Ecce Homo ("Behold the Man!"),
Pontius Pilate presenting a
scourged Jesus of Nazareth to the
people of Jerusalem

Death

The Entombment of Christ
or Deposition from the Cross (1602–1603)
is a masterwork of
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.

(larger image)

Jesus as man

Worshiped the Father

Prayed to the Father

Jesus Praying in Gethsemane

Was tempted

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

(Matt. 4:1);

Grew in wisdom

⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

(Luke 2:52);

Died

⁸ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

(Romans 5:8);

Has a body of flesh and bones

³⁹ See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."

(Luke 24:39).

A 16th-century painting of
the resurrection of Jesus
by Matthias Grünewald.

(larger image)

The Gospels all record appearances by Jesus, including an appearance to the eleven. In Mark, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, to two disciples in the country, and to the eleven, at which point Jesus commissions them to announce the gospel, baptize, and work miracles. In Matthew, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and to the eleven on a mountain, at which points he commissions them to enlist followers, baptize, and teach what Jesus taught Although his own mission and his disciples' missions had been to the Jews, here he sends the eleven to the whole world (see The Great Commission). In Luke, he appears to two disciples in the country and to the eleven. He proves to them that he has a body, opens their minds to understand the scripture about the Messiah, and directs them to wait in Jerusalem until they are invested with power. In John, Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and to the eleven. He demonstrates his physical reality to doubting Thomas. Later he appears to seven disciples who are fishing, and finally talks with Simon Peter, foretelling Peter's death and assigning him the principle role as shepherd of the new community.

In Mark and Luke, Jesus ascends to the heavens after these appearances. In Luke, Jesus ascends on Easter Sunday evening when he is with his disciples. In Mark, Jesus' ascension to heaven, where he sits at God's right hand, is said to have taken place but not described as a visible event. John implies the Ascension without describing it.

Historical views

Christ with the crown of thorns, 1623,
Oil on canvas, 106 cm x 136 cm,
Catharijneconvent, Utrecht
(larger image)

Scholars have used the historical method to develop probable reconstructions of Jesus' life. Over the past two hundred years, the image of Jesus among historical scholars has come to be very different from the common image of Jesus that was based on the gospels. Some scholars draw a distinction between Jesus as reconstructed through historical methods and Jesus as understood through a theological point of view, while other scholars hold that a theological Jesus represents a historical figure. The principal sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the gospels, especially the synoptic gospels: Mark, Matthew, and Luke. Including the Gospels, there are no surviving historical accounts of Jesus written during his life or within three decades of his crucifixion. Biblical scholars and historians accept the historical existence of Jesus. (see historicity of Jesus)

The English title of Albert Schweitzer's 1906 book, The Quest of the Historical Jesus, is a label for the post-Enlightenment effort to describe Jesus using critical historical methods. Since the end of the 18th century, scholars have examined the gospels and tried to formulate historical biographies of Jesus. Contemporary efforts benefit from a better understanding of 1st-century Judaism, renewed Roman Catholic biblical scholarship, broad acceptance of critical historical methods, sociological insights, and literary analysis of Jesus' sayings.

Constructing a historical view

Historians analyze the gospels to try to discern the historical man on whom these stories are based. They compare what the gospels say to historical events relevant to the times and places where the gospels were written. They try to answer historical questions about Jesus, such as why he was crucified.

Most scholars agree the Gospel of Mark was written about the time of the destruction of the Jewish Temple by the Romans under Titus in 70 CE. (The most complete ancient account of this event is The Jewish War, by Flavius Josephus), and that the other gospels were written between 70–100. The historical outlook on Jesus relies on critical analysis of the Bible, especially the gospels. Many scholars have sought to reconstruct Jesus' life in terms of the political, cultural, and religious crises and movements in late Second Temple Judaism and in Roman-occupied Palestine, including differences between Galilee and Judea, and between different sects such as the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes and Zealots, and in terms of conflicts among Jews in the context of Roman occupation.

Descriptions

John the Baptist led a large apocalyptic movement. He demanded repentance and baptism. Jesus was baptized and later began his ministry. After John was executed, some of his followers apparently took Jesus as their new leader. Historians are nearly unanimous in accepting Jesus' baptism as a historical event.

Jesus placed a special emphasis on God as one's heavenly father.

Galilee, circa AD 50

(larger image)

Jesus probably lived in Galilee [] for most of his life and he probably spoke Aramaic and Hebrew. The name "Jesus" comes from an alternate spelling of the Latin (Iēsus) which in turn comes from the Greek name Iesous (Ιησους). The name has also been translated into English as "Joshua." Further examination of the Septuagint finds that the Greek, in turn, is a transliteration of the Hebrew/Aramaic Yeshua (ישוע) (Yeshua — he will save) a contraction of Hebrew name Yehoshua (יהושוע Yeho — Yahweh [is] shua` — deliverance/rescue, usually Romanized as Joshua). Scholars believe that one of these was likely the name that Jesus was known by during his lifetime by his peers.

