting to determine

10143-429: The author to express his understanding of the significance of Jesus. In 1901 William Wrede demonstrated that Mark was not a simple historical account of the life of Jesus but a work of theology compiled by an author who was a creative artist. Among the works that the author of Mark may have drawn from include the Elijah-Elisha narrative in the Book of Kings and the Pauline letters, notably 1 Corinthians , as well as

10290-567: The beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. The Cruciforms Holy God, Holy Almighty, Holy Immortal One, Have mercy upon me (us). The Weeks Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, Have mercy on me, a sinner. The Lord's Prayer Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine

10437-441: The birth to a group of shepherds , who go to Bethlehem to see Jesus, and subsequently spread the news abroad. Luke 2:21 tells how Joseph and Mary have their baby circumcised on the eighth day after birth , and name him Jesus, as Gabriel had commanded Mary. After the presentation of Jesus at the Temple , Joseph, Mary and Jesus return to Nazareth. Jesus's childhood home is identified in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew as Nazareth,

10584-510: The central figure of Christianity , the world's largest religion . Most Christian denominations believe Jesus to be the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited messiah , or Christ , a descendant from the Davidic line that is prophesied in the Old Testament . Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically . Accounts of Jesus's life are contained in

10731-428: The claim that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist , writes, "it is hard to imagine a Christian inventing the story of Jesus' baptism since this could be taken to mean that he was John's subordinate." The criterion of multiple attestation says that when two or more independent sources present similar or consistent accounts, it is more likely that the accounts are accurate reports of events or that they are reporting

10878-514: The contested variants carry any theological significance. Modern biblical translations reflect this scholarly consensus where the variants exist, while the disputed variants are typically noted as such in the translations. A quantitative study on the stability of the New Testament compared early manuscripts to later manuscripts, up to the Middle Ages, with the Byzantine manuscripts, and concluded that

11025-498: The context of early Christianity , with timelines as a secondary consideration. In this respect, it is noteworthy that the Gospels devote about one third of their text to the last week of Jesus's life in Jerusalem , referred to as the Passion . The Gospels do not provide enough details to satisfy the demands of modern historians regarding exact dates, but it is possible to draw from them a general picture of Jesus's life story. Jesus

11172-431: The crowds regularly respond to Jesus's miracles with awe and press on him to heal their sick. In John's Gospel, Jesus is presented as unpressured by the crowds, who often respond to his miracles with trust and faith. One characteristic shared among all miracles of Jesus in the gospel accounts is that he performed them freely and never requested or accepted any form of payment. The gospel episodes that include descriptions of

11319-606: The current year is AD 2024 (or 2024 CE )—is based on the approximate birthdate of Jesus . In Islam , Jesus is considered the messiah and a prophet of God , who was sent to the Israelites and will return to Earth before the Day of Judgement . Muslims believe Jesus was born of the virgin Mary but was neither God nor a son of God. Most Muslims do not believe that he was killed or crucified but that God raised him into Heaven while he

11466-502: The dead . The nature miracles show Jesus's power over nature, and include turning water into wine , walking on water, and calming a storm, among others. Jesus states that his miracles are from a divine source. When his opponents suddenly accuse him of performing exorcisms by the power of Beelzebul , the prince of demons, Jesus counters that he performs them by the "Spirit of God" ( Matthew 12:28 ) or "finger of God", arguing that all logic suggests that Satan would not let his demons assist

11613-540: The death of the subject and include substantial history. Historians analyze the Gospels critically, attempting to differentiate reliable information from possible inventions, exaggerations, and alterations. Scholars use textual criticism to resolve questions arising from textual variations among the numerous extant manuscripts to decide the wording of a text closest to the "original". Scholars seek to answer questions of authorship and date and purpose of composition, and they look at internal and external sources to determine

