Jesus

==Associated relics==
{{Main|Relics associated with Jesus}}
[[File:Shroud of Turin 001.jpg|thumb|The [[Shroud of Turin]], Italy, is the best-known claimed relic of Jesus and one of the most studied artefacts in human history<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ball |first=P. |title=Material witness: Shrouded in mystery |doi=10.1038/nmat2170 |journal=Nature Materials |volume=7 |issue=5 |page=349 |year=2008 |pmid=18432204 |bibcode=2008NatMa...7..349B |doi-access=free }}</ref>]]
The total destruction that ensued with the [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|siege of Jerusalem]] by the Romans in AD 70 made the survival of items from 1st-century Judea very rare and almost no direct records survive about the history of Judaism from the last part of the 1st century through the 2nd century.{{sfn|Levine|2006|pp=24–25}}<ref name="Koester382">[[Helmut Koester]] ''Introduction to the New Testament'', Vol. 1: History, Culture, and Religion of the Hellenistic Age. Berlin, Germany: [[de Gruyter Press]], 1995, p. 382.</ref>{{efn|[[Flavius Josephus]] writing (about 5 years later, c. AD 75) in ''[[The Jewish War]]'' (Book VII 1.1) stated that Jerusalem had been flattened to the point that "there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited".<ref>Flavius Josephus, ''The Jewish War'' Book VII, section 1.1"</ref> And once what was left of the ruins of Jerusalem had been turned into the Roman settlement of [[Aelia Capitolina]], no Jews were allowed to set foot in it.<ref name=Koester382 />}} [[Margaret M. Mitchell]] writes that although [[Eusebius]] reports (''[[Church History (Eusebius)|Ecclesiastical History]]'' III 5.3) that the early Christians left Jerusalem for [[Pella, Jordan|Pella]] just before Jerusalem was subjected to the final lockdown, we must accept that no first-hand Christian items from the early Jerusalem Church have reached us.<ref>[[Margaret M. Mitchell]] "The Cambridge History of Christianity, Volume 1: Origins to Constantine" Cambridge University Press 2006, p. 298.</ref> [[Joe Nickell]] writes, "as investigation after investigation has shown, not a single, reliably authenticated relic of Jesus exists".<ref>{{cite book|last=Nickell|first=Joe|title=Relics of the Christ|year=2007|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-3731-5|page=[https://archive.org/details/relicsofchrist00joen/page/191 191]|url=https://archive.org/details/relicsofchrist00joen|url-access=registration}}</ref>{{efn|Polarized conclusions regarding the Shroud of Turin remain.<ref>Habermas, Gary R. "Shroud of Turin". ''The Encyclopedia of Christian Civilization'' (2011). {{doi|10.1002/9780470670606.wbecc1257}}</ref> According to former ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' editor [[Philip Ball]], "it's fair to say that, despite the seemingly definitive tests in 1988, the status of the Shroud of Turin is murkier than ever. Not least, the nature of the image and how it was fixed on the cloth remain deeply puzzling".<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Ball | first1 = P. | title = Material witness: Shrouded in mystery | doi = 10.1038/nmat2170 | journal = Nature Materials | volume = 7 | issue = 5 | page = 349 | year = 2008 | pmid = 18432204 | bibcode = 2008NatMa...7..349B | doi-access = free }}</ref>}}

However, throughout the history of Christianity, a number of [[relic]]s attributed to Jesus have been claimed, although doubt has been cast on them. The 16th-century Catholic theologian [[Erasmus]] wrote sarcastically about the proliferation of relics and the number of buildings that could have been constructed from the wood claimed to be from the [[True Cross|cross used in the Crucifixion]].{{sfn|Dillenberger|1999|p=5}} Similarly, while experts debate whether Jesus was crucified with three nails or with four, at least thirty [[holy nail]]s continue to be venerated as relics across Europe.<ref>{{CathEncy|wstitle =Holy Nails|title=Holy Nails|first= Herbert|last=Thurston}}</ref>

Some relics, such as purported remnants of the [[crown of thorns]] placed on the head of Jesus, receive only a modest number of [[Christian pilgrimage|pilgrims]], while the [[Shroud of Turin]] (which is associated with an approved [[Catholic devotion]] to the [[Holy Face of Jesus]]), has received millions,<ref>{{cite news|last=Delaney|first=Sarah|title=Shroud exposition closes with more than 2 million visits|url=http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1002157.htm|archive-url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20100608223917/http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1002157.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 June 2010|agency=Catholic News Service |date=24 May 2010}}</ref> including popes [[John Paul II]] and [[Pope Benedict XVI|Benedict XVI]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Wojtyła|first=Karol J.|title=Pope John Paul II's address in Turin Cathedral|url=https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_24051998_sindone.html|publisher=Vatican Publishing House|date=24 May 1998|access-date=18 February 2017|archive-date=19 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170219114758/https://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/travels/1998/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_24051998_sindone.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Squires|first=Nick|title=Pope Benedict says Shroud of Turin authentic burial robe of Jesus|url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0503/Pope-Benedict-says-Shroud-of-Turin-authentic-burial-robe-of-Jesus|newspaper=Christian Science Monitor|date=3 May 2010|access-date=19 June 2013|archive-date=1 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401072455/http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2010/0503/Pope-Benedict-says-Shroud-of-Turin-authentic-burial-robe-of-Jesus|url-status=live}}</ref>