Jesus

Jesus (Greek: Ἰησοῦς Iēsoûs), also known as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ, is Christianity's central figure, both as Messiah and, for most Christians, as God incarnate. In Islam he is regarded as a very important prophet.

Religious perspectives

Christianity

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Christians are those who believe in and follow what they believe to be the teachings of Jesus, almost always religiously. However, Christianity typically has a more specific and involved meaning, as most Christians hold a number of beliefs regarding Jesus and his life that are largely rejected by non-Christians. Generally speaking, Most Christians believe that Jesus is part of a Trinity of three aspects of God, is the Son of God and the Messiah, came to earth to save mankind from sin and death through the crucifixion, and then rose from the dead three days later and ascended to Heaven.

Related Topics:
Christian - Religiously - Christianity - Trinity - God - Son of God - Messiah - Save - Sin - Death - Crucifixion - Rose from the dead - Heaven

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The vast majority of Christian denominations (generally including Catholicism, Orthodox Christianity, and most forms of Protestantism, but not Restorationism) derive their creeds from the agreement reached at the First Council of Nicaea in 325, known as the Nicene Creed, in the form of the Creed of Constantinople (381), though the dominant themes of the Nicene Creed were communicated and widely accepted among the people of the early Christian church. In addition to the belief in "one God, the Father, Almighty, maker of heaven and earth..." and in "the Holy Spirit, the Lord and life-giver, Who proceeds from the Father...", this Creed confesses the belief in:

Related Topics:
Catholicism - Orthodox Christianity - Protestantism - Restorationism - First Council of Nicaea - 325 - Nicene Creed - Creed of Constantinople - 381

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:"one Lord Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God, begotten from the Father before all ages, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not made, of one substance with the Father, through Whom all things came into existence, Who because of us men and because of our salvation came down from the heavens, and was incarnate from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary and became man, and was crucified for us under Pontius Pilate, and suffered and was buried, and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures and ascended to heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father, and will come again with glory to judge living and dead, of Whose kingdom there will be no end." (from J. Stevenson, Creeds, Councils and Controversies (London 1989); note that the above quotation follows Stevenson in italicizing those phrases that do not occur in the Creed of Nicaea).

Related Topics:
Son of God - According to the Scriptures

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Protestant Christians generally believe that faith in Jesus is the only way to receive salvation and to enter into heaven, and that salvation is a gift given by the grace of God. Although most members of the various Christian denominations believe that faith in Jesus is necessary (based upon John 3:16), good works are also expected by most. The Lutheran position is the one stated in John 13:15, where Jesus says that his life was given as an example or role model for his followers. In contrast, Roman Catholics believe that even non-Christians can receive the grace needed for salvation if they live a just life. {{ref|Catechism}} {{ref|JointDeclaration}}

Related Topics:
Faith - Salvation - Heaven - Grace - John - Lutheran

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As reflected in the many different Christian denominations, Christianity has undergone several schisms in its beliefs regarding Jesus. However, there are several beliefs which are common to most believers in the divinity of Jesus. The vast majority of Christians believe that Jesus is God, is the only begotten Son of God, and is the second member of the Divine Trinity. He is said to have been made incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary; that is to say, he took on a human body and became a man as well as a god.

Related Topics:
Schism - God - Son of God - Divine Trinity - Incarnate

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There are many differing views within Christian groups as to whether or not Jesus ever claimed divinity. The majority of Christian laypeople, theologians and clergy hold that the Bible shows Jesus both as divine, and claiming divinity. Others, however, believe that Jesus never claimed divinity, and stated plainly that he was not equal with God.

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This dispute is also sometimes reflected in the rejection of the common Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Unitarianism is Christian belief in only one God, not in the differing aspects of God represented by the Trinity—Unitarian Universalism, while no longer stricly unitarian, nor even necessarily Christian, derives partly from this belief. Less common is Binitarianism, belief in the divinity of both the Father and the Son, but not in the Holy Spirit.

Related Topics:
Trinity - Unitarianism - Unitarian Universalism - Binitarianism

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Some groups, such as the Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses and Christian Scientists, interpret the Bible as teaching that Jesus is the Son of God, but not necessarily God himself. These Christians believe that Jesus was divinely inspired, but not God incarnate. Others, such as Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), believe in a Trinity, but maintain that God the Father begat Jesus as God the Son, and that Jesus created the Earth under the direction of God the Father. Mormons also have additional, relatively recent sacred texts—the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price—that testify that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Swedenborgians (members of the New Church) believe that Jesus is God incarnate, but not a separate person from the Father; the Father is in the Son like the soul in the body.