Christ (which is a title and not a part of his name) is an Anglicization of the Greek term for Messiah (χριστός, from the verb χρίω "to anoint"), and literally means "anointed one." Historians have debated what this title might have meant at the time Jesus lived; some historians have suggested that other titles applied to Jesus in the New Testament had meanings in the first century quite different from those meanings ascribed today.

The titles "Divine," "Son of God," "God," "God from God," "Lord," "Redeemer," "Liberator,", "The Prince of Peace", "The Wonder Counsellor" and "Saviour of the World" were each applied to the Roman emperors. John Dominic Crossan considers that the application of them to Jesus by the early Christians would have been regarded as denying them to the emperor(s). "They were taking the identity of the Roman emperor and giving it to a Jewish peasant. Either that was a peculiar joke and a very low lampoon, or it was what the Romans called majestas and we call high treason."

The titles "Son of man" and "Son of David" were taken from Jewish tradition, they were used in apocalyptic literature ("Son of man" in 1 Hen 48:2; 62:5.7.7; 71:17; "Son of David" in Ps Sol 17:4.21), and were applied to messiah.

Many New Testament scholars argue that Jesus himself made no claims to being God. Most Christians identified Jesus as divine from a very early period, although holding a variety of views as to what exactly this implied.

Religious groups

Pharisees

(l. to r.) Nicodemus the Pharisee, an unidentified helper, Mary Magdalene, Mary, mother of Jesus, John the apostle, Joseph of Arimathea placing the body of Jesus in a tomb, sculpture at church Groß St. Martin (Köln Germany), 1509. (larger image)

Historians do not know whether there were Pharisees in Galilee during Jesus' life, or what they would be like if there were.

Sadducees

Essenes

Apocalyptic sect

"Nazarene"

Zealots

Christian scripture as historical texts

Historians examine Christian scripture for important clues about the historical Jesus. They sort out sayings and events that are more likely to be genuine and use those to construct their portraits of Jesus. The Gospel tradition has certainly preserved several authentic fragments of Jesus' teaching.

The New Testament was at least substantially complete by AD 100, making its books, especially the synoptic gospels, historically relevant. The Gospel tradition certainly preserves several fragments of Jesus' teaching. The Gospel of Mark is believed to have been written c. 70 AD/CE. Matthew is placed at being sometime after this date and the Gospel of Luke is thought by some scholars to have been written as early as 60 AD/CE, although others argue for a later date ranging from 70 to 100 AD/CE.

Biblical scholars hold that the works describing Jesus were initially communicated by oral tradition, and were not committed to writing until several decades after Jesus' crucifixion. After the original oral stories were written down in Greek, they were transcribed, and later translated into other languages. Contemporary textual critic Bart D. Ehrman cites numerous places where the gospels, and other New Testament books, were apparently altered by Christian scribes.

Critical scholars consider scriptural accounts more likely when they are attested in multiple texts, plausible in Jesus' historical environment, and potentially embarrassing to the author's Christian community. The "criterion of embarrassment" holds that stories about events with aspects embarassing to Christians (such as the denial of Jesus by Peter, or the fleeing of Jesus' followers after his arrest) would likely not have been included if those accounts were fictional. Sayings attributed to Jesus are deemed more likely to reflect his character when they are distinctive, vivid, paradoxical, surprising, and contrary to social and religious expectations, such as "Blessed are the poor." (cf. Luke 6:20) Short, memorable parables and aphorisms capable of being transmitted orally are also thought more likely to be authentic.

The earliest extant texts which refer to Jesus are Paul's letters (mid-1st century), which affirm Jesus' crucifixion. Some scholars hold that the Gospel of Thomas, a collection of 114 sayings of Jesus, predates the four orthodox gospels, and was composed around mid-first century.

Mythical view

A few scholars have questioned the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure. Among the proponents of non-historicity was Bruno Bauer in the 19th century. Non-historicity was somewhat influential in biblical studies during the early 20th century. (The views of scholars who entirely rejected Jesus' historicity then were summarized in the chapter on Jesus in Will Durant's Caesar and Christ (in 1944); they were based on a suggested lack of eyewitness, a lack of direct archaeological evidence, the failure of certain ancient works to mention Jesus, and similarities early Christianity shares with then-contemporary religion and mythology.)

More recently, arguments for non-historicity have been discussed by authors such as George Albert Wells and Robert M. Price. Additionally, The Jesus Puzzle and The Jesus Mysteries are examples of popular works promoting the non-historical hypothesis.

Nevertheless, non-historicity has been rejected by almost all Biblical scholars and historians. In Jesus Outside the New Testament (2000), Robert E. Van Voorst a Professor of New Testament Studies at Western Theological Seminary wrote, "The theory of Jesus' nonexistence is now effectively dead as a scholarly question. Biblical scholars and classical historians now regard it as effectively refuted." Author Michael Grant stated that standard historical criteria prevent one from rejecting Jesus' existence.

Christian views

Though Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to describe a general majority Christian view by examining the similarities between specific Western Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and many Protestant doctrines found in their catechetical or confessional texts. This view, given below, does not encompass all groups which describe themselves as Christian, with alternative views immediately following.

