Claim: Jesus began something.

Jesus -LRB- -LSB- ˈdʒiːzəs -RSB- ; c. 4 BC -- c. AD 30/33 -RRB- , also referred to as Jesus of Nazareth or Jesus Christ , was a Jewish preacher and religious leader who became the central figure of Christianity . Christians believe him to be the Son of God and the awaited Messiah -LRB- Christ -RRB- prophesied in the Old Testament .   Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically , although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the biblical Jesus reflects the historical Jesus . Jesus was a Galilean Jew who was baptized by John the Baptist and subsequently began his own ministry , preaching his message orally and often being referred to as `` rabbi '' . He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities , and was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate , the Roman prefect . Jesus debated fellow Jews on how to best follow God , performed healings , taught in parables and gathered followers . After his death , his followers believed he rose from the dead , and the community they formed eventually became the Christian Church .   His birth is celebrated annually on December 25 -LRB- or various dates in January for some eastern churches -RRB- as a holiday known as Christmas , his crucifixion is honored on Good Friday , and his resurrection is celebrated on Easter . The widely used calendar era `` AD '' , from the Latin anno Domini -LRB- `` in the year of the Lord '' -RRB- , and the alternative `` CE '' , are based on the approximate birth date of Jesus .   Christian doctrines include the beliefs that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit , was born of a virgin named Mary , performed miracles , founded the Church , died by crucifixion as a sacrifice to achieve atonement , rose from the dead , and ascended into Heaven , whence he will return . Most Christians believe Jesus enables humans to be reconciled to God . The Nicene Creed asserts that Jesus will judge the living and the dead either before or after their bodily resurrection , an event tied to the Second Coming of Jesus in Christian eschatology . The great majority of Christians worship Jesus as the incarnation of God the Son , the second of three persons of a Divine Trinity . A minority of Christian denominations reject Trinitarianism , wholly or partly , as non-scriptural .   In Islam , Jesus -LRB- commonly transliterated as -RRB- is considered one of God 's important prophets and the Messiah . Muslims believe Jesus was a bringer of scripture and was born of a virgin but was not the Son of God . The Quran states that Jesus himself never claimed divinity . To most Muslims , Jesus was not crucified but was physically raised into Heaven by God .   Judaism rejects the belief that Jesus was the awaited Messiah , arguing that he did not fulfill Messianic prophecies and asserting that his resurrection is a Christian legend .