Religious perspectives on Jesus

The status of Jesus in theology varies widely from religion to religion. In Christianity, Jesus is generally thought to have the divine attributes as the son of God and the messiah. In many other religions, Jesus is thought to be a prophet, a false prophet , or a great and enlightened teacher.

Jesus in Christianity

Main article: Christian views of Jesus

Most groups identifying themselves as Christians believe Jesus was God Incarnate (God who took on human nature and human flesh, the second person of the Holy Trinity), who came to earth to save humanity from sin and death through the shedding of his own blood in sacrifice, and who returned from the dead to rejoin his Father in Heaven. However, some groups identifying themselves as Christian, generally considered to be outside mainstream Christian thought, including Jehovah's Witnesses, Unitarians, and Christian Scientists, believe Jesus was divinely inspired but not God incarnate.

Jesus in Judaism

Main article: Jewish view of Jesus

Supplementary articles: Judaism and Christianity and Jewish Messiah

Judaism has deemed Jesus a false messiah, and religious Jews are still awaiting the arrival of the Messiah. Christianity originated as a sect of Judaism, but developed into its own religion; there are thus many similarities dating to the time of origin, but also many radical and fundamental differences dating to the period in which the two were in competition and then antagonism. Today, following the work of critical historians, many Jews minimize Jesus' role as miracle worker, but a small number consider him a great teacher.

Jesus in mainstream Islam

Main article: Isa

Muslims believe that Jesus, or Isa in Arabic, was one of the prophets of Israel and the Messiah. They also believe in the miracles of Jesus (his birth, curing sickness, etc.) but that these miracles were performed by God on Jesus' behalf (this is also the belief of many Christians, relying mainly on Philippians 2:6-8). Muslims do not consider Jesus to be the son of God, and consider any belief that he is divine to be a heresy irreconcilable with monotheism. The Qur'an also says that Jesus was a 'word' from God, since he was predicted to come in the Old Testament.

Muslims also do not believe that Jesus was crucified; the Qur'an narrates that God made it appear that Jesus was crucified, but that he was not, and lived. Some Muslims believe that one of those who were trying to kill Jesus was made to resemble him by God, and replaced him on the cross, while Jesus was elevated to Heaven. Jesus is expected to return to earth. This account has some similarities to the early belief of docetism, which held that only an image (Greek 'dokesis') of Jesus was crucified. Docetism was condemned as heresy by the earliest Christians. Some other sects, namely Ahmadiyya sect in Islam, believe that Jesus was indeed crucified; however he did not die on cross. Rather he was taken down the cross by some of his faithful desciples; he later recovered from his wounds and travelled to India. He is believed to be buried in Kashmir and is known there by the name of Yuz-Aasif.

Bahá'í perspectives on Jesus

The Bahá'í Faith consider Jesus to be a manifestation of God. God is one and has manifested himself to humanity through several historic Messengers. Bahá'í's refer to the concept of "Progressive Revelation", which means that God's will is revealed to mankind progressively, as mankind matures and is better able to comprehend the purpose of God in creating humanity. In this view, God's word is revealed through a series of messengers: Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Bahá'u'lláh (the founder of the Bahá'í Faith) among them. In the Book of Certitude, Bahá'u'lláh claims that these messengers have a two-fold station, one of God, and one of an individual and thus, when Jesus claims divinity, this cannot be denied, since God is speaking through him. According to Bahá'ís, since all the messengers have the station of divinity, they are symbollically the same, and Bahá'u'lláh is the return of Jesus.

Hindu perspectives on Jesus

Hinduism is divided on the issue of Jesus. Some Hindus hold that he was just a man, if he existed at all. Others say he was a great guru and/or yogi. And some speculate that he visited India and studied Hinduism during the years of his life that are not accounted for in the Bible. Some Hindus go as far as to equate Jesus with an avatar (incarnation of God on earth), along with Rama and Krishna.

Buddhist perspectives on Jesus

Traditionally, Buddhists as a group take no particular view on Jesus. To the extent that Buddhists and Christians were exposed to each other, individual Buddhists may have had positive or negative impressions of Jesus depending on their individual inclinations. In the modern era, as Buddhist-Christian contact increased dramatically, several Buddhist writers have tried to come to grips with the concept of Jesus. Some have gone so far as to describe him as a bodhisattva, a being commit to the redemption of all life. Specifically, comparisons are sometimes drawn between Jesus at Avalokiteśsvara, the Bodhisattva of Compassion. Others see parallels between Avalokiteśsvara (who is sometimes portrayed as male and sometimes as female) and the Virgin Mary.

Urantia perspectives on Jesus

The Urantia Book describes Jesus, his life and teachings as constituting the 7th Bestowal Mission of Michael of Nebadon (Nebadon being the name of the sub-universe in which Earth subsists). Michael is in turn described as a Paradise Creator Son of God, an order of being which brings order and life to sub-universes, who, after seven bestowals as various orders of beings, becomes his universe's acknowledged chief executive. According to the Urantia Book, Jesus began life on earth through birth as any other human, but attained to mortal spiritual perfection by way of balanced growth and dedication to doing God's will. The book describes him teaching and living a religion of personal religious experience that includes for its followers salvation into an afterlife, followed by an ages-long growth-adventure culminating in Paradise attainment. The Urantia Book characterizes Jesus' gospel as the Parenthood ("Fatherhood") of God coupled with the siblinghood ("sonship") of all mankind.

Other religious perspectives

Mandaeanists see Jesus as something of a false prophet as compared to John the Baptist. Jesus was seen as the savior and bringer of gnosis by various Gnostic sects, such as the extinct Manichaeism. In modern times many New Agers have reinterpreted Jesus as a misunderstood guru preaching enlightenment.

Cao Dai regards Jesus as one of many prophets.

According to the Ahmadi (who claim themselves to be muslim, though others disagree), Jesus survived the crucifixion, migrated to Kashmir, and lived a long life there under the name Yuza Asif. They believe a particular tomb in Kashmir is the tomb of Jesus.

Many atheists, agnostics, and deists believe that Jesus was an ordinary human, a traveling Jewish teacher who performed no miracles and made no claims of being God or of having supernatural abilities. Instead, these ideas about Jesus were invented and spread by others well after Jesus' death.

A small portion of irreligious peoples and an even smaller number of believers of non-abrahamic faiths, on studying the origins of Christianity, believe there is not enough evidence to support that Jesus Christ was a real person.

See also

• Dramatic portrayals of Jesus Christ