This article presents a description of Jesus' life, as based on the four gospels. Other related articles present different descriptions and perspectives of Jesus. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Jesus in popular culture. ... There are no undisputed historical images of Jesus; he sat for no portraits which are preserved and of unquestioned authenticity and undoubted provenance. ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ...

Childhood and family background

Main articles: Nativity and Child Jesus

The Bible describes Jesus variously as the Son of God, the Messiah, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and the Saviour of lost man; it also indicates that he was born in the town of Bethlehem, while Nazareth in Galilee was his childhood home. Nativity is the general time and place of a persons birth and early years. ... Jacopo Bellinis Madonna and Child Blessing depicts the infant Jesus in the act of blessing the viewer The Child Jesus is a religious symbol based on the activities of Jesus as an infant up to the age of twelve that recurs throughout history, starting from around the third or... The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... The Church of the Nativity, a Bethlehem Landmark Bethlehem (Arabic بيت لحم (help· info) house of meat; Standard Hebrew בית לחם house of bread, Bet léḥem / Bet láḥem; Tiberian Hebrew Bêṯ léḥem / Bêṯ lāḥem) (Greek: Βηθλεέμ) is a city in the West Bank under Palestinian Authority considered a central hub of... The factual accuracy of this article needs to be verified. ... Galilee (Arabic al-jaleel الجليل, Hebrew hagalil הגליל), meaning circuit, is a large area overlapping with much of the North District of Israel. ...

Jesus's mother was Mary. Two of the Gospels (Matthew and Luke) report that the Holy Spirit of God miraculously caused Mary to conceive, giving rise to a virgin birth, meaning that Joseph was Jesus's foster father. The other two Gospels, Mark and John, make no mention of Joseph, but in their first chapters refer to Jesus as the Son of God. The focus of each of the gospel accounts is primarily found in his later life, with special emphasis on the three-year period of ministry prior to the crucifixion: events following his baptism, his teachings and ministry, and the events leading up to his death. The chronology of Jesus depicts the traditional chronology established for the events of the life of Jesus by the four canonical gospels (which allude to various dates for several events). ... Jesus (8-2 BC/BCE– 29-36 AD/CE),[1] also known as Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. ... For other uses, see Gospel (disambiguation). ... The Nativity refers to the birth of Jesus. ... Jacopo Bellinis Madonna and Child Blessing depicts the infant Jesus in the act of blessing the viewer The Child Jesus is a religious symbol based on the activities of Jesus as an infant up to the age of twelve that recurs throughout history, starting from around the third or... The Baptism of Christ, by Piero della Francesca, 1449 The Baptism of Jesus is the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist. ... In Christianity, the temptation of Christ refers to the temptation of Jesus by Satan as detailed in the New Testament, specifically: Matthew 4:1-11 Mark 1:12-13 Luke 4:1-13 According to these Gospels, Jesus has fasted for forty days and nights in the desert or wilderness... The Sermon on the Mount by Carl Heinrich Bloch. ... The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles... Saint Francis exorcised demons in Arezzo, fresco of Giotto Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed (taken control of) a person or object. ... The word Transfiguration means a changing of appearance or form. ... Jesus vertreibt die Händler aus dem Tempel by Giovanni Paolo Pannini The narrative of Jesus and the Money Changers occurs in both the Synoptic Gospels and in the Gospel of John, although it occurs close to the end of the Synoptic Gospels (at Mark 11:15-19, Matthew 21... The Olivet discourse is a passage found in the Synoptic Gospels of Mark (at Mark 13) and of Matthew (at Matthew 24-25), occurring just before the narrative of Jesus passion begins with the Anointing of Jesus, and in the narrative is a discourse given by Jesus on the Mount... The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. ... A depiction of the Sanhedrin trial, by Giotto The Sanhedrin Trial of Jesus is an event reported by all the Canonical Gospels. ... The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... Entombment of Christ by Pieter Lastman The death of Jesus is an event described by the New Testament, as occurring after the Passion of Jesus, as a result of his crucifixion. ... According to the Trinitarian interpretation of the New Testament, Jesus was both human and God, so he had the power to lay his life down and to take it up again; thus after Jesus died, he came back to life. ... The Great Commission is a tenet in Christian theology emphasizing mission work and evangelism, particularly (but not exclusively) emphasized by evangelicals. ... The Christian doctrine of the Ascension holds that Jesus bodily ascended to heaven following his resurrection. ... Saint Mary and Saint Mary the Virgin both redirect here. ... The Gospel of Matthew (literally: according to Matthew, Greek: Κατά Μαθθαίον or Κατά Ματθαίον ) is one of the four Gospel accounts of the New Testament. ... The Gospel of Luke is the third of the four canonical Gospels of the New Testament, which tell the story of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. ... In various religions, most notably Trinitarian Christianity, the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost; in Hebrew רוח הקודש Ruah haqodesh) is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. ... Michelangelos depiction of God in the painting Creation of the Sun and Moon in the Sistine Chapel Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu, one of the manifestations of the ultimate reality or God in Hinduism This article discusses the term God in the context of monotheism and henotheism. ... The Virgin Birth is a key doctrine of the Christian faith, and is also held to be true by Muslims (Quran 3. ... Joseph led his family to safety in Egypt to escape from Herod, as depicted by Lorenzo Monaco According to the Christian Gospel accounts Joseph of the House of David – in tradition also called Joseph the Betrothed and Saint Joseph – was the husband of Mary (Matthew 1:16) and the legal... The Gospel of Mark is traditionally the second of the New Testament Gospels. ... The Gospel according to John is a gospel document in the canon of the New Testament. ...

