Crucifixion and entombment
Main articles: Crucifixion of Jesus and Burial of Jesus
See also: Sayings of Jesus on the cross and Crucifixion eclipse
Jesus' crucifixion is described in all four canonical gospels. After the trials, Jesus is led to Calvary carrying his cross; the route traditionally thought to have been taken is known as the Via Dolorosa. The three Synoptic Gospels indicate that Simon of Cyrene assists him, having been compelled by the Romans to do so.[189][190] In Luke 23:27–28 Jesus tells the women in the multitude of people following him not to weep for him but for themselves and their children.[189] At Calvary, Jesus is offered a concoction usually offered as a painkiller. According to Matthew and Mark, he refuses it.[189][190]
The soldiers then crucify Jesus and cast lots for his clothes. Above Jesus' head on the cross is Pilate's inscription, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews"; soldiers and passers-by mock him about it. Jesus is crucified between two convicted thieves, one of whom rebukes Jesus, while the other defends him.[189][191] The Roman soldiers break the two thieves' legs (a procedure designed to hasten death in a crucifixion), but they do not break those of Jesus, as he is already dead. In John 19:34, one soldier pierces Jesus' side with a lance, and blood and water flows out.[192] In Matthew 27:51–54, when Jesus dies, the heavy curtain at the Temple is torn and an earthquake breaks open tombs. Terrified by the events, a Roman centurion states that Jesus was the Son of God.[189][193]
On the same day, Joseph of Arimathea, with Pilate's permission and with Nicodemus' help, removes Jesus' body from the cross, wraps him in a clean cloth and buries him in a new rock-hewn tomb.[189] In Matthew 27:62–66, on the following day the chief Jewish priests ask Pilate for the tomb to be secured, and with Pilate's permission the priests place seals on the large stone covering the entrance and post a guard.[189][194]
Resurrection and ascension
See also: Empty tomb, Great Commission, Second Coming, Resurrection of Jesus in Christian art and Ascension of Jesus in Christian art
New Testament accounts of Jesus' resurrection state that on the first day of the week after the crucifixion (typically interpreted as a Sunday), his tomb is discovered to be empty and his followers encounter him risen from the dead. His followers arrive at the tomb early in the morning and meet either one or two beings (men or angels) dressed in bright robes. Mark 16:9 and John 20:15 indicate that Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene first, and Luke 24:1 states that she is one of the myrrhbearers.[51][195]
After the discovery of the empty tomb, Jesus makes a series of appearances to the disciples.[51] These include the Doubting Thomas episode and the appearance on the road to Emmaus, where Jesus meets two disciples. The catch of 153 fish is a miracle by the Sea of Galilee, after which Jesus encourages Peter to serve his followers.[51][195]
Before he ascends into heaven, Jesus commissions his disciples to spread his teachings to all the nations of the world. Luke 24:51 states that Jesus is then "carried up into heaven". The Ascension account is elaborated in Acts 1:1–11 and mentioned in 1 Timothy 3:16. In Acts, forty days after the Resurrection, as the disciples look on, "he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight". 1 Peter 3:22 states that Jesus has "gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God".[51]
The Acts of the Apostles describes several appearances of Jesus in visions after his Ascension. Acts 7:55 describes a vision experienced by Stephen just before his death.[196] On the road to Damascus, the Apostle Paul is converted to Christianity after seeing a blinding light and hearing a voice saying, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting" (Acts 9:5).[197] In Acts 9:10–18, Jesus instructs Ananias of Damascus to heal Paul. It is the last conversation with Jesus reported in the Bible until the Book of Revelation,[197] in which a man named John receives a revelation from Jesus concerning the last days.[198]
Historical views
Main articles: Historical Jesus and Quest for the historical Jesus
See also: Biblical criticism
Prior to the Enlightenment, the gospels were usually regarded as accurate historical accounts, but since then scholars have emerged who question the reliability of the gospels and draw a distinction between the Jesus described in the gospels and the Jesus of history.[199] Since the 18th century, three separate scholarly quests for the historical Jesus have taken place, each with distinct characteristics and based on different research criteria, which were often developed during the quest that applied them.[200][201] Scholars have studied and debated a number of issues concerning the historical Jesus, such as his existence, the origins and historical reliability of the gospels and other sources, and the precise portrait of the historical figure.
