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Approaches to the historical reconstruction of the life of Jesus have varied from the "maximalist" approaches of the 19th century, in which the gospel accounts were accepted as reliable evidence wherever it is possible, to the "minimalist" approaches of the early 20th century, where hardly anything about Jesus was accepted as historical. [312] In the 1950s, as the second quest for the historical Jesus gathered pace, the minimalist approaches faded away, and in the 21st century, minimalists such as Price are a small minority. [313] [314] Although a belief in the inerrancy of the Gospels cannot be supported historically, many scholars since the 1980s have held that, beyond the few facts considered to be historically certain, certain other elements of Jesus' life are "historically probable". [313] [315] [316] Modern scholarly research on the historical Jesus thus focuses on identifying the most probable elements. [317] [318] Judea and Galilee in the 1st century Judea, Galilee and neighboring areas at the time of Jesus See also: Jesus predicts his betrayal, Denial of Peter, and Last Supper in Christian art The Last Supper, depicted by Juan de Juanes, c. 1562 The size. I used to be a small-Bible person, but I am really enjoying this large study size! I think I’m hooked!
In the Synoptics, Jesus takes bread, breaks it, and gives it to the disciples, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you". He then has them all drink from a cup, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood," [236] [41] [237] The Christian sacrament or ordinance of the Eucharist is based on these events. [238] Although the Gospel of John does not include a description of the bread-and-wine ritual during the Last Supper, most scholars agree that John 6:22–59 (the Bread of Life Discourse) has a eucharistic character and resonates with the institution narratives in the Synoptic Gospels and in the Pauline writings on the Last Supper. [239] Concerning the accuracy of the accounts, viewpoints run the gamut from considering them inerrant descriptions of Jesus' life, [67] to doubting whether they are historically reliable on a number of points, [68] to considering them to provide very little historical information about his life beyond the basics. [69] [70] According to a broad scholarly consensus, the Synoptic Gospels (the first three—Matthew, Mark, and Luke) are the most reliable sources of information about Jesus. [71] [72] [28] Comparative structure and content Matthew, Mark, and Luke are known as the Synoptic Gospels, from the Greek σύν ( syn "together") and ὄψις ( opsis "view"), [73] [74] [75] 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. [73] [74] [76] Scholars generally agree that it is impossible to find any direct literary relationship between the Synoptic Gospels and the Gospel of John. [77] While the flow of many events (e.g., Jesus' baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion and interactions with his apostles) are shared among the Synoptic Gospels, incidents such as the transfiguration and Jesus' exorcizing demons [78] do not appear in John, which also differs on other matters, such as the Cleansing of the Temple. [79] 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. [307] Since the 18th century, three separate scholarly quests for the historical Jesus have taken place, each with distinct characteristics and based on different research criteria, which were often developed during the quest that applied them. [78] [308] While there is widespread scholarly agreement on the existence of Jesus, [f] and a basic consensus on the general outline of his life, [o] the portraits of Jesus constructed by various scholars often differ from each other, and from the image portrayed in the gospel accounts. [310] [311] Jesus comes into conflict with the Jewish elders, such as when they question his authority and when he criticizes them and calls them hypocrites. [221] [223] Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve apostles, secretly strikes a bargain with the Jewish elders, agreeing to betray Jesus to them for 30 silver coins. [228] [229]In John 18:1–11, Jesus does not pray to be spared his crucifixion, as the gospel portrays him as scarcely touched by such human weakness. [247] The people who arrest him are Roman soldiers and Temple guards. [248] Instead of being betrayed by a kiss, Jesus proclaims his identity, and when he does, the soldiers and officers fall to the ground. The gospel identifies Peter as the disciple who used the sword, and Jesus rebukes him for it. The synoptic gospels describe Jesus' baptism in the Jordan River and the temptations he received while spending forty days in the Judaean Desert, as a preparation for his public ministry. [128] The accounts of Jesus' baptism are all preceded by information about