Jesus of Nazareth, is the central figure of Christianity. He is commonly referred to as Jesus Christ, or The Messiah -- the title Christ" coming from the Greek christós, or Hebrew Messaih meaning the "Anointed One. The name "Jesus" is an Anglicization of the Greek Iesous, itself believed to be a transliteration of the Hebrew Yehoshua or Aramaic Yeshua.
Most scholars agree that Jesus was a Galilean Jew born around 8 to 2 BCE. He was regarded as a great teacher and healer, was baptized by John the Baptist. The Gospels concentrate on the last five years of Jesus’ life after he left his home in Nazareth.
Jesus first finds John the Baptist, a preacher and mystic who has been baptizing people in the Jordan River. When John meets Jesus he recognizes his divinity and initially asks Jesus to baptize him. Jesus refuses and is baptized by John who calls Jesus the Son of God.
Following his baptism, Jesus retreats to the desert to fast for 40 days. Similar to the Buddha, this meditation is accompanied by temptations. A devil appears to him and asks Jesus three times to demonstrate his supernatural powers as proof of his being the Son of God. Jesus refuses each temptation and the devil is forced to depart.
Jesus then travels throughout Galilee and Samaria teaching and performing miracles such as turning water into wine, walking on the waters of Lake Galilee and raising a man from the dead. He attracts hundreds of followers but solicits a small cadre of close followers whom he called his Apostles.
Jesus' most famous teachings come from the Sermon on the Mount, which contained the Lord's Prayer. Jesus often spoke in parables and encouraged unconditional self-sacrificing God-like love for God and for all people. In his sermons, he preached about service and humility, the forgiveness of sin, faith, turning the other cheek, love for one's enemies as well as friends, and the need to follow the spirit of the law in addition to the letter. He often surrounded himself with the outcasts of society such as tax collectors and prostitutes.
Finally, Jesus makes his way to Jerusalem where his activities have aroused the ire and the fear of the religious authorities. After a triumphal entrance into the city and an attack on the commerce in the temple precincts, the ruling religious leaders decide to have Jesus arrested. Following a Passover meal called the Last Supper, Jesus is betrayed by one of his apostles, Judas Iscariot. The religious leaders then turn Jesus over to the Roman Governor Pontius Pilate who has Jesus crucified for sedition.
Christians believe Jesus was the Messiah whose coming was prophesied in the Old Testament and that he was resurrected after his crucifixion. Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who came to provide salvation and reconciliation with God. Other Christian beliefs include Jesus' Virgin Birth, performance of miracles, fulfillment of biblical prophecy, ascension into Heaven, and future Second Coming.

The New Testament is the second part of the Christian Bible and contains those books that detail the life of Jesus of Nazareth and the works, acts and ideas of his immediate followers.
Certain Christian sects have alternate books in their New Testament,  but the vast majority of denominations have settled on the same twenty-seven book canon: four narratives of Jesus Christ's life and teachings called "the Gospels"; a narrative of the Apostles' founding ot the early Christian church called “The Acts”, 21 "epistles" or letters written by various early Christians that explore issues of worship, morality and philosophy and finally an Apocalyptic prophecy detailing the war between good and evil end of the world and the return of Jesus.
Each of the Gospels describes the life and teaching or “ministry” of Jesus of Nazareth. The first three are commonly called the Synoptic Gospels as they contain similar accounts of events in Jesus' life. The Gospel of John records of several miracles and sayings of Jesus, not found elsewhere.
 

The Gospel of Luke is the third and longest of the four Gospels of the New Testament.
It is one of the so-called Synoptic gospels, which like the Gospels of Mark and Matthew generally follow the same sequence of events from the “immaculate conception through the beginning of Jesus’ teachings, his meeting with the prophet John the Baptist, his journey to Jerusalem and his eventual trial, execution and resurrection.
The synoptic gospels tell the story of Jesus, proclaiming him the Son of God, and the Messiah.

Acts
The book of Acts, also occasionally called the Acts of the Apostles is a narrative of the Apostles' foundation of the early spreading of Jesus’ teachings after Christ's death. It can also be seen as a sequel to the third Gospel. Examining style, phraseology, and other evidence, modern scholarship generally concludes that Acts and Luke might have the same author.
Like all of the gospels, the Gospel of Luke originally circulated anonymously. Since the second Century AD, the third gospel has been ascribed to Luke, one of Paul’s followers.

The Pauline Epistles
Just as Confucius had Mencius, Lao Tzu had Chuang Tzu, Jesus had Paul.
Unlike the 12 other apostles, Paul never met Jesus. According to the Acts, Paul was originally called Saul of Tarsus, was both a Jew and a Roman citizen and was actually involved in persecuting Christians. But while on the road to Damascus to round up more of the blasphemers, Saul had a miraculous vision of the resurrected Jesus and became a fervent Christian.
The Pauline Epistles constitute those letters traditionally attributed to Paul, though his authorship of some is disputed. They consist mostly of moral counsel and behavioral instruction. Epistles were sent to various early Christian churches and Christian scribes and feature many of the ideas that now appear in Christian doctrine although they are not detailed in the original gospels.
While Paul never met Jesus, he was in constant contact and conflict with the surviving apostles. Many of the letters are about the conflicts with the apostles Peter and James.
Paul’s letters talk about the relationship the Christian adherent should have with God, the resurrected Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He also talks about atonement and the intervention of Jesus in the absolution of sins. Both Catholic and Protestant sects of Christianity have held up the works of Paul to justify their positions and actions on a number of religious issues.
Some researchers have also pushed the idea that within the Gospels, Jesus is portrayed as a wandering rabbi who actually denies his divinity and it is not until Paul’s writing is circulated that the idea of Jesus being the Son of God takes root. 
Paul’s teachings have by the far the largest influence on Christian thought and theology. Many of the tenants of Christianity actually originate from Paul and not from the Gospels.
Paul traveled throughout the Roman world preaching and teaching. According to some stories he was eventually arrested by Jewish authorities in Jerusalem and sent to Rome for trial. Some stories suggest that he was exiled to Spain while others suggest he was beheaded on the orders of Nero during the persecutions of the Christians following the Great Fire of Rome in 67. Other early Christian histories have suggested that Peter and Paul were executed on the same day.