I haven't read everyone's post yet. Sorry.
My answer is I don't know but I don't think that it matters if a man named Yeshua existed. My guess is that he is a combination of several traveling preachers alive during that time. Much of what he taught was already a part of Jewish believes so he taught nothing new. Unlike many Protestants, the Jews were not 'bible only' kind of people. They had oral traditions that they didn't write down until later but that they still used to interpret their holy books. When you read the Old Testament, you aren't getting the full image of Jewish morals or teachings.
I think that one of the likely inspirations for Jesus is the Jewish sage, Hillel. Some of his teaching sounds very similar to Jesus except that Hillel would have started teaching before the Christian savior was an adult.
My answer is I don't know but I don't think that it matters if a man named Yeshua existed. My guess is that he is a combination of several traveling preachers alive during that time. Much of what he taught was already a part of Jewish believes so he taught nothing new. Unlike many Protestants, the Jews were not 'bible only' kind of people. They had oral traditions that they didn't write down until later but that they still used to interpret their holy books. When you read the Old Testament, you aren't getting the full image of Jewish morals or teachings.
I think that one of the likely inspirations for Jesus is the Jewish sage, Hillel. Some of his teaching sounds very similar to Jesus except that Hillel would have started teaching before the Christian savior was an adult.
