St. John the Baptist, (born 1st decade BCE, Judaea, Palestine, near Jerusalem—died 28–36 CE; feast day June 24), was a Jewish prophet of priestly origin who preached the imminence of God’s Final Judgment and baptized those who repented in self-preparation for it; he is revered in the Christian church as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. After a period of desert solitude, John...