re: #273 freetoken

The Synoptic Gospels are not independent material. And the 4th Gospel is clearly influenced by the Synoptics. They are not independent things.

Sergey and I have gone around quite a bit over this the past 2 years.

History is not often the same thing as religious teachings. The modern discourse we call “history” has different goals and methods than religious teaching.

I am now convinced that the Synoptic Gospels started their literary lives as the material of Passion plays. That is, religious ceremonies would have plays around Passover based on the then-removed-from-Palestine-by-the-Romans Jewish cults that followed key personages of the 1st century.

The Passion Play is not a custom or a ritual in Jewish tradition.