I've posted before that I've now embraced The Jesus Moot theory.
The only detailed sources we have are the Gospels, which are crap, folklore at best.
Jesus never wrote anything down about his own teachings. All we have are hearsay accounts that contradict each other even in canonical Gospels (most notably between John and the Synoptics). Then there are all the heterodox Christianities which only underscores that this Jesus didn't make much clear to his followers.
All the claims about the success, fame and controversy of his ministry seem unlikely since lesser religious cult leaders, like John the Baptist, got more mention from historians of the time. Nobody seemed to think Jesus was worth a mention for almost 200 years. Ergo, he couldn't have been much more than one of many messiah-wannabes who lived at that time.
So if you don't think he was a miracle-worker, we don't know for certain what his teachings were and we have no reliable accounts of his ministry, what's left?
Some guy named Yeshua who was a religious leader of some kind?
Ehrman can get back to me when he finds anything more.
The only detailed sources we have are the Gospels, which are crap, folklore at best.
Jesus never wrote anything down about his own teachings. All we have are hearsay accounts that contradict each other even in canonical Gospels (most notably between John and the Synoptics). Then there are all the heterodox Christianities which only underscores that this Jesus didn't make much clear to his followers.
All the claims about the success, fame and controversy of his ministry seem unlikely since lesser religious cult leaders, like John the Baptist, got more mention from historians of the time. Nobody seemed to think Jesus was worth a mention for almost 200 years. Ergo, he couldn't have been much more than one of many messiah-wannabes who lived at that time.
So if you don't think he was a miracle-worker, we don't know for certain what his teachings were and we have no reliable accounts of his ministry, what's left?
Some guy named Yeshua who was a religious leader of some kind?
Ehrman can get back to me when he finds anything more.
Atheist Forums Hall of Shame:
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
"The trinity can be equated to having your cake and eating it too."
... -Lucent, trying to defend the Trinity concept
"(Yahweh's) actions are good because (Yahweh) is the ultimate standard of goodness. That’s not begging the question"
... -Statler Waldorf, Christian apologist