Savior and Redeemer

The satisfaction view of atonement for sin, first articulated by Anselm of Canterbury, is that humanity owes God a debt of honor. This debt creates essentially an imbalance in the moral universe; it could not be satisfied by God's simply ignoring it. In this view, the only possible way of repaying the debt was for a being of infinite greatness, acting as a man on behalf of men, to repay the debt of honor owed to God. Therefore, when Jesus died, he paid a debt to God, his father. Thomas Aquinas consider atonement and articulated that rather than seeing the debt as one of honor, he sees the debt as a moral injustice to be righted. Aquinas concludes that punishment is a morally good response to sin, "Christ bore a satisfactory punishment, not for His, but for our sins," and substitution for another's sin is entirely possible.

Christians also profess that Jesus suffered death by crucifixion, and rose bodily from the dead in the definitive miracle that foreshadows the resurrection of humanity at the end of time, when Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead, resulting in either entrance into heaven or damnation. The resurrection is perhaps the most controversial aspect of the life of Jesus. Christianity hinges on this point of Christology, both as a response to a particular history and as a confessional response. Christians believe that Jesus' resurrection brings reconciliation with God (2 Corinthians 5:18), the destruction of death (1 Corinthians 15:26), and forgiveness of sins for followers of Jesus.

Fully man and fully God

Christians profess Jesus to be the only Son of God, the Lord, and the eternal Word (which is a translation of the Greek Logos), who became man in the incarnation, so that those who believe in him might have eternal life. They further hold that he was born of the Virgin Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit in an event described as the miraculous virgin birth or Incarnation.

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke suggest the virgin birth of Jesus. Barth speaks of the virgin birth as the divine sign "which accompanies and indicates the mystery of the incarnation of the Son." Donald MacLeod gives several Christological implications of a virgin birth: it highlights salvation as a supernatural act of God rather than an act of human initiative, avoids adoptionism (which is virtually required if a normal birth), and reinforces the sinlessness of Christ, especially as it relates to Christ being outside the sin of Adam (original sin).

Comparison of Christological positions

Ministry

Prophet, priest, and king

Nontrinitarian views

Current religious groups that do not accept the doctrine of the Trinity include the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) (note that Mormonism deviates from biblical, historical Christian beliefs and their bible and teachings do not correspond to the canonical Christian bible) (Mormons), Jehovah's Witnesses and the Christadelphians. A statue of Jesus at a Latter-day Saint temple visitor center

Latter-day Saints theology maintains that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct beings, though all eternal and equally divine, who together constitute the Godhead. Though described as "one God" and "one in purpose," each plays a distinct role: the Holy Ghost is a spirit without a physical body, the Father and Son possess distinct and perfected bodies of flesh and bone. The Book of Mormon records that the resurrected Jesus visited and taught some of the inhabitants of the early Americas after he had appeared to his apostles in Jerusalem. Mormons also believe that an apostasy occurred after the deaths of Christ's apostles. They believe that Christ and Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith in 1820 as part of a series of heavenly visits to restore the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus (not the Father) is the same as Jehovah or Yahweh of the Old Testament, acting under the direction of the Father. See Jesus in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS) (note that Mormonism deviates from biblical, historical Christian beliefs and their bible and teachings do not correspond to the canonical Christian bible). Based on a claimed divine revelation of Smith, they state that Jesus was born on April 06.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus to be God's (or Jehovah's) son, rather than being God himself. Jehovah's Witnesses believe he was the same divine created being as Michael the Archangel, and that God made him a perfect human by transferring his life to the womb of Mary. During the time Jesus was on earth he was simply a man, not a god-man. They also believe that he is "the word" of John 1:1. This is understood to mean that he is God's spokesman, likely the one speaking in God's name to Adam, and to the Israelites in the wilderness. In line with this, they point out that the Bible presents him as the only way humans can approach God. They include words like "in Jesus' name" in every prayer. They view the term "Son of God" as an indication of Jesus' importance to the creator and his status as God's "only-begotten (unique) Son," the "firstborn of all creation," the one "of whom, and through whom, and to whom, are all things." They believe that Jesus died on a single-piece torture stake, not a cross. They believe that he is currently ruling in heaven as king of God's heavenly Kingdom, and will soon extend his rule to earth for a reign of peace. They also believe he is now immortal and can never die again.

The Unity Church considers Jesus the master teacher and "way show-er," citing Jesus' frequent calls to emulate him rather than worship him, and the ability of others to be like him, such as in John 10:34 and John 14:12. Jesus is not worshiped as God, but regarded as someone who had achieved a complete connection with God the Father.

Christadelphians believe that Jesus is literally God's son, hence the Biblical title son of God, not God the Son. They believe that Jesus was in God's plan right from the beginning of creation, but that he came into existence at his birth. Quoting Biblical passages such as Hebrews 2:10-14 and 17-18, they maintain that Jesus was fully human, and that Jesus' total humanity was vital in saving people from their sins. This, Christadelphians believe, would not have been possible had Jesus actually been God. They believe that Jesus is now in heaven, at God's right hand, waiting to return to the Earth to establish God's kingdom here forever.

