Reply #66: Most certainly it could have been made up

[Meshuga]

"Jesus certainly COULD have been made up, but not in that short a time frame. That is where it defies common sense. Not in a generation or two, not in response to anything to the many people who could have known him. It would be far more believable that Moses was made up."

Most certainly it could have been made up in that time frame. Just as the pharisaic and aronide revolution were put in place for the same purpose and it did not need a long period of time to be established. It's a political force that brings forth a new idea and the process of accepting it starts immediately and grows from there. By the time Josephus wrote anything about the followers of Jesus that was plenty of time for this revolution to be in place and for Jesus to have a considerably big following by that time having the historical Jesus existed or not.

"I would add that the various books of the Old Testament had hundreds of years of evolution and were not canonized until after Christ was on the scene, and the rise of rabbinical Judaism came in response to the Jewish sect of Jesus."

Where did you get that from? Based on literary evidence (different forms of hebrew used from specific times), political (interest of the people who put it together), cultural and geographical evidence (the location and under whose rule they were at the time) you could say that the Torah had hundreds of years of evolution and that the rest the old testament had the same. However this evolution based on these evidences could not go beyound fifth century BCE for the Pentateuch or beyound 2nd century BCE for the rest of the old testament. The Tanach (old testament) needed to be canonized in the second century BCE in order for the Pharisees to have their revolution and exist as a power before Jesus time.
What is your evidence for your hypothesis that the old testament had evolved during or after 1st century CE and that was only canonized after Jesus was around?

"Actually, no, as I don't consider myself a Christian, except in the broadest possible sense, and I don't think that it is all that important that he actually did live, because it is what people believe about him that is important, rather than anything else. I just think the idea that he was completely made up completely implausible."

My perception with your attitude is that to you it is important there to be a historical Jesus since you say that the idea that he is completely made up is implausible when it is not at all given all that's been presented.

You are trying hard but sorry, the idea that Jesus did not exist is not implausible.