11760-431: The differences are the result of two different lineages, Matthew's from King David's son, Solomon, to Jacob, father of Joseph, and Luke's from King David's other son, Nathan, to Heli , father of Mary and father-in-law of Joseph. However, Geza Vermes argues that Luke makes no mention of Mary, and questions what purpose a maternal genealogy would serve in a Jewish setting. Both Luke and Matthew date Jesus' birth to within

11907-400: The discussion of historicity as secondary, given that gospels were primarily written as theological documents rather than historical accounts. The nativity narratives found in the Gospel of Matthew ( Matthew 1:1–17 ) and the Gospel of Luke ( Luke 3:23–38 ) give a genealogy of Jesus , but the names, and even the number of generations, differ between the two. Some authors have suggested that

12054-553: The divine Word ( Logos ). As the Word, Jesus was eternally present with God, active in all creation, and the source of humanity's moral and spiritual nature. Jesus is not only greater than any past human prophet but greater than any prophet could be. He not only speaks God's Word; he is God's Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus reveals his divine role publicly. Here he is the Bread of Life , the Light of

12201-497: The early period of Christianity, Christians have commonly referred to Jesus as "Jesus Christ". The word Christ was a title or office ("the Christ"), not a given name. It derives from the Greek Χριστός ( Christos ), a translation of the Hebrew mashiakh ( משיח ) meaning " anointed ", and is usually transliterated into English as " messiah ". In biblical Judaism, sacred oil

12348-553: The evangelists were ignorant … they simply did not know and, guided by rumour, hope or supposition, did the best they could". The gospel of John begins with a statement that the Logos existed from the beginning, and was God . The genealogy, birth and childhood of Jesus appear only in Matthew and Luke, and are ascribed to Special Matthew and Special Luke. Only Luke and Matthew have nativity narratives. Modern critical scholars consider both to be non-historical. Many biblical scholars view

12495-586: The faithful from all parts of the earth. Jesus warns that these wonders will occur in the lifetimes of the hearers. In John, the Cleansing of the Temple occurs at the beginning of Jesus's ministry instead of at the end. Historical reliability of the Gospels The historical reliability of the Gospels is evaluated by experts who have not reached complete consensus. While all four canonical gospels contain some sayings and events that may meet at least one of

12642-443: The first generation of Jesus' disciples." Matthew, Mark and Luke are called the synoptic gospels because they share many stories (the technical term is pericopes ), sometimes even identical wording; finding an explanation for their similarities, and also their differences, is known as the synoptic problem , and most scholars believe that the best solution to the problem is that Mark was the first gospel to be written and served as

12789-520: The five criteria for historical reliability used in biblical studies , the assessment and evaluation of these elements is a matter of ongoing debate. Virtually all scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus of Nazareth existed in 1st-century Judaea in the Southern Levant but scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes described in the biblical accounts of him. The only two events subject to "almost universal assent" are that Jesus

12936-404: The general impressions left by the Gospels should be trusted, though he is more skeptical on the details; if they are broadly unreliable, then our sources almost certainly cannot have preserved any of the particulars. Opposing preceding approaches where the Gospels are historically questionable and must be rigorously sifted through by competent scholars for nuggets of information, Allison argues that

13083-466: The genre of the Gospel is not that of pure 'history'; but neither is it that of myth, fairy tale, or legend. In fact, 'gospel' constitutes a genre all its own, a surprising novelty in the literature of the ancient world." Scholars tend to consider Luke's works ( Luke-Acts ) closer in genre to pure history, but they also note that "This is not to say that he [Luke] was always reliably informed, or that – any more than modern historians – he always presented

13230-405: The gospel authors set out to write novels, myths, histories, or biographies has a tremendous impact on how they ought to be interpreted. Some recent studies suggest that the genre of the Gospels ought to be situated within the realm of ancient biography. Although not without critics, the position that the Gospels are a type of ancient biography is the consensus among scholars today. Concerning

13377-406: The gospel traditions' reliability. Historical reliability does not depend on a source's inerrancy or lack of agenda since some sources (e.g. Josephus) are considered generally reliable despite having such traits. In evaluating the Gospels' historical reliability, scholars consider authorship and date of composition, intention and genre, gospel sources and oral tradition, textual criticism, and

