In the best selling book of all time is the single most important man ever to walk on the earth in the view of the Christian religion. Jesus, the figurehead of whom the Christian religion is based on, is one of the most radical thinkers of his time. Most accounts of Jesus' life are told through the first four books of the New Testament. However, these books were written well after Jesus died. So the authors of these books had to interview many people to try to get an understanding of his life. So the four gospels are really a compilation of eyewitness accounts of Jesus and excerpts from other sources. In the twentieth century, scholars struggle to understand what Jesus was really like. Reading the text alone brings along many distortions of how Jesus really acted and spoke. However, by reading deeper into the texts, the true life of Jesus begins to appear. When an understanding the historical, cultural, and religious contexts of the Bible is attained, an understanding!
             To understand the atmosphere that Jesus was raised in, reading of the end of the Old Testament is necessary, as well as, the reading of the birth of Jesus. The birth of Jesus is depicted in two of the four gospels, Matthew and Luke. Although the stories were relatively the same, some subtle differences can point to the struggles that Jesus faced, even during his birth. In Matthew, the story of Mary and Joseph (Jesus' parents) goes from Bethlehem, to Egypt, to Nazareth. However, Luke has Mary and Joseph traveling from Nazareth, to Bethlehem, to Jerusalem, then finally to Nazareth. Even though both stories are different, both have differences for a reason. In the book of Matthew, Magi who come bearing gifts visit the baby Jesus. However on the way to see Jesus, they stop to tell Archelaus (ruler of Samaria) that a new king has been born. Archelaus became fearful and ordered that all males under the age of two be killed. Fearing for their son...