Religious perspectives on Jesus
Encyclopedia
The religious perspectives on Jesus vary among major world religions. Jesus' teachings and the retelling of his lifestory have significantly influenced the course of human history, and have directly or indirectly affected the lives of billions of people, even non-Christians.
Christian consider Jesus the Christ
and believe that through his death and resurrection
, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life
. These teachings emphasize that as the willing Lamb of God
, Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary
as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an "agent and servant of God".
In Islam
, Jesus is known as Isa
and is one of God's highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets
. The Bahá'í Faith
consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God
, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world.
Judaism
considers Jesus to have been simply a man and not the Messiah. Other world religions such as Buddhism
have no particular view on Jesus, and have but a minor intersection with Christianity.
, the Christian creeds, as well as specific denominational teachings. These outline the key beliefs held by Christian about Jesus, including his divinity, humanity, and earthly life. Generally speaking, adhering to the Christian faith requires a belief that Jesus is the Son of God
and the Messiah
or Christ
. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of God in the New Testament.
Christian consider Jesus the Christ
and believe that through his death and resurrection
, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life
. These teachings emphasize that as the willing Lamb of God
, Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary
as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an "agent and servant of God". The choice Jesus made thus counter-positions him as a new man of morality and obedience, in contrast to Adam
's disobedience.
Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there have been theological debate over the nature of Jesus, Trinitarian
Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate
, God the Son
, and "true God and true man
" (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human
in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. According to the Bible
, God raised him from the dead. He ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God," and he will return again
for the Last Judgment
and the establishment of the Kingdom of God
.
The five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism
, Transfiguration
, Crucifixion
, Resurrection
and Ascension. These are usually bracketed by two other episodes: his Nativity
at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete
at the end. The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his "works and words", e.g. his ministry
, parables
and miracles
.
Christians not only attach theological significance to the works of Jesus, but also to his name. Devotions to the Holy Name of Jesus
do back to the earliest days of Christianity
. These devotions and feasts exist both in Eastern
and Western Christianity.
, 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.
Unlike Christian writings, the Qur'an
does not describe Jesus as the son of God, but as one of five major human messengers
(out of many 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. Jesus is said to have lived a life of piety and generosity, and abstained from eating flesh of swine (or of any animals, according to some Muslim authors, even some who were not vegetarians themselves). In the Muslim tradition, Jesus did not drink alcohol
.
Muslims also 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 has been changed over time (as they also believe of the Old Testament) and does not accurately represent God's original message to mankind.
However, the Qur'an and New Testament overlap in other aspects of Jesus' life; both Muslims and orthodox Christians 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 miracle
s—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
.
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 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 to defeat the Antichrist
, once the world has become filled with sin, deception and injustice, and then live out the rest of his natural life.
rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. 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.
The Babylonian Talmud include stories of Yeshu
; the vast majority of contemporary historians disregard these as sources on the historical Jesus
. Contemporary Talmud scholars view these as comments on the relationship between Judaism and Christians or other sectarians, rather than comments on the historical Jesus.
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".
consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God
, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization. In Bahá'í belief, the Manifestations have always been sent by God, and always will, as part of the single progressive religion from God bringing more teachings through time to help humanity progress. The Manifestations of God are taught to be "one and the same", and in their relationship to one another have both the station of unity and the station of distinction. In this way each Manifestation of God manifested the Word of God and taught the same religion, with modifications for the particular audience's needs and culture. Bahá'u'lláh wrote that since each Manifestation of God has the same divine attributes they can be seen as the spiritual "return" of all the previous Manifestations of God. In this way, Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is, in both respects, the return of Jesus.
and Jesus
. These similarities might be attributed to Buddhist missionaries sent as early as Emperor Ashoka
around 250 BCE in many of the Greek Seleucid kingdoms that existed then and then later became the same regions that Christianity began.
Jesus was seen as the savior and bringer of gnosis
by various Gnostic
sects, such as the extinct Manichaeism
.
In the Ahmadiyya Islamic view, Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to India
, where he lived as a prophet (and died) under the name of Yuz Asaf
.
In the Scientology view
the teachings of Jesus are included among belief systems comprising those "earlier forms". Jesus is classified as below the level of Operating Thetan
, but as a "shade above" the Scientology state of "Clear
".