Mark 6:3 reports that Jesus was "Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon," and also states that Jesus had sisters. The 1st-century Jewish historian Josephus describes James as "the brother of Jesus who is called Christ", though this passage has been suggested as an interpolation (See Josephus on Jesus). Additionally, the Christian historian Eusebius (who wrote in the 4th century but quoted earlier sources that are now lost) refers to James the Just as Jesus' brother (See Desposyni). However, Epiphanius argued that they were "Joseph's children by his (unrecorded) first wife", while Jerome argued that they were "Jesus' cousins", which the Greek word for brother used in the Gospels would allow. These alternatives support the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition that Mary remained a perpetual virgin, thus having no biological children before or after Jesus. Josephus (c. ... In 93, the Jewish historian Josephus published his work Antiquities of the Jews. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (~275 – May 30, 339) (often called Eusebius Pamphili, Eusebius [the friend] of Pamphilus) was a bishop of Caesarea in Palestine and is often referred to as the father of church history because of his work in recording the history of the early Christian church. ... As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... Saint James the Just (יעקב Holder of the heel; supplanter; Standard Hebrew YaÊ¿aqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ), also called James Adelphos or the Brother of the Lord and sometimes identified with James the Lesser, (died AD 62) was an important figure in Early Christianity. ... The Desposyni (from Greek (desposunos) of or belonging to the master or lord[1]) was a sacred name reserved only for Jesus blood relatives. ... Epiphanius (clearly manifested) was the name of several early Christian scholars and ecclesiastics: Epiphanius of Salamis, bishop of Salamis in Cyprus, died 410, author of Panarion Epiphanius of Constantinople, died 535, Patriarch of Constantinople 520—535 Epiphanius Scholasticus, known only as the assistant of Cassiodorus who compiled the Historiae Ecclesiasticae... Jerome (ca. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Eastern Orthodoxy (also called Greek Orthodoxy and Russian Orthodoxy) is a Christian tradition which represents the majority of Eastern Christianity. ...

The Gospels of Matthew and Luke also give the genealogies of Jesus beyond Mary and Joseph. Their accounts are somewhat different, but both Gospels agree that Jesus is a descendant of King David. Lukes genealogy of Jesus, from the Book of Kells transcribed by Celtic monks circa 800 The genealogy of Jesus through his legal father Joseph is given by two passages from the Gospels, Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38. ... This page is about the Biblical king David. ...

