re: #189 Mattand

I can absolutely see a political rebel named Jesus getting executed for his troubles during the Roman Empire, and devotees building a following around their martyr.

The whole divine supernatural powers part of the tale? Not buying it. My understanding is that most of what we call the Christian Bible was first written down like 300 years after the all this stuff supposedly took place. Is that accurate?

Not quite. Paul’s earliest letters date to the 50s, 20+ years after Jesus’s supposed date of death. But they’re not big on detail. The earliest gospel is “Mark”, it is usually dated to around A.D. 70. “Matthew” and “Luke” come later and plag borrow heavily from “Mark”. “John” is usually considered not to contain much historical detail at all (one of the big reasons: Jesus’ supposed speeches are long and detailed, not something that could be derived from an authentic oral tradition). All four gospels are anonymous, despite the names attached to them later. None are by actual eyewitnesses.

So basically, if we are to search for the “historical” Jesus, we should use Paul and “Mark” first and foremost. And these sources are, of course, not unproblematic.