JESUS CHRIST. The founder of the Chris tian religion, whose life and teachings are given in the four Gospels of the New Testament.
In order to appreciate the work of Jesus, it is necessary to understand the political and reli gious condition of the Jewish people, to whom Ile belonged and among whom His work was carried out. Potitica//y.—The Jews were subjects of the Roman Emperor. the dominion of the Romans having been established by Pompey in n.c. 63. _liter that time various adjustment s of Palestine's relations within the Empire took place, and when Jesus began His public ministry the government of the country was divided as follows: Galilee, with the land to the north, east, and southeast of the Sea of Galilee, was under the rule of Philip and Antipas, sons of Herod the Great, who, as /CS soelits, had had the entire land as his king dom. Philip's territory was the land north and east of the Sea of Galilee (lturea and Trachoni tis) ; the territory of Antipas was Galilee itself and the land southeast of the Sea of Galilee Perea). lIoth regions were ruled as tet•arehies. On the other hand, Judea. Samaria, and the land of ldumea, south of Judea, were more distinctly provinces under the rule of a Roman procurator (Pontius Pilate), who to a certain degree was subordinate to the Governor of the Province of Syria. This continued to be the political situa tion throughout the ministry of Jesus. (See llEaon.) keligiously.—The Jews had returned from their exile with a new hold upon the monotheism of their religion and a new devotion to Jehovah's law. This spirit had been strength ened by the persecutions which they had under gone under the rule of the Seleueida. and the re volt by which, under the Maccabees, they had broken from that rule, producing at the time of Jesus' ministry an exaggerated conception of the ceremonial requirements of the Mosaic law, in the interpretation of which had arisen a body of legal refinements that added greatly to the burden of the law and to the power of those who administered it. See AIACCABEES; JEWS.
It was a characteristic of Jewish life, how ever, to combine religion and politics. As a re sult there arose in the nation during the of the Maccabean revolt, when the religious and political elements in the people's life were brought to accentuation, two great parties, whose signifi cant influence increased as with the religious ele ments in the national life were mingled with in creasing energy the political. These parties were the Pharisees and the Sadducces (qq.v.). The Pharisees (literally Separatists or Purists) were the party of religion. The characteristic of 4heir creed was the scrupulous observance of the law.
They represented the religious idea dominant among the people since the return from Babylon, while in their devotion to the conception of the theocracy and their expectation of a Messiah who should restore it to its independeney they expressed what in general were the people's po litical views. They were, in brief. the popular party. The Saddueees (a name derived from Zadok, the priest whom Solomon put in the place of Abiathar. T. Kings ii. 35) were the party of the priesthood. They represented the priestly nobility, and their object was the retention of priestly power in the State. They were largely indifferent to religion as such, giving their thought rather to politics, in which their aim was to keep in favor with the ruling power.
In addition to these were two minor parties, which more or less added to the pOlitieo-reli glow., confusion of the times. Of these the polit ical was the party of the Herodians. the religions the party of the Zealots (qq.v.). The ilerodians arose with the introduction into Jewish politics of the family whose name they bore, and were committed to the political interests of that fam ily in its effort to establish a rule in Palestine, the spirit of which would be a 11164)11 of Judaism and Ilelleni SM. With them the religious element was minimized, if it was present at all. though they did not hesitate to combine with the reli gious parties when their aims could thus be furthered. The Zealots arose with the reces sion of the Pharisees from active interest in na tional affairs. Their principles were those of the Pharisees, only they were ready. as the Phari sees were not, to carry these principles into action to any extent. In this party consequently the religious element resulted in a fanaticism which made them the most dangerous factor in the troublous conditions of the times, Separate front all these parties stood the Es senes (q.v.), who were unique in their absolute removal from all polities and their complete dissociation from the publbc worship of the tem ple. They were characterized by the atrietheS9 of their community life, their strenuous regard for ceremonial purity. their unselfish practice of the community of goods, and their uprightness of life. Their organization was confined to Palestine, and their main roots were laid in Pharisaic Judaism. Vet they were subject tb foreign influences. Oriental rather than Greek, which contributed largely to their isolation among the parties of the land. In fact. they were a sect rather than a party, and as a sect emphasized the idea of an exclusive brotherhood.