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Main article: Religious perspectives on Jesus Apart from his own disciples and followers, the Jews of Jesus' day generally rejected him as the Messiah, as do the great majority of Jews today. Christian theologians, ecumenical councils, reformers and others have written extensively about Jesus over the centuries. Christian sects and schisms have often been defined or characterized by their descriptions of Jesus. Meanwhile, Manichaeans, Gnostics, Muslims, Baha'is, and others have found prominent places for Jesus in their religions.[296][297][298] Christian views Main articles: Jesus in Christianity and Christology The Trinity is the belief in Christianity that God is one God in three persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit Jesus is the central figure of Christianity.[299] Although Christian views of Jesus vary, it is possible to summarize the key beliefs shared among major denominations, as stated in their catechetical or confessional texts.[300][301][302] Christian views of Jesus are derived from various sources, including the canonical gospels and New Testament letters such as the Pauline epistles and the Johannine writings. These documents outline the key beliefs held by Christians about Jesus, including his divinity, humanity, and earthly life, and that he is the Christ and the Son of God.[303] Despite their many shared beliefs, not all Christian denominations agree on all doctrines, and both major and minor differences on teachings and beliefs have persisted throughout Christianity for centuries.[304] The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:12–20).[305] Christians believe that through his death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled with God and are thereby offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.[306] Recalling the words of John the Baptist on the day after Jesus' baptism, these doctrines sometimes refer to Jesus as the Lamb of God, who was crucified to fulfill his role as the servant of God.[307][308] Jesus is thus seen as the new and last Adam, whose obedience contrasts with Adam's disobedience.[309] Christians view Jesus as a role model, whose God-focused life believers are encouraged to imitate.[299] Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there has been theological debate over his nature,[j] Trinitarian Christians generally believe that Jesus is the Logos, God's incarnation and God the Son, both fully divine and fully human. However, the doctrine of the Trinity is not universally accepted among Christians.[310][311] Christians revere not only Jesus himself, but also his name. Devotions to the Holy Name of Jesus go back to the earliest days of Christianity.[312][313] These devotions and feasts exist in both Eastern and Western Christianity.[313] Jewish views Main article: Judaism's view of Jesus See also: Jesus in the Talmud Mainstream Judaism rejects the idea of Jesus being God, or a mediator to God, or part of a Trinity.[314] It holds that Jesus is not the Messiah, arguing that he neither fulfilled the Messianic prophecies in the Tanakh nor embodied the personal qualifications of the Messiah.[315] According to Jewish tradition, there were no prophets after Malachi,[316] who delivered his prophesies in the fifth century BC.[317] A group known as Messianic Jews considers Jesus to be the Messiah, but whether this body is a sect of Judaism is disputed.[318] Judaic criticism of Jesus is long-standing. The New Testament states that Jesus was criticized by the Jewish authorities of his time. The Pharisees and scribes criticized Jesus and his disciples for not observing the Mosaic Law, for not washing their hands before eating (Mark 7:1–23, Matthew 15:1–20), and for gathering grain on the Sabbath (Mark 2:23–3:6).[319] The Talmud, written and compiled from the third to the fifth century AD,[320] includes stories that some consider to be accounts of Jesus. In one such story, Yeshu ha-nozri ("Jesus the Christian"), a lewd apostate, is executed by the Jewish high court for spreading idolatry and practicing magic.[321] There is a wide spectrum of opinion among scholars concerning these stories.[322] The majority of contemporary historians consider that this material provides no information on the historical Jesus.[323] The Mishneh Torah, a late 12th-century work of Jewish law written by Moses Maimonides, states that Jesus is a "stumbling block" who makes "the majority of the world to err and serve a god other than the Lord".[324] Islamic views Main article: Jesus in Islam See also: Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam Muhammad, surrounded by fire, is depicted on the right. Jesus and others are on the left Muhammad leads Jesus, Abraham, Moses and others in prayer. Medieval Persian miniature. In Islam, Jesus (Isa) is considered to be a messenger of God (Allah) and the Messiah (al-Masih) who was sent to guide the Children of Israel (Bani Isra'il) with a new scripture, the Gospel (Injil).[325][326] Muslims regard the gospels of the New Testament as inauthentic, and believe that Jesus' original message was lost or altered and that Muhammad came later to restore it.[327] Belief in Jesus (and all other messengers of God) is a requirement for being a Muslim.[328] The Quran mentions Jesus by name 25 times—more often than Muhammad[329][330]—and emphasizes that Jesus was a mortal human who, like all other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God's message.