Related Topics:
Christadelphians - Jehovah's Witnesses - Christian Scientists - Mormon - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Trinity - Book of Mormon - Doctrine and Covenants - Pearl of Great Price - Swedenborgians - New Church - Soul

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The Docetics, an early Christian sect, believed (as Muslims do today) that Jesus never died, and that the Crucifixion was a type of illusion done by God. Another early sect, the Marcionites, believed Paul and Jesus rejected the Law of Moses and revealed in Jesus Christ a Supreme God, greater than the creator god of the Old Testament. Another, the Ebionites, believed in Jesus as a great prophet who had commanded the end of animal sacrifices and the end of the eating of animal flesh. Other than that, they were observant Jews and did not believe in Jesus as God. They followed Jacob ("James" in the English New Testament), the brother of Jesus, and insisted that Paul's teachings were without authority and totally alien to what Jesus taught. Still another, the Arians, believed that the Father was the only true God, based on John 17:3. On the other hand, some semi-Arians believed that the Father and the Son are two beings, both called God. They do not believe that the Holy Spirit is God (as it is not, in their view, a distinct person, but rather an impersonal force emanating from God)—modern groups that hold this semi-Arian view sometimes refer to themselves as Binitarian.

Related Topics:
Docetics - Marcionites - Law of Moses - Old Testament - Ebionites - Arians - Binitarian

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Islam

In Islam, Jesus is known as Isa and is one of God's highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets, specifically sent to guide the Children of Israel. He is said to have lived a life of strict nonviolence, renounced all worldly possessions, and abstained from eating animal flesh and drinking alcohol.

Related Topics:
Islam - Isa - Prophets - Children of Israel - Nonviolence - Alcohol

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Unlike Christian writings, the Qur'an does not describe Jesus as the son of God, but only as one of the many human prophets sent by God throughout history to guide mankind. It also states that Jesus' message to mankind was originally very similar to that of the other Islamic prophets, from Adam to Muhammad, but that it was subsequently distorted by early Christians.

Related Topics:
Qur'an - Adam - Muhammad

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Muslims believe that Jesus received a Gospel from God, called the Injeel and corresponding to the Christian New Testament. However, Muslims hold that the New Testament Christians have today has been changed and does not accurately represent the original. Some Muslims accept the Gospel of Barnabas as the most accurate testament of Jesus. The authenticity and date of this text is disputed in Islamic, Christian and secular academic circles.

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However, the Qur'an and New Testament overlap in other aspects of Jesus' life; both Christians and most Muslims believe that Jesus was miraculously born without a human biological father by the will of God, and that his mother, Mary (Maryam in Arabic), is among the most saintly, pious, chaste and virtuous women ever. The Qur'an also specifies that Jesus was able to perform miracles—though only by the will of God—including being able to raise the dead, restore sight to the blind and cure lepers. One miracle attributed to Jesus in the Qur'an, but not in the New Testament, is his being able to speak at only a few days old, to defend his mother from accusations of adultery. The Qur'an also says that Jesus was a 'word' from God, since he was predicted to come in the Old Testament.

Related Topics:
Maryam - Miracle - Adultery - Old Testament

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Most Muslims believe that he was neither killed nor crucified, but that God made it appear so to his enemies. The Qur'an narrates that God made it appear so that Jesus was crucified to his enemies but he was not, and lived. According to Islam, Jesus ascended bodily to heaven and is alive. Some Muslim scholars (notably Ahmad Deedat) maintain that Jesus was indeed put up on the cross, but did not die on it—rather, he revived and then ascended bodily to heaven. Others say that it was actually Judas Iscariot who was mistakenly crucified by the Romans. Regardless, Muslims believe that Jesus is alive in heaven and will return to the world in the flesh with Imam Mahdi to defeat the Dajjal ("Deceiver"; the Antichrist in Islamic belief) once the world has become filled with injustice, and then live out the rest of his natural life.

Related Topics:
Ahmad Deedat - Judas Iscariot - Heaven - Imam Mahdi - Dajjal - Antichrist

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Ahmadiyya Movement

Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (1835–1908), the founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, wrote in his book Jesus in India (April 1896) that Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to India, where he lived as a prophet (and died) under the name of Yuz Asaf. Ahmad argued that when Jesus was taken down from the cross, he had lapsed into a state similar to Jonah's state of "swoon" in the belly of a fish (see swoon hypothesis). A medicine known as Marham-e-Issa (Ointment of Jesus) was applied to his wounds and he revived. Drawing from Biblical, Quranic and Buddhist scriptures, Ahmad wrote that Jesus appeared to Mary, his apostles and others with the same (not resurrected) human body, evidenced by his human wounds and his subsequent clandestine rendezvous over about forty days in the Jerusalem surroundings. The book uses historical documents to suggest Jesus' travel to Nasibain (Nisbis), Afghanistan and then to Kashmir, India in search of some of the lost tribes of Israel, who had settled in the east some 700 years prior.

