Religion
In reply to the discussion: Was Jesus even born? [View all]intaglio
(8,170 posts)based on similar ideals to the Dionysian and Mithraic cults. It does not require a conspiracy of confabulation in the 1st or early 2nd Century whereas your contention does require a conspiracy; a conspiracy of silence from trustworthy sources outside the Christian community. My contention only requires that later believers insist on a corporeal Jesus to justify their beliefs. It is not even unusual for such cults to insist on the fleshly reality of their god/prophet. Mithraic, Dionysian, Herculean, Zarathustran and Osiris cults all insisted that their principles led an earthly life.
The contents of the Bible is not evidence for Jesus as virtually in its entirety it was edited, redacted and amended. Paul's later letters were heavily edited and, in some cases, fabricated as were the supposed writings of Peter. John of Patmos, who produced the Apocalypse (which surprisingly is an early text) never identifies a fleshly Jesus.
Mark, Matthew, Luke and John read like literature even including elements that no person could have seen; for example who witnessed the events in the Garden of Gethsemane prior to the arrest? All that ignores the massive contradictions between the various Gospels