Jesus is the defining character of the Christian movement and the central focus of the New Testament. In common convention, he is sometimes referred to as “Jesus of Nazareth,” in reference to his boyhood hometown, but more commonly still as “Jesus Christ,” in which “Christ” operates as a title designating him as the Messiah (See: Index of Terms). While the books of the New Testament highlight various angles of his life and work, they all appear to regard him both as the human figure meant to be the Jewish Messiah and as the divine incarnation of the Son of God. This dual affirmation of his identity formed the central belief of early Christianity.

According to the New Testament, Jesus was the biological son of Mary and the adoptive son of Joseph, having been miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt 1:18; Luke 1:30-35). This tenet of the Christian faith, referred to as the virgin birth, was thought to fulfill a prophecy about the Messiah made by Isaiah centuries earlier (Isa 7:14; 9:6-7). Jesus’s birth took place in Bethlehem (also in fulfillment of messianic prophecies from the Old Testament), a small city south of Jerusalem, which represented the origins of Israelite royalty.