JESUS CHRIST, the founder of the Chris tian religion. Four documents dating from the second half of the 1st century, the "Gospels ,° give some account of the life of Jesus, chiefly confined to his brief public work and death. Beyond what they give little is known as to his history. Some of the most important facts are referred to in other writings of the New Testament, especially in the letters of Paul; secular history contains mere references to him; a number of later writings, the so-called °Apocryphal Gospels," purport to give additional information, but they are fictitious and worth less; and beyond a very few sayings which were probably rightly attributed to Jesus, called °Agrapha,° tradition has preserved nothing of value which was not embodied in the Gospels. These narratives vary, but are rarely inconsist ent : usually they may best be regarded as com plementary, and the picture of the life and work of Jesus which may be drawn from them has been accepted as trustworthy throughout Chris tendom in all centuries, and while on many points confirmation from other sources cannot be expected, the investigations of impartial scholars have rather confirmed its accuracy than invalidated it.
Birth and According to the Gospels, Jesus was born in the family of a car penter, named Joseph, living in Nazareth (q.v.), a small town in southern Galilee. Descent from the line of kings of Judah which began with David is positively claimed for Joseph, and, as some understand the genealogical tables, for Mary, his wife, as well, but during the centuries of national disaster the descendants of David seem to have sunk into poverty and inconspicu ousness. While Nazareth was the family home, the birthplace of Jesus was Bethlehem the village of Judea in which David himself was born, a fact which is explained by mention of a census said to have been made under Ro man authority while Quirinius was Roman rep resentative in Judea, and to have required that all citizens should be enrolled at the original home of the family. Though no other record of this enrollment has yet been discovered, late discoveries make the fact seem more plausible than it was formerly regarded by some scholars.
The Gospels represent Jesus as born of a virgin, conception having been due to special divine power. The date of his birth cannot
be given with certainty as to day, mont:L or even year. Since it must have somewhat pre ceded the death of Herod (April 4 ac.), it probably occurred sometime in the year 5 B.C. (possibly 6). It is reported that Mary, in a village strange to her, and at the time over crowded with visitors, could find no place to lay her new born babe but in a manger. But at the presentation in the Temple for the offer ing of the sacrifices which Jewish ritual pre scribed after child-birth, the infant was joy ously hailed by Simeon and Anna, aged saints profoundly possessed by the common Messianic expectation of the nation at that time, and, as shepherds from not far away had come in the night of his birth in obedience to a vision of angels, so, later, the Magi (q.v.) from afar guided by a star sought the child to offer him obeisance and rich gifts. This visit of the Magi, however, made Herod aware of the birth of a child who might grow up to be a dan gerous rival of the dynasty which he hoped to found, and it is handed down to us that unable to trace it he ordered the slaughter of all the infants of the village up to the age of two years. But his parents, divinely warned, had taken the child to a safe refuge in Egypt, where they remained till the death of Herod, presumably only a short time. If they returned in the expectation of bringing him up in the ancient home of his line, they were deterred by fear of Archelaus who had succeeded his father as ruler in Judea, and consequently they turned aside to Nazareth where they were secure under the milder rule of Antipas.
Early Manhood.— Of the life of Jesus up to manhood nothing is known, except the mere mention of his visit to Jerusalem when 12 years old. It can be supposed only that He was sub ected to the natural influences of a religious Jewish family of the time, of synagogue and of school, of a village at once quiet and yet close to the thronging traffic on one of the great thoroughfares of that age, and finally of the work of a carpenter, for such he is said to have been, till 30 years of age. It was about this time, possibly in the year 26 (or 27) that John the Baptist (q.v.) began his public career, and at once aroused great religious and patriotic fervor in the nation.