Billions profess faith in him, but there are plenty of misconceptions about Jesus Christ. From his looks to his marital status to his very existence, these are some of the things people get wrong about Jesus.
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00:00There are plenty of misconceptions about Jesus of Nazareth, sort of like the whole Nazareth
00:05part.
00:06From his looks, to the stable he was born in, to the cross he died on, these are some
00:10of the things people get wrong about Jesus.
00:12The story of Jesus' crucifixion is so central to Christian belief that the cross on which
00:17he met his mortal end is now one of the most commonly seen religious symbols around the
00:21world.
00:22But is the Christian cross accurate?
00:24What's the answer?
00:26It depends on who you ask.
00:27For instance, Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that not only did Jesus die on a plain, upright
00:32stake, but that the T-shaped cross seen in other denominations is actually a blasphemous
00:36pagan symbol.
00:38Before we lose you here, the Jehovah's main contention is the translation of Matthew 27-40.
00:43Most English translations have it reading,
00:45"'Come down from the cross if you are the Son of God.'"
00:47Their contention is that the translation of the word cross should be stake.
00:52Theologian Gunnar Samuelsson says his research revealed little evidence to support the T-shaped
00:56cross image.
00:57He points to the confusion over the Greek term stauros, which could generally refer
01:00to a suspension structure used to kill or punish criminals in the Roman Empire.
01:05This means that what we now call a crucifixion could have indeed taken place on a simpler
01:09apparatus like a big pole.
01:11If you feel like this is a bit of semantics, it probably is.
01:14It's quite possible that the crucifixion poles remained in the ground permanently, and some
01:18people got the cross T and some people didn't.
01:20The passion narratives make it clear that Jesus marched through crowds with something,
01:24which could very well be the crossbeam for the crucifixion pole.
01:28Jesus was one of a kind.
01:30However, he wasn't the only holy man in first-century Galilee.
01:33Widespread political and religious upheaval in this outpost of the Roman Empire set the
01:36stage for a variety of upstart preachers and different religious movements within Judaism.
01:41Ha ha ha, I see.
01:45You're a prophet.
01:46You're here to preach at me.
01:48Depending on who you consider to be qualified as a quote-unquote prophet, there were at
01:53least three during the life of Jesus, from around 4 B.C. to 33 A.D. or so.
01:58These included the relatively intense Essenes, who lived in communities that adhered to strict
02:02rules and set themselves apart from everyday life.
02:05There's a theory out there that the Essenes were sort of a prophet factory, in a sense.
02:10More on that in a sec.
02:11First, let's talk about Honey the Circle Maker.
02:13He reportedly called down much-needed rain by drawing a circle in the ground and informing
02:17God that he would stay there until it rained.
02:19When the rain didn't meet his standard, he told God to change it up.
02:23The rain then poured down, though this drew the ire of people who said he was disrespecting
02:27the Almighty.
02:28Getting the terrain on command was pretty powerful to people back then, so Honey was
02:32well-known at the time.
02:33Even Jesus was tended to by another religious firebrand, John the Baptist.
02:37Now regarded as a sort of herald for Jesus, John was already gaining recognition for his
02:41preaching and rite of baptism in the Jordan River, where he baptized Jesus.
02:46There's quite a few modern scholars that believe that John the Baptist could have been an Essene,
02:50and Jesus as well.
02:52Now, as we get into the Christmas season, you'll see nativity scenes pop up that depict
02:55Mary, Joseph, three wise men, animals, and the newborn Jesus in a stable.
03:00The baby is placed in a feed trough, which, you know from the song, is called a manger.
03:04The thing is, it may not be wholly accurate.
03:06Manger danger!
03:07Manger danger!
03:08Once again, the confusion comes down to issues with translation.
03:12The original Greek in the New Testament uses the word kataluma.
03:15Modern translators have interpreted this to mean in, but it may be more accurate to think
03:20of the kataluma as a guest room in a home.
03:22In case you were wondering, yes, the idea of what we'd call a hotel existed back then,
03:26but they were relatively uncommon.
03:28They were likely staying with family, but given the influx of people for the census,
03:32may have had to sleep in a lower level of the house where animals were brought in at
03:35night.
03:36They weren't in what we'd consider to be a barn by today's standards.
03:39That's not what happened.
03:42This take on the nativity has been causing upset since at least 1584, when Spanish theologian
03:47Francisco Sanchez de la Brosas proposed the idea and was reported to the Inquisition for
03:52his troubles.
03:53The good news is that he was only reprimanded for being factually accurate, and our Christmas
03:57nativity scenes remain Inquisition-approved to this day.
04:01Even if you only half-listened to the Christmas story, you probably heard that Jesus was born
04:05in the little town of Bethlehem.
04:07But if you take a closer look at the Gospels, basic details like his birthplace are less
04:11certain than you might expect.
04:12The Gospels of Matthew and Luke claim Jesus was born in Bethlehem, though they differ
04:16on certain key details.
