Shit. What The Hell. Jesus Never Existed

[robvalue]

Well there was a Jesus of Nazareth and he was like the one described in the Bible - what evidence do you have of a different character?

Historians don't do this.  Historians don't just say, "this text says so, so it happened." Just look up the Socratic problem. No serious historian says, "The historical Socrates must be like the one described in Plato's dialogues because Plato said so- what evidence do you have that he wasn't?" What evidence do you have he was? The Bible?
The problem is trying to find the man behind the myth. Am I to think the myth of George Washington is the same as the man? Parson Weems claims George Washington cut down a cherry tree - I guess I'll just take his word for it.

Right. I can't possibly provide evidence that two or more people are rolled into the Jesus character, but I think it's hopelessly improbable that this isn't the case. Even if it's a few details, or a single story, the idea that the one single HJ (whether he was real or fictional) would be faithfully preserved by oral stories without anyone else possibly ever creeping in seems ridiculous to me.

It's just my opinion, based on common sense and the nature of oral stories. The default position that the oral myth is pure after 30 years or whatever does not seem reasonable.