Jesus Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Baptism==== [[File:αααΉααααΆ.jpg|thumb|Baptism in the [[Jordan River]], the river where Jesus was baptized]] Most modern scholars consider Jesus' baptism to be a definite historical fact, along with his crucifixion.{{sfn|Dunn|2003|p=339}} Theologian [[James Dunn (theologian)|James D. G. Dunn]] states that they "command almost universal assent" and "rank so high on the 'almost impossible to doubt or deny' scale of historical facts" that they are often the starting points for the study of the historical Jesus.{{sfn|Dunn|2003|p=339}} Scholars adduce the [[criterion of embarrassment]], saying that early Christians would not have invented a baptism that might imply that Jesus committed [[sin]]s and wanted to [[Repentance|repent]].{{sfn|Powell|1998|p=47}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Murphy|first=Catherine|title=John the Baptist: Prophet of Purity for a New Age|year=2003|publisher=Liturgical Press|isbn=978-0-8146-5933-5|pages=29β30|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=so_G78SBXAoC&pg=PA29|access-date=14 August 2015|archive-date=7 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907065554/https://books.google.com/books?id=so_G78SBXAoC&pg=PA29|url-status=live}}</ref> According to Theissen and Merz, Jesus was inspired by [[John the Baptist]] and took over from him many elements of his teaching.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|p=235}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page