(02-21-2019, 09:03 PM)Channalee Wrote: I'm impressed, Jude, that you weren't offended when I brought up the question as to whether or not Jesus actually existed. It may be true (as Nili pointed out) that this is a fringe theory, but it's something that has been discussed on this forum with some interest. I just want to quickly add that we've also discussed whether certain historic Jewish events as recorded in the Bible actually happened.
Yeah, it takes a lot to offend me. I've studied Biblical literature a lot, and I've come across this hypothesis before. The first time I came across it was actually in an atheist-theist debate-style forum on facebook that I helped run back in 2013 (and which I still help to moderate to this day). Most often, it's used to try and say, "Look at these Christians; look at how stupid they are; Jesus and God aren't real, you're all just worshipping your sky-daddy" etc.
It maybe shocked me the first time I heard but now I just . . . deal with it. And it's not really offensive because the question of whether or not Jesus existed is a valid question. Certainly, most Biblical scholars who study the Gospels and other Christian literature agree that the Historical/Real Jesus (or, the "Jewish Jesus") is not the same person we read about in the Gospels. There's a lot of stuff in the Gospels that's written in metaphorical terms, that's inaccurate, or that's literally the result of an editor who just decided to make Jesus say or do a certain thing that a Jew living in what was then Roman Palestine wouldn't say and do.
Just reading the four canonical Gospels will present you with four different Jesuses. So, I when I go to Mass and hear the Gospels, I'm very cognizant of the fact that what I'm getting is more of a spiritual and interpretive narrative rather than anything of any practical historical value. Not every Catholic or Christian is going to be as open about this as I am, but that's because I studied this stuff over the span of fifteen years or more. Some Catholics are dogmatic to the point that they're actually very scary to me. I, personally, am relatively comfortable with most ideas or opinions about Jesus; so, you don't have to worry so much about me.
Now, Dominionist Christians, on the other hand . . . .