Christian consider Jesus the Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
and believe that through his death and resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life
Eternal life (Christianity)
In Christianity the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality. While scholars such as John H. Leith assert that...
. These teachings emphasize that as the willing Lamb of God
Lamb of God
The title Lamb of God appears in the Gospel of John, with the exclamation of John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" in John 1:29 when he sees Jesus....
, Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an "agent and servant of God".
In Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Jesus is known as Isa
Islamic view of Jesus
In Islam, Jesus is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Masih who was sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture, the Injīl or Gospel. The belief in Jesus is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim. The Qur'an mentions Jesus twenty-five times, more often, by...
and is one of God's highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
. The Bahá'í Faith
Bahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God
Manifestation of God
The Manifestation of God is a concept in the Bahá'í Faith that refers to what are commonly called prophets. The Manifestations of God are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization...
, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world.
Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
considers Jesus to have been simply a man and not the Messiah. Other world religions such as Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
have no particular view on Jesus, and have but a minor intersection with Christianity.
Christianity
Christian views of Jesus are based on the teachings and beliefs as outlined in the Canonical gospels, New Testament lettersNew Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
, the Christian creeds, as well as specific denominational teachings. These outline the key beliefs held by Christian about Jesus, including his divinity, humanity, and earthly life. Generally speaking, adhering to the Christian faith requires a belief that Jesus is the Son of God
Son of God
"Son of God" is a phrase which according to most Christian denominations, Trinitarian in belief, refers to the relationship between Jesus and God, specifically as "God the Son"...
and the Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
or Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
. Jesus refers to himself as the Son of God in the New Testament.
Christian consider Jesus the Christ
Christ
Christ is the English term for the Greek meaning "the anointed one". It is a translation of the Hebrew , usually transliterated into English as Messiah or Mashiach...
and believe that through his death and resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
, humans can be reconciled to God and thereby are offered salvation and the promise of eternal life
Eternal life (Christianity)
In Christianity the term eternal life traditionally refers to continued life after death, rather than immortality. While scholars such as John H. Leith assert that...
. These teachings emphasize that as the willing Lamb of God
Lamb of God
The title Lamb of God appears in the Gospel of John, with the exclamation of John the Baptist: "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" in John 1:29 when he sees Jesus....
, Jesus chose to suffer in Calvary
Calvary
Calvary or Golgotha was the site, outside of ancient Jerusalem’s early first century walls, at which the crucifixion of Jesus is said to have occurred. Calvary and Golgotha are the English names for the site used in Western Christianity...
as a sign of his full obedience to the will of his Father, as an "agent and servant of God". The choice Jesus made thus counter-positions him as a new man of morality and obedience, in contrast to Adam
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
's disobedience.
Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there have been theological debate over the nature of Jesus, Trinitarian
Trinitarian Order
The Order of the Holy Trinity is a Catholic religious order that was founded in the area of Cerfroid, some 80 km northeast of Paris, at the end of the twelfth century. The founder was St. John de Matha, whose feast day is celebrated on 17 December...
Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate
Incarnation (Christianity)
The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
, God the Son
God the Son
God the Son is the second person of the Trinity in Christian theology. The doctrine of the Trinity identifies Jesus of Nazareth as God the Son, united in essence but distinct in person with regard to God the Father and God the Holy Spirit...
, and "true God and true man
Hypostatic union
Hypostatic union is a technical term in Christian theology employed in mainstream Christology to describe the union of Christ's humanity and divinity in one hypostasis.The First Council of Ephesus recognised this doctrine and affirmed its importance, stating that the...
" (or both fully divine and fully human). Jesus, having become fully human
Incarnation (Christianity)
The Incarnation in traditional Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ the second person of the Trinity, also known as God the Son or the Logos , "became flesh" by being conceived in the womb of a woman, the Virgin Mary, also known as the Theotokos .The Incarnation is a fundamental theological...
in all respects, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, yet he did not sin. As fully God, he defeated death and rose to life again. According to the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, God raised him from the dead. He ascended to heaven, to the "right hand of God," and he will return again
Second Coming
In Christian doctrine, the Second Coming of Christ, the Second Advent, or the Parousia, is the anticipated return of Jesus Christ from Heaven, where he sits at the Right Hand of God, to Earth. This prophecy is found in the canonical gospels and in most Christian and Islamic eschatologies...
for the Last Judgment
Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, or The Day of the Lord in Christian theology, is the final and eternal judgment by God of every nation. The concept is found in all the Canonical gospels, particularly the Gospel of Matthew. It will purportedly take place after the...
and the establishment of the Kingdom of God
Kingdom of God
The Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven is a foundational concept in the Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.The term "Kingdom of God" is found in all four canonical gospels and in the Pauline epistles...
