Jesus

From Turtledove

Jesus
Historical Figure
Timeline:	OTL
Nationality:	Judea, Roman Empire
Religion:	Judaism
Date of Birth:	c. 4 BC
Date of Death:	c. AD 30
Cause of Death:	Execution by crucifixion
Occupation:	Carpenter, Preacher, Reformer
Parents:	Joseph (father), Mary (mother) (a central tenant of Christianity is that God is Jesus's true father)
Timeline:	"Before the Beginning" (posthumous reference)
Timeline:	In High Places (posthumous references)
Timeline:	"Under St. Peter's"
Date of Birth:	c 4 BC
Date of Death:	c. AD 30
Cause of Death:	Killed and resurrected by a vampire
Occupation:	Prisoner
Timeline:	"Shock and Awe" (as the Son of God)
Occupation:	Revolutionary

Jesus, also known as Jesus of Nazareth, or Jesus Christ, is the central figure of Christianity. Christians believe that he was the Son of God and Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Old Testament, and that after his execution by Roman officials, he rose from the dead, offering salvation to mankind.

Contents 1 Literary Comment 2 Jesus in "Before the Beginning" 3 Jesus in In High Places 4 Jesus in "Under St. Peter's" 5 Jesus in "Shock and Awe"

Literary Comment

As several of Turtledove's characters are Christian, Jesus is referenced in nearly every story with a Point of Divergence after AD 30. This article only deals with works in which he is either a character, or his existance is critical to understanding specific alternate history.

Jesus in "Before the Beginning"

Jesus was revealed to be more or less human by the time-viewer. Nonetheless, Christianity continued on until it was learned that the Jews were indeed God's chosen people. The Vatican became the first entity to convert en masse to Judaism.

Jesus in In High Places

In an alternate where the Great Black Deaths had killed 4/5 of the population of Europe, Jesus still had great importance in the relgion of the surviving population, but he had been surpassed in overall importance by his later "brother", Henri.

Jesus in "Under St. Peter's"

Contrary to belief, Jesus did not die on the cross and rise from the dead. Rather, in his last dying moments, Jesus was bitten by a vampire called Dacicus, and transformed into a vampire himself. Afterward, he was taken into custody by his Apostle Peter, and imprisoned in what became the Basilica of St. Peter. Jesus was tended by the Order of the Pipistrelle, a secret society within the Catholic Church known only to the reigning pope. Upon ascending to the papacy, the new pope was fed upon by the ravenous Jesus.

Only one pope, Honorius I became a vampire after Jesus was fed. This started the tradition of staking each pope who died a natural death. Pope John Paul I died prematurely after Jesus took too much of his blood.

Each pope, right up to the most recent, Benedict XVI asked Jesus if he was truly the Son of God. Jesus' response, each time was "You say it."

Jesus in "Shock and Awe"

Jesus, known as "the Chieftain" to the Roman military, and the "Son of God" to his followers, was a pesky and vocal barbarian leader who instigated a destructive and short-lived rebellion of the Jews against Rome. Their badly organized bands of warriors were no match for the Roman legions, led by General Pontius Pilate, who decimated them and eventually captured the Chieftain and his second-in-command, The Rock, with the treacherous assistance of one of his disciples. With the Chieftain's death, his movement quickly withered into nothing.