The Birth of Jesus

   At the time of Jesus, Palestine was extremely small, from North to South Palestine was less than 270 kilometres long. Jesus was born in the land of Judaea and he lived from about 4BCE to 30CE. He died in 30 or 33CE.

   Jesus was brought up in Galilee (North Palestine), which along with Judaea was under the control of the Romans during the lifetime of Jesus. Galilee was ruled by Herod Antipas (a son of Herod the great), while Judaea was ruled directly by Rome (since 6CE). Pontius Pilate was Governor from 26-36CE and Tiberius was the Emporer of Rome for most of that time.

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   The main sources of information concerning Jesus’ life are the gospels- A gospel is a book describing the life and teachings of Jesus. The gospels were written by people who knew Jesus and as more of his close disciples and friends died, it was important to write things down- hence the gospels came about.

   The word gospel means ‘good news’, or ‘god news’, and the gospels tell Christians the news about Jesus, both ‘good’ and ‘god’.

   The four gospels were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and they are found in the New Testament of the Bible. The ...

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