13524-420: The gospels (called the theory of Marcan priority ). Marcan priority led to the belief that Mark must be the most reliable of the gospels, but today there is a large consensus that the author of Mark was not intending to write history. Mark preserves memories of real people (including the disciples), places and circumstances, but it is based on previously existing traditions which have been selected and arranged by

13671-485: The gospels is essential in understanding the authors' intentions regarding the texts' historical value. New Testament scholar Graham Stanton writes, "the gospels are now widely considered to be a sub-set of the broad ancient literary genre of biographies." Charles H. Talbert agrees that the gospels should be grouped with the Graeco-Roman biographies, but adds that such biographies included an element of mythology, and that

13818-448: The guilt of their sin forever. In John, Jesus's miracles are described as "signs", performed to prove his mission and divinity. In the Synoptics, when asked by some teachers of the Law and some Pharisees to give miraculous signs to prove his authority, Jesus refuses, saying that no sign shall come to corrupt and evil people except the sign of the prophet Jonah . Also, in the Synoptic Gospels,

13965-414: The historical Jesus and that there is little evidence that the claims of new "prophets" often became mistaken as those of Jesus himself; Ferda notes that the phenomena of prophetic sayings merging with those of Jesus is more relevant to the dialogue gospels of the second and third centuries. The accuracy of the oral gospel tradition was insured by the community designating certain learned individuals to bear

14112-527: The historical Jesus is the memory of Jesus recalled by the earliest disciples." According to Le Donne as explained by his reviewer, Benjamin Simpson, memories are fractured, and not exact recalls of the past. Le Donne further argues that the remembrance of events is facilitated by relating it to a common story, or "type." This means the Jesus-tradition is not a theological invention of the early Church, but rather

14259-455: The historical authenticity of sayings and narrative events. "Gospels" is the standard term for the four New Testament books carrying the names of Matthew , Mark , Luke and John , each recounting the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth (including his dealings with John the Baptist , his trial and execution, the discovery of his empty tomb, and, at least in three of them, his appearances to his disciples after his death). The genre of

14406-500: The individual's hometown. Thus, in the New Testament, Jesus is commonly referred to as "Jesus of Nazareth ". Jesus's neighbours in Nazareth referred to him as "the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon ", "the carpenter's son", or " Joseph 's son"; in the Gospel of John, the disciple Philip refers to him as "Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth". The English name Jesus , from Greek Iēsous ,

14553-408: The influence of the scriptures is vastly increased when allusions and echoes are included. Half of Mark's gospel, for example, is made up of allusions to and citations of the scriptures, which he uses to structure his narrative and to present his understanding of the ministry, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus (for example, the final cry from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

14700-448: The law himself, for example regarding the Sabbath . When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus replies: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind ... And a second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ' " Other ethical teachings of Jesus include loving your enemies , refraining from hatred and lust, turning

14847-483: The leadership in Jerusalem, as a set of short speeches relating to specific occasions such as covenant-renewal, the commissioning of missionaries, prayers for the Kingdom of God, and calling down divine judgement on their enemies, the Pharisees . A large majority of scholars consider it to be among the oldest and most reliable material in the gospels. The premise that Matthew and Luke used sources in addition to Mark and Q

14994-668: The living and the dead , either before or after their bodily resurrection , an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology . The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son, the second of three persons of the Trinity . The birth of Jesus is celebrated annually, generally on 25 December, as Christmas . His crucifixion is honoured on Good Friday and his resurrection on Easter Sunday . The world's most widely used calendar era —in which

15141-556: The main responsibility for retaining the gospel message of Jesus. The prominence of teachers in the earliest communities such as the Jerusalem Church is best explained by the communities' reliance on them as repositories of oral tradition. The early prophets and leaders of local Christian communities and their followers were more focused on the Kingdom of God than on the life of Jesus: Paul for example, says very little about him such as he

