The Relationship Between Judaism and Christianity

[nili]

I'm curious why some folks are of the opinion that if Jesus believed himself to be the messiah, if his followers believed him to be the messiah, that such belief, in and of itself, made them apostates.

... There's also the controversial question put forth by many scholars:  "Did Jesus even exist at all?"  If the story of Jesus was purposely created in order to bring about a social and political change at that time and over the succeeding centuries, it certainly worked.  But I don't think that was quite the change in the world that Judaism's expectations of the Messiah would have fulfilled.

I believe the term "many" may be misleading. Again, from Wikipedia:

The Christ myth theory is a fringe theory, supported by few tenured or emeritus specialists in biblical criticism or cognate disciplines. It is criticised for its outdated reliance on comparisons between mythologies, and deviates from the mainstream historical view, which is that while the gospels include many legendary elements, these are religious interpretations of the life of a historical Jesus who was crucified in the 1st-century Roman province of Judea and subsequently deified.

I used the word "many" as an indefinite number.  "Less than most" works for me, as well.  In any case, it wasn't the main point of my posting.

As you wish. I simply find "fringe ... supported by few" to be far more accurate than "many ... less than most" and far less likely to give the mythicist position too much credence.

But you are correct in noting that it was not the main point of your post. My apologies.