(April 5, 2020 at 1:18 pm)Vicki Q Wrote: However there is little doubt historically that those closest to Him believed that he did things they considered miracles. And there's still the not small matter of why this small Jewish sect got started with the belief set that it did. Why would they think the almighty Kingdom of God had begun, when the counterarguments- their wannabe Messiah dead on a cross, Romans still in situ, etc, are so utterly compelling?
I believe that Jesus of Nazareth was a historical figure who existed; I do not believe that the canonical Gospels fall into the category of being "ancient biographies" of his life. As for Paul, who shows little interest in the historical Jesus, I believe that he was an apocalypticist who advanced his own theology about Jesus, as did Paul's competitors in the diverse set of religious traditions that scholars have come to refer to as ancient Christianities.