Others believe that the one God, who revealed himself in the Old Testament as Jehovah, came to earth, taking on the human form of Jesus Christ. They believe Jesus is Jehovah, is the Holy Spirit, and is the one Person who is God. Examples of such churches today are Oneness Pentecostals and the New Church.

Other early views

The Apologists of the 2nd century, such as Justin Martyr, saw Jesus as the Logos or Word of God united with a human being. They viewed the Logos, in line with Middle Platonism, as the source of order and rationality, but distinct from God.

In Gnosticism, Jesus is said to have brought the secret knowledge (gnosis) of the spiritual world necessary for salvation. Their secret teachings were paths to gnosis, and not gnosis itself. While some Gnostics were docetics, other Gnostics believed that Jesus was a human who became possessed by the spirit of Christ during his baptism. Many Gnostics believed that Christ was an Aeon sent by a higher deity than the evil demiurge who created the material world. Some Gnostics believed that Christ had a syzygy named Sophia. The Gnostics tended to interpret the books that were included in the New Testament as allegory, and some Gnostics interpreted Jesus himself as an allegory. The Gnostics also used a number of other texts that did not become part of the New Testament canon.

Marcionites were 2nd century Gentile followers of the Christian theologian Marcion of Sinope. They believed that Jesus rejected the Jewish Scriptures, or at least the parts that were incompatible with his teachings. Seeing a stark contrast between the vengeful God of the Old Testament and the loving God of Jesus, Marcionites, like some Gnostics, came to the conclusion that the Jewish God was the evil creator of the world and Jesus was the savior from the material world. They also believed Jesus was not human, but instead a completely divine spiritual being whose material body, and thus his crucifixion and death, were divine illusions. Marcionism was declared a heresy by proto-orthodox Christianity.

Sabellius in the 3rd century taught that the Trinity represented not three persons but a single person in three "modes." Jerome reported that the Montanists of his day shared this view.

Islamic views

Sermon on the Mount in Islamic art

Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is considered to have been a Muslim, as he preached for people to adopt the straight path in submission to God's will. Islam denies that Jesus was God or the son of God, stating that he was an ordinary man who, like other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God's message. Islamic texts forbid the association of partners with God (shirk), emphasizing the notion of God's divine oneness (tawhīd). As such, Jesus is referred to in the Qur'an frequently as the "son of Mary" ("Ibn Maryam"). Numerous titles are given to Jesus in the Qur'an, such as mubārak (blessed) and `abd-Allāh (servant of God). Another title is al-Masīḥ ("the messiah; the anointed one" i.e. by means of blessings), although it does not correspond with the meaning accrued in Christian belief. Jesus is seen in Islam as a precursor to Muhammad, and is believed by Muslims to have foretold the latter's coming.

Ahmadiyya views

According to the early 20th century teachings of the Ahmadi Muslims of Northern India, Jesus did not die on the cross, but after his apparent death and resurrection (or resuscitation from his tomb) he journeyed east to Kashmir to further teach the gospel until his natural death (The general notion of Jesus in Kashmir is older than the Ahmadi tradition, and is discussed at length by Grönbold and Klatt).

Following Jesus' death of natural causes (so the Ahmadi tradition) "at a ripe old age of roughly 120 years," Jesus according to Ahmadi doctrine was then laid to rest in Srinagar, and that the tomb of a sage known locally as Yuz Asaf (which in Kashmiri means "Leader of the Healed") is really the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth.

Further, according to this movement, the second coming predicted in the Muslim tradition is not actually that of Jesus, but that of a person "similar to Jesus" (mathīl-i ʿIsā), i.e. the founder of the movement himself and his teachings were representative of Jesus.

According to the Encyclopedia of Islam, Ahmadi Christological beliefs are one of the three primary characteristics that distinguish Ahmadi teachings from general Islamic ones, and that it had provoked a fatwa against the founder of the sect, "purporting that this doctrine disagreed with the Koran and therefore had to be looked upon as a heresy."

Judaism's view

Judaism holds the idea of Jesus being God, or part of a Trinity, or a mediator to God, to be heresy. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC/BCE. Judaism states that Jesus did not fulfill the requirements set by the Torah to prove that he was a prophet. Even if Jesus had produced such a sign that Judaism recognized, Judaism states that no prophet or dreamer can contradict the laws already stated in the Torah, which Jesus did.

The Mishneh Torah (an authoritative work of Jewish law) states in Hilkhot Melakhim 11:10–12 that Jesus is a "stumbling block" who makes "the majority of the world err to serve a divinity besides God." According to Conservative Judaism, Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have "crossed the line out of the Jewish community." Reform Judaism, the modern progressive movement, states "For us in the Jewish community anyone who claims that Jesus is their savior is no longer a Jew and is an apostate."

Messianic Judaism

As of 1993 there were 160,000 adherents of Messianic Judaism in the United States and 350,000 worldwide. As of 2003, there were at least 150 Messianic synagogues in the U.S. and over 400 worldwide.