Works and miracles

Main article: Miracles of Jesus

According to the Gospels, Jesus began his public ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing soon after he was baptized by John the Baptist. Jesus' precise relationship to John, a major figure whose activities required the intervention of King Herod Antipas, is not clearly established in the gospels. Though the gospel of Matthew portrays John attempting to decline baptizing Jesus, the earlier gospel of Mark says nothing of his reluctance. The Mandaeans look to John as their founder, which indicates their belief that John continued to maintain his own group of disciples and that he did not believe Jesus' prophetic career superseded his own. According to the canonical Gospels, Jesus worked many miracles in the course of his ministry. ... Baptism is a water purification ritual practiced in certain religions such as Christianity, Mandaeanism, Sikhism, and some historic sects of Judaism. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Failure of John the Baptist. ... Herod Antipas (short for Antipatros) was an ancient leader (tetrarch, meaning ruler of a quarter) of Galilee and Perea. ... Mandaeanism is a pre-Christian religion which has been classified by scholars as Gnostic. ... Mandaeanism is a pre-Christian religion which has been classified by scholars as Gnostic. ...

The Gospel of John mentions three separate Passovers during Jesus' ministry, so most scholars conclude that it was a period of approximately three years. However, the other Gospels only mention one, and a few scholars suggest that a ministry of more than three years is possible. Passover (Hebrew: פסח; transliterated as Pesach or Pesah), also called חג המצות (Chag HaMatzot - Festival of Matzot) is a Jewish holiday that always begins on the 15th day of Nisan (on the Hebrew calendar), which falls in the early spring and commemorates the Exodus and freedom of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. ...

Jesus used a variety of methods in his teaching and made extensive use of illustrations (cf. Matthew 13:34-35). The detailed nature of Jesus' spiritual teaching cannot be fully agreed upon because accounts are fragmentary and because he made extensive use of paradox, metaphor and parable, leaving it unclear how literally he wished to be taken and precisely what he meant. Robert Boyles self-flowing flask fills itself in this diagram, but perpetual motion machines cannot exist (according to our present understanding of physics). ... In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin) is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. ... An ill digested lesson The Governess. ...

According to the Bible, Jesus performed various miracles in the course of his ministry. These ranged from cures to exorcisms, with several others that showed his dominion over nature. Scholars in mainstream Christian traditions as well as many secular scholars view these as claims of supernatural power. Scholars employing various methods of higher criticism have sought to explain biblical events without recourse to supernatural occurrences, such as explaining the text as allegory. According to the canonical Gospels, Jesus worked many miracles in the course of his ministry. ... Saint Francis exorcised demons in Arezzo, fresco of Giotto Exorcism is the practice of evicting demons or other evil spiritual entities which are supposed to have possessed (taken control of) a person or object. ... An allegory (from Greek αλλος, allos, other, and αγορευειν, agoreuein, to speak in public) is a figurative mode of representation conveying a meaning other than and in addition to the literal. ...

Jesus also preached the imminent end of the current era of history, in some sense a literal end of the world as people of his time knew it; in this sense he was an apocalyptic preacher bringing a message about the imminent end of the world the Jews knew. For other uses, see Apocalypse (disambiguation). ...

Jesus generally opposed stringent interpretations of Jewish law, preaching a more flexible understanding of the law. His teachings show an inclination to following a teleological approach, in which the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law, and the Gospels record him as having many disagreements with the Pharisees and Sadducees. In other places Jesus suggests that the Pharisees were not strict enough in their observance of the law. Halakha (Hebrew: הלכה; also transliterated as Halakhah, Halacha, Halakhot and Halachah) is the collective corpus of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law as well as customs and traditions. ...

Among the various discussions with religious leaders are question-and-answer debates common between religious teachers of the period. In a conversation with a group of Sadducees, Jesus makes use of the Law of Moses to answer a question regarding the resurrection of the dead (in which the Sadducees did not believe). A few modern scholars thus believe that Jesus may have been a liberal Pharisee in some respects, or an Essene (a sect with whom he shared many views). In this view Jesus was later cast as an enemy of the Pharisees, because by the time Christians transcribed the Gospels, the Pharisees had become the dominant sect of Judaism. This view receives some support in the Acts of the Apostles, where Jesus' apostles were generally attacked by Sadducees but were sometimes protected by Pharisees with more liberal interpretations of Jewish law. Evidence against this view is found in the understanding that some of the gospel materials were compiled before the destruction of the temple in AD 70. It was around this time in which the Pharisees came to power. The Essenes (es-eenz) were followers of a religious way of living in Judaism that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. Many scholars today argue that there were a number of separate but related groups that had in common mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles... Centuries: 1st century BC - 1st century - 2nd century Decades: 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s - 70s - 80s 90s 100s 110s 120s Years: 65 66 67 68 69 - 70 - 71 72 73 74 75 Events The building of the Colosseum starts (approximate date). ...