John the Baptist. [129] [130] [131] They show John preaching penance and repentance for the remission of sins and encouraging the giving of alms to the poor [132] as he baptizes people in the area of the Jordan River around Perea and foretells the arrival of someone "more powerful" than he. [133] [134] Jesus and the devil depicted in The Temptation of Christ, by Ary Scheffer, 1854 The date range for Jesus' ministry has been estimated using several different approaches. [344] [345] One of these applies the reference in Luke 3:1–2, Acts 10:37–38, and the dates of Tiberius's reign, which are well known, to give a date of around 28–29 AD for the start of Jesus' ministry. [346] Another approach estimates a date around 27–29 AD by using the statement about the temple in John 2:13–20, which asserts that the temple in Jerusalem was in its 46th year of construction at the start of Jesus' ministry, together with Josephus's statement [347] that the temple's reconstruction was started by Herod the Great in the 18th year of his reign. [344] [348] A further method uses the date of the death of John the Baptist and the marriage of Herod Antipas to Herodias, based on the writings of Josephus, and correlates it with Matthew 14:4 and Mark 6:18. [349] [350] Given that most scholars date the marriage of Herod and Herodias as AD 28–35, this yields a date about 28–29 AD. [345]
Sanders says that the genealogies of Jesus are based not on historical information but on the authors' desire to show that Jesus was the universal Jewish savior. [92] In any event, once the doctrine of the virgin birth of Jesus became established, that tradition superseded the earlier tradition that he was descended from David through Joseph. [373] The Gospel of Luke reports that Jesus was a blood relative of John the Baptist, but scholars generally consider this connection to be invented. [92] [374] Baptism Baptism in the Jordan River, the river where Jesus was baptized Sharing the Gospel with The Jesus Storybook Bible has been one of the greatest privileges of my life.” -Ann Voskamp When the centurion and those with him who were guarding ( Y) Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!” ( Z) That's one opinion among many,” says Joel Baden, a professor at Yale Divinity School and author of The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis. “But they're already asking the question—was it possible or not possible for [Moses] to have written them?”
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Matthew and Luke each describe Jesus' birth, especially that Jesus was born to a virgin named Mary in Bethlehem in fulfillment 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. [96] [97] [98] Both accounts state that Jesus was born to Joseph and Mary, his betrothed, in Bethlehem, 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. [99] [100] [101] 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, a dual paternity, since there it is stated he descended from the seed or loins of David. [102] By taking him as his own, Joseph will give him the necessary Davidic descent. [103] The Circumcision by Giovanni Bellini, ~1500. The work depicts the circumcision of Jesus. Scholars use a number of criteria, such as the criterion of independent attestation, the criterion of coherence, and the criterion of discontinuity to judge the historicity of events. [322] The historicity of an event also depends on the reliability of the source; indeed, the Gospels are not independent nor consistent records of Jesus' life. Mark, which is most likely the earliest written gospel, has been considered for many decades the most historically accurate. [323] John, the latest written gospel, differs considerably from the Synoptic Gospels, and thus is generally considered less reliable, although more and more scholars now also recognize that it may contain a core of older material as historically valuable as the Synoptic tradition or even more so. [324] Jesus is the central figure of Christianity. [82] Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize the key beliefs shared among major denominations, as stated in their catechetical or confessional texts. [453] [454] [455] Christian views of Jesus are derived from the texts of the New Testament, including the canonical gospels and letters such as the Pauline epistles and the Johannine writings. These documents outline the key beliefs held by Christians about Jesus, including his divinity, humanity, and earthly life, and that he is the Christ and the Son of God. [456] Despite their many shared beliefs, not all Christian denominations agree on all doctrines, and both major and minor differences on teachings and beliefs have This was the era of Hellenistic Judaism, which combined Jewish religious tradition with elements of Hellenistic Greek culture. Until the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the