.
The five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus are his Baptism
Baptism of Jesus
The baptism of Jesus marks the beginning of Jesus Christ's public ministry. This event is recorded in the Canonical Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. In John 1:29-33 rather than a direct narrative, the Baptist bears witness to the episode...
, Transfiguration
Transfiguration of Jesus
The Transfiguration of Jesus is an event reported in the New Testament in which Jesus is transfigured and becomes radiant upon a mountain. The Synoptic Gospels describe it, and 2 Peter 1:16-18 refers to it....
, Crucifixion
Crucifixion of Jesus
The crucifixion of Jesus and his ensuing death is an event that occurred during the 1st century AD. Jesus, who Christians believe is the Son of God as well as the Messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced by Pontius Pilate to be scourged, and finally executed on a cross...
, Resurrection
Resurrection of Jesus
The Christian belief in the resurrection of Jesus states that Jesus returned to bodily life on the third day following his death by crucifixion. It is a key element of Christian faith and theology and part of the Nicene Creed: "On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures"...
and Ascension. These are usually bracketed by two other episodes: his Nativity
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
at the beginning and the sending of the Paraclete
Paraclete
Paraclete means advocate or helper. In Christianity, the term most commonly refers to the Holy Spirit.-Etymology:...
at the end. The gospel accounts of the teachings of Jesus are often presented in terms of specific categories involving his "works and words", e.g. his ministry
Ministry of Jesus
In the Christian gospels, the Ministry of Jesus begins with his Baptism in the countryside of Judea, near the River Jordan and ends in Jerusalem, following the Last Supper with his disciples. The Gospel of Luke states that Jesus was "about 30 years of age" at the start of his ministry...
, parables
Parables of Jesus
The parables of Jesus can be found in all the Canonical gospels as well as in some of the non-canonical gospels but are located mainly within the three synoptic gospels. They represent a key part of the teachings of Jesus, forming approximately one third of his recorded teachings...
and miracles
Miracles of Jesus
The miracles of Jesus are the supernatural deeds of Jesus, as recorded in Gospels, in the course of his ministry. According to the Gospel of John, only some of these were recorded. states that "Jesus did many other things as well...
.
Christians not only attach theological significance to the works of Jesus, but also to his name. Devotions to the Holy Name of Jesus
Holy Name of Jesus
In Christianity, the Holy Name of Jesus refers to the theological and devotional use of the name of Jesus. The reverence and affection with which Christians have regarded the Holy Name of Jesus goes back to the earliest days of Christianity....
do back to the earliest days of Christianity
Early Christianity
Early Christianity is generally considered as Christianity before 325. The New Testament's Book of Acts and Epistle to the Galatians records that the first Christian community was centered in Jerusalem and its leaders included James, Peter and John....
. These devotions and feasts exist both in Eastern
Eastern Christianity
Eastern Christianity comprises the Christian traditions and churches that developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa, India and parts of the Far East over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to...
and Western Christianity.
Islam
In IslamIslam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
, Jesus is known as Isa
Islamic view of Jesus
In Islam, Jesus is considered to be a Messenger of God and the Masih who was sent to guide the Children of Israel with a new scripture, the Injīl or Gospel. The belief in Jesus is required in Islam, and a requirement of being a Muslim. The Qur'an mentions Jesus twenty-five times, more often, by...
and is one of God's highest-ranked and most-beloved prophets
Prophets of Islam
Muslims identify the Prophets of Islam as those humans chosen by God and given revelation to deliver to mankind. Muslims believe that every prophet was given a belief to worship God and their respective followers believed it as well...
, specifically sent to guide the Children of Israel.
Unlike Christian writings, the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
does not describe Jesus as the son of God, but as one of five major human messengers
Rasul
In Islam, an Apostle or Messenger is a prophet sent by God.According to the Qur'an, God sent many prophets to mankind. The five universally acknowledged messengers in Islam are Abraham, Moses, David, Jesus and Muhammad, as each is believed to have been sent with a scripture...