15288-452: The method that came from it." Dale Allison emphasizes the weakness of human memory, referring to its 'many sins' and how it frequently misguides people. He expresses skepticism at other scholars' endeavors to identify authentic sayings of Jesus. Instead of isolating and authenticating individual pericopae, Allison advocates for a methodology focused on identifying patterns and finding what he calls 'recurrent attestation'. Allison argues that

15435-412: The miracles of Jesus also often include teachings, and the miracles themselves involve an element of teaching. Many of the miracles teach the importance of faith. In the cleansing of ten lepers and the raising of Jairus's daughter , for instance, the beneficiaries are told that their healing was due to their faith. At about the middle of each of the three Synoptic Gospels are two significant events:

15582-425: The money changers from the Second Temple , accusing them of turning it into a den of thieves through their commercial activities. He then prophesies about the coming destruction, including false prophets, wars, earthquakes, celestial disorders, persecution of the faithful, the appearance of an "abomination of desolation", and unendurable tribulations. The mysterious "Son of Man", he says, will dispatch angels to gather

15729-413: The more you can cross-check them to figure out what the original document was like. The only way they'd agree would be where they went back genealogically in a family tree that represents the descent of the manuscripts." In " The Text Of The New Testament ", Kurt Aland and Barbara Aland compare the total number of variant-free verses, and the number of variants per page (excluding spelling errors), among

15876-551: The most important interpolations are the last verses of the Gospel of Mark the story of the adulterous woman in the Gospel of John , and the explicit reference to the Trinity in 1 John to have been a later addition. The New Testament has been preserved in more than 5,800 fragmentary Greek manuscripts, 10,000 Latin manuscripts and 9,300 manuscripts in various other ancient languages including Syriac , Slavic , Ethiopic and Armenian . Not all biblical manuscripts come from orthodox Christian writers. For example,

16023-406: The most reliable sources of information about Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels, from the Greek σύν ( syn , 'together') and ὄψις ( opsis , 'view'), because they are similar in content, narrative arrangement, language and paragraph structure, and one can easily set them next to each other and synoptically compare what is in them. Scholars generally agree that it

16170-510: The names on the two lists. Various theories have been put forward to explain why the two genealogies are so different. Matthew and Luke each describe Jesus's birth, especially that Jesus was born to a virgin named Mary in Bethlehem in fulfilment of prophecy . Luke's account emphasizes events before the birth of Jesus and centers on Mary, while Matthew's mostly covers those after the birth and centers on Joseph. Both accounts state that Mary,

16317-460: The original text of the New Testament books, some modern textual critics have identified sections as additions of material, centuries after the gospel was written. These are called interpolations . In modern translations of the Bible, the results of textual criticism have led to certain verses, words and phrases being left out or marked as not original. For example, there are a number of Bible verses in

16464-637: The original text of the New Testament. "These scribal additions are often found in late medieval manuscripts of the New Testament, but not in the manuscripts of the earlier centuries," he adds. "And because the King James Bible is based on later manuscripts, such verses "became part of the Bible tradition in English-speaking lands." He notes, however, that modern English translations, such as the New International Version , were written by using

16611-508: The other being the Transfiguration . The spirit then drives him into the wilderness where he is tempted by Satan . Jesus then begins his ministry in Galilee after John's arrest. In the Gospel of Matthew, as Jesus comes to him to be baptized, John protests, saying, "I need to be baptized by you." Jesus instructs him to carry on with the baptism "to fulfill all righteousness". Matthew details three temptations that Satan offers Jesus in

16758-406: The other cheek , and forgiving people who have sinned against you. John's Gospel presents the teachings of Jesus not merely as his own preaching, but as divine revelation . John the Baptist, for example, states in John 3:34 : "He whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure." In John 7:16 Jesus says, "My teaching is not mine but his who sent me." He asserts