Messianic Jews practice their faith in a way they consider to be authentically Torah-observant and culturally Jewish. However, Jews of all denominations and many Christians do not consider Messianic Judaism to be a form of Judaism, but a form of Christianity.

Hindu views

Buddhist views

Buddhists' views of Jesus differ. Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama regard Jesus as a bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of human beings. The 14th century Zen master Gasan Jōseki indicated that the Gospels were written by an enlightened being.

Other views

The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus. The creators of A Course In Miracles claim to trance-channel his spirit. However, the New Age movement generally teaches that Christhood is something that all may attain. theosophists, from whom many New Age teachings originated (a Theosophist named Alice A. Bailey invented the term New Age), refer to Jesus of Nazareth as the Master Jesus and believe he had previous incarnations.

Many writers emphasize Jesus' moral teachings. Garry Wills argues that Jesus' ethics are distinct from those usually taught by Christianity. The Jesus Seminar portrays Jesus as an itinerant preacher who taught peace and love, rights for women and respect for children, and who spoke out against the hypocrisy of religious leaders and the rich. Thomas Jefferson, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States and a deist, created the Jefferson Bible entitled "The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth" that included only Jesus' ethical teachings because he did not believe in Jesus' divinity or any of the other supernatural aspects of the Bible. (see also: Criticism of the Jesus Seminar)

Legacy

According to most Christian interpretations of the Bible, the theme of Jesus' ministry was that of repentance, unconditional love, forgiveness of sin, grace, and the coming of the Kingdom of God. Starting as a small Jewish sect, it developed into a religion clearly distinct from Judaism several decades after Jesus death. Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire under a version known as Nicene Christianity (see Nicene Creed) and became the state religion under Theodosius I. Over the centuries, it spread to most of Europe, and around the world.

Jesus has been drawn, painted, sculpted and portrayed on stage and in films in many different ways, both serious and humorous. The figure of Jesus features prominently in art and literature. A number of popular novels, such as The Da Vinci Code, have also portrayed various ideas about Jesus, and a number of films, such as The Passion of the Christ, have portrayed His life, death, and resurrection. Many of the sayings attributed to Jesus (such as the sayings of Jesus on the cross) have become part of the culture of Western civilization. There are many items purported to be relics of Jesus, of which the most famous are the Shroud of Turin and the Sudarium of Oviedo.

Other legacies include a view of God as more lovingly parental, merciful, and more forgiving, and the growth of a belief in a blissful afterlife and in the resurrection of the dead. His teaching promoted the value of those who had commonly been regarded as inferior: women, the poor, ethnic outsiders, children, prostitutes, the sick, prisoners, etc. For over a thousand years, countless hospitals, orphanages, and schools have been founded explicitly in Jesus' name. Jesus and his message have been interpreted, explained and understood by many people. Jesus has been explained notably by Paul of Tarsus, the Early Church Fathers, including Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, and more recently by C. S. Lewis and Pope John Paul II. #Patriot Thomas Jefferson considered Jesus' teaching to be "the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man."

For some Jews, the legacy of Jesus has been a history of Christian antisemitism, although in the wake of the Holocaust many Christian groups have gone to considerable lengths to reconcile with Jews and to promote interfaith dialog and mutual respect. For others, Christianity has often been linked to European colonialism. Some question recent activity with the EU with regard to antisemitism. Conversely, some have argued that through Bartolomé de las Casas' defense of the indigenous inhabitants of Spain's New World empire, one of the legacies of Jesus has been the notion of universal human rights.