(out of many prophets
Nabi
Nabi may refer to:* Prophets of Islam, humans who, in the Islamic faith, have been chosen as prophets by God**Nabi * Butterfly in the Korean language** Nabi , a 2001 South Korean film** The Korean language title of Mr...
) 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
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve were, according to the Genesis creation narratives, the first human couple to inhabit Earth, created by YHWH, the God of the ancient Hebrews...
to Muhammad
Muhammad
Muhammad |ligature]] at U+FDF4 ;Arabic pronunciation varies regionally; the first vowel ranges from ~~; the second and the last vowel: ~~~. There are dialects which have no stress. In Egypt, it is pronounced not in religious contexts...
, but that it was subsequently distorted by early Christians. Jesus is said to have lived a life of piety and generosity, and abstained from eating flesh of swine (or of any animals, according to some Muslim authors, even some who were not vegetarians themselves). In the Muslim tradition, Jesus did not drink alcohol
Alcohol
In chemistry, an alcohol is an organic compound in which the hydroxy functional group is bound to a carbon atom. In particular, this carbon center should be saturated, having single bonds to three other atoms....
.
Muslims also 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 has been changed over time (as they also believe of the Old Testament) and does not accurately represent God's original message to mankind.
However, the Qur'an and New Testament overlap in other aspects of Jesus' life; both Muslims and orthodox Christians believe that Jesus was miraculously born without a human biological father by the will of God, and that his mother, Mary (Maryam
Maryam
Maryam/ Meryem / Merjem or Mariam may refer to:* Maryam , a female given name* Mary * Maryam , 19th sura of the Qur'an...
in Arabic), is among the most saintly, pious, chaste and virtuous women ever. The Qur'an also specifies that Jesus was able to perform miracle
Miracle
A miracle often denotes an event attributed to divine intervention. Alternatively, it may be an event attributed to a miracle worker, saint, or religious leader. A miracle is sometimes thought of as a perceptible interruption of the laws of nature. Others suggest that a god may work with the laws...
s—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
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
. The Qur'an also says that Jesus was a 'word' from God, since he was predicted to come in the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
.
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 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
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. He is best known for his betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief priests for 30 pieces of silver.-Etymology:...
who was mistakenly crucified by the Romans. Regardless, Muslims believe that Jesus is alive in heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
and will return to the world in the flesh to defeat the Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
, once the world has become filled with sin, deception and injustice, and then live out the rest of his natural life.
Judaism
JudaismJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a person of a Trinity, or a mediator to God. Judaism also holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he had not fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh
Tanakh
The Tanakh is a name used in Judaism for the canon of the Hebrew Bible. The Tanakh is also known as the Masoretic Text or the Miqra. The name is an acronym formed from the initial Hebrew letters of the Masoretic Text's three traditional subdivisions: The Torah , Nevi'im and Ketuvim —hence...
nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah. According to Jewish tradition, there were no more prophets after Malachi
Malachi
Malachi, Malachias or Mal'achi was a Jewish prophet in the Hebrew Bible. He had two brothers, Nathaniel and Josiah. Malachi was the writer of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Neviim section in the Jewish Tanakh...
, who lived centuries before Jesus and delivered his prophesies about 420 BC/BCE.
The Babylonian Talmud include stories of Yeshu
Yeshu
Yeshu is the name of an individual or individuals mentioned in Rabbinic literature. The oldest works in which references to Yeshu occur are the Tosefta and the Talmud, although some scholars consider the references to Yeshu to be post-Talmudic additions....
; the vast majority of contemporary historians disregard these as sources on the historical Jesus
Historical Jesus
The term historical Jesus refers to scholarly reconstructions of the 1st-century figure Jesus of Nazareth. These reconstructions are based upon historical methods including critical analysis of gospel texts as the primary source for his biography, along with consideration of the historical and...
. Contemporary Talmud scholars view these as comments on the relationship between Judaism and Christians or other sectarians, rather than comments on the historical Jesus.
The Mishneh Torah
Mishneh Torah
The Mishneh Torah subtitled Sefer Yad ha-Hazaka is a code of Jewish religious law authored by Maimonides , one of history's foremost rabbis...
