Jesus

===Portraits of Jesus===
{{Main|Historical Jesus|Quest for the historical Jesus}}

Modern research on the historical Jesus has not led to a unified picture of the historical figure, partly because of the variety of academic traditions represented by the scholars.{{sfn|Theissen|Winter|2002|pp=4–5}} Given the scarcity of historical sources, it is generally difficult for any scholar to construct a portrait of Jesus that can be considered historically valid beyond the basic elements of his life.{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|pp=117–25}}{{sfn|Ehrman|1999|pp=22–23}} The portraits of Jesus constructed in these quests often differ from each other, and from the image portrayed in the Gospels.{{sfn|Theissen|Winter|2002|p=5}}{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|loc=Historical Jesus, Quest of the}}

Jesus is seen as the founder of, in the words of Sanders, a "renewal movement within Judaism". One of the criteria used to discern historical details in the "third quest" is the criterion of plausibility, relative to Jesus' Jewish context and to his influence on Christianity. A disagreement in contemporary research is whether Jesus was [[Apocalypticism|apocalyptic]]. Most scholars conclude that he was an apocalyptic preacher, like [[John the Baptist]] and [[Paul the Apostle]]. In contrast, certain prominent North American scholars, such as [[Burton Mack]] and John Dominic Crossan, advocate for a non-[[Eschatology|eschatological]] Jesus, one who is more of a Cynic [[Sage (philosophy)|sage]] than an apocalyptic preacher.{{sfn|Theissen|Merz|1998|pp=1–15}} In addition to portraying Jesus as an apocalyptic prophet, a charismatic healer or a [[Cynicism (philosophy)|cynic philosopher]], some scholars portray him as the true messiah or an [[Egalitarianism|egalitarian]] prophet of [[social change]].<ref name="CambHist23">{{cite book|title=The Cambridge History of Christianity|volume=1|first1=Margaret M.|last1=Mitchell|first2=Frances M.|last2=Young|year=2006|isbn=978-0-521-81239-9|publisher=Cambridge University Press|page=23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&pg=PA23|access-date=14 August 2015|archive-date=7 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907180601/https://books.google.com/books?id=6UTfmw_zStsC&pg=PA23|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Köstenberger|Kellum|Quarles|2009|pp=124–25}} However, the attributes described in the portraits sometimes overlap, and scholars who differ on some attributes sometimes agree on others.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | title=Why Study the Historical Jesus? | encyclopedia=Handbook for the Study of the Historical Jesus | publisher=Brill | year=2011 | first=Colin | last=Brown | page=1416 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LuKMmVu0tpMC&pg=PA1416 | isbn=978-90-04-16372-0 | editor1-first=Tom | editor1-last=Holmen | editor2-first=Stanley E. | editor2-last=Porter | access-date=14 August 2015 | archive-date=10 September 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910170524/https://books.google.com/books?id=LuKMmVu0tpMC&pg=PA1416 | url-status=live }}</ref>

Since the 18th century, scholars have occasionally put forth that Jesus was a political national messiah, but the evidence for this portrait is negligible. Likewise, the proposal that Jesus was a [[Zealots (Judea)|Zealot]] does not fit with the earliest strata of the Synoptic tradition.{{sfn|Cross|Livingstone|2005|loc=Jesus Christ}}