Related Topics:
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad - Ahmadiyya - India - Yuz Asaf - Swoon hypothesis - Kashmir

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Ahmadiyya Muslims also believe that references to the Second Coming of Jesus in religious scriptures are allegorical and refer to the arrival of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad.

Related Topics:
Ahmadiyya - Second Coming - Allegorical - Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

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Judaism

Judaism rejects both the Christian belief that Jesus was the Messiah and the Muslim belief that he was a prophet. Most Jews are still awaiting the coming of the Messiah; a notable exception concerns many members of the Chabad Lubavitch sect, who view their last Rebbe as being the Messiah.

Related Topics:
Judaism - Christian - Messiah - Muslim - Prophet - Chabad Lubavitch - Rebbe

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As for the historical personality of Jesus, Judaism has fewer objections to quotations attributed to him than they do with subsequent confessions by early Christian adherents, Paul in particular. Some scholars believe that Jesus is mentioned as Yeshu in the Jewish Talmud, although others dispute this. Joseph Klausner, a prominent Israeli scholar, was vigorous in asserting the Jewish beliefs of Jesus.

Related Topics:
Confessions - Paul - Yeshu - Talmud - Joseph Klausner

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The primary reasons why Jesus is not accepted as the Jewish Messiah are as follows:

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• The many Biblical prophecies regarding the Messiah, such as his bringing the Jews back to the Land of Israel, causing peace on earth, bringing back the dead, having all people know god, and ruling from his throne in Jerusalem, have not been fulfilled.
• According to the New Testament, Jesus' father is God, but according to the Hebrew Bible, the Messiah must descend patrilineally from King David.
• According to the New Testament, Jesus was killed. In Laws of Kings 11:4, Maimonides rules concerning one who is killed that "it is certain that he is not the one whom the Torah has promised."

Hinduism

Most Hindus believe that Jesus existed, and that he was an avatar of god on earth, of the same sort as Krishna, Rama, Buddha and many others. Hinduism as a whole is an open religion, and does not identify itself as the only true religion. Some Hindus believe that Jesus spent the so-called "lost years" between his birth and his baptism (which are not described in the canonical Gospels) in India living with the gurus and saints and learning from them. They claim that this was not mentioned in the Bible because Christians did not want to give the teachings of Hinduism credit, and instead labeled these years as Jesus' lost years.

Related Topics:
Hindu - Avatar - Krishna - Rama - Buddha - Hinduism

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The Hare Krishna sect of Hinduism believes that Jesus is the son of Krishna—who they believe is God the Father that Jesus spoke of—and they accept many of his teachings. On the other hand, many Hindus do not believe he was actually god on Earth, instead believing that he was a guru or a yogi.

Related Topics:
Hare Krishna - Krishna - Guru - Yogi

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Other perspectives

The Bahá'í Faith considers Jesus to be a manifestation and prophet of God, while not being God incarnate. Some Buddhists believe that Jesus may have been a Bodhisattva, one who gives up his own Nirvana to help others reach theirs. Many in the Surat Shabd Yoga tradition regard Jesus as a Satguru. Some Buddhists also interpret of Jesus through Zen Buddhism, sometimes basing their perspective on the Gospel of Thomas.

Related Topics:
Bahá'í Faith - Buddhists - Bodhisattva - Nirvana - Surat Shabd Yoga - Satguru - Zen Buddhism - Gospel of Thomas

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Some religions consider Jesus to be a false prophet. Mandaeanism regards Jesus as a deceiving prophet of the false Jewish god Adunay, and an opponent of the good prophet John the Baptist—whom they nonetheless believe to have baptized him.

Related Topics:
Mandaeanism - Adunay - John the Baptist

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The New Age movement has reinterpreted the life and teachings of Jesus in a large variety of ways (e.g., see A Course in Miracles). He has been claimed to be an Ascended Master by the Theosophical Society and some of its offshoots; related speculations have him studying mysticism in the Himalaya or hermeticism in Egypt in the period between his childhood and his public career.

Related Topics:
New Age - A Course in Miracles - Ascended Master - Theosophical Society - Mysticism - Himalaya - Hermeticism - Egypt

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