Holy Week Begins

All four New Testament Gospels record the following Holy Week events:

- Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey (Palm Sunday)
- Jesus and his apostles have the Last Supper (Maundy Thursday)
- Jesus is betrayed and arrested
- Peter denies knowing Jesus
- Jesus stands trial before Pontius Pilate
- Jesus is crucified (Good Friday)
- Jesus is buried by himself, in a tomb, by Joseph of Arimathea
- Jesus rises from the dead (Easter Sunday)

According to most modern bible scholars, these events were recorded about 35-65 years after Christ died. For the sake of comparison, based on some online research, here are the time frames for the earliest written references regarding other major religious figures:

- Abraham, about 1500 years after his death
- Moses, anywhere from 400-900 years after his death
- Buddha, about 300-400 years after his death
- Muhammad, 100-150 years after his death

Technically, the earliest written references to Christ date to only about 16-27 years after his death (New Testament epistles such as James, 1 Thessalonians, 1 Corinthians, and Galatians, and probably the Roman historian Thallus in his Eastern Mediterranean history), but they are not considered biographical in nature, like the Gospels.

Anyway, I'd like to wish everyone a fun and contemplative holy week. Approximately 2.2 billion people, or about 30% of the world's population, will be commemorating these events over the coming week.