The first time we see Jesus as special in the Bible he is debating gospel as a boy with the rabbis and they are impressed with him. This show's us that Jesus was either god or very educated boy as the rabbis at that time were some of the most educated men.
I'd honestly be more impressed if we knew what was said, though. He could've been singing the abc's and we'd never know.
The next time we see Jesus he is turning water into wine. He has all the stewards collect the wine carafes and fill them with water. Those carafes had probably been used for years to store wine. The water would have easily gotten color and slight flavor from the carafe. He instructs them to take it to the Head steward only. It probably was the Head stewards job to make sure there was enough wine. If I was the Head steward I would sell the water as wine to the drunks.
LOL. That'd be hilarious if true.
Bringing back the dead. They always state that he layed hands on them but never explained what the hands did. Perhaps he taught himself CPR.
There's also the problem that they didn't have something called "clinical death" at that time, so it's hard to see if they were really dead or just comatose. I am a nurse, so I tend to go with the "primitive CPR" idea too. Still, no sense in using CPR on someone who's not truly dead ...
While I guess there could theoretically be Christians who don't actually follow Christ, I mean there was an Episcopalian bishop that didn't believe in God, but those people are few and far between. It's pretty hard to follow someone you don't believe existed.
If people can call themselves Jedi and be serious, then this shouldn't be that hard.
Walking on water and the loaves and fish are tales told by others not by Jesus. It is possible that he was a showman and he used tricks to get into places he was needed. He did not tell the tales he allowed the tales to be told. The stories also could of gotten big before he heard them and there was no advantage or easy way to correct them. He may have tried and just given up.
They could also simply be literary tropes, common to the genre.
Now it all makes sense to me.
This character called Jesus was a mere clever magician hoping
he'd get nailed to a stick and die a horrific death just for giggles and grins.
You act like that's impossible, but wasn't there some dude named Simon who was precisely this?
A smart man can't just calm the wind and waves, multiply a handful of loaves and fishes to feed thousands or raise the dead
That takes more than smarts
You're right, of course. It also takes people who don't know how things work and just assume magic.
Mohamed was only 500 years after the death of Jesus, it is reasonable to believe he had facts.
Do you have facts about the existence of some random Pacific Islander who is currently living? If not, why is it reasonable to suggest Mohammad would have any better knowledge about Jesus? Hell, even while Jesus was alive, people were going "who is this", LOL.
It is hard to see people accepting death over recanting a pure myth though.
Imagine you've been taught all your life it's literal historical fact. THAT'S how you die for myths.
A merely smart man would not come up with many eyewitnesses who would die rather than admit the story was spoofed.
When the authors of Captain America comics can get death threats for a particular plot line, I lose my ability to have faith in the smarts of people regarding literary characters.
They would not have endured that if it weren't true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world-and they couldn't keep a lie for three weeks. You're telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.”
The ancient Middle East had detectives and forensics to bust the myth quickly?
1. That Jesus appeared on the historical scene with an unprecedented sense of divine authority.
We have posters on this site that think they have divine authority. So what?
2. That he practiced a ministry of exorcism and miracle working.
As did lots of others. It's a popular con job/show.
3. That he was killed by crucifixion by the Romans at the behest of the Jewish authorities.
Don't see the need for Jewish opinion. Jesus was executed for treason by the Romans.
4. That even his enemies claimed to have spoken with him post mortem.
So, like Elvis, then.
