Quote:The idea that Jesus wandered around Palestine preaching to people had to come from somewhere.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Quote:In the second half of the 5th century BC, particularly at Athens, "sophist" came to denote a class of mostly itinerant intellectuals who taught courses in various subjects, speculated about the nature of language and culture and employed rhetoric to achieve their purposes, generally to persuade or convince others
From a discussion of sophists on Wiki.
Of course, such people would not waste their time speaking to illiterate peasants.
Quote:The problem is that I can't find any evidence that Paul really existed either.
Nor will you. There are few historical markers in Paul's writings. One is in 2 Corinthians 11
Quote:30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
Damascus was actually conquered by Aretas III of Nabatea but c 84 BC. 2 Corinthians is one of the epistles which is largely considered "authentic" to Paul but if that is the case then he is nearly a century too early. Xtians get real quiet about this one. Instead they try to claim that the Romans "gave" Damascus to Aretas IV shortly before he died in 40 AD. But that is an absurd story. Damascus was the Western terminus of the Silk Road and thus arguably one of the most valuable pieces of commercial real estate in the western world. The Romans did not build a great empire by making such asinine deals.