04:17For instance, Matthew throws in the narrative thread about a star guiding the wise men there.
04:22Which, by the way, there's no mention of how many, so your nativity scene is factually
04:26inaccurate that way, too.
04:28Luke mentions no such thing, but does claim that angels directed shepherds to worship
04:32baby Jesus.
04:33Meanwhile, the Gospel of Mark, likely the earliest written account from about circa
04:3650 AD, doesn't mention Bethlehem at all.
04:39Neither does the Gospel of John, or the Book of Revelation, or just about anything written
04:44by the Apostle Paul.
04:45John's Gospel is noteworthy for its absence, as it's seen as a firsthand account from the
04:49so-called disciple Jesus loved, John himself.
04:52With the old Jewish traditions that tied a messiah to King David via Bethlehem, its non-mention
04:57is noteworthy.
04:58So, if not Bethlehem, then where?
05:00It could simply be Jesus' hometown, Nazareth.
05:03Heck, given the inconsistencies of the Bible and other early Christian writers, it could
05:07be anywhere.
05:08There's a whole nother theory about Nazareth than the term Nazarene — we'll just save
05:11that for another video.
05:12You know the drill.
05:14Leave a comment if you want to hear about the origins of a Nazarene.
05:17A close look at the Bible's account of Jesus indicates that he may have been not just charismatic,
05:22but funny.
05:23For example, there are his parables, like his statement in Luke 18.25,
05:27"...it's easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to
05:32enter the kingdom of God."
05:34We're not saying Jesus is dropping one-liners like Mitch Hedberg, but on the surface, telling
05:38a rich man to go through the eye of a needle could generate a chuckle or two.
05:42"...so I am just getting started."
05:45In Luke 14.15-24, he tells the story of a man playing in a banquet, yet his potential
05:50guests keep making excuses, with one saying he needs to examine his newly-purchased field.
05:55Another claims he has to test out a new team of oxen, and finally a third says that he's
05:59just married, implying he's got something else to keep him busy.
06:02"...I have to wash my hair."
06:04You know, Jesus used parables to get his point across, but he also spoke in very vernacular
06:09terms, so people of 2,000 years ago knew exactly what he meant.
06:13Sometimes you have to sprinkle in a little spice to keep them on their toes, I guess.
06:17Jesus' innovation was to tell everyone that gaining access to a good afterlife hinged
06:21on loving God and treating others well, rather than following strict religious laws.
06:26But where Jesus speaks of hell, English translations of the original complicates things.
06:30In Matthew 5.22 and 5.29-30, what's translated as hell in many versions was originally Gehennon,
06:36a Greek transliteration of Gehenna.
06:39Gehenna was a valley outside of Jerusalem where children were once reportedly sacrificed
06:42to pagan gods, and which some non-ancient sources say became a smoldering garbage dump.
06:48Other Jesus quotes seem to reference this concept, which seem to imply that the remains
06:52of evildoers would be metaphorically cast into fire, while also implying that sinful
06:56souls would eventually wink out of existence.
06:59And afterlife of eternal torture is never clearly referenced by Jesus, who focused more
07:03on eternal reward without explicitly describing heaven or hell.
07:08Let's just cut to the chase.
07:09The evidence is strong enough to show that Jesus was a very real person.
07:13Only fringe beliefs and video commentators cast doubt that a real person who we know
07:17as Jesus actually existed.
07:19The early Christian apostle Paul claims to have met not just the apostle Peter, but Jesus'
07:23brother James.
07:24It's not a first-person account of Jesus, but it's pretty darn close.
07:29There are compelling arguments made that the Gospels of Matthew and John are firsthand
07:32accounts, whereas Mark and Luke are essentially Peter and Paul's versions of Jesus, respectively.
07:38Professor Bart Ehrman, a noted biblical scholar, also argues that the earthly downfall of Jesus
07:42is a key piece of evidence.
07:44If someone had made up a mythical son of God who'd come to redeem all of humanity, why
07:48would they also have him taken down so easily and in such a humiliating fashion?
07:53Father, forgive them.
07:58It's certainly not proof, per se, but think about it.
08:01If one were to make up a God-origin story, making him a poor carpenter who gets killed
08:05off isn't exactly going to reel in the masses, especially when 1st-century people were awaiting
08:10a messiah to become king and rule the region.
08:12We shouldn't discount the records of Jewish and Roman writers who referenced Jesus, even
08:16if they were a generation or two removed.
08:18Take Pliny the Younger's account of Christian worship.
08:21His observations that early Christians, quote,
08:23"...sing responsibly a hymn to Christ as to a God," hints that the 2nd-century Pliny was
08:28aware of Jesus as a historical figure, and that his worship of a man struck him as odd.
08:33Regardless of faith, there's no doubt that a man named Jesus preached around 2,000 years
08:37ago.
08:38The rest is up to you.