Notes

• Raymond E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave (New York: Doubleday, Anchor Bible Reference Library 1994), p. 964; D. A. Carson, et al., p. 50-56; Shaye J.D. Cohen, From the Maccabees to the Mishnah, Westminster Press, 1987, p. 78, 93, 105, 108; John Dominic Crossan, The Historical Jesus: The Life of a Mediterranean Jewish Peasant, HarperCollins, 1991, p. xi-xiii; Michael Grant, p. 34-35, 78, 166, 200; Paula Fredriksen, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews, Alfred A. Knopf, 1999, p. 6-7, 105-110, 232-234, 266; John P. Meier, vol. 1:68, 146, 199, 278, 386, 2:726; E.P. Sanders, pp. 12-13; Geza Vermes, Jesus the Jew (Philadelphia: Fortress Press 1973), p. 37.; Paul L. Maier, In the Fullness of Time, Kregel, 1991, pp. 1, 99, 121, 171; N. T. Wright, The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, HarperCollins, 1998, pp. 32, 83, 100-102, 222; Ben Witherington III, pp. 12-20.
• Mack, Burton L. (1996), "Who Wrote the New Testament?: The Making of the Christian Myth (Harper)
• Louis H. Feldman, "Josephus" Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3, pp. 990–91
• Craig A. Evans, The Historical Jesus, Taylor &Francis 2004 (PP 175 - 179)
• Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), pages 90-91
• Howard M. Teeple (March 1970). "The Oral Tradition That Never Existed". Journal of Biblical Literature 89 (1): 56–68. doi:10.2307/3263638.
• B. Chilton and C. Evans, eds., "Studying the Historical Jesus: Evaluations of the State of Current Research" (NTTS 19; Leiden: Brill, 1994)
• Sanders, E. P. The historical figure of Jesus. Penguin, 1993.
• Eliade, Mircea "Images and Symbols: Studies in Religious Symbolism" (trans. Philip Mairet), Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1991, p.170
• "The nonhistoricity thesis has always been controversial, and it has consistently failed to convince scholars of many disciplines and religious creeds. .. Biblical scholars and classical historians now regard it as effectively refuted." - Robert E. Van Voorst, Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000), p. 16.
• "There are those who argue that Jesus is a figment of the Church’s imagination, that there never was a Jesus at all. I have to say that I do not know any respectable critical scholar who says that any more.” Burridge, R &Gould, G, Jesus Now and Then, Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2004, p.34
• Michael Martin; John Mackinnon Robertson
• Mack, Burton L. (1996), "Who Wrote the New Testament?: The Making of the Christian Myth (Harper)
• Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), pages 90-91
• Howard M. Teeple (March 1970). "The Oral Tradition That Never Existed". Journal of Biblical Literature 89 (1): 56–68. doi:10.2307/3263638.
• On John, see S. Byrskog, "Story as History - History as Story", in Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 123 (Tübingen: Mohr, 2000; reprinted Leiden: Brill, 2002), p. 149; Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2006) p. 385.
• John 21:24.
• See the commentary by St. Augustine on hypotyposeis.org; also see the fragments in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.1, 3.39.15, 6.14.1, 6.25.
• For an overview of the synoptic problem that discusses the traditional view in detail, see Drane, Introducing the New Testament (San Francisco: Harper Row, 1986) chapter 11. Also, see Donald Guthrie, New Testament Introduction (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1990)
• Raymond E. Brown. An Introduction to the New Testament. New York: Anchor Bible.
• J.A.T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. 1985. pp.86-92.
• Brown 7
• For an early date, see: J. A. T. Robinson, Redating the New Testament, and William F. Albright, Towards a More Conservative View, in Christianity Today (18 January 1963); for a late date, see R. Bultmann, Kerygma and Myth: A Theological Debate; for a brief overview, see also this article at bethinking.org
• Jo Ann H. Moran Cruz and Richard Gerberding, Medieval Worlds: An Introduction to European History Houghton Mifflin Company 2004, pp. 44-45
• Genealogies Brown p. 236, Ehrman, p. 121; census Brown p. 321, Ehrman, p. 118; Easter events Ehrman, p. 277 and see An Easter Challenge For Christians by Dan Barker
• Joseph Barber Lightfoot in his Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians writes: "At this point [[Gal 6:11]] the apostle takes the pen from his amanuensis, and the concluding paragraph is written with his own hand. From the time when letters began to be forged in his name (2 Thess 2:2; 3:17) it seems to have been his practice to close with a few words in his own handwriting, as a precaution against such forgeries… In the present case he writes a whole paragraph, summing up the main lessons of the epistle in terse, eager, disjointed sentences. He writes it, too, in large, bold characters (Gr. pelikois grammasin), that his handwriting may reflect the energy and determination of his soul."
• 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16: A Deutero-Pauline Interpolation, Birger A. Pearson, The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 64, No. 1 (Jan., 1971), pp. 79-94
• 1 Thess 2:13-16: Linguistic Evidence for an Interpolation, Daryl Schmidt, Journal of Biblical Literature, Vol. 102, No. 2 (Jun., 1983), pp. 269-279
• A basic text is that of Oscar Cullmann, available in English in a translation by J. K. S. Reid titled, The Earliest Christian Confessions (London: Lutterworth, 1949)
• Neufeld, The Earliest Christian Confessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) p. 47; Reginald H. Fuller, The Formation of the Resurrection Narratives (New York: Macmillan, 1971) p. 10; Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) p. 90; Oscar Cullmann, The Earlychurch: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 64; Hans Conzelmann, 1 Corinthians, translated James W. Leitch (Philadelphia: Fortress 1969) p. 251; Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament vol. 1 pp. 45, 80-82, 293; R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81, 92
• see Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968)p. 90; Oscar Cullmann, The Early church: Studies in Early Christian History and Theology, ed. A. J. B. Higgins (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1966) p. 66-66; R. E. Brown, The Virginal Conception and Bodily Resurrection of Jesus (New York: Paulist Press, 1973) pp. 81; Thomas Sheehan, First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (New York: Random House, 1986 pp. 110, 118; Ulrich Wilckens, Resurrection translated A. M. Stewart (Edinburgh: Saint Andrew, 1977) p. 2; Hans Grass, Ostergeschen und Osterberichte, Second Edition (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1962) p96; Grass favors the origin in Damascus.
