Gary Welsh

My guess has always been that there actually was a preacher named Jesus, who irritated the local authorities and flirted around the issue of his own status as a holy man. Jesus and his group were looked at -- in their day -- much like the way Joseph Smith and the Mormons were looked at by their contemporaries. It was an offshoot of an existing religion.

The miraculous elements (I'm guessing) could come from a number of sources. Jesus wasn't the only 'wonder-worker' of his time. Could there have been a bit of the stage-magician in Jesus? I don't see why not. And just as some people buy into the faith healing of televangelists and revivalists today, it seems entirely possible that people did the same thing with Jesus. As his reputation grew, the stories of 'healings' and so forth became embellished by a rapidly growing oral tradition.

For my model of a historical Jesus, I look at Elvis, David Copperfield and John Edward. There are many people who didn't (and don't) want to believe Elvis died, and to this day they make pilgrimages to Graceland and regard Elvis-mementos as sacred relics. If David Copperfield claimed to really have supernatural powers, would people believe him? I think many -- not all, but many -- would. People want to believe in that sort of thing. John Edward is in that category as well. It is instructive to watch that show with a variety of people, just to see how differently people can react. I roll my eyes, and to me it's obviously a bunch of nonsense, but other people genuinely buy into it. It's a lesson in human psychology, how people can view the exact same event but experience it completely differently.

DarkBronzePlant

You should read A History of God by Karen Armstrong. She gives a pretty good interpretation.

Rousseau_CHN

Was Christ a Christian?

Gary Welsh

If he believed what he preached, then I'd have to say he was.

But that is more of a semantic question than anything else -- which hinges on how you define 'Christian.'

I often hear people say "Jesus was a practicing Jew," but I'm not sure what that means. Obviously, he came out of that religious tradition, but he was hardly orthodox in the eyes of his contemporaries.

Godless Sodomite

Perhaps "practicing Jew" refers to the fact that Jesus wasn't a very good Jew and had to practice. After all, practice makes perfect.

-Jerry (with tongue firmly in cheek)

capnkirk

Over on Biblical Criticisms and Archaeology, there is a thread titled "Doherty is Right" that discusses the origins of Christianity at great length and all the depth you could ask for. It has gotten to be a long thread, but well worth the trouble if you're really interested.