Jesus the Jew

He was born in the spring or early summer of the year 4 or 6 BCE, probably in &quote;the little town of Bethlehem&quote; in the Galilee, near Nazareth. He became a laborer, maybe a stonemason. His mother, Mary, could not get him married because of his suspect paternity, but he had a girlfriend, Mary of Magdala. He had several brothers, one of them a twin brother, Judas &quote;the Twin&quote; (Thomas), and two sisters. He was charged by the Romans with sedition. At a preliminary hearing, when queried by the High Priest whether or not he, the laborer in rags, was &quote;the anointed son of the Blessed One,&quote; as all kings were, he answered, &quote;Am I?&quote; He was crucified like two thousand other Jews during the Roman occupation of Palestine. He died between 30 and 32 CE. His followers revered him as a prophet, but he was a marginal Jew who went about doing good. Little more than one hundred years later, Tertullian, the African apologist, would write, &quote;I am saved if I be not ashamed of him.&quote;