Religious perspectives on Jesus
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Template: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.
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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
Claims that Jesus was the Messiah are heretical to Judaism - the world is not redeemed, and the Messianic Era is yet to come. Jewish religious leaders and authorities view teachings attributed to Jesus as a variant of beliefs held by Essenes and Pharisees at his time. They note that the reported life of Jesus is largely consistent with that of a devout Jew and nationalist insurgent at the time of the Second Temple. While early followers of Jesus may have belonged to a Jewish sect, it was the teachings of Paul that severed the relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Several practices in Christianity clearly derive from Judaism but have taken on theological significance that are alien to Judaism.
Some attempts have been made to reconcile the apparent conflict between Jewish and Christian theological perspectives on the Messiah. Notable among these is the work of Franz Rosenzweig, who postulated that there is a dual covenant, in which Christians have chosen a Messiah to convert out of the pagan world.
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 Muslims belonging to the Ahmadiyya movement, believe that Jesus was indeed crucified and that he did not die on cross. Rather they believe he was taken off the cross and cared for 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 Asaf.
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 commited to the redemption of all life. Specifically, comparisons are sometimes drawn between Jesus and 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 (http://www.searchjesus.com/urantiabook/part-iv/120.html#P120_0_2) 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 — and that such ideas about Jesus were invented and spread by others well after Jesus' death.
A small number of non-religious people and others of non-Christian faiths, on studying the origins of Christianity, conclude there is not enough evidence to clearly support that Jesus Christ was a real person.