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Old 09-15-2004, 02:43 AM   #1
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Default Alternatives to HJ and MJ?

There's been a lot of debate recently between proponents of a "historical Jesus" and a "mythical Jesus". But just how many alternatives are there? Just as there are more options than the classic "Lord, Liar, Lunatic" trilemma, there are also a number of possible "Jesuses":

1. Historical Jesus (with or without supernatural powers): the Christian position, and also the position of non-Christians who nevertheless believed that he existed as a person.

2. Mythical Jesus: the Jesus-Myther position. Jesus was "crucified in a higher realm" and wasn't originally envisaged as walking the Earth, but the story was later interpreted as referring to a Jesus here on Earth.

3. Composite Jesus: the deeds and stories relating to two or more historical persons were combined to make "Jesus". One possibility is that the Babylonian Talmud's "Yeshua" was an actual dissident preacher who was stoned to death, but he was combined with somebody else who got crucified.

4. Fictional Jesus: non-historical, created by one person (Paul is a good candidate), but differing from the Jesus-Myther position in that Jesus was envisaged as being here on Earth.

5. Mythical/Historical Composite: Tales of a fictional Jesus, envisaged either as being active in a supernatural realm or active here on Earth, which later became fused with one or more actual historical figures.

I lack the knowledge to assess the probability of these alternatives.
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