By the time of his death, Jesus had taught a number of his disciples, or apostles, to preach his teachings and to perform healings of both Jews and Gentiles alike after they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit, which he was to send to them following his Ascension. The word Gentile from the Latin gentilis, can either be a translation of the Hebrew Goy/גוי or of the Hebrew word Nochri/נכרי. In the most common modern use it refers to the former being derived from the Latin term gens (meaning clan or a group of families) and it is... The Christian doctrine of the Ascension holds that Jesus bodily ascended to heaven following his resurrection. ...

In his role as a social reformer, Jesus threatened the status quo. He was unpopular with many Jewish religious authorities, though following his death the book of Acts and some of the Epistles say that numerous priests and Pharisees became followers of his teachings. According to the Gospels, his unpopularity among the leadership of the area was because he criticised it and, moreover, because Jesus' followers held the controversial and inflammatory view that he was not only the Messiah but God himself.

Preaching the kingdom of God

According to the Bible, the theme of Jesus' preaching was "Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near" (Matthew 4:17). Jesus' commission from God was to preach about his father's Kingdom, and he trained his disciples to do the same work. "Let us go somewhere else," he told his first disciples, "that I may preach there also, for it is for this purpose I have gone out" (Mark 1:38; Luke 4:43). Later, after extensively training twelve apostles, Jesus instructed them: "As you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of the heavens has drawn near'" (Matthew 10:7). Some months later, after training 70 others, he sent them forth with the command: "Go on telling them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you'" (Luke 10:9). Clearly, Jesus wanted his disciples to be preachers and teachers. The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hē biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their...

Then Jesus "designated seventy others and sent them forth by twos in advance of him into every city and place to which he himself was going to come." These were not just to preach in public places but were also to contact people at their homes. Jesus instructed them: "Wherever you enter into a house say first, 'May this house have peace'" (Luke 10:1-7).

And toward the end of his ministry, he explained: "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth" (John 18:37). So he occupied himself with preaching the kingdom of God.

Sexuality and love

The Bible does not explicitly indicate that Jesus had any romantic relationships, and most scholars and Christians think that he had none. Jesus is reported to have praised the value of celibacy, saying that some have made themselves "eunuchs" for the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:12). This was not uncommon at the time; although most Jews married (including those who were Pharisees), others, like the Essenes, promoted celibacy. Jesus also affirmed marriage by attending the wedding at Cana and performing his first miracle there; by affirming Moses' restrictions on divorce and extending them by narrowing the circumstances in which divorce is permissible; and by affirming marriage as part of the created order, quoting the book of Genesis. Celibacy refers either to being unmarried or to sexual abstinence. ... The Pharisees (from the Hebrew perushim, from parash, meaning to separate) were, depending on the time, a political party, a social movement, and a school of thought among Jews that flourished during the Second Temple Era (536 BCE–70 CE). ... The Essenes (es-eenz) were followers of a religious way of living in Judaism that flourished from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. Many scholars today argue that there were a number of separate but related groups that had in common mystic, eschatological, messianic, and ascetic beliefs...

Final days

Michelangelo's Pietà shows Mary holding the dead body of Jesus.

