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The Gospels
The New Testament contains four gospels attributed to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The four gospels are not biographies of Jesus, nor are they history as we define it. What each gospel attempted to do was write a theological explanation...
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The Gospels
A 12th century CE cover of the Sion Gospels from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
Article
Origins of Christian Antisemitism in the Gospels
Antisemitism is a modern term that describes prejudice and hostility to Jews and Judaism. The term is derived from the later social scientific categorization of the subfamily of the Afro-Asiatic languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, and Amharic...
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The Life of Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels
The only sources for the life of Jesus of Nazareth are in the canonical gospels (or the gospels that were included in the authorised version of the New Testament). We have no contemporary, eyewitness testimony from the time that he lived...
Definition
Christianity
Christianity is the world's largest religion, with 2.8 billion adherents. It is categorized as one of the three Abrahamic or monotheistic religions of the Western tradition along with Judaism and Islam. 'Christian' is derived from the Greek...
Definition
Gnosticism
Gnosticism is the belief that human beings contain a piece of God (the highest good or a divine spark) within themselves, which has fallen from the immaterial world into the bodies of humans. All physical matter is subject to decay, rotting...
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Women in the New Testament
Women in the New Testament are presented for the most part along the contours of both Jewish and Greco-Roman concepts of the social construction of gender roles. Women’s value to society was in their role in procreation. There are some exceptions...
Definition
John the Baptist
John the Baptist (d. c. 30 CE) was a 1st-century CE itinerant preacher in Judea. We do not know his full name, but he is recognized by his activity. 'Baptizer' (Greek: baptizo) was translated directly into English and meant 'to immerse' or...
Definition
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot was one of the original disciples of Jesus of Nazareth (d. c. 30 CE), one of the twelve apostles. For handing Jesus over to the authorities, as described in the gospels, he has become the epitome of the act of betrayal in the...
Definition
Saint Peter
Saint Peter the Apostle was a well-known figure in early Christianity. Although there is no information on the life of Peter outside the Bible, in the Christian tradition, he is often depicted as the first on many occasions: the first to...