16905-494: The physical world to the spiritual . Common themes in these tales include the kindness and generosity of God and the perils of transgression. Some of his parables, such as the Prodigal Son , are relatively simple, while others, such as the Growing Seed , are sophisticated, profound and abstruse. When asked by his disciples why he speaks in parables to the people, Jesus replies that the chosen disciples have been given to "know

17052-435: The points of a cross within the circle of the set, hence the term. Next after the cross on Anglican prayer bead sets is a single bead called the "invitatory" bead, which brings the total of beads to thirty-three. The beads used can be made of a variety of materials, such as precious stones, wood, coloured glass, or even dried and painted seeds. The number thirty-three signifies the number of years that Jesus Christ lived on

17199-476: The preceding two millennia of faith. Alongside his work defining the Gospels as ancient biography, Craig Keener , drawing on the works of previous studies by Dunn, Kirk, Kenneth Bailey , and Robert McIver, among many others, utilizes memory theory and oral tradition to argue that the Gospels are in many ways historically accurate. His work has been endorsed by Richard Bauckham , Markus Bockmuehl , and David Aune , among others. Critical scholars have developed

17346-494: The present" and that people are beholden to memory's successes in everyday life. According to Bruce Chilton and Craig Evans , "...the Judaism of the period treated such traditions very carefully, and the New Testament writers in numerous passages applied to apostolic traditions the same technical terminology found elsewhere in Judaism [...] In this way they both identified their traditions as 'holy word' and showed their concern for

17493-468: The readers of the time. Craig S. Keener argues that the gospels are ancient biographies whose authors, like other ancient biographers at the time, were concerned with describing accurately the life and ministry of Jesus. Ingrid Maisch and Anton Vögtle, writing for Karl Rahner in his encyclopedia of theological terms, say that the gospels were written primarily as theological, not historical, texts. Erasmo Leiva-Merikakis writes, "we must conclude, then, that

17640-418: The rule of King Herod the Great, who died in 4BC. However the Gospel of Luke also dates the birth ten years after Herod's death, during the census of Quirinius in 6 AD described by the historian Josephus . Raymond E. Brown notes that "most critical scholars acknowledge a confusion and misdating on Luke's part." According to John P. Meier , only a few of the parables can be attributed with confidence to

17787-473: The same order in each, although not always in the same contexts, leading scholars to the conclusion that in addition to Mark they also shared a lost source called the Q document (from "Quelle", the German word for "source); its existence and use alongside Mark by the authors of Matthew and Luke seems the most convincing solution to the synoptic problem. Matthew and Luke contain some material unique to each, called

17934-417: The same thing in John 14:10 : "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works." Approximately 30 parables form about one-third of Jesus's recorded teachings. The parables appear within longer sermons and at other places in the narrative. They often contain symbolism, and usually relate

18081-629: The secrets of the kingdom of heaven", unlike the rest of their people, "For the one who has will be given more and he will have in abundance. But the one who does not have will be deprived even more", going on to say that the majority of their generation have grown "dull hearts" and thus are unable to understand. In the gospel accounts, Jesus devotes a large portion of his ministry to performing miracles , especially healings. The miracles can be classified into two main categories: healing miracles and nature miracles. The healing miracles include cures for physical ailments, exorcisms , and resurrections of

18228-523: The seven major editions of the Greek NT ( Tischendorf , Westcott-Hort , von Soden , Vogels, Merk, Bover and Nestle-Aland), concluding that 62.9%, or 4,999/7,947, are in agreement. They concluded, "Thus in nearly two-thirds of the New Testament text, the seven editions of the Greek New Testament which we have reviewed are in complete accord, with no differences other than in orthographical details (e.g.,

18375-406: The sick, and spread the word that the Kingdom of God is coming. In Mark, the disciples are notably obtuse. They fail to understand Jesus's miracles, his parables, or what "rising from the dead" means. When Jesus is later arrested, they desert him. In the Synoptics, Jesus teaches extensively, often in parables , about the Kingdom of God (or, in Matthew, the Kingdom of Heaven ). The Kingdom