• Hans von Campenhausen, "The Events of Easter and the Empty Tomb," in Tradition and Life in the Church (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1968) p. 44
• Archibald Hunter, Works and Words of Jesus (1973) p. 100
• Cullmann, Confessions p. 32
• Bultmann, Theology of the New Testament vol 1, pp. 49, 81; Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus translated Norman Perrin (London: SCM Press, 1966) p. 102
• Wolfhart Pannenberg, Jesus – God and Man translated Lewis Wilkins and Duane Pribe (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1968) pp. 118, 283, 367; Neufeld, The Earliest Christian Confessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) pp. 7, 50; C. H. Dodd, The Apostolic Preaching and its Developments (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1980) p. 14
• Reginald Fuller, The Foundations of New Testament Christology (New York: Scriner's, 1965) pp. 214, 216, 227, 239; Joachim Jeremias, The Eucharistic Words of Jesus translated Norman Perrin (London: SCM Press, 1966) p. 102; Neufeld, The Earliest Christian Confessions (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1964) pp. 7, 9, 128
• James M. Robinson, ed., The Nag Hammadi Library in English (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1977) and especially his essay in Hedrick and Hodgson, Nag Hammadi, Gnosticism, and Early Christianity (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1986); Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (New York: Random House, 1979); R. E. Brown, "The Christians Who Lost Out" in The New York Times Book Review, 20 January 1980 p. 3; Koester in Robinson, Nag Hammadi in English, vol. 2 pp. 4, 47, 68, 150-154, 180. It is important to stress that all these scholars, with perhaps the exception of Pagels (whom the rest were critical of on this point) distanced themselves from using the texts as historical sources for the most part, and only proceeded to consider information therein with great caution.
• Apocryphon of John 1:5-17
• Koester, Helmut &Lambdin (translator), Thomas O. (1996), “The Gospel of Thomas”, in Robinson, James MacConkey, The Nag Hammadi Library in English (Revised ed.), Leiden, New York, Cologne: E. J. Brill, pp. 125, ISBN 9004088563
• Miller 6; it also is not quoted in any contemporary writings, and suffers from a paucity of manuscripts, see these articles at answers.org and ntcanon.org
• Clement, Corinthians 42
• Ignatius, Letter to the Trallians 9, Letter to the Smyrneans 1, 3
• Justin First Apology 30, 32, 34-35, 47-48, 50; Dialogue with Trypho 12, 77, 97, 107-108, &c.
• translation by Richard Bauckham in his Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), pp. 15-16.
• Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), pp. 15-21.
• Quoted in Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 4.3.2, translation by Richard Bauckham in his Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), p. 53.
• Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses (Cambridge: Eerdmans, 2006), pp. 53l.
• Feldman (1989), p. 430
• Josephus Antiquities 20:9.1
• Louis H. Feldman, "Josephus" Anchor Bible Dictionary, Vol. 3, pp. 990–91
• "Testimonium Flavianum". EarlyChristanWritings.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-07.
• Josephus Antiquities 18.3.3
• Origin Commentary on Matthew 10.17; Against Celsus 1.47
• Michael L. White, From Jesus to Christianity. HarperCollinsPublishers, 2004. P. 97–98
• i.e. Daniel-Rops, Silence of Jesus' Contemporaries p. 21 and G. R. Habermas, The Historical Jesus p. 193
• John Drane Introducing the New Testament (San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1986) p. 138; John P. Meier. A Marginal Jew (Anchor Bible Reference Library, 1991) v.1; also, James H. Charlesworth, Jesus Within Judaism (Garden City: Doubleday, 1988) p. 96
• Henri Daniel-Rops, Silence of Jesus' Contemporaries p. 21; J.N.D. Anderson, Christianity: The Witness of History (London: Tyndale, 1969)p. 20; F.F. Bruce, New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? (Grand Rapids, Eerdmans, 1967) p. 108
• Agapius Kitab al-'Unwan, 239-240
• F.E Peters, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam Vol.1 p. 149
• Pliny to Trajan, Letters 10.96–97
• Tacitus, Annals 15.44 (Latin, English and also here)
• Robert E. Van Voorst (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence. Wm. B. Eerdmans, p. 43. See also the criterion of embarrassment.
• F.F. Bruce, Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1974) p. 23
• Ehrman, p. "[212 INSERT TITLE]".
• Did Jesus Exist? Earl Doherty and the Argument to Ahistoricity (2002) Retrieved 12/13/2009
• Iudaeos, impulsore Chresto, assidue tumultuantes Roma expulit;
• see his translation of Suetonius, Claudius 25, in The Twelve Caesars (Baltimore: Penguin, 1957), and his introduction p. 7, cf. p. 197
• Francois Amiot, Jesus A Historical Person p. 8; F. F. Bruce, Christian Origins p. 21
• R. T. France. The Evidence for Jesus. (2006). Regent College Publishing ISBN 1573833703. p. 42; ]:
• "Jewish Encyclopedia: Rome: Expelled Under Tiberius".
• Suetonius, Nero 16
• Julius Africanus, Extant Writings XVIII in Ante-Nicene Fathers, ed. A. Roberts and J. Donaldson (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973) vol. VI, p. 130
• Lucian, The Death of Peregrine, 11-13 in The Works of Lucian of Samosata, translated by H. W. Fowler (Oxford: Clarendon, 1949) vol. 4
• Morton Smith, Jesus the Magician: Charlatan or Son of God? (1978) pp. 78–79.
• Celsus, the First Nietzsche: Resentment and the Case Against Christianity. Retrieved 12/13/2009
• Justin Martyr, First Apology 48
• see Tertullian, Apology V
• for a discussion, see Daniel-Rops, Silence of Jesus' Contemporaries, p. 14
• The Babylonian Talmud, translated I. Epstein (London: Soncio, 1935), vol. 3, Sanhedrin 43a, p. 281
• The Babylonian Talmud edited by Rabbi Dr. Isidore Epstein of Jews’ College, London folio 43a
• Paul Barnett, "Is the New Testament History?", p.1.
• Sanders 1993:3
• Van Voorst, p. 8
• Constantin-François Volney, Les ruines, ou Méditations sur les révolutions des empires (Paris: Desenne, 1791); English translation, The Ruins, or a Survey of the Revolutions of Empires (New York: Davis, 1796).
• C. F. Dupuis, Origine de tous les cultes (Paris: Chasseriau, 1794); English translation, The Origin of All Religious Worship (New York: Garland, 1984).
• Durant, Will. Caesar and Christ. New York: Simon and Schuster. 1972
• Durant 1944:553-7
• Bruce, F.F. (1982). New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? InterVarsity Press, ISBN 087784691X
• Herzog II, WR (2005). Prophet and Teacher. WJK, ISBN 0664225284
• Komoszewski, JE; Sawyer, MJ & Wallace, DB (2006). Reinventing Jesus. Kregel Publications, 195f. ISBN 978-0825429828.
• Walter P. Weaver, The Historical Jesus in the Twentieth Century, 1900-1950, (Continuum International, 1999), page 71.

