Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh, Who redeemed man by His Death on the Cross, and Whose Divine mission is continued by the ministry of the Church. Without considering the numberless theological questions connected with Jesus Christ, we shall in the present article merely furnish a brief sketch of His life as it appears in the light of historical documents, premising, however, an explanation of the two words which compose the Sacred Name.
I. THE SACRED NAME. – The word Jesus is the Latin form of the Greek 'Ιησους, which in turn is the transliteration of the Hebrew Jeshua, or Joshua, or again Jehoshua, meaning "Jehovah is salvation". ... The word Christ, Χριστος, the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew word Messiah, means "anointed".
II. SOURCES. – The historical documents referring to Christ's life and work may be divided into three classes: pagan sources, Jewish sources, and Christian sources. In this article, we shall study the three in succession.
III. CHRONOLOGY. – What has been said proves not merely the existence of Jesus Christ, but also the historicity of the main incidents of His life. In the following paragraphs we shall endeavour to establish the absolute and relative chronology, i.e. we shall show first how certain facts connected with the history of Jesus Christ fit in with the course of universal history, and secondly how the rest of the life of Jesus must be arranged according to the inter-relation of its single elements.
IV. THE CHARACTER OF JESUS CHRIST. – The surpassing eminence of the character of Jesus ... as manifested first in His relation to men, then in His relation to God.
The reader will find a great many works referring to this subject among the commentaries on the Gospels mentioned in the articles MATTHEW, GOSPEL OF SAINT; MARK, GOSPEL OF SAINT; LUKE, GOSPEL OF SAINT; and JOHN, GOSPEL OF SAINT. Here too belong the theological works on the Incarnation which will be found under INCARNATION. We mention some of the principle works on the life of Jesus Christ: LUDOLF OF SAXONY, Vita Christi, e sacris Evangeliis sanctorumque Patrum fontibus derivata (Strasburg, 1474); DE LIGNY, Histoire de la vie de Jésus-Christ (Paris, 1830); SEPP, Das Leben Christi (Ratisbon, 1843); VEUILLOT, Vie de N.-S. Jésus-Christ (Paris, 1864); COLERIDGE, The Life of our Life (London, 1869); DUPANLOUP, Historie de N.-S. Jésus-Christ (Paris, 1870); SCHEGG, Sechs Bücher des Lebens Jesu (Freiburg im Br., 1874);
GRIMM, Das Leben Jesu nach den vier Evangelien (Ratisbon, 1876); FOUARD, La vie de N.-S. Jésus-Christ (Paris, 1880), tr. GRIFFITH (New York and London, 1891); LE CAMUS, La vie de N.-S. Jésus-Christ (Paris 1883), tr. HICKEY (New York, 1908); DIDON, Jésus-Christ (Paris, 1891), English translation, ed. O'REILLY (New york, 1891); MAAS, The Life of Christ according to Gospel History (4th ed., St. Louis, 1891); LESÊTRE, N.-S. Jésus-Christ dans son saint Evangile (Paris, 1892); MAAS, Christ in Type and Prophecy (New York, 1893-96); PÉGUES, Jésus-Christ dans l'Evangile (Paris, 1898); FORNARI, Della via di Gesú Cristo (Rome, 1901). — Among Protestant works may be noticed: LANGE, Life of Christ (Edinburgh, 1854); PLUMPTRE, Christ and Christendom (London, 1867); FARRAR, Life of Christ (London, 1864); GEIKIE, The Life and Works of Christ (London, 1877);
THOMSON, Word, Works, and Will (London, 1878); EDERSHEIM, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah (London, 1883). Many more recent Protestant works might be enumerated, but most of them are so infected by criticism or even rationalism that they deny the historical existence of Jesus, or impeach the dignity of His Humanity, or minimize His historicity, while nearly all seem to be in doubt about His Divinity.
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VIII, pp. 374-385
Nihil Obstat, October 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
The Holy Name of Jesus
We give honour to the Name of Jesus, not because we believe that there is any intrinsic power hidden in the letters composing it, but because it reminds us of all the blessings we receive through our Holy Redeemer.
The Mystery of the Incarnation
The Incarnation implies three facts: (1) The Divine Person of Jesus Christ; (2) The Human Nature of Jesus Christ; (3) The Hypostatic Union of the Human with the Divine Nature in the Divine Person of Jesus Christ. In this article, we will address the mystery and dogma of the Word made Flesh.
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The rising again from the dead, the resumption of life. In this article, we shall treat of Christ's Resurrection, the theories opposed to this fact, its characteristics, and the reason for its importance.
Christology – The Theology of Christ
That part of theology which deals with Our Lord Jesus Christ. In its full extent it comprises the doctrines concerning both the person of Christ and His works; but in the present article we shall limit ourselves to a consideration of the person of Christ.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
This devotion is but a special form of devotion to Jesus. In this article, we will know just what it is and what distinguishes it when we ascertain its object, its foundations, and its proper act.
Parables
The word parabel signifies in general a comparison, or a parallel, by which one thing is used to illustrate another. It is a likeness taken from the sphere of real, or sensible, or earthly incidents, in order to convey an ideal, or spiritual, or heavenly meaning.
The Eight Beatitudes
Solemn blessings (beatitudines, benedictiones) which mark the opening of the Sermon on the Mount ... the very peculiar form in which Our Lord proposed His blessings make them, perhaps, the only example of His sayings that may be styled poetical -- the parallelism of thought and expression, which is the most striking feature of Biblical poetry, being unmistakably clear.
The Transfiguration of Christ
The culminating point of His public life, as His Baptism is its starting point, and His Ascension its end. This glorious event has been related in detail by St. Matthew (xvii, 1-6), St. Mark (ix, 1-8), and St. Luke (ix, 28-36), while St. Peter (II Peter, i, 16-18) and St. John (i, 14), two of the privileged witnesses, make allusion to it.
Agrapha
The Sayings of Jesus that have come down to us outside the canonical Gospels. In this article, we will consider, first, the limits of the Agrapha, secondly, the criteria of their genuineness, and thirdly, the list of those that are probably authentic.
Knowledge of Jesus
A survey of the intellectual endowment of Christ. An honest profession of the Divinity of Christ necessitates the admission of omniscience in His Divine intellect.
Passion of Christ
Gospel accounts of the Passion of Our Lord, each of which supplements the others. The first three Gospels resemble each other very closely in their general plan, so closely indeed that some sort of literary connection among them may be assumed; but the fourth Gospel, although the writer was evidently familiar at least with the general tenor of the story told by the other three, gives us an independent narrative.
Devotion to the Passion
The sufferings of Our Lord, which culminated in His death upon the cross, seem to have been conceived of as one inseparable whole from a very early period. A vast literature, and also a hymnology, has grown up relating directly to the Passion of Christ.
Genealogy of Christ
The genealogy of Christ implies a number of exegetical difficulties. The true state of the question will become plain by studying the Biblical genealogies of Christ first separately, then in juxtaposition, and finally in their relation to certain exceptions to their harmony.
