Most of Jesus's words in the Bible were ghostwritten, according to a stunning new report by a group of 77 biblical scholars, who call themselves the Jesus Seminar.
Jesus probably did not say about 80 per cent of the words attributed to Him in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the scholars say in a 575 page book. It's called The Give Gospels: What did Jesus Really Say?

According to the scholars:


Jesus never claimed to be the Messiah and did not predict the end of the world.

Jesus probably did share a symbolic last meal with His disciples just before His death. But Jesus's words in the Bible comparing Himself to the bread and wine that He passed around the table, probably were written by His followers.

The Lord's Prayer, which the Bible says Jesus composed, also was compiled by Christians after his death.

"The image that comes out of our work is not a Jesus who was an apocalyptic visionary as much as He was a social revolutionary. And that is a massive step in our understanding of Jesus," says John Dominic Crossan, a co-founder of the Jesus Seminar in 1985 and professor of biblical studies at DePaul University in Chicago.
The group expects some church goers to be shaken by its conclusions, said Robert Funk, Crossan's co-chair.

"I can't imagine anyone wanting to have in faith that cannot withstand the tests of historical fact," Funk said.

At seminar meetings, the scholars examined all four of the Bible's gospels as well as a fifth ancient document, the Gospel of Thomas, which was discovered in Egypt in 1945.

Jesus left no written texts and none of the original gospels have survived. Instead the scholars studied and compared hundreds of ancient copies of the gospels.

They counted some of the Jesus's sayings because the versions conflicted sharply from one document to another. Other sayings appeared to be well meaning additions by church leaders after the death of Jesus. Some were eliminated because they did not fit properly into the chronology of Jesus's life.

The new image of Jesus that emerges, Funk said, is of "an itinerant sage. He wandered around and had no permanent address as far as we can tell.

"He seems to have been a social radical and he had a good sense of humor. He seems to have said a lot of things with a twinkle in His eye, like telling people that they should not be concerned about the speck in their neighbor's eye when they've got a whole timber stuck in their own."
from http://www.dopejam.com/bop/STATS/jesus.htm

another quote
the link

Both of these sites are not Christian, and therefore, the information about Jesus is biased.

If they were christian sites the information would still be biased...

That's OK, though because if the information was from Christian sites no one would read it anyway.

But theres no proof that thier was jews over 40years in the dessert. I mean no ones found any jews in that area.

I read whatever links someone attaches in regards to what they are posting. It would be kinda stupid NOT to read them and then make a comment without knowing what they are talking about. The links may be biased towards that person's opinions, but that's why it's their opinion. At least they are citing something to back up why they feel that way. All opinions and beliefs come from what you hear, read and see. It's up to you what you take in as your personal truth.

sounds like a bit of a non starter imo
there is no gospel according to jesus in the bible so the idea that his words were ghost written is a long established fact
been that way for about 1500 years iirc
so this new report isnt as stunning as it thinks it is
maybe its designed for the die hard atheists to hold up to fundies and say aha
theyd do better to actually read it that way they'll know what they're talking about and exactly why the Bible is a story book

Jesus never existed....he's a character in a learning parable.

People have been looking for the historical Jesus since the 16th century.....the bits of his teaching and history that are unambiguously genuine. The startling conclusion is that there is not one single solid shred of historical evidence that Jesus actually existed. Herod is a proven historical figure, so is St. Paul, so is Pontius Pilate, but there is no independant Roman, Jewish, or Greek record of Jesus' existance. The same can be said for the virgin Mary, the 12 apostles, and Mary Magdalene.

The best bet is that the Jesus story was an attempt by Hellenized Alexandrian jews to merge Jewish religious tradition with Greek religious thought (i.e. the mystery religions which have several pre-Christian traditions such as the cruxifixion of a god-man, the eucharist, the resurrection etc.). So they combined the jewish messiah figure with the Greek myth of the resurrecting godman Dionysius. The non-hellenized Jews didn't buy it though, which was the intention of the authors, but in an historical accident the Gentiles (through the efforts of St. Paul) found it appealing. The real irony though, is that for the authors it was meant as a teaching myth....the fact that we must crucify our material selfish selves in order to be reborn as a spirtual person. This important and powerful myth has been short-circuited by the fact that the Jesus story has been mistakenly thought to be about real historical events. Thus we focus on the "facts" about the life and times of Jesus, but not on the moral lessons that were supposed to be drawn from the story.

I dissagree with you in some ways but, I agree with some others. There is evidence, Non-Christian, About the existence of Jesus. Letters and many other sources...

Good anwser!

Peoples interpretation of the bible often are dependent on their pre-existing social /cultural beliefs. The liberation theology of the 60's and 70's is a good example of this. The interpretation of jesus life outlined in the OP also seems to fit the same bill, and is very close to the ideas expressed in those theologies.

While it is very difficult to exclude ones pre-existing beliefs, the bible should be approached with an open mind and carefully analysed, using linguistics and the historical knowledge of those times.

At the same time it is necessary to have a good knowledge of the various biblical codes and prophecies when applying biblical studies. Jesus the man is an essential, but very small, part of jesus the message, or jesus the saviour.

Don't forget, he only spent about 30 years out of eternity, in his human aspect.

I think for the most part, I believe that Jesus isn't just one individual but a multitude of people who have been characterized as the same person because of there similar actions or beliefs. Thus a false profit proclaiming to be Jesus reincarnate would automatically be the sign and statement to all others that he or she is lying. For the concept would be is that to be Jesus would be the one who is declared by others to be most like the one that is recognized as Jesus.

Sort of like the various Superman characters through out the years in shows and movies. There all differant people but in their own time they were each considered to be the one and only that's faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound... Superman!

If you can understand the point I am trying to make and or at least try to.
So there for the person would exist... from a certain point of view.

Luke
Introduction
1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.

If Jesus never existed why did Luke take so much time and care to talk to eyewitnesses? Just because this happened so long ago dosen't mean that it isn't true. Paul was a Pharisee and his job was to kill Christians. He didn't believe that jesus was the son of God, but he knew he was a real peson. But then on the road to Damascus he was struck blind by a bright light, and shortly after started speading the word about Christ and how he was saved.

From killing Christians to becoming one. We have no evidence that this isn't true so we have to say this is the truth.

If you have read any of Pauls letters he is a true believer and the most educated out of all the apostles. So what would any of these men at this time get out of lying. Or making up stories? Even under torture and death they wouldn't change thier story. Could they all have been brainwashed I don't think so. There is nothing written from that time period that contradicts Jesus miracles or that he existed. If this was all a myth it would have died with the man that didn't exsist.

99% of what it written about Christ is in the Bible and you can believe it or not, that is your choice. But if you had the interest to spend a few years doing a real study on Jesus you would find the truth and you would understand.