18522-407: The source for the other two - alternative theories exist, but create more problems than they solve. Since the third quest for the historical Jesus, the four gospels and noncanonical texts have been viewed with more confidence as sources to reconstruct the life of Jesus compared to the previous quests. Matthew and Luke also share a large amount of material which is not found in Mark; this appears in

18669-423: The spelling of names). Verses in which any one of the seven editions differs by a single word are not counted. ... In the Gospels , Acts , and Revelation the agreement is less, while in the letters it is much greater" Per Aland and Aland, the total consistency achieved in the Gospel of Matthew was 60% (642 verses out of 1,071), the total consistency achieved in the Gospel of Mark was 45% (306 verses out of 678),

18816-404: The synoptic gospels do too. E. P. Sanders writes, "these Gospels were written with the intention of glorifying Jesus and are not strictly biographical in nature." M. David Litwa argues that the gospels belonged to the genre of "mythic historiography", where miracles and other fantastical elements were narrated in less sensationalist ways and the events were considered to have actually occurred by

18963-444: The text had more than 90% stability over this time period. It has been estimated that only 0.1% to 0.2% of the New Testament variants impact the meaning of the texts in any significant fashion. Authors such as Raymond Brown point out that the Gospels contradict each other in various important respects and on various important details. W. D. Davies and E. P. Sanders state that: "on many points, especially about Jesus' early life,

19110-413: The time a sect of Judaism . The criterion of embarrassment holds that the authors of the gospels had no reason to invent embarrassing incidents such as Peter's denial of Jesus or the fleeing of Jesus's followers after his arrest, and therefore such details would likely not have been included unless they were true. Bart Ehrman , using the criterion of dissimilarity to judge the historical reliability of

19257-436: The total consistency achieved in the Gospel of Luke was 57% (658 verses out of 1,151), and the total consistency achieved in the Gospel of John was 52% (450 verses out of 869). Almost all of these variants are minor, and most of them are spelling or grammatical errors. Almost all can be explained by some type of unintentional scribal mistake, such as poor eyesight. Very few variants are contested among scholars, and few or none of

19404-467: The wilderness. In the Gospel of Luke, the Holy Spirit descends as a dove after everyone has been baptized and Jesus is praying . Later John implicitly recognizes Jesus after sending his followers to ask about him. Luke also describes three temptations received by Jesus in the wilderness, before starting his ministry in Galilee. The Gospel of John leaves out Jesus's baptism and temptation. Here, John

19551-520: The work of unknown Christians and were composed c.65-110 AD. The majority of New Testament scholars also agree that the Gospels do not contain direct eyewitness accounts, but that they present the theologies of their communities rather than the testimony of eyewitnesses. Nevertheless, they preserve sources that go back to Jesus and his contemporaries, and the Synoptic writers thought that they were reconfiguring memories of Jesus rather than creating theological stories, , "draw[ing] on direct memories of

19698-487: The works of Homer . According to Adam Winn, Mark is a counter-narrative to the myth of Imperial rule crafted by Vespasian. Advancing a minority view among scholars, Maurice Casey argued that Mark's gospel contains traces of literal translations of Aramaic sources, and that this implies, in some cases, a Sitz im Leben in the lifetime of Jesus and a very early date for the gospel. The consensus of scholars dates Matthew and Luke to 80-90 AD. The scholarly consensus

19845-429: Was "born of a woman" (meaning that he was a man and not a phantom), that he was a Jew , and that he suffered, died, and was resurrected: what mattered for Paul was not Jesus's teachings or the details of his death and resurrection, but the kingdom. Nonetheless, Paul was personally acquainted with Peter and John, two of Jesus’ original disciples , and James, the brother of Jesus. Paul's first meeting with Peter and James

