Who was Jesus?

Views of Jesus

Christian Perspective

Jesus,
eshua:

also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. He is commonly referred to as Jesus Christ, where "Christ" is a title derived from the Greek christos, meaning the "Anointed One", which corresponds to the Hebrew-derived "Messiah". The name "Jesus" is an Anglicization of the Greek Iesous, itself believed to be a transliteration of the Hebrew Yehoshua or Aramaic Yeshua, meaning "YHWH is salvation".

The main sources of information regarding Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Most scholars in the fields of history and biblical studies agree that Jesus was a Jewish teacher from Galilee, who was regarded as a healer, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified in Jerusalem on orders of the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate under the accusation of sedition against the Roman Empire. A very small number of scholars and authors question the historical existence of Jesus, with some arguing for a completely mythological Jesus.

Christian views of Jesus center on the belief that Jesus is the Messiah as promised in the Old Testament and that he was resurrected after he died on a cross. Christians predominantly believe Jesus is God the Son who became incarnate to provide salvation and to reconcile humanity with God by atoning for the sins of humanity by his death.

Non-trinitarian Christians profess various other interpretations regarding his divinity and humanity. Other common Christian beliefs include his Virgin Birth, miracles, fulfillment of biblical prophecy, ascension into Heaven, and future Second Coming.

       

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Jesus as Myth

The Jesus Myth:

is a loose collection of ideas that have in common the central idea that Jesus of Christian belief did not exist as a concrete human historical personage. While generally associated with a skeptical position on the existence of Jesus as an actual historical figure, there is also a minority of modern Gnostic Christians who hold that Jesus is a myth. Regardless of their actual take on the existence of Jesus, mythicists in general view the Jesus narrative in and out of the New Testament as constructed fictions.

Historically, mythicists have held that the Jesus stories are syncretisms from older myths, but in modern times that view has fallen out of favor among mythicists. Modern mythicism now draws heavily on Bible scholarship and comparative religions, and is increasingly incorporating knowledge of early Hellenistic fiction techniques.

Currently mythicists fall into several major groups. One group, championed by Earl Doherty in The Jesus Puzzle, argues that the Christians originally saw Jesus in visions, and that apparent references to Jesus' earthly existence are misinterpretations of references to visions or later interpolations. Doherty has paid close attention to modern New Testament scholarship, and builds off its findings. This view finds its origin in the work of G. A. Wells.

A second view holds that all of Christianity is a second-century invention. It takes its cue from the 19th and early 20th century Dutch Radicals, who argued that the Pauline letters were fictions. The most well known modern proponent of this view is Hermann Detering, who has published several books. An important recent work of Detering's is The Falsified Paul: Early Christianity in the Twilight.

Yet another position, popular in the pre-WWII period, was that the Jesus stories are reworkings of earlier Near Eastern mythology. However, the scholarship that underpinned that view was primitive and shoddy, and it has gone into abeyance as modern New Testament and Ancient Near Eastern scholarship has exploded many of its claims.

Finally, a persistent position has been that Christianity was an invention of the Romans to suppress Judaism. The best-known modern proponent of that theory is Joseph Atwill , who argued in a recent work, Caesar's Messiah, that Jesus actually represents Titus, son of the Roman Emperor Vespasian. This view is considered fringe even among mythicists, who are considered fringe by mainstream New Testament scholarship.

Regardless of the particular views of a given mythicist, mythicism is driven by several perceived weaknesses in the current "Big Bang" view of Christianity as beginning with Jesus, including the paucity of extra-Christian testimony to the existence of Jesus, the perceived lack of data on Jesus' life in Paul, the knowledge that forgery was widespread in early Christianity (leading to suspicion about the early documents), and opposition to modern historicist Christianity.

Islamic view of Jesus

Islam holds Jesus:

to have been a messenger and a prophet of God and the Messiah (The concept of prophecy in Islam is broader than Judaism and Christianity since Muslims distinguish between "messengers" and "prophets". Unlike prophets, messengers are assured of success. All messengers are prophets but not vice versa) According to the Qur'an, Jesus was one of God's (Arabic Allah) most beloved messengers, a precursor to Muhammad, and was sent to guide the Children of Israel.

In Islam, Jesus (Arabic Isa) is considered one of Allah's most beloved and important prophets, a bringer of divine scripture, and also the Messiah. Muslims, however, do not share the Christian belief in the crucifixion or divinity of Jesus. Most Muslims believe that Jesus ascended to heaven, and will return to the earth as Messiah in the company of the Mahdi once the earth has become full of sin and injustice.

Judaism's View of Jesus

Judaism maintains that the notion of Jesus:

being a God, part of a Trinity, a Messiah, or a even a prophet, to be heresy. This view is shared by all Jewish denominations unequivocally. In Jewish eschatology the idea of the Messiah is so different from the Christian Christ that the slightest possibility that Jesus fulfilled any Messianic prophecies to embody the criteria for a Messiah has always been rejected. These statements and the rabbinic views derived there from present a specific picture of the indivisible Jewish steadfastness in rejecting Jesus as a God, Divine Being, an intermediary between humans and God, Messiah or saint.

The belief in the Trinity, as with many other central Christian doctrines, are held to be incompatible with Judaism. Very few texts in Judaism directly refer to or take note of Jesus.

As Jesus plays no role in the Jewish faith, doubting the historical existence of Jesus is completely compatible with Judaism. Based on a Talmudic tradition some rabbis believed that Jesus lived 130 years prior to the date that Christians believe he lived, contradicting the Gospels' account regarding the years.

Jesus - The Man

Jews believe that Jesus was a Jew who was born in Bethlehem, raised in Galilee, and killed in Jerusalem. Like other Jews in his day, Jesus spoke and wrote the Aramaic language. His own Aramaic name was Yeshua. Like other educated Jews in his day, he was faithful to the law of Moses, learned in Jewish scriptures and oral law, steeped in the spirit of the Pharisees (the leading religious teachers of his day), and expectant of the coming of the Messianic Era (which he called the "Kingdom of God"). In his day, many people called Jesus "rabbi."

Like other religious, nationalistic Jews before and after him, Jesus angered the Roman government.

According to the New Testament and the Christian church, Jesus is divine, the son of God, the Messiah. In sharp contrast, Jews believe Jesus was a man - period.

One Group of Jews Believes Jesus Was the Messiah

Jews for Jesus have a different view:

About Jesus, Jews have said:

"He was a good rabbi. He taught everyone to be nice to one another."

"He was a good Jew, but Paul made him into a god for the Gentiles."

"He got in trouble with the authorities and became a political martyr."

One thing is certain; after two thousand years, Jesus of Nazareth is still as controversial in the Jewish community as he was in the first century. Still, most hold to the traditional bottom line that whatever he was, he wasn't the expected Messiah.

Jews for Jesus begs to differ. We believe that Jesus was, and still is, who he claimed to be-the Messiah of Israel and of all nations. In this section, we present you with arguments for his Messiahship and respond to objections that you may have heard or raised. In this way, we join with those first-century Jews and Gentiles who found Jesus-in Hebrew, Y'shua-to be 'the way, the truth, and the life.'" One thing is certain; after two thousand years, Jesus of Nazareth is still as controversial in the Jewish community as he was in the first century. Still, most hold to the traditional bottom line that whatever he was, he wasn't the expected Messiah.

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Have a Blessed Christmas

Whether you are Muslim, Christian, Jewish, Baha'i or any other religion, or atheists or Wiccans, may the spirit of Jesus touch you, and may you have a blessed Christmas.

Rock

(*Wikipedia is always my source unless indicated.)


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