Why do atheists even bother about debating Jesus?

[Confused Ape]

It is those traditions which are in dispute. Like "jesus" and a whole shitload of other characters, Jeremiah only appears in the bible. In much the same way as Darth Vader only appears in Star Wars.

Traditions don't have to be literally true in order to reflect the way that people behave.

http://www.moshereiss.org/christianity/0...hillel.htm

In some ways he is comparable to the radical Prophet Jeremiah almost killed by the Jews several times,

From English history -

Anabaptists Persecutions And Migrations

The Tudor regime, even the Protestant monarchs (Edward VI of England and Elizabeth I of England), persecuted Anabaptists as they were deemed too radical and therefore a danger to religious stability

People with radical ideas aren't always popular. Even if Jeremiah is just a story, the Jews who tried to kill him were acting in a realistically human way. Even if Jesus is just a story, people wanting to get rid of him because he had radical ideas were acting in a realistically human way.

One question I do have from all this is why the idea that there might have been an historical Jesus is so terrifying to some people. He'd have been an ordinary human like everyone else on the planet so it wouldn't mean that supernatural beings really exist. Sir Francis Drake really existed but that doesn't prove the Wild Hunt on Dartmoor is true.

I honestly don't mind if there was an historical Jesus or if he was just a fictional character in a mushroom cult - if either was ever proved to be true I'd just find it very interesting.