Main articles: The Last Supper, Passion, Crucifixion

According to the Bible, Jesus came with his followers to Jerusalem during the Passover festival. He was involved in a public disturbance at the Temple in Jerusalem when he overturned the tables of the moneychangers there. At some point later, he was betrayed to the Jewish religious authorities of the city — either the full council (Sanhedrin) or perhaps just the High Priest — by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot. The High Priest of the city was appointed by the government in Rome, and the current holder of the post was Joseph Caiphas. The Romans ruled the city through the High Priest and Sanhedrin, so often the Jewish authorities of the city had to arrest people in order to obey Roman orders to maintain the peace. Jesus' disciples went into hiding after he was arrested. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x766, 141 KB) Pietà by Michelangelo, St. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (800x766, 141 KB) Pietà by Michelangelo, St. ... This article is about the most famous Pietà Florentine Pietà (or Deposition), the Rondanini Pietà and the Palestrina Pietà The Pietà (1498–99) by Michelangelo is a marble sculpture in St. ... The Last Supper was the last meal Jesus shared with his apostles before his death. ... The Passion is the technical term for the suffering and Agony of Jesus that led directly to the Crucifixion, a central Christian event. ... Artistic depiction of the crucifixion of Jesus. ... Passover (Hebrew: פסח; transliterated as Pesach or Pesah), also called ×—×’ המצות (Chag HaMatzot - Festival of Matzot) is a Jewish holiday that always begins on the 15th day of Nisan (on the Hebrew calendar), which falls in the early spring and commemorates the Exodus and freedom of the Israelites from ancient Egypt. ... The Temple in Jerusalem or the Holy Temple (Hebrew: בית המקדש, transliterated Bet HaMikdash) was built in ancient Jerusalem in c. ... For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... Judas Iscariot (died April AD 29–33, Hebrew יהודה איש־קריות ) was, according to the New Testament, one of the twelve original apostles of Jesus, and the one who is said to have betrayed him. ... City motto: Senatus Populusque Romanus – SPQR (The Senate and the People of Rome) Founded 21 April 753 BC (mythical), early 1st millennium BC (archaeological) Region Latium Area  - City Proper  1285 km² Population  - City (2004)  - Metropolitan  - Density (city proper) 2,553,873 almost 4,300,000 1. ... In the New Testament, Caiaphas was the Jewish high priest to whom Jesus was taken to after his arrest in the garden of Gethsemane, and who played a part in Jesus crucifixion. ...

Jesus was crucified by the Romans on the orders of Pontius Pilate, the Roman Prefect of Judea in Jerusalem. The Gospels state that he did this at the behest of the Jewish religious leaders, but it may have been simply that Pilate considered Jesus' ability to incite public disturbance as a potential Messiah to be a threat to Roman order. Pilate was known as a harsh ruler who ordered many executions for lesser reasons during his reign; he had also been in trouble twice with his Roman superiors for being too harsh in his rule. Furthermore, the plaque placed on the cross was used by the Romans to detail the crime of the crucified individual. In the case of Jesus, the plaque read, IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDAEORVM (INRI) — meaning either "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" or "Jesus the Nazarene, King of the Jews", indicating that Jesus was crucified for the crime of rebelling against the authority of Rome by being declared the "King of the Jews". In the Aramaic it would have been Yeshua HaNazarei v Melech HaYehudim: Jesus the Nazarei, King of the Jews. Ecce Homo (Behold the Man!), Antonio Ciseris depiction of Pontius Pilate presenting a scourged Jesus of Nazareth to the people of Jerusalem Pontius Pilate (Latin Pontius Pilatus) was the governor of the Roman province of Judea and Roman general from AD 26 until around AD 36, who is best... A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. ...

All the Gospel accounts agree that Joseph of Arimathea, variously a secret disciple or sympathiser to Jesus and possible member of the Sanhedrin, arranged with Pilate for the body to be taken down and entombed. According to most accounts, Jesus' mother Mary and other women, notably a female follower of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, were present during this process. John the Apostle is the only one of the twelve disciples mentioned as being present at the crucifixion itself. Joseph of Arimathea, according to the Gospels, was the man who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial of Jesus after his crucifixion. ... Mary Magdalene is described, both in the canonical New Testament and in the New Testament apocrypha, as a devoted disciple of Jesus. ... John the Apostle (יוחנן The LORD is merciful, Standard Hebrew Yoḥanan, Tiberian Hebrew Yôḥānān) was one of the twelve apostles of Jesus. ...

The resurrection

Main article: Resurrection of Jesus

According to the Christian Gospels, Jesus' disciples encountered him again on the third day after his death, raised to life. No one was a witness of the actual resurrection event, though all four Gospels report that women who went to anoint the body found the tomb empty. After the resurrection the Gospels give various accounts of Jesus meeting various people in various places over a period of forty days before "ascending into heaven". According to the Trinitarian interpretation of the New Testament, Jesus was both human and God, so he had the power to lay his life down and to take it up again; thus after Jesus died, he came back to life. ...

