Jesus

Born: 4 BCE Israel

Died: 30 AD Jerusalem, Israel

Also known as Jesus of Nazareth and Jesus Christ, Jesus was a first century Jewish carpenter, teacher, preacher, and religious leader. Within the Christian tradition and theology, Jesus is considered the son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to Mary, a virgin, the messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible. Christians believe that God ordained Jesus to come to Earth as a man to die as atonement for humankind's sin, allowing the human race to be reconciled to God. Islam regards Jesus as a great prophet, but not the son of God. Judaism rejects the idea that Jesus was the long-awaited messiah. The first four books of the New Testament tell the story of Jesus' life and public ministry and remain the central source of knowledge about Jesus.

Reginald H. Fuller, "Jesus Christ," The Oxford Companion to the Bible, ed. by Bruce M. Metzger and Michael D. Coogan (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 356-66; Karl Rahner, Encyclopedia of Theology: A Concise Sacramentum Mundi (Mumbai: St. Pauls, 1975), 732; The World Book Encyclopedia (Chicago: World Book, 2006), 11:104; Craig L. Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels, 2nd ed. (Nashville: B & H Academic, 2009), 207-482.