Figure 1.--The English Pre-Rahelite artist William Holman Hunt painted this work, 'The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple' (1854–60). He ntended it as ethnographically accurate version of the youthful Jesus in the Temple being exmined by the Pharisies, sometimes referred to as 'Christ Among the Doctors'. Jesus accirding to Luke was debating the interpretation of the scripture with learned rabbis. [Luke, 2:41] Hunt has captured the moment at which Mary and Joseph found their son in the Temple. The rabbis are depicted with varied reactiuins to Jesus' understanding. Some are intrigued, others angry or dismissive. There are other children depicted by Hunt. We are not sure why Hunt included so many children and youth. A more famous depiction of the event was done by Albrecht Dürer's much earlier. Hunt no doubt would have studied Bernardino Luini's version of the subject in the National Gallery, at the time thought to be the work of Leonardo da Vinci. That may have influenced Hunt's choice of subject matter.

Jesus of Nazareth was an actual historical figure. Scholars agree on virtualy nothing about him, except that he was a Jew and a very moving and profound spirtual leader. He surely is the most influentil individual in all of history. We do not even know precisely when he was born and died, despite the fact that the modern calendar is based on him, BC meaning before Christ and AD meaning after death. That in itself leaves a gap of over 30 yeatrs--Jesus' life span. That imprecission comes from the fact that the modern dating system (the split betweem BC and AD) was invented 5 centuries after Christ (525 AD). Pope John I assigned a monk named Dionysius the task of preparing a standardized calendar for the western Church. It was based on Jesus' birth. Modern scholars, however, believe that Dionysius was off by a few years. Jesus was probably born about 4 or 5 BC. Most of what we know about Jesus' life comes from the Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John). The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were written between 65 and 95 AD and only two of whom were Appostles. Absent from the Gospels is details on Jesus's family life and childhood. We learn about his increasing wisdom (Luke 2:40-52), but the first real event is when at 12 years of age he comes to the Tempel and is questioned by the Pharisees (Matthew 2:23 and Luke 2:41-51). None of Gospel authors knew Jesus as a child. The only other source about his childhood are the apocryphal gospels, written later and without any historical basis. The central issue about Jesus is just who he was. Most agree that he was a great spiritual leader. Even Muslims accept him as an important prophet. Jews did not accept his as the Messih. Christians did. Christins disagre as to the actual nature of Jesus. Gnosticism was a widely held belief. This disagreement over the nature of Jesus was the central issue within the early Christian Church. It was addressed at the Council of Niccea and essentially settled in Catholic cannonical law. And the temporal opwer of the Church backed by the Byzantine Emperor supressed non-conformists. This left a lingering division which would be a factor in the Arab miltary advance across the Christian lands of the Levant and North Africa. It is an issue which still concerns Christian scholars. The Christian Church is of course based on the worship of Jesus, but it must be remembered that Jesus was a teacher, but did little to found a religion and establish an institutinal structure. This would be left to the Apostles--essentially Paul.

Historical Figure

Jesus of Nazareth was an actual historical figure. Scholars agree on virtualy nothing about him, except that he was a Jew and a very moving and profound spirtual leader. He surely is the most influentil individual in all of history. We do not even know precisely when he was born and died, despite the fact that the modern calendar is based on him, BC meaning before Christ and AD meaning after death. That in itself leaves a gap of over 30 yeatrs--Jesus' life span. That imprecission comes from the fact that the modern dating system (the split betweem BC and AD) was invented 5 centuries after Christ (525 AD). Pope John I assigned a monk named Dionysius the task of preparing a standardized calendar for the western Church. It was based on Jesus' birth. Modern scholars, however, believe that Dionysius was off by a few years. Jesus was probably born about 4 or 5 BC.

The Gospels

Most of what we know about Jesus' life comes from the Gospels (Mathew, Mark, Luke, and John). The Gospels, which were chosen as the first four books of the New Testament, were written between 65 and 95 AD. Only two of Gospel authors were Appostles. Matthew the Apostle was one of the twelve Apostles of Jesus and one of the four Evangelists. John was the youngest apostle and one of the evagelists. A gospel is an account of the the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The most widely known and beloved Gospels are the four canonical gospels of the New Testament. Therecare other Gospels, including apocryphal gospels, non-canonical gospels, Jewish-Christian gospels, and gnostic gospels.

