[Raycpa]

Wow! Men who are atheists, believers and agnostics have studied these books for centuries and the vast majority of them would never come to the conclusions you have. Also, the very people in the bible who followed Christ did not have your understanding. You must have so much more awareness than all those scholars who have made it their life work to study and understand.

[A_perfect_lady]

Well, sometimes distance does help. We are Americans. We know what it is to live in a world where patriarchs don't decide our fate by reading the entrails of a chicken. We know what it's like to live in a world where religion and law are not necessarily one and the same. We know what GERMS are. We aren't scared of witches' curses. We're not much into royal families. We know that Hebrew legend is in some ways similar to Greek, Hindu, and Aztec legend. We are not terrified of the Catholic church. We can READ. All of us, not just a tiny handful. We know that these texts were translated several times. We know that humans lie, to each other and to themselves.

As a matter of fact, plenty of scholars have indeed come to similar conclusions, because my conclusions are not particularly controversial: I think Jesus lived. I think he was indeed intending on being the next king of Israel. I think he was murdered by political enemies. I think the legends that sprang up afterward are to be taken along with stories of Beowulf and Zeus. Remember, this was (and is) the Middle East. Look at them today. They think they'll get 72 virgins if they blow up a marathon in Boston. You're going to take their word for anything?