Jesus Essay

The story of historical Jesus is not an easy story to tell. There is very little evidence for historians to go by and no sources that are from the actual time of Jesus. Years after his death there were attempts to document what Jesus had said and done during his life and the preaching’s he taught (Fisher, 2008, p. 295). We know Jesus was born during the reign of the Roman Emperor Augustus. Historians believe that Jesus was born and grew up in a village called Nazareth, even though the Gospel states he was born in Bethlehem (From Jesus to Christ, 1998). Nazareth was located in Galilee, which was ruled by Rome at the time (Fisher, 2008, p. 299). Sepphoris was a major city, located near Nazareth, which had great Roman and Greek culture. Recent excavations of Sepphoris tell scholars that it was a sophisticated environment. It is believed that Jesus may have had a more mainstream up bringing then being a “humble carpenter” from a low social status, or peasant, like the Bible states. Since there is so little evidence of Jesus there are conflicting theories about who Jesus actually was and how he was raised. Some historians believe that Jesus was part of the artisan class and worked in the city of Sepphoris. They also believe he was tri-lingual, speaking Aramaic, Hebrew, and Hellenistic Greek, so he could do business in the city of Sepphoris and his ministry work (From Jesus to Christ, 1998). It is also known that Jesus was Jewish and was a preacher of the Jewish texts. Historians believe that the evidence linking John and Jesus is the strongest they can find. “The ministry of John the Baptist, prophet citing Isaiah’s prophecies of the coming Kingdom of God. He was conducting baptism in the Jordan River in preparation for the Kingdom of ...

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...tween God and Jesus. Arius was a leader of a congregation that believed, “Christians worshiped Jesus, but at the same time came from monotheistic Jewish tradition, in which God alone is worshiped (Fisher, 2008, p. 320). In other words, Arius believed Jesus did not have the same status as God because he was a human. Others believed that “Jesus is properly worshiped as the incarnation of God” (Fisher, 2008, p. 320). In order to resolve this issue, Constantine formed a general council, called the Nicene Council. They debated the issue for decades and they finally dismissed Arius’s beliefs and created the Nicene Creed. The Nicene Creed states that the Father came down from heaven as the Holy Spirit and he was made man through the Virgin Mary. This creed is a “profession of faith for many Christians dominations” (Fisher, 2008, p. 320) and has helped unify all Christians.