>>I'm still waiting for an answer AR282. Did jesus exist or not? In one post you say there is not a shred of evidence. In your last diatribe you state

Once we strip away the divinity from Jesus, we are left with a man who was not a wise, compassionate teacher but a cult-like egomaniac who was wrong on just about everything he said. Much of what is pointed out as valuable was not original but found in earlier sources than the NT.

I can read that no other way than he did exist.

Which is it?<<

If you're willing to say there was a human Jesus but he was a self-righteous, nasty, little scumbag who said nothing of value then I'm willing to grant you that there was such a person. That a wise, wonderful, compassionate teacher would have had his entire life and identity erased and buried in mythology by his devoted followers is stupid and absurd. But if he was a rotten bastard, that makes sense. I'll grant you that such a human Jesus could certainly have existed.