62 Facts About John Baptist

John Baptist is known as John the Forerunner in Christianity, John the Immerser in some Baptist Christian traditions, and Prophet Yahya in Islam.

John Baptist is sometimes alternatively referred to as John the Baptiser.

John Baptist is considered to be a prophet of God by all of these faiths, and is honoured as a saint in many Christian denominations.

Jesus himself identifies John Baptist as "Elijah who is to come", which is a direct reference to the Book of Malachi, that has been confirmed by the angel who announced John Baptist's birth to his father, Zechariah.

Some scholars maintain that John Baptist belonged to the Essenes, a semi-ascetic Jewish sect who expected a messiah and practiced ritual baptism.

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John Baptist used baptism as the central symbol or sacrament of his pre-messianic movement.

Followers of John Baptist existed well into the 2nd century AD, and some proclaimed him to be the messiah.

John the Baptist is mentioned in all four canonical Gospels and the non-canonical Gospel of the Nazarenes.

John Baptist is described as wearing clothes of camel's hair, and living on locusts and wild honey.

John Baptist proclaims baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin, and says another will come after him who will not baptize with water, but with the Holy Spirit.

Herodias demands his execution, but Herod, who "liked to listen" to John Baptist, is reluctant to do so because he fears him, knowing he is a "righteous and holy man".

John Baptist's disciples take the body away and bury it in a tomb.

Many scholars have seen the story of John Baptist arrested, executed, and buried in a tomb as a conscious foreshadowing of the fate of Jesus.

The description of John Baptist is taken directly from Mark, along with the proclamation that one was coming who would baptize with the Holy Spirit "and fire".

The book of Matthew next has Jesus coming to John Baptist to be baptized, but John Baptist objects because he is not worthy because Jesus is the one that brings the baptism in the Spirit.

Matthew shortens the account of the beheading of John Baptist, and adds two elements: that Herod Antipas wants John Baptist dead, and that the death is reported to Jesus by his disciples.

Gospel of Luke adds an account of John Baptist's infancy, introducing him as the miraculous son of Zechariah, an old priest, and his wife Elizabeth, who was past menopause and therefore unable to have children.

Text briefly mentions that John Baptist is imprisoned and later beheaded by Herod, but the Gospel of Luke lacks the story of a step-daughter dancing for Herod and requesting John Baptist's head.

Book of Acts portrays some disciples of John Baptist becoming followers of Jesus, a development not reported by the gospels except for the early case of Andrew, Simon Peter's brother.

Simon J Joseph has argued that the Gospel demotes the historical John by painting him only as a prophetic forerunner to Jesus whereas his ministry actually complemented Jesus'.

In Matthew John Baptist immediately recognizes Jesus and John Baptist questions his own worthiness to baptize Jesus.

In Matthew, Jesus explicitly teaches that John Baptist is "Elijah who was to come" ; many Christian theologians have taken this to mean that John Baptist was Elijah's successor.

Now when [many] others came in crowds about him, for they were very greatly moved [or pleased] by hearing his words, Herod, who feared lest the great influence John Baptist had over the people might put it into his power and inclination to raise a rebellion, thought it best, by putting him to death, to prevent any mischief he might cause, and not bring himself into difficulties, by sparing a man who might make him repent of it when it would be too late.

Some have claimed that this passage indicates that John Baptist died near the time of the destruction of Herod's army in AD 36.

Crypt and relics said to be John Baptist's and mentioned in 11th- and 16th-century manuscripts, were discovered in 1969 during restoration of the Church of St Macarius at the Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great in Scetes, Egypt.

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John the Baptist is thought to have been either an Essene or "associated" with the community at Khirbet Qumran.

Eastern Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox faithful believe that John Baptist was the last of the Old Testament prophets, thus serving as a bridge between that period of revelation and the New Covenant.

