Intelligent Atheists: Who/What Was Jesus?

[Mister Agenda]

I lean slightly toward there having been a man named Yeshua who did some of the nonsupernatural things attributed to him and said some of the things he's been recorded saying, but the evidence is contextual and therefore slight. Some things in the Gospels seem intended to explain away inconsistencies between the man and the theology, which wouldn't be necessary with a completely fictional character. I put the odds of him being real and some of his teachings being foundational to Christianity at around 51%. And I think he was likely a follower of John the Baptist who broke off to start his own cult.