19992-425: Was Jewish, born to Mary , wife of Joseph . The Gospels of Matthew and Luke offer two accounts of his genealogy . Matthew traces Jesus's ancestry to Abraham through David . Luke traces Jesus's ancestry through Adam to God. The lists are identical between Abraham and David but differ radically from that point. Matthew has 27 generations from David to Joseph, whereas Luke has 42, with almost no overlap between

20139-450: Was an itinerant teacher who interpreted the law of God with divine authority and was often referred to as " rabbi ". Jesus often debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God , engaged in healings, taught in parables , and gathered followers, among whom twelve were appointed as his chosen apostles . He was arrested in Jerusalem and tried by the Jewish authorities , turned over to

20286-460: Was approximately 36 AD, close to the time of the crucifixion (30 or 33 AD.) Paul was a contemporary of Jesus and, according to some, from Paul's writings alone, a fairly full outline of the life of Jesus can found: his descent from Abraham and David, his upbringing in the Jewish Law, gathering together disciples, including Cephas (Peter) and John, having a brother named James, living an exemplary life,

20433-560: Was baptized by John the Baptist and that he was crucified by order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate . There is no scholarly consensus about other elements of Jesus's life, including the two accounts of the Nativity of Jesus , the miraculous events such as the resurrection , and certain details of the crucifixion. According to the majority viewpoint, the gospels of Matthew , Mark , and Luke , collectively called

20580-682: Was conceived by the Holy Spirit. In Matthew 2:1 – 12 , wise men or Magi from the East bring gifts to the young Jesus as the King of the Jews . They find him in a house in Bethlehem. Herod the Great hears of Jesus's birth and, wanting him killed, orders the murders of male infants in Bethlehem and its surroundings. But an angel warns Joseph in his second dream, and the family flees to Egypt —later to return and settle in Nazareth . In Luke 1:31–38, Mary learns from

20727-536: Was engaged to a man named Joseph, who was descended from King David and was not his biological father, and both support the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus , according to which Jesus was miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary's womb when she was still a virgin. At the same time, there is evidence, at least in the Lukan Acts of the Apostles , that Jesus was thought to have had, like many figures in antiquity,

20874-421: Was rejected for being an artisan, while Luke portrays Jesus as literate and his refusal to heal in Nazareth as cause of his dismissal. Keith does not view Luke's account as a fabrication since different eyewitnesses would have perceived and remembered differently. While believing that the study of the process of conversion from memories of Jesus into the Gospel tradition are too complicated for more simplistic

21021-467: Was still alive . Jesus is also revered in the Baháʼí Faith , Druze Faith and Rastafari . In contrast, Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah, arguing that he did not fulfill messianic prophecies , was not lawfully anointed and was neither divine nor resurrected. A typical Jew in Jesus's time had only one name , sometimes followed by the phrase "son of [father's name]" , or

21168-554: Was the source of the written Gospels. Christian theology includes the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit , was born of a virgin named Mary , performed miracles , founded the Christian Church , died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement for sin , rose from the dead, and ascended into Heaven , from where he will return . Commonly, Christians believe Jesus enables people to be reconciled to God. The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge

21315-548: Was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became dazzling white". A bright cloud appears around them, and a voice from the cloud says, "This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him." The description of the last week of the life of Jesus (often called Passion Week ) occupies about one-third of the narrative in the canonical gospels, starting with Jesus's triumphal entry into Jerusalem and ending with his Crucifixion. In

21462-462: Was used to anoint certain exceptionally holy people and objects as part of their religious investiture. Christians of the time designated Jesus as "the Christ" because they believed him to be the messiah, whose arrival is prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. In postbiblical usage, Christ became viewed as a name—one part of "Jesus Christ". Etymons of the term Christian (meaning

21609-447: Was written shortly before or after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Second Temple in the year 70, and internal evidence suggests that it probably originated in Syria among a Christian community consisting at least partly of non-Jews who spoke Greek rather than Aramaic and did not understand Jewish culture. Scholars since the 19th century have regarded Mark as the first of

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