When Herod's edict went forth to destroy the young children, John Baptist was about six months older than Jesus, and came under this hellish edict, and Zecharias caused his mother to take him into the mountains, where he was raised on locusts and wild honey.

Latter-day Saints believe John Baptist's ministry was foretold by two prophets whose teachings are included in the Book of Mormon: Lehi and his son Nephi.

In particular, John Baptist should have done everything in his power to persuade the Jewish people that Jesus was the Messiah.

John Baptist was to become Jesus' main disciple and John's disciples were to become Jesus' disciples.

Unfortunately, John Baptist did not follow Jesus and continued his own way of baptizing people.

Many Jews therefore could not accept Jesus as the Messiah because John Baptist denied being Elijah, as the prophet's appearance was a prerequisite for the Messiah's arrival as stated in Malachi 4:5.

John Baptist plays a large part in their religious texts such as the Ginza Rabba and the Mandaean Book of John.

John Baptist is a messenger of Light and Truth who possessed the power of healing and full Gnosis.

Mandaeans believe that John Baptist was married, with his wife named Anhar, and had children.

John the Baptist is known as Yahya ibn Zakariya in Islam and is honoured as a prophet.

John Baptist is believed by Muslims to have been a witness to the word of God, and a prophet who would herald the coming of Jesus.

Islamic tradition maintains that John Baptist met Muhammad on the night of the Mi'raj, along with Jesus in the second heaven.

John Baptist's story was told to the Abyssinian king during the Muslim refugees' Migration to Abyssinia.

John Baptist was exhorted to hold fast to the Scripture and was given wisdom by God while still a child.

John Baptist was pure and devout, and walked well in the presence of God.

John Baptist was dutiful towards his parents and he was not arrogant or rebellious.

John Baptist's reading and understanding of the scriptures, when only a child, surpassed even that of the greatest scholars of the time.

John Baptist was a classical prophet, who was exalted high by God for his bold denouncing of all things sinful.

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John Baptist is honored highly in Sufism as well as Islamic mysticism, primarily because of the Quran's description of John Baptist's chastity and kindness.

Baha'i Faith considers John Baptist to have been a prophet of God who like all other prophets was sent to instill the knowledge of God, promote unity among the people of the world, and to show people the correct way to live.

John Baptist is believed to have had the specific role of foretelling and preparing the way for Jesus.

Harold W Attridge agrees with Crossan that John was an apocalyptic preacher.

Only he and Jesus are consistently shown with long hair from Early Christian times, when the apostles generally have trim classical cuts; in fact John Baptist is more consistently depicted in this way than Jesus.

John Baptist is very often shown on altarpieces designed for churches dedicated to him, where the donor was named for him or where there was some other patronage connection.

John the Baptist is the patron saint of Florence and has often been depicted in the art of that city, and frequently appears in baptistries, which are very often dedicated to him.

The execution was usually by a swordsman, with John Baptist kneeling in prayer, Salome often standing by with an empty platter, and Herod and Herodias at table in a cut-through view of a building in the background.

John Baptist preaching, in a landscape setting, was a popular subject in Dutch art from Pieter Brueghel the Elder and his successors.

John Baptist was often shown by himself as an adolescent or adult, usually already wearing his distinctive dress and carrying a long thin wooden cross – another theme influenced by Leonardo, whose equivocal composition, with the camel-skin dress, was developed by Raphael, Titian and Guido Reni among many others.

Amiens Cathedral, which holds one of the alleged heads of the John Baptist, has a biographical sequence in polychrome relief, dating from the 16th century.

John Baptist is referenced in "The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock" by T S Eliot in stanza 12.

John the Baptist has appeared in a number of screen adaptations of the life of Jesus.

John Baptist's day comes at the time when the sun is beginning to decrease.

John Baptist is a patron saint of French Canada and Newfoundland.

John Baptist is patron of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston, which covers the whole of South Carolina in the United States.

John the Baptist is the name-giving patron of the Knights Hospitaller, or Knights of Saint John.