Childhood

Absent from the Gospel accounts are details on Jesus' childhood. We learn about his increasing wisdom (Luke 2:40-52), but the first real event is when at 12 years of age when benognst to his parents he went to the Great Tempel in Jerusalem and is questioned by the Pharisees (figure 1). [Matthew 2:23 and Luke 2:41-51] None of Gospel authors knew Jesus as a child. The only other source about his childhood are the apocryphal gospels, written later and without any historical basis.

Family Life

Another aspect of Jesus' story not cover by the Gospels is his family life. The New Testament mentions several times the brothers and the sisters of Jesus (Matthew 12:46-49; 13:55-56; Mark 3:31-35; 6:3; Luke 8:19-21; John 7:3-5,10; Acts 1:14; Galatians 1:19). In the Gospel of Matthew we can read: "When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home. He had no relations with her until she bore a son, and he named him Jesus." (1:24-25). This is how the text is usually translated. The Evangelist Matthew emphasizes that Joseph was not responsible for the conception of Jesus. It is not clear, however, if he wants to affirm that after Jesus was born Joseph and Mary started having marital relations. Indeed, the Greek word translated "until" (ἕως οὗ) means both "until" and "while/when". So the text could be translated "He had no relations with her when she bore a son, and he named him Jesus". Matthew's text does not necessary imply that they started a regular marital life, but clearly not even does it exclude it. Usually Catholic and Orthodox exegetes affirm that the text only states that Joseph was not the real father of Jesus and it is not challenge the tradition of perpetual virginity of Mary. They think that the siblings of Jesus could be cousins or other close relatives. According the Gospel of James, an apocryphal gospel, Joseph was a widower, and had children from the first wife. This is the reason because often Joseph is depicted as an old man. Anyway, now that is read as a legend to defend the perpetual virginity of Mary. On the contrary, Protestant exegetes affirm that it is not necessary to look for difficult explications. After Jesus was born Joseph and Mary started a normal marital life having several children. This would be reinforced by the fact that, according to the marriage custom at the time, they would be young when Jesus was born (14-16 years old).

Nature of Jesus

The central issue about Jesus is just who he was. Most agree that he was a great spiritual leader. Even Muslims accept him as an important prophet. Jews did not accept his as the Messih. Christians did. Christins disagre as to the actual nature of Jesus. Gnosticism was a widely held belief. This disagreement over the nature of Jesus was the central issue within the early Christian Church. It was addressed at the Council of Niccea and essentially settled in Catholic cannonical law. And the temporal power of the Church backed by the Byzantine Emperor supressed non-conformists. This left a lingering division which would be a factor in the Arab Islamic miltary advance across the Christian lands of the Levant and North Africa. The nature of Jesus is an issue which still concerns Christian scholars.

The Church

The Christian Church is of course based on the worship of Jesus, but it must be remembered that Jesus was a teacher, but did little to found a religion and establish an institutinal structure. This would be left to the Apostles--especially Paul.

Impact

Jesus' impact is normally seem in religious terms. We do not want to engage in a theological discussion. We believe that the impact on the moral development of Western society is very important. But perhsps even more important is thst the signal elements of modernity all arose within the crucible of the Christian West and the Christian Church played an important role in each: political freedom (democracy), economic freedom (capitalism), and science. The foundation of all three are clearly traced to the Christian Church. The relation to Jesus' Gospel teaching are less directly clear other than his strong emphasis on the value of induividual human life, rich or poor and the ability of each person to make major decisions concerning his own life. Pope Francis today preaches an essentially socialist message. Jesus commonly speaks of charity, but notice in none of his sermons does he advocate the state redistributing wealth.

Created: 6:38 AM 12/2/2018
Last updated: 6:38 AM 12/2/2018