Born most likely in Nazareth during the reign of Herod the Great, Jesus was an oral teacher, itinerant sage, social deviant, and famous theurgist whose faith in the soul remains unsurpassed by anyone before or since. Like
Apollonius of Tyana, Jesus was a charismatic healer and thaumaturge. He was known for sharing meals with social outcasts, for speaking in parables and aphorisms, and for vigorously challenging Judean laws and customs concerning family, land, and ritualistic purity. The sayings of Jesus cut against the social and religious grain. His discourse is characterized by exaggeration, humor, paradox, and the ability to turn one’s thinking on its head. In approximately 30 he was crucified by the Romans as a public nuisance. Jesus is more properly known as Joshua ben Joseph—“Joshua” being his true Hebrew name which translates to “Jesus” in Greek—though his fatherhood cannot be clearly determined. It is popular to refer to Jesus as
Messiah, or “Anointed One,” but there have been many such Messiahs, the most notable being Simeon ben Kosiba, the leader of the last and most successful Jewish rebellion against Roman imperial rule in 132–135.
For the New England Transcendentalists, Jesus was a constant and overriding influence. Pure transcendental conception recognizes an imminent divine reality present at the existential core of life and, in this manner, considers all persons to be divine. Thus, to the question of the divinity of Jesus, the quintessential transcendental response is delightfully succinct and inspired: Of course; I see no reason why Jesus should be excluded!