Chronology
Main article: Chronology of Jesus
See also: Anno Domini
Most scholars agree that Jesus was a Galilean Jew, born around the beginning of the first century, who died between 30 and 36 AD in Judea.[202][203] The designation for the first century, anno domini, or "in the year of the lord", is in reference to the birth of Jesus,[204] despite modern consensus that he was born before this time. The general scholarly consensus is that Jesus was a contemporary of John the Baptist and was crucified by the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, who held office from 26 to 36 AD.[21] Most scholars hold that Jesus lived in Galilee and Judea and did not preach or study elsewhere.[205]
Non-Christian sources for the life of Jesus
See also: Josephus on Jesus and Tacitus on Jesus
Non-Christian sources used to establish the historical existence of Jesus include the works of first-century historians Josephus and Tacitus.[207][206][208] Josephus scholar Louis H. Feldman has stated that "few have doubted the genuineness" of Josephus' reference to Jesus in book 20 of the Antiquities of the Jews, and it is disputed only by a small number of scholars.[209][210] Tacitus referred to Christ and his execution by Pilate in book 15 of his work Annals. Scholars generally consider Tacitus's reference to the execution of Jesus to be both authentic and of historical value as an independent Roman source.[211]
Non-Christian sources are valuable in two ways.[11] First, they show that even neutral or hostile parties never evince any doubt that Jesus actually existed.[11] Second, they present a rough picture of Jesus that is compatible with that found in the Christian sources: that Jesus was a teacher, had a reputation as a miracle worker, had a brother James, and died a violent death.[11]
Historicity of events
Main article: Historicity of Jesus
See also: Cultural and historical background of Jesus, History of the Jews in the Roman Empire, Higher criticism, Textual criticism and Historical reliability of the Gospels
Approaches to the historical reconstruction of the life of Jesus have varied from the "maximalist" approaches of the 19th century, in which the gospel accounts were accepted as reliable evidence wherever it is possible, to the "minimalist" approaches of the early 20th century, where hardly anything about Jesus was accepted as historical.[212] In the 1950s, as the second quest for the historical Jesus gathered pace, the minimalist approaches faded away, and in the 21st century, minimalists such as Price are a very small minority.[213][214] Although a belief in the inerrancy of the gospels cannot be supported historically, many scholars since the 1980s have held that, beyond the few facts considered to be historically certain, certain other elements of Jesus' life are "historically probable".[213][215][216] Modern scholarly research on the historical Jesus thus focuses on identifying the most probable elements.[217][218]
Most modern scholars consider Jesus' baptism and crucifixion to be definite historical facts.[7] James D.G. Dunn states that they "command almost universal assent" and "rank so high on the 'almost impossible to doubt or deny' scale of historical facts" that they are often the starting points for the study of the historical Jesus.[7] Scholars adduce the criterion of embarrassment, saying that early Christians would not have invented the painful death of their leader,[219] or a baptism that might imply that Jesus committed sins and wanted to repent.[220][221] Scholars use a number of criteria, such as the criterion of multiple attestation, thecriterion of coherence, and the criterion of discontinuity to judge the historicity of events.[222] The historicity of an event also depends on the reliability of the source. Mark, the earliest written gospel, is usually considered the most historically reliable.[223] John, the latest written gospel, differs considerably from the Synoptic Gospels, and thus is generally considered less reliable. For example, many scholars do not consider the Raising of Lazarus to be historical, partly because it appears only in John.[224] Amy-Jill Levine states that there is "a consensus of sorts" on the basic outline of Jesus' life, in that most scholars agree that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, debated with Jewish authorities on the subject of God, performed some healings, taught in parables, gathered followers, and was crucified on Pilate's orders.[21]
The renowned Italian polymath Gaetano De Sanctis[225] (1870 – 1957) said that the empty tomb of Jesus was proven by the Nazareth Inscription,[226] which is a marble tablet inscribed in Greek with an edict from an unnamed Caesar ordering capital punishment for anyone caught disturbing graves or tombs.[227]
Portraits of Jesus
Main article: Historical Jesus
