Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ was a Jewish teacher and preacher who lived in the Roman province of Judea about 2,000 years ago. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religion. Christians believe he is the Son of God. They also believe he rose from the dead after being killed by Roman officials. People of other faiths see him in different ways. Many Jews and Muslims, for example, respect him as a teacher or prophet but do not believe he was God.

Most of what we know about his life comes from four books in the Christian Bible called the Gospels. They were written in Greek a few decades after he died. Historians outside the Bible also mention him, including the Roman writers Tacitus and Josephus. Almost all historians today agree that Jesus was a real person who lived and was crucified. They sometimes disagree about which details in the Gospels are history and which are religious teaching.

Jesus was probably born around 4 BCE in the town of Bethlehem. He grew up in a small village called Nazareth, in what is now northern Israel. His mother was Mary, and his father Joseph was a carpenter. Jesus most likely worked as a carpenter too before he began teaching.

When he was about 30 years old, Jesus started traveling around the countryside with a group of followers called disciples. He taught crowds about loving God and loving other people, even strangers and enemies. Many of his lessons came in the form of short stories called parables. The Gospels also describe him healing the sick, feeding hungry crowds, and performing other miracles.

His teachings worried both Jewish religious leaders and Roman officials. Around the year 30 CE, Roman soldiers arrested him in Jerusalem. He was put to death by crucifixion, a slow and painful Roman punishment that involved nailing a person to a wooden cross. He was probably in his early thirties.

Christians believe that three days after his death, Jesus rose from the tomb and later returned to heaven. This event is called the Resurrection, and it is celebrated each year on Easter. His birth is celebrated on Christmas. The cross became the main symbol of Christianity.

Today about 2.4 billion people, roughly one out of every three humans alive, identify as Christian. The calendar most of the world uses was designed to count years from his birth, though scholars later figured out the count was off by a few years.