Muslim conquests of the Eastern Mediterranean, the main centers of Hellenistic Judaism were Alexandria (Egypt) and Antioch (now Southern Turkey), the two main Greek urban settlements of the Middle East and North Africa area, both founded at the end of the 4th century BC in the wake of the conquests of Alexander the Great. Hellenistic Judaism also existed in Jerusalem during the Second Temple Period, where there was conflict between Hellenizers and traditionalists (sometimes called Judaizers). The Hebrew Bible was translated from Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic into Jewish Koine Greek; the Targum translations into Aramaic were also generated during this era, both due to the decline of knowledge of Hebrew. [319]
Jesus taught that an apocalyptic figure, the " Son of Man", would soon come on clouds of glory to gather the elect, or chosen ones. [392] He referred to himself as a " son of man" in the colloquial sense of "a person", but scholars do not know whether he also meant himself when he referred to the heavenly "Son of Man". Paul the Apostle and other early Christians interpreted the "Son of Man" as the risen Jesus. [28] Main articles: Triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Cleansing of the Temple, and Bargain of Judas A painting of Jesus' final entry into Jerusalem, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1897According to Theissen and Merz, it is common for extraordinary charismatic leaders, such as Jesus, to come into conflict with their ordinary families. [360] In Mark, Jesus' family comes to get him, fearing that he is mad (Mark 3:20–34), and this account is thought to be historical because early Christians would likely not have invented it. [361] After Jesus' death, many members of his family joined the Christian movement. [360] Jesus' brother James became a leader of the Jerusalem Church. [362] I LOVE to give people The Jesus Storybook Bible because from the very first chapter it paints a powerful picture of God’s epic love for each one of us. Sally Lloyd-Jones has a unique way of inviting the reader, young or old, to dive in and discover for themselves the truth and hope of the greatest story ever told.” – Amy Grant The Christ myth theory is the hypothesis that Jesus of Nazareth never existed; or if he did, that he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity and the accounts in the gospels. [s] Stories of Jesus' birth, along with other key events, have so many mythic elements that some scholars have suggested that Jesus himself was a myth. [433]
In the Synoptics, the last week in Jerusalem is the conclusion of the journey through Perea and Judea that Jesus began in Galilee. [160] 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. [219] [56] 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. [220] [221] [222] [223]See also: Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Christ A 1640 edition of the works of Josephus, a 1st-century Roman-Jewish historian who referred to Jesus [320] In the Synoptics, Jesus and his disciples go to the garden Gethsemane, where Jesus prays to be spared his coming ordeal. Then Judas comes with an armed mob, sent by the chief priests, scribes and elders. He kisses Jesus to identify him to the crowd, which then arrests Jesus. In an attempt to stop them, an unnamed disciple of Jesus uses a sword to cut off the ear of a man in the crowd. After Jesus' arrest, his disciples go into hiding, and Peter, when questioned, thrice denies knowing Jesus. After the third denial, Peter hears the rooster crow and recalls Jesus' prediction about his denial. Peter then weeps bitterly. [244] [151] [240] The English name Jesus, from Greek Iēsous, 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". [29] 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". [30] Jesus Christ The four Gospels then describe various appearances of Jesus in his resurrected body. Jesus first reveals himself to Mary Magdalene in Mark 16:9 and John 20:14–17, [287] along with "the other Mary" in Matthew 28:9, [288] while in Luke the first reported appearance is to two disciples heading to Emmaus. [289] Jesus then reveals himself to the eleven disciples, in Jerusalem or in Galilee. [290] In Luke 24:36–43, he eats and shows them his tangible wounds to prove that he is not a spirit. [291] He also shows them to Thomas to end his doubts, in John 20:24–29. [292] In the Synoptics, Jesus commissions the disciples to spread the gospel message to all nations, [106] [293] while in John 21, he tells Peter to take care of his sheep. [48] [294] But Lloyd-Jones’s writing isn’t cutesy. She has a grasp of the profound. How does one explain to a child the agony of Jesus in Gethsemane, and his prayer of surrender to his Father? Lloyd-Jones does it as well as any biblical commentator:
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