Modern research on the historical Jesus has not led to a unified picture of the historical figure, partly because of the variety of academic traditions represented by the scholars.[228] Ben Witherington states that "there are now as many portraits of the historical Jesus as there are scholarly painters".[229] Witherington argues that any valid portrait must recognize Jesus' self-identity as a Jew, and he promotes a portrait of Jesus as a prophetic sage in the Jewish wisdom tradition.[230][231] Given the scarcity of historical sources, it is generally difficult for any scholar to construct a portrait of Jesus that can be considered historically valid beyond the basic elements of his life.[72][73] The portraits of Jesus constructed in these quests often differ from each other, and from the image portrayed in the gospels.[232][233]
The mainstream profiles in the third quest may be grouped according to whether they portray Jesus primarily as an apocalyptic prophet, a charismatic healer, a cynic philosopher, the true Messiah, or an egalitarian prophet of social change.[234][22] Each of these types has a number of variants, and some scholars reject the basic elements of some portraits.[235] However, the attributes described in the portraits sometimes overlap, and scholars who differ on some attributes sometimes agree on others.[236]
Since the 18th century, scholars have occasionally put forth that Jesus was a political national messiah, but the evidence for this portrait is negligible.[237] Likewise, the proposal that Jesus was a Zealot does not fit with the earliest strata of the Synoptic tradition.[237]
Language, ethnicity, and appearance
Further information: Aramaic of Jesus and Race and appearance of Jesus
Jesus grew up in Galilee and much of his ministry took place there.[240] The languages spoken in Galilee and Judea during the first century AD include Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek, with Aramaic being predominant.[241][242] There is substantial consensus that Jesus gave most of his teachings in Aramaic.[243]
Modern scholars agree that Jesus was a Jew of first-century Palestine.[244][245][246] However, in a review of the state of modern scholarship, Amy-Jill Levine writes that the entire question of ethnicity is "fraught with difficulty," and that "beyond recognizing that 'Jesus was Jewish', rarely does the scholarship address what being 'Jewish' means".[247]
The New Testament gives no description of the physical appearance of Jesus before his death—it is generally indifferent to racial appearances and does not refer to the features of the people it mentions.[248][249][250] Jesus probably looked like a typical Jew of his time and according to some scholars was likely to have had a sinewy appearance due to his ascetic and itinerant lifestyle.[251] James H. Charlesworth states Jesus' face was "most likely dark brown and sun-tanned", and his stature "may have been between five feet five [1.65 m] and five feet seven [1.70 m]".[252]
Archaeology
Main article: Jesus and archaeology
Despite the lack of specific archaeological remains unambiguously associated with Jesus, 21st-century scholars have become increasingly interested in using archaeology to seek greater understanding of the socio-economic and political background to Jesus' life.[253][254][255] Few modern scholars would now ignore the archaeological discoveries that cast light on life in Galilee and Judea during the time of Jesus.[255] The chief contribution of archaeology to the study of the historical Jesus is the reconstruction of his social world.[256]
An interdisciplinary scholarly study of archaeology, textual analysis and historical context can shed light on Jesus and his teachings.[257] An example is the archaeological studies at Capernaum. Despite the frequent references to Capernaum in the New Testament, little is said about it.[258] However, recent archaeological evidence shows that, contrary to earlier beliefs, Capernaum was poor and small, without even a forum or an agora.[257][259] This archaeological discovery resonates well with the scholarly view that Jesus advocated reciprocal sharing among the destitute in that area of Galilee.[257]
Christ myth theory
Main article: Christ myth theory
The Christ myth theory is the hypothesis that Jesus of Nazareth never existed; or if he did, that he had virtually nothing to do with the founding of Christianity and the accounts in the gospels.[260] Different proponents espouse slightly different versions of the Christ Myth Theory, but all versions go beyond the mainstream view inHistorical Jesus research, which accepts that many of the events described in the gospels are not historical but which still assumes that the gospels are founded on a basic historical core.
Despite arguments put forward by authors who have questioned the existence of a historical Jesus, there remains a strong consensus in historical-critical biblical scholarship that a historical Jesus did live in that area and in that time period.[261][262][263][264][265][266][267] However, scholars differ on the historicity of specific episodes described in the Biblical accounts of Jesus,[268] and the only two events subject to "almost universal assent" are that Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate.[269][270][271]
Perspectives on Jesus
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.[272][273][274] Jesus has also had detractors, both past and present.
