Jesus

===Chronology===
{{Main|Chronology of Jesus}}
{{See also|Anno Domini{{!}}''Anno Domini''|Saturnalia#Influence}}
{{Jewish Christianity}}
Jesus was a Galilean Jew,{{sfn|Vermes|1981|pp=20, 26, 27, 29}} born around the beginning of the 1st century, who died in 30 or 33 AD in [[Judea (Roman province)|Judea]].{{sfn|Humphreys|Waddington|1992|p=340}} The general scholarly consensus is that Jesus was a contemporary of [[John the Baptist]] and was crucified as ordered by the Roman governor [[Pontius Pilate]],{{sfn|Levine|2006|p=4}} who held office from 26 to 36 AD.{{sfn|Levine|2006|p=4}}

The Gospels offer several indications concerning the year of Jesus' birth. Matthew 2:1 associates the birth of Jesus with the reign of [[Herod the Great]], who died around 4 BC, and Luke 1:5 mentions that Herod was on the throne shortly before the birth of Jesus,{{sfn|Maier|1989|pp=115–18}}{{sfn|Niswonger|1992|pp=121–22}} although this gospel also associates the birth with the [[Census of Quirinius]] which took place ten years later.{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|pp=137–38}}{{sfn|Niswonger|1992|pp=122–24}} Luke 3:23 states that Jesus was "about thirty years old" at the start of his [[ministry of Jesus|ministry]], which according to Acts 10:37–38 was preceded by John the Baptist's ministry, which was recorded in Luke 3:1–2 to have begun in the 15th year of [[Tiberius]]'s reign (28 or 29 AD).{{sfn|Niswonger|1992|pp=121–22}}<ref name="Vermes2006">{{cite book | first = Géza | last = Vermes | title = The Nativity: History and Legend | publisher = Random House Digital | year = 2010 | pages = 81–82 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a9EiEU_Yz_kC&pg=PA81 | isbn = 978-0-307-49918-9 | access-date = 25 January 2016 | archive-date = 3 May 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503100006/https://books.google.com/books?id=a9EiEU_Yz_kC&pg=PA81 | url-status = live }}</ref> By collating the gospel accounts with historical data and using various other methods, most scholars arrive at a date of birth for Jesus between 6 and 4 BC,<ref name="Vermes2006" />{{sfn|Dunn|2003|p=324}} but some propose estimates that include a wider range.{{efn|For example, John P. Meier states that Jesus' birth year is ''c.'' 7/6 BC,{{sfn|Meier|1991|p=407}} while Finegan favours ''c.'' 3/2 BC.<ref name=Finegan>{{harvnb|Finegan|1998|page=[https://archive.org/details/handbookbiblical00fine/page/n350 319]}}</ref>}}

The date range for Jesus' ministry has been estimated using several different approaches.{{sfn|Köstenberger |Kellum|Quarles|2009|p=140}}{{sfn|Freedman|2000|p=249}} One of these applies the reference in Luke 3:1–2, Acts 10:37–38, and the dates of Tiberius's reign, which are well known, to give a date of around 28–29 AD for the start of Jesus' ministry.{{sfn|Maier|1989|pp=120–21}} Another approach estimates a date around 27–29 AD by using the statement about the temple in John 2:13–20, which asserts that the [[Second Temple|temple in Jerusalem]] was in its 46th year of construction at the start of Jesus' ministry, together with Josephus's statement<ref>{{Citation |last=Josephus |title=Book XV |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_XV |work=The Antiquities of the Jews |access-date=24 July 2023 |archive-date=24 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230724214731/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Antiquities_of_the_Jews/Book_XV |url-status=live }}.</ref> that the temple's reconstruction was started by Herod the Great in the 18th year of his reign.{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|p=140}}{{sfn|Maier|1989|p=123}} A further method uses the date of the [[Beheading of St. John the Baptist|death of John the Baptist]] and the marriage of [[Herod Antipas]] to [[Herodias]], based on the writings of Josephus, and correlates it with Matthew 14:4 and Mark 6:18.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |year=2006 |title=Josephus on John the Baptist |encyclopedia=The Historical Jesus in Context |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMbEyeDSQQgC&pg=PA55 |access-date=25 January 2016 |last=Evans |first=Craig |editor-last1=Levine |editor-first=Amy-Jill |publication-place=Princeton, New Jersey, USA |pages=55–58 |isbn=978-0-691-00992-6 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503120729/https://books.google.com/books?id=wMbEyeDSQQgC&pg=PA55 |archive-date=3 May 2016 |editor-last2=Allison |editor-first3=John D. |editor-last3=Crossan |editor2-first=Dale C. |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Herodias: at home in that fox's den|first= Florence M.|last= Gillman |year=2003| isbn= 978-0-8146-5108-7| pages=25–30 |publisher= Liturgical Press}}</ref> Given that most scholars date the marriage of Herod and Herodias as AD 28–35, this yields a date about 28–29 AD.{{sfn|Freedman|2000|p=249}}

A number of approaches have been used to estimate the year of the crucifixion of Jesus. Most scholars agree that he died in 30 or 33 AD.{{sfn|Humphreys|Waddington |1992|p=340}}{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles |2009|p=398}} The Gospels state that the event occurred during the prefecture of Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea from 26 to 36 AD.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|pp=81–83}}<ref>{{cite book |last=Green |first=Joel B. |title=The gospel of Luke: New International Commentary on the New Testament Series |year=1997 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=978-0-8028-2315-1 |page=168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC |access-date=8 October 2020 |archive-date=25 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425204312/https://books.google.com/books?id=wzRVN2S8cVgC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Carter|2003|pp=44–45}} The date for the [[conversion of Paul]] (estimated to be 33–36 AD) acts as an upper bound for the date of Crucifixion. The dates for Paul's conversion and ministry can be determined by analysing the [[Pauline epistles]] and the [[Acts of the Apostles]].{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum |Quarles |2009|pp=398–400}}<ref>{{cite book|first=Paul|last=Barnett|title=Jesus & the Rise of Early Christianity: A History of New Testament Times|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8308-2699-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NlFYY_iVt9cC&pg=PA21|publisher=InterVarsity Press|page=21|access-date=25 January 2016|archive-date=3 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503144441/https://books.google.com/books?id=NlFYY_iVt9cC&pg=PA21|url-status=live}}</ref> Astronomers have tried to estimate the precise date of the Crucifixion by analysing lunar motion and calculating historic dates of [[Passover]], a festival based on the lunisolar [[Hebrew calendar]]. The most widely accepted dates derived from this method are 7 April 30 AD, and 3 April 33 AD (both [[Julian calendar|Julian]]).<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pratt |first=J. P. |year=1991 |title=Newton's Date for the Crucifixion |url=http://www.johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html |url-status=live |journal=Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society |volume=32 |pages=301–304 |bibcode=1991QJRAS..32..301P |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100116085454/http://johnpratt.com/items/docs/newton.html |archive-date=16 January 2010 |access-date=17 May 2013}}</ref>