Regarding Jesus

[DeistPaladin]

Why shouldn't people who are interested in the remote possibility that someone existed talk about it if they want to? Nobody's forced to join in every forum discussion here or even read through topics that don't interest them.

I'm not going to stop anyone from discussing anything. I'm just saying that if we can't know anything about this guy or untangle fact from fiction in the Gospels, than the point is moot.

And all this sets aside the issue that once you strip out all the supernatural from the Gospel biography, you've gutted 90% of the story.

If you were to tell the story of a mortal, human Superman (let's say a Clark Kent who was raised as an orphan and became a great reporter and, in his capacity as a reporter, exposed crime and corruption) than the story you would tell would bare little resemblance to the classic DC comic story. It would be a new story about a different person. The story of Superman IS about the super powers.

If you were to tell the story of a mortal Jesus, it would similarly bare little resemblance to the story in the Gospels. The story of Jesus IS about the miracles and the divinity.

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Certainly it is possible that a human being was the BASIS for the otherwise fictional character - just as there are real Secret Agents that formed the basis for James Bond.

Some believe the story of James Bond was based on the real secret agent, Sydney Reilly. Of course, much of Sydney Reilly is likely folklore as well.

We have the benefit of knowing the author of James Bond and living in relatively recent history. And even here we can't untangle fact from fiction on The Historical James Bond. Good luck with anyone who seeks to accomplish this for someone who lived 2000 years ago.