Christian views
Main articles: Jesus in Christianity and Christology
Jesus is the central figure of Christianity.[275] 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.[276][277][278] 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.[279] 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.[280]
The New Testament states that the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of the Christian faith (1 Corinthians 15:12–20).[281] Christians believe that through his sacrificial death and resurrection, humans can be reconciled with God and are thereby offered salvation and the promise of eternal life.[282] 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.[283][284] Jesus is thus seen as the new and last Adam, whose obedience contrasts with Adam's disobedience.[285] Christians view Jesus as a role model, whose God-focused life believers are encouraged to imitate.[275]
Most Christians believe that Jesus was both human and the Son of God. While there has been theological debate over his nature,[h] 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 acceptedamong Christians.[286][287] It is rejected by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[288] 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.[289][290] These devotions and feasts exist in both Eastern and Western Christianity.[290]
Various Christian commentators, such as C.S. Lewis (who said "the doors of Hell are locked on the inside")[291] and Hans Urs von Balthasar emphasized the merciful nature of Jesus.[292] Other Christians emphasize Jesus' views on divine justice.[293]
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.[294] 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.[295] According to Jewish tradition, there were no prophets after Malachi,[296] who delivered his prophesies in the fifth century BC.[297] A group known as Messianic Jews considers Jesus to be the Messiah, but whether this body is a sect of Judaism has been disputed since New Testament times.[298][299]
Judaic criticism of Jesus is long-standing. The Talmud, written and compiled from the third to the fifth century AD,[300] 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.[301] There is a wide spectrum of opinion among scholars concerning these stories.[302] The majority of contemporary historians consider that this material provides no information on the historical Jesus.[303] 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".[304]
Islamic views
Main article: Jesus in Islam
See also: Jesus in Ahmadiyya Islam
A major figure in Islam, Jesus (commonly transliterated as 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 (referred to in Islam as Injil).[25][305] 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.[306] Belief in Jesus (and all other messengers of God) is a requirement for being a Muslim.[307] The Quran mentions Jesus by name 25 times—more often than Muhammad[308][309]—and emphasizes that Jesus was a mortal human who, like all other prophets, had been divinely chosen to spread God's message.[310] Jesus is considered 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.[311] The Quran says that Jesus himself never claimed divinity,[312] and predicts that at the Last Judgment, Jesus will deny having ever made such a claim (Quran 5:116).[313] Like all prophets in Islam, Jesus is considered a Muslim.[314]
The Quran describes 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.[315][316] The Quran (21:91 and 66:12) states that God breathed His Spirit into Mary while she was chaste.[315][316] Jesus is called the "Spirit of God" because he was born through the action of the Spirit,[315] but that belief does not imply his pre-existence.[317]
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.[312] Through his ministry, Jesus is seen as a precursor to Muhammad.[310] According to the Quran, Jesus was not crucified but was physically raised into the heavens by God.[318] To Muslims, it is the ascension rather than the crucifixion that constitutes a major event in the life of Jesus.[319] Most Muslims believe that Jesus will return to earth at the end of time and defeat the Antichrist (ad-Dajjal).[25]
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community has several distinct teachings about Jesus. Ahmadis believe that he was a mortal man who survived his crucifixion and died a natural death at the age of 120 in Kashmir, India.[320]
Bahá'í views
Bahá'í teachings consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God, a Bahá'í concept for prophets[321]—intermediaries between God and humanity, serving as messengers and reflecting God's qualities and attributes.[322] The Bahá'í concept emphasizes the simultaneous qualities of humanity and divinity;[322] thus, it is similar to the Christian concept of incarnation.[321] Bahá'í thought accepts Jesus as the Son of God.[323] 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.[321]
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.[322] 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.[324] 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,[325][326] but see the Resurrection and the miracles of Jesus as symbolic.[323][326]
Other views
See also: Criticism of Jesus
In Gnosticism (now a largely extinct religion),[327] 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.[328] Manichaeism, a Gnostic sect, accepted Jesus as a prophet, along with Gautama Buddha and Zoroaster.[329][330]
