Editing Religious perspectives on Jesus (section)

===Jesus in Jewish writings===
{{See also|Jesus in the Talmud}}
The [[Babylonian Talmud]] includes stories of ''[[Yeshu]]'' {{lang|he|יֵשׁוּ}}; the vast majority of contemporary historians disregard these as sources about the [[historical Jesus]].<ref name="TM1998">Theissen, Gerd and Annette Merz. The historical Jesus: a comprehensive guide. Fortress Press. 1998. translated from German (1996 edition)</ref> Contemporary Talmud scholars hold similar views, as well as considering the stories to be commentary about the relationship between Judaism and Christians or other sectarians.<ref>Daniel Boyarin, ''Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism'' Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1999</ref><ref>Jeffrey Rubenstein ''Rabbinic Stories'' (The Classics of Western Spirituality) New York: The Paulist Press, 2002</ref>

The ''[[Mishneh Torah]]'', a 12th century authoritative work of [[halakha|Jewish law]], states in ''Hilkhot Melakhim'' 11:10–11 that Jesus mislead most of the world to worship other gods but that his ultimate purpose is to "prepare the entire world to serve God together".
{{blockquote|Even Jesus the Nazarene who thought he would be the [[Jewish Messiah|Messiah]] and was killed by the court, was already prophesied by [[Daniel (biblical figure)|Daniel]]. So that it was said, "And the outlaws of your nation shall rise up to set forth a (prophetic) vision, and they will stumble."<ref>{{bibleverse|Dan.|11:14}}</ref> There is a greater obstacle than this: All the [[prophet]]s spoke that the Messiah would redeem Israel, and save them, and gather their banished ones, and strengthen their commandments. This caused Israel to perish by the sword, and to scatter their remnant, and to humiliate them, and to change the Torah, and to mislead most of the world into worshiping gods other than God.<br><br>
However, the thoughts of the Creator of the world - there is no power in man to attain them, because our ways are not His ways, nor our thoughts His thoughts. And all these words of Jesus the Nazarene, and of the [[Ishmael]]ite who stood after Him - their purpose is but to pave the way for the Messiah, the King, and to prepare the entire world to serve the Lord together; As it is said, "For then I will turn to the nations (giving them) a pure language, to call all of them in the name of the Lord, and together serve Him of one accord".<ref>{{bibleverse|Zeph.|3:9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Book 14, Hilchot Malachim, 11:10-11 |language=he |url=https://mechon-mamre.org/i/e511.htm |website=mechon-mamre.org |publisher=M.Mamre |access-date=2 March 2025 |date=9 April 2023}}</ref>}}