128JEW / JEWISH
first century. He was Jewish but is not
considered significant in Judaism. In
Islam, Jesus (Isa) is considered one of the
true prophets along with Abraham and
Muhammad. Many other religious tradi-
tions revere Jesus as a great moral teacher.
Jesus was born during the reign of
Herod the Great and grew up in the small
town of Nazareth in Galilee. The name
Jesus (Gk. Iesous) is a Hellenized form
of the Hebrew Ye h o s h u a, that is, Joshua,
which means “the Lord rescues / delivers.”
Our main sources for knowledge about
his life are the Gospels (Greek, euange-
lion, “good news”) in the Christian New
Testament. The attempts of historical
Jesus scholars to reconstruct his life agree
that that he was a Jewish teacher and
healer, baptized by John the Baptist and
crucified in Jerusalem by Pontius Pilate.
Christians believe that Jesus is the
Christ. The title Christ comes from the
Greek christos, a translation of the Hebrew
messiah, which means “anointed one.”
According to the Hebrew prophets, the
Messiah would be a great king who would
deliver the people from their oppressors
with God’s support. The New Testament
presents Jesus as a fulfillment of these
prophecies, but goes beyond traditional
expectations and fashions a new under-
standing of the role of the Christ. Jesus is
portrayed as the Son of God who forgives
the sins of the world through his atoning
life, death, and resurrection. The Gospels
claim that three days after his crucifixion,
he was raised from the dead and appeared
to his followers, establishing the Church
among them. Christians believe that he
then ascended into heaven and will come
again to judge the living and the dead.
In the centuries that followed,
Christian theologians formulated complex
doctrines about Jesus’ nature and his
relationship to God. A series of seven
ecumenical councils (held between 325
and 681 CE) established that Jesus was
one person, but had both a fully human
and a fully divine nature. This position is
called a hypostatic union. The councils also
formulated the doctrine of the trinity,
according to which Jesus is the second of
three persons, all of whom share the same
substance.JEW / JEWISH. See JUDAISM.JIHAD. An Arabic word that translates
most literally as “to strive” or “to struggle.”
In the context of Islamic thought, jihad
refers to striving in the pursuit of divine
good, which can take a number of differ-
ent forms, including but not limited to
violent warfare. The Islamic tradition of
jurisprudence, which overlaps with Islamic
philosophy, contains lively and intricate
reflection on questions about what con-
stitutes just cause and competent author-
ity, what is permitted and forbidden in the
conduct of war, the place of extreme
emergencies, and other topics familiar
to Western ethical discussions of war.
While in jurisprudence jihad has referred
primarily to struggle in the form of warfare,
in the larger horizon of Islamic thought