The point is not what Paul said about the life of Jesus. The point is that everyone Paul wrote to already knew something about someone named Jesus, that he was some kind of religious figure, maybe was called the Son of God, that he was crucified and was said to have risen from the dead, although not everybody bought that one.
More below about ‘messiah’. In the meantime note that Paul points out that Jesus was “made of the seed of David” (Romans 1:3),a messianic requirement.
1 Corinthians 5
7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:
1 Corinthians 15
3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
Romans 3
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Romans 8
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
2 Corinthians 5
14 For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:
15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
16 Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.
21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
For a more extensive treatment of the theme see: Romans 4:24-25, Romans 5:1-21
A notable verse from that section is:
Romans 5:11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.
The word ‘Christ’ used in the NT is the transliteration of the Greek
Christos which means ‘anointed’. This is the equivalent of Messiah, or
mashiyach, the transliteration of the Hebrew word for anointed. Christ means Messiah.
In the Pauline epistles generally considered genuine (1 Thessalonians, Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Philippians, Philemon, 2 Corinthians, Romans) the word ‘Christ’ is used 264 times in reference to Jesus. If all the works in the ‘Pauline Epistle’ category are included, the total is 376.
See here
Not just the Temple era but the era before Caligula’s order in 40 AD to have a statue of himself erected in the Temple in Jerusalem. Before that there was relative peace between the Jews and the Romans. Later the idea of a religious figure drawing crowds of thousands wherever he went without Roman interference would have been less than credible. It does not matter whether those crowds really existed. The fact that Mark portrayed it that way suggests that this was a tradition from an earlier time. The arguments with the Pharisees over just how strictly literal the Law was to be followed and the relevance of the Oral Torah would have been of no importance to those Christians who were contemporary with Mark. But to facilitate his program of making the Jesus in his story a real living man of action, as opposed to Paul’s ghostlike figure, Mark appears to have incorporated early traditions about Jesus. Mark would not invent stories of such little interest to his readers. But if they were genuine old traditions they would serve well in supporting Mark’s vision of Jesus as a real somebody. And of course, Mark places the whole story in the tenure of Pontius Pilate.
I was not referring to any Greek humanist tradition but to the Jewish tradition found in the prophets of valuing human values over slavish adherence to ritual. Examples…
Isaiah begins with exactly that thought.
Isaiah 1:13
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
Instead…
Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Hosea 6:6
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.
I am not terribly impressed by the Gabriel Stone, but that is another topic.
I never said this was a clincher, only that the material I presented is suggestive of an actual historic Jesus, but not a magical one. Specifically, that this is the simplest explanation.
Paul’s claim was that Jesus told him all sorts of things he never told to the Apostles. Although what you said is probably the case.
I am not putting odds on anything. Only that my proposal is the simplest explanation.
