Category:Nathan Jesus

Nathan Jesus or Nathanian Jesus is the name given in anthroposophy to the Jesus boy reported in the Gospel of Luke. Rudolf Steiner's spiritual-scientific research led him to the view that not only one, but two Jesus boys were born at the turn of the time. In fact, on closer examination, the Gospels also point in this direction. The birth narrative in Luke's Gospel differs in essential points from that in Matthew's Gospel; in particular, the two Gospels also give clearly different lines of descent. The Jesus boy described in Luke's Gospel comes from the priestly Nathanian line of the house of David, which - unlike in the case of the Solomon Jesus - is traced back to Adam - and "he was of God". What both Jesus boys have in common is that their parents are called Joseph and Mary in the New Testament - names that were widely used in Palestine at the time. The adoration of the shepherds visiting the Nathanian Jesus boy lying in a poor stable in a manger between an ox and a donkey has been a popular motif in Christian art since the Middle Ages. Occasionally the scene is mistakenly mixed with the Adoration of the Magi, which, however, refers to the Solomon Jesus, the reborn Zarathustra.