(August 9, 2017 at 1:04 pm)Simon Moon Wrote: What we can be almost absolutely sure of, is that whatever the historical basis for Jesus, that person or persons would not even get close to recognising the version of Jesus that the vast majority of Christians believe in.
Oh, no doubt about it. Since the Jesus most Christians worship is Paul's Jesus and since that Jesus would have been anathema to any observant Jew of the day (hint: Jesus), there's no way he would have recognized himself in the spiteful, failed Pharisee's portrait.
I'm reminded of one of my favorite moments in The Last Temptation of Christ when Jesus comes across Paul preaching his own version of the good news. Jesus protests that he didn't die and that Paul is lying about him and his ministry. Paul fixes Jesus with a satisfied gaze and says, "I'm glad I met you. Now I can forget all about you," before resuming his false ministry to the Gentiles.
On a side note, I love that Scorsese cast Harry Dean Stanton as Paul in the film. Somehow, he strikes me as the perfect choice to play religion's greatest used car salesman.
