beautifully written, Charlatan. i'd just like to point out that many men in the early rabbinical movement were documented as saying things amazingly similar to jesus years before his historical birth would be. so jesus was radical but not necessarily unique. this does not discount anything you said, just a note that others at the time were thinking like him.
there were lots of "false messiahs" at the time as well, some with stricking similarities to jesus. jesus was different from the others in that none were ever mentioned to produce miracles. check out dionysis and osiris for a few similarities in miracle court.
i love Charlatan's conclusion, he is absolutely right. the importance is in the message. so IF it's a lie (i will never say that it is), paul's church is still an absolutely valueable institution.
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