Some Hindus consider Jesus to be an avatar or a sadhu and point out similarities between Krishna and Jesus' teachings.[331][332] Paramahansa Yogananda, an Indian guru, taught that Jesus was the reincarnation of Elisha and a student of John the Baptist, the reincarnation of Elijah.[333] Some Buddhists, including Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, regard Jesus as abodhisattva who dedicated his life to the welfare of people.[334] Disciples of the Cao Đài religion worship Jesus Christ as a major religious teacher.[335] He is revealed during communication with Divine Beings as the spirit of their Supreme Being (God the Father) together with other major religious teachers and founders like the Gautama Buddha, Laozi, and Confucius.[336]The New Age movement entertains a wide variety of views on Jesus.[337] Theosophists, from whom many New Age teachings originated,[338] refer to Jesus as the Master Jesus and believe that Christ, after various incarnations, occupied the body of Jesus.[339] Scientologists recognize Jesus (along with other religious figures such as Zoroaster, Muhammad, and Buddha) as part of their "religious heritage".[337][340] Atheists reject Jesus' divinity, but not all hold a negative estimation of him; Richard Dawkins, for instance, refers to Jesus as "a great moral teacher",[341] while stating in his book The God Delusion, that Jesus is praiseworthy because he did not derive his ethics from biblical scripture.[342]
Jesus had detractors, both past and present, as well. Early critics of Jesus and Christianity included Celsus in the second century and Porphyry in the third.[343][344] In the 19th century, Nietzsche was highly critical of Jesus, whose teachings he considered to be "anti-nature" in their treatment of topics such as sexuality.[345] More contemporary notable critics of Jesus includeSita Ram Goel, Christopher Hitchens, Bertrand Russell, and Dayananda Saraswati. In the 20th century, Russell wrote in Why I Am Not a Christian that Jesus was "not so wise as some other people have been, and He was certainly not superlatively wise".[346] Russell called Jesus’ vindictive nature a defect in his moral character in that Jesus in the Gospels believed in the everlasting punishment of hell, which Russell felt that no one who is "really profoundly humane can believe in".[347] Russell also notes a repeated "vindictive fury against those people who would not listen to His preaching" which he felt "detract[s] from superlative excellence".[347]
Depictions
Main article: Depiction of Jesus
Some of the earliest depictions of Jesus at the Dura-Europos church are firmly dated to before 256.[348] Thereafter, despite the lack of biblical references or historical records, a wide range of depictions of Jesus appeared during the last two millennia, often influenced by cultural settings, political circumstances and theological contexts.[238][239][249] As in other Early Christian art, the earliest depictions date to the late second or early third century, and surviving images are found especially in the Catacombs of Rome.[349]
The depiction of Christ in pictorial form was highly controversial in the early church.[350][351][352] From the 5th century onward, flat painted icons became popular in the Eastern Church.[353] The Byzantine Iconoclasm acted as a barrier to developments in the East, but by the ninth century, art was permitted again.[238] The Transfiguration was a major theme in Eastern Christian art, and every Eastern Orthodox monk who had trained in icon painting had to prove his craft by painting an icon depicting it.[354] Icons receive the external marks of veneration, such as kisses and prostration, and they are thought to be powerful channels of divine grace.[353]
Before the Reformation, the crucifix was common in Western Christianity.[355] It is a model of the cross with Jesus crucified on it.[355] The crucifix became the central ornament of the altar in the 13th century, a use that has been nearly universal in Roman Catholic churches until recent times.[355]
Jesus appears as an infant in a manger (feed trough) in Christmas creches, which depict the Nativity scene.[356] He is typically joined by Mary, Joseph, animals, shepherds, angels, and the Magi.[356] Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226) is credited with popularizing the creche, although he probably did not initiate it.[356] The creche reached its height of popularity in the 17th and 18th centuries in southern Europe.[356]
The Renaissance brought forth a number of artists who focused on depictions of Jesus; Fra Angelico and others followed Giotto in the systematic development of uncluttered images.[238]
The Protestant Reformation brought renewed resistance to imagery, but total prohibition was atypical, and Protestant objections to images have tended to reduce since the 16th century. Although large images are generally avoided, few Protestants now object to book illustrations depicting Jesus.[357][358] The use of depictions of Jesus is advocated by the leaders of denominations such as Anglicans and Catholics[359][360][361] and is a key element of the Eastern Orthodox tradition.[362][363]
Relics associated with Jesus
Main article: Relics associated with Jesus
The total destruction that ensued with the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD made the survival of items from first century Judea very rare and almost no direct records survive about the history of Judaism from the last part of the first century through the second century.[364][365][i] Margaret M. Mitchell writes that although Eusebiusreports (Ecclesiastical History III 5.3) that the early Christians left Jerusalem for Pella just before Jerusalem was subjected to the final lock down, we must accept that no first hand Christian items from the early Jerusalem Church have reached us.[367] However, throughout the history of Christianity a number of relics attributed to Jesus have been claimed, although doubt has been cast on them. The 16th-century Catholic theologian Erasmus wrote sarcastically about the proliferation of relics and the number of buildings that could have been constructed from the wood claimed to be from the cross used in the Crucifixion.[368] Similarly, while experts debate whether Jesus was crucified with three nails or with four, at least thirty holy nails continue to be venerated as relics across Europe.[369]
Some relics, such as purported remnants of the Crown of Thorns, receive only a modest number of pilgrims, while the Shroud of Turin (which is associated with an approved Catholic devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus), have received millions,[370] including popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. There is no scholarly consensus in favor for the authenticity of any relic attributed to Jesus.
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