St. John the Baptist (ca. 4 BC-ca. 31 AD) is important in Christian tradition as the forerunner of the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

The two ancient sources that speak of John are the Gospels and the Antiquities of the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius. John was the son of the priest Zachariah and of Elizabeth, and the cousin of Mary, the mother of Jesus. He was born in Palestinian hill country about 4 BC Little is known of his early years. The Gospels state that his birth and name were foretold by God to his father and that his conception was miraculous because his mother, Elizabeth, was beyond childbearing age. He spent his early years "in the desert," according to the Gospel; this phrase is almost a technical term in Qumran literature for the place where the Jewish sectaries lived together near the Dead Sea.

As an adult, John appeared on the...