In addition to the Gospels, the resurrection is mentioned briefly again in Acts. In Galatians Paul makes special mention of Jesus' appearance to him after his resurrection, as well as referring or assuming the resurrection took place in his other epistles. The Book of Revelation also gives an account of Jesus appearing to the author in a vision and testifying to his resurrection (Revelation 1:18). These other mentions of the resurrection are generally much less detailed than that found in the gospels; in the case of Paul's epistles, many of them are generally believed to have been written earlier than the gospels. Visions of John the Evangelist, as depicted in the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry. ...

Luke reports that two followers en route to Emmaus were unable to recognize Jesus at first after the resurrection because "their eyes were restrained", and John says that Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus after the resurrection — even after he spoke to her — until he called her by name. Both Luke and John report other encounters between Jesus and followers who had no difficulty recognizing him; all post-resurrection encounters in Matthew and Mark mention no difficulties in recognizing Jesus.

Legacy

According to most Christian interpretations of the Bible, the theme of Jesus' preaching was that of repentance. During his public ministry, Jesus extensively trained twelve Apostles to continue after his departure his leadership of the many who had begun to follow him, mainly in the towns and villages throughout Galilee, Samaria, and the Decapolis. Most Christians who hold that Jesus' miracles were literally true, not allegory, think that the Apostles gained the power to perform healing for both Jews and Gentiles alike after they had been empowered by the Holy Spirit of Truth (to pneuma tēs alētheias, John 14:17, John 26; Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8, Acts 2:4) that he had promised the Father would send them after his departure — a promise that according to Acts 2:4 was fulfilled at Pentecost, poignantly the Jewish feast that, in addition to other Scriptural events, commemorates also the giving of the Law to Moses. For Christians the legacy Jesus left was one of sacrifice; they believe that Jesus was sent by God to die as a sacrifice in place of all humanity. Christians hold that this sacrifice had to take place because all humans sin (they claim God's penalty for sin is death and separation from God), so God sent his son to die in their place. Most non-Christians reject these claims which are based primarily on the text of the Bible. Jesus is held as an important person, a great teacher or a prophet by many other religions (who deny him as being God). The Gutenberg Bible owned by the United States Library of Congress The Bible (Hebrew: תנ״ך tanakh, Greek: η Βίβλος hÄ“ biblos) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Work of God, The Word, The Good Book or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the name used by Jews and Christians for their... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Twelve Apostles (in Koine Greek απόστολος apostolos [1], someone sent forth/sent out, an emissary) were probably Galilean Jewish men (10 names are Aramaic, 4 names are Greek) chosen from among the disciples, who were sent forth by Jesus of Nazareth to preach the Gospel to both Jews and Gentiles... Galilee (Arabic al-jaleel الجليل, Hebrew hagalil הגליל), meaning circuit, is a large area overlapping with much of the North District of Israel. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Sebastia, Middle East. ... The oval forum and cardo of Gerasa (Jerash) The Decapolis (Greek: deka, ten; polis, city) was a group of ten cities on the eastern frontier of the Roman Empire in Syria and Judea (renamed Palestine in 135 AD). ... A Gentile refers to a non-Israelite; the word is derived from the Latin term gens (meaning clan or a group of families) and is often employed in the plural. ... In various religions, most notably Trinitarian Christianity, the Holy Spirit (also called the Holy Ghost; in Hebrew רוח הקודש Ruah haqodesh) is the third Person of the Holy Trinity. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Torah () is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. It is the central and most important document of Judaism revered by Jews through the ages. ... Moses or Móshe (מֹשֶׁה, Standard Hebrew, Tiberian Hebrew Mōšeh, Arabic موسى MÅ«sa, Geez ሙሴ Musse) is a legendary Hebrew liberator, leader, lawgiver, prophet, and historian. ... Marcus Aurelius and members of the Imperial family offer sacrifice in gratitude for success against Germanic tribes: contemporary bas-relief, Capitoline Museum, Rome Sacrifice (from a Middle English verb meaning to make sacred, from Old French, from Latin sacrificium : sacer, sacred; sacred + facere, to make) is commonly known as the... The Atonement is the central doctrine of Christianity: everything else derives from it. ... SiN is a computer game developed by Ritual Entertainment and published by Activision in late 1998. ...

See also