Quote:Yes, there probably were a lot of them but not all of them got associated with Christianity.
But we don't know how many steps there were in that process. Ignoring the xtian writings ( biased and edited as they are) we seem to go from chrestus to christus to "jesus" itself a derivation of yeshua meaning "god is salvation."
Mormonism has a literal founder. Joseph Smith, con man, liar, swindler, and murder victim. How much better for them if they did not have to overcome the unsavory personality of their founder?