In real life (not myth or fable) how many people were the models for the Biblical character of Jesus? In the absence of any real evidence, we’re stuck with probabilities:
0 — 15%
1 — 35%
2 or more — 50%
Supporting the 3rd hypothesis are anomalies such as “the Nazarene” being born in Bethlehem (a conflation of the divine-savior and political-savior traditions); dueling genealogies in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38; the “Prince of Peace” stating “I come to bring not peace but a sword” and trashing the money-changer tables in the temple; the friend of the common people also recommending that “these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them — bring them here and slaughter them in my presence”; the same guy who said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” supposedly also saying “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”, thus creating the ongoing controversy over whether man is saved by works or grace; and the bringer of a new covenant claiming to uphold “every jot and tittle” of the old one.
These differences are what we’d expect if two or more itinerant preachers — probably illiterate themselves and certainly working in an illiterate society — were each delivering somewhat different messages, and word-of-mouth transmission confused who said what, much the same way as modern people will attribute quotations of unknown origin to William Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, or George Carlin.
In real life (not myth or fable) how many people were the models for the Biblical character of Jesus? In the absence of any real evidence, we’re stuck with probabilities:
0 — 15%
1 — 35%
2 or more — 50%
Supporting the 3rd hypothesis are anomalies such as “the Nazarene” being born in Bethlehem (a conflation of the divine-savior and political-savior traditions); dueling genealogies in Matthew 1:1-16 and Luke 3:23-38; the “Prince of Peace” stating “I come to bring not peace but a sword” and trashing the money-changer tables in the temple; the friend of the common people also recommending that “these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them — bring them here and slaughter them in my presence”; the same guy who said “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you” supposedly also saying “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”, thus creating the ongoing controversy over whether man is saved by works or grace; and the bringer of a new covenant claiming to uphold “every jot and tittle” of the old one.
These differences are what we’d expect if two or more itinerant preachers — probably illiterate themselves and certainly working in an illiterate society — were each delivering somewhat different messages, and word-of-mouth transmission confused who said what, much the same way as modern people will attribute quotations of unknown origin to William Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin, Mark Twain, or George Carlin.