Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically, and historians consider the Synoptic Gospels to be the best sources for investigating the historical Jesus. Most scholars agree that Jesus was a Galilean, Jewish rabbi who preached his message orally, was baptized by John the Baptist, and was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate. In the current mainstream view, Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher and the founder of a restoration movement within Judaism, although some prominent scholars argue that he was not apocalyptic. After Jesus' death, his followers believed he was resurrected, and the community they formed eventually became the Christian church.[27] The widely accepted calendar era, abbreviated as "AD" or sometimes as "CE", is based on the birth of Jesus.