, an authoritative work of Jewish law
Halakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
, 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
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.Conservative Judaism has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive-Historical Judaism,...
, Jews who believe Jesus is the Messiah have "crossed the line out of the Jewish community". Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
, 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".
Bahá'í
The Bahá'í FaithBahá'í Faith
The Bahá'í Faith is a monotheistic religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. There are an estimated five to six million Bahá'ís around the world in more than 200 countries and territories....
consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God
Manifestation of God
The Manifestation of God is a concept in the Bahá'í Faith that refers to what are commonly called prophets. The Manifestations of God are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization...
, who are a series of personages who reflect the attributes of the divine into the human world for the progress and advancement of human morals and civilization. In Bahá'í belief, the Manifestations have always been sent by God, and always will, as part of the single progressive religion from God bringing more teachings through time to help humanity progress. The Manifestations of God are taught to be "one and the same", and in their relationship to one another have both the station of unity and the station of distinction. In this way each Manifestation of God manifested the Word of God and taught the same religion, with modifications for the particular audience's needs and culture. Bahá'u'lláh wrote that since each Manifestation of God has the same divine attributes they can be seen as the spiritual "return" of all the previous Manifestations of God. In this way, Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is, in both respects, the return of Jesus.
Other
Traditionally, Buddhists as a group take no particular view on Jesus, and Buddhism and Christianity have but a minor intersection. However, some scholars have noted similarities between the life and teachings of Gautama BuddhaGautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
and Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...
. These similarities might be attributed to Buddhist missionaries sent as early as Emperor Ashoka
Ashoka
Ashok Maurya or Ashoka , popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was an Indian emperor of the Maurya Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC. One of India's greatest emperors, Ashoka reigned over most of present-day India after a number of military conquests...
around 250 BCE in many of the Greek Seleucid kingdoms that existed then and then later became the same regions that Christianity began.
Jesus was seen as the savior and bringer of gnosis
Gnosis
Gnosis is the common Greek noun for knowledge . In the context of the English language gnosis generally refers to the word's meaning within the spheres of Christian mysticism, Mystery religions and Gnosticism where it signifies 'spiritual knowledge' in the sense of mystical enlightenment.-Related...
by various Gnostic
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is a scholarly term for a set of religious beliefs and spiritual practices common to early Christianity, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman mystery religions, Zoroastrianism , and Neoplatonism.A common characteristic of some of these groups was the teaching that the realisation of Gnosis...
sects, such as the extinct Manichaeism
Manichaeism
Manichaeism in Modern Persian Āyin e Māni; ) was one of the major Iranian Gnostic religions, originating in Sassanid Persia.Although most of the original writings of the founding prophet Mani have been lost, numerous translations and fragmentary texts have survived...
.
In the Ahmadiyya Islamic view, Jesus survived the crucifixion and later travelled to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, where he lived as a prophet (and died) under the name of Yuz Asaf
Yuz Asaf
Similar to mainstream Islamic views, the Ahmadiyya Movement consider that Jesus was a mortal man, but go a step further to describe Jesus as a mortal man who died a natural death in India - as opposed to having been raised up alive to Heaven...
.
In the Scientology view
Jesus in Scientology
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard described Scientology as "the Western Anglicized continuance of many earlier forms of wisdom", and cites the teachings of Jesus Christ among belief systems of those "earlier forms"...
the teachings of Jesus are included among belief systems comprising those "earlier forms". Jesus is classified as below the level of Operating Thetan
Operating Thetan
In Scientology, the state of Operating Thetan is a spiritual state above Clear. L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, defined it as "knowing and willing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time ". According to religious scholar J...
, but as a "shade above" the Scientology state of "Clear
Clear (Scientology)
Clear in Dianetics and Scientology is one of two levels a practitioner can achieve on the way to personal salvation. A state of Clear is reached when a person becomes free of the influence of engrams, unwanted emotions or painful traumas not readily available to the conscious mind...
".
See also
- Christianity and world religionsChristianity and world religionsChristianity and other religions appear to share some elements. In a look at Christianity's relationship with other world religions, this article investigates the differences and similarities of Christianity to other religions.-Classical Christian views:...
- Life of Jesus in the New Testament