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Jesus of Nazareth was the 1st century Jewish man whose life and teachings became the foundation of Christianity. Some details of his life upon which there seems to be little doubt are:

Jesus was born approximately 4 BCE, near the time of the death of Herod the Great;
He spent his childhood and early adult years in Nazareth, a Galilean village;
He was baptized by John the Baptist;
He called disciples;
He taught in the towns, villages, and countryside of Galilee (apparently not the cities);
He preached ‘the kingdom of God’;
About the year 30 he went to Jerusalem for Passover;
He created a disturbance in the Temple area;
He had a final meal with the disciples;
He was arrested and interrogated by Jewish authorities, specifically the high priest
He was executed on the orders of the Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate” (Sanders,E.P., "The Historical Figure of Jesus" London,England: Penguin Books,1993).

Jesus seems to have been a Nazarene carpenter turned teacher. He also seems to have been taught the Judaism that was prevalent in his day. However, even though the Jews were known for allowing variations of personal interpretations by the rabbis, apparently the teachings of Jesus went beyond the scope of what was permittable to them. Something in Jesus teachings so angered and upset the Jewish leaders of the Sanhedrin that after a period of time, they convinced Rome to arrest him and finally have him executed.

Jesus and his first followers all seem to have been Jewish and mostly former practioners of Judaism; (although the New Testament records examples of Jesus participating in dialogue with others concerning his teachings, such as the Samaritan woman and the Roman centurion) and it seems for a time that some of both Jesus and his followers still went to the Temple and attended synagogue. This even still seems to be the case for some time after Jesus' crucifixation, but eventually those against the teachings of Jesus and Jesus' followers began to realize their differences were too great to remain together. Although it is certainly more complicated than this, it is my conclusion that the main reason for the split between Judaism and Jewish/Christianity lies with Jesus and his teachings and the refusal of them by the Jewish leaders of the Sanhedrin and other Pharisees.

For references to part of these conclusions see the following links.McHugh IHWL 1992,Stanton MCPW 1992,Stuhlmacher UCPS 1992.

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