Additional Reading

• Adam, Karl (1933). Jesus Christus. Augsburg: Haas.
• Adam, Karl (1934). The Son of God (English ed.). London: Sheed and Ward.
• Brown, Raymond E. (1997) An Introduction to the New Testament. Doubleday ISBN 0-385-24767-2
• Daniel Boyarin (2004). Border Lines. The Partition of Judaeo-Christianity. University of Pennsylvania Press.
• Doherty, Earl (1999). The Jesus Puzzle. Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? : Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus. ISBN 0-9686014-0-5
• Drews, Arthur &Burns, C. Deslisle (1998). The Christ Myth (Westminster College-Oxford Classics in the Study of Religion). ISBN 1-57392-190-4
• Durant, Will (1944). Caesar and Christ, Simon &Schuster, ISBN 0-671-11500-6
• Ehrman, Bart D. (2004). The New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings. New York: Oxford. ISBN 0-19-515462-2.
• Ellegård, Alvar Jesus – One Hundred Years Before Christ: A Study In Creative Mythology, (London 1999).
• France, R.T. (2001). The Evidence for Jesus. Hodder &Stoughton.
• Freke, Timothy &Gandy, Peter. The Jesus Mysteries - was the original Jesus a pagan god? ISBN 0-7225-3677-1
• Fuller, Reginald H. (1965). The Foundations of New Testament Christology. Scribners. ISBN 0-684-15532-X.
• George, Augustin &Grelot, Pierre (Eds.) (1992). Introducción Crítica al Nuevo Testamento. Herder. ISBN 84-254-1277-3
• Grant, Michael, Jesus: An Historian's Review of the Gospels, Scribner, 1995. ISBN 0-684-81867-1
• Habermas, Gary R. (1996). The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ ISBN 0-89900-732-5
• Leidner, Harold (2000). The Fabrication of the Christ Myth. ISBN 0-9677901-0-7
• Meier, John P., A Marginal Jew: Rethinking the Historical Jesus, Anchor Bible Reference Library, Doubleday (1991), v. 1, The Roots of the Problem and the Person, ISBN 0-385-26425-9 (1994), v. 2, Mentor, Message, and Miracles, ISBN 0-385-46992-6 (2001), v. 3, Companions and Competitors, ISBN 0-385-46993-4
• Mendenhall, George E. (2001). Ancient Israel's Faith and History: An Introduction to the Bible in Context. ISBN 0-664-22313-3
• Messori, Vittorio (1977). Jesus hypotheses. St Paul Publications. ISBN 0-85439-154-1
• Miller, Robert J. Editor (1994) The Complete Gospels. Polebridge Press. ISBN 0-06-065587-9
• New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, New Revised Standard Version. (1991) New York, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-528356-2
• Price, Robert M. (2000). Deconstructing Jesus. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-758-9.
• Price, Robert M. (2003). The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable is the Gospel Tradition?. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-59102-121-9.
• Voorst, Robert Van (2000). Jesus Outside of the New Testament. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
• Wells, George A. (1988). The Historical Evidence for Jesus. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-429-X
• Wells, George A. (1998). The Jesus Myth. ISBN 0-8126-9392-2
• Wells, George A. (2004). Can We Trust the New Testament?: Thoughts on the Reliability of Early Christian Testimony. ISBN 0-8126-9567-4
• Wilson, Ian (2000). Jesus: The Evidence (1st ed.). Regnery Publishing.