Jesus of Nazareth
Description
Jesus, also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and by various other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader in the Roman province of Judaea. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Most branches of Christianity consider Jesus the incarnation of God the Son and the awaited Messiah or Christ. Accounts of Jesus's life are contained in the Gospels, especially the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament. Since the Enlightenment, academic research has produced various views on the historical reliability of the Gospels and the extent to which they reflect the historical Jesus, but virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically.
Facts
| Born | c. 6 to 4 BC, Herodian kingdom, Roman Empire |
| Died | AD 30 or 33 (aged 33–39), Jerusalem, then in Judaea, Roman Empire |
| Cause of death | Crucifixion |
| Known for | Central figure of Christianity Major messenger and prophet in Islam Major prophet in Druze faith Manifestation of God in Baháʼí Faith |
| Parent(s) | Mary, Joseph |
Life & work in brief
Summarised by section — one row per topic, for fast reading.
| Topic | Summary |
|---|---|
| Name | A Jewish person in Jesus's time usually had only one name, sometimes followed by a patronymic phrase of the form "son of [father's name]", or by the person's home town. |
| Life and teachings in the New Testament | The four canonical gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) are the foremost sources for the life and message of Jesus. |
| Early Christianity | After Jesus's life, his followers, as described in the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, were all Jews either by birth or conversion, for which the biblical term "proselyte" is used, and referred to by historians as Jewish Christians. |
| Historical views | Prior to the Enlightenment, the Gospels were usually regarded as accurate historical accounts, but since then scholars have emerged who question the reliability of the Gospels and draw a distinction between the Jesus described in the Gospels and the Jesus of history. |
| Religious perspectives | Jesus's teachings and the retelling of his life story have significantly influenced the course of human history, and have directly or indirectly affected the lives of billions of people, even non-Christians, worldwide. |
| Artistic depictions | As in other Early Christian art, the earliest depictions date to the late 2nd or early 3rd century, and surviving images are found in the Catacombs of Rome. |
| Associated relics | The total destruction that ensued with the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 made the survival of items from 1st-century Judea very rare, and almost no direct records survive about the history of Judaism from the last part of the 1st century to the 2nd century. |
Prophecies
Key prophetic utterances and visions attributed to Jesus of Nazareth, with sources.
| Prophecy / vision | Source |
|---|---|
| The time is fulfilled; the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe | Mark 1:15 |
| Not one stone left on another; the temple thrown down | Matt 24:2 |
| The Son of Man comes on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory | Matt 24:30 |
| This generation shall not pass until all these things are fulfilled | Matt 24:34 |