The Irish Ram
LITTLE GIRL / Ram Tough
I do not think that Jesus is a myth. But I do believe that power hungry people seeking meaning to their lives made their friend some things that he wasn't.
Personally I'm a fan of Jesus, not the basic Catholic/Protestant Jesus but a man who understood that many transgressions are consequences and not expressions of a person's evil nature.
He understood that a prostitute does what she has to do to survive. Oh, and I love his anti-rich-people campaign. And I believe in the sanctity of marriage just like he did.
For me, probably the hardest thing to believe in the "Christian Jesus" is his universality (I believe that he was more concerned with Israel). Also, I do not believe that Saul of Tarsos had Jesus appear to him.
I have to question your research.
His friends gave up seeking meaning to their lives and their lives ended prematurely, because of their belief in their friend. Power wasn't even a consideration.
He instructed the prostitute to sin no more. He may have understood it but he didn't condone it.
He was not anti-rich. Many of God's people were very wealthy, some of the richest in the world. Jesus was anti-loving money more than loving the father that provided the wealth in the first place.
Remember the rich man that Jesus told to sell everything and follow Him? And the rich man couldn't bring himself to give up his riches, so he turned and walked away? It wasn't the wealth that was the issue, it was the rich man's love of his wealth that caused him to lose his opportunity.
It wasn't that there were money changers in the temple that pissed off Jesus, it was the money exchangers cheating the public that pissed Jesus off.
And the hardest thing for you to understand is the easiest thing to explain. Jesus was NOT universal. Jesus was a rabbi. He was here on earth for the benefit of the Jewish people, because of a covenant between God and Abraham. He came as a sacrifice to cleanse the Jews. He was sacrificed on they Jewish day of sacrifice. He's Jewish! By the grace of God, we (the universe) were grafted in to the Jewish line, and bestowed with the same gift of salvation.
When doing your research, did you find any historical evidence of Christ returning from the grave and remaining on earth for 40 days? Any historical evidence outside the realm of religion?