[331] Islam considers Jesus to be neither the incarnation nor the son of God. Islamic texts emphasize a strict notion of monotheism (tawhid) and forbid the association of partners with God, which would be idolatry (shirk).[332] The Quran says that Jesus himself never claimed divinity,[333] and predicts that at the Last Judgment, Jesus will deny having ever made such a claim (Quran 5:116).[334] Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is considered a Muslim.[335] The Quran does not mention Joseph but does describe the Annunciation to Mary (Maryam) by an angel that she is to give birth to Jesus while remaining a virgin. It calls the virgin birth a miracle that occurred by the will of God.[336][337][338] The Quran (21:91 and 66:12) states that God breathed His Spirit into Mary while she was chaste.[336][337][338] In Islam, Jesus is called the "Spirit of God" because he was born through the action of the Spirit,[336] but that belief does not include the doctrine of his pre-existence, as it does in Christianity.[339] Jesus is sometimes called the "Seal of the Israelite Prophets", because Muslims believe that Jesus was the last prophet sent by God to guide the Israelites.[340] To aid in his ministry to the Jewish people, Jesus was given the ability to perform miracles, by permission of God rather than by his own power.[333] Jesus is seen in Islam as a precursor to Muhammad and is believed by Muslims to have foretold Muhammad's coming.[331][341] Muslims deny that Jesus was crucified, that he rose from the dead, and that he atoned for the sins of mankind.[333] According to the Quran, Jesus was not crucified but was physically raised into the heavens by God. It only appeared to those who tried to crucify him that he was.[25] His Ascension and elevation to God was part of his vindication as a prophet, and inline with other prophecies found in the Quran. Thus to Muslims it is the Ascension rather than the Crucifixion that constitutes a major event in the life of Jesus.[26] Ahmadiyya Muslims (less than 1% of the global Muslim population[342]) believe that Jesus was a mortal man who survived his crucifixion and died a natural death at the age of 120 in Kashmir.[343][344] Most Muslims believe that Jesus will return to earth at the end of time and defeat the Antichrist (ad-Dajjal).[325][341] Bahá'í views Bahá'í teachings consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God, a Bahá'í concept for prophets[345]—intermediaries between God and humanity, serving as messengers and reflecting God's qualities and attributes.[346] The Bahá'í concept emphasizes the simultaneous qualities of humanity and divinity;[346] thus, it is similar to the Christian concept of incarnation.[345] Bahá'í thought accepts Jesus as the Son of God.[347] In Bahá'í thought, Jesus was a perfect incarnation of God's attributes, but Bahá'í teachings reject the idea that divinity was contained with a single human body, stating that, on the contrary, God transcends physical reality.[345] Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, wrote that since each manifestation of God has the same divine attributes, they can be seen as the spiritual "return" of all previous manifestations of God, and the appearance of each new manifestation of God inaugurates a religion that supersedes the former ones, a concept known as progressive revelation.[346] Bahá'ís believe that God's plan unfolds gradually through this process as mankind matures, and that some of the manifestations arrive in specific fulfillment of the missions of previous ones. Thus, Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the promised return of Christ.[348] Bahá'í teachings confirm many, but not all, aspects of Jesus as portrayed in the gospels. Bahá'ís believe in the virgin birth and in the Crucifixion,[349][350] but see the Resurrection and the miracles of Jesus as symbolic.[347][350] Other views Further information: Religious perspectives on Jesus See also: Buddhism and Christianity and Jesus in Scientology In Gnosticism (now a largely extinct religion),[351] Jesus was sent from the divine realm and provided the secret knowledge (gnosis) necessary for salvation. Most Gnostics believed that Jesus was a human who became possessed by the spirit of Christ at his baptism. The spirit left Jesus' body during the crucifixion but later raised the body from the dead. Some Gnostics, however, were docetics, believing that Jesus did not have a physical body, but only appeared to have.[352] Manichaeism, a Gnostic sect, accepted Jesus as a prophet, along with Gautama Buddha and Zoroaster.[353][354] Some consider Jesus to be an avatar or a sadhu and point out similarities between Krishna and Jesus' teachings.[355][356] Paramahansa Yogananda, a guru, taught that Jesus was the reincarnation of Elisha and a student of John the Baptist, the reincarnation of Elijah.[357] Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, regard Jesus as a bodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of people.[358] The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus.[359] Theosophists, from whom many New Age teachings originated,[360] refer to Jesus as the Master Jesus and believe that Christ, after various incarnations, occupied the body of Jesus.[361] Scientologists recognize Jesus (along with other religious figures such as Zoroaster, Muhammad, and Buddha) as part of their "religious heritage".[359][362] Atheists reject Jesus' divinity, but many hold a positive estimation of him; Richard Dawkins, for instance, refers to Jesus as "a great moral teacher".[363] |
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