Various historical events date the birth of Jesus, the man regarded by millions as their savior, between 4 ВСЕ and 6 CE. According to Matthew, Bethlehem is the birthplace of Jesus, and Mary and Joseph moved to Nazareth to protect him; in Luke, Jesus' parents are only temporarily in Bethlehem, and in Mark and John, the birth is not even mentioned. The Bible says that Jesus was born through an Immac- ulate Conception; he was conceived and brought forth by Mary, a virgin, making him a product of God's creative power and free from humanity's original sin. After- wards, Jesus preached in the Galilee, speaking for the poor and the righteous, most notably in the Sermon on the Mount . After about three years of preaching, Jesus went to Jerusalem, where he was condemned to death by Pontius Pilate and the Romans at the urging of the Phari- sees. The events leading up to his death are known as the Passion. On Good Friday, he carried his cross down the Via Dolorosa in Jerusalem, stopping at what became known as the Stations of the Cross, until he reached the hill of Golgotha , now marked by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where he was crucified. According to the Gospels, three days after Jesus's crucifixion, on what is now Easter, Mary and two other women went to Jesus's tomb to anoint his body and discovered the tomb empty. An angel announced that Jesus had been resurrected; Jesus subsequently appeared to the Apostles and performed miracles. The Resur- rection is the point of departure for the Christian faith, the beginning of a new age that the faithful believe will culminate in Christ's parousia, or second coming. At first, Christianity was a sect of Judaism that accepted the Hebrew Bible. But the sect's defining tenet that Jesus was the Messiah severed it from mainstream Judaism. St. Paul , successfully adapted the faith of Christianity to meet the spiritual needs of the largest body of converts: former pagans. Paul abandoned standard Jewish practices like mandatory circumcision, further separating Christianity from Judaism. The Book of Acts documents the actions of the early Christians, and the Letters of Paul, which comprise most of the rest of the New Testament, give advice to the early Christian communities and explain the delay of the second coming. As Christianity developed, it absorbed ear- lier practices. The incorporation of ancient festivals such as the winter solstice helped draw the common people to the new reUgion, and the use of Platonic doc- trines converted many intellectuals. The Christian faith was officially legitimized by the Edict of Milan, issued by Emperor Licinius in 313 CE, which proclaimed the toleration of Christianity. In 325 CE, the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the strag- gling Roman Empire. Constantine also summoned the first of seven Ecumenical Councils, held in Nicaea, to elaborate and unify the content of the faith.