St. John the Baptist, (born 1st century ce), Jewish prophet revered in Christianity as the forerunner of Jesus. Sources for his life are the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the historian Josephus. His mother, St. Elizabeth, was a cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. His father was the priest Zechariah. As a young man, John lived in the Judaean desert, either as a hermit or as part of a Jewish monastic community such as the Essenes. He attracted much public notice c. 28 ce as a prophet in the Jordan Valley. He preached the imminent wrathful judgment of God and called on his hearers to repent and be baptized. Jesus himself came to be baptized by John and shortly afterward began his own mission. John was imprisoned for criticizing the illegal marriage of Herod Antipas and was executed after Herod’s stepdaughter, Salome, demanded his head as a reward for dancing for the king’s guests.
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