Made-Up Jesus

I wanted to get this down on the blog while it's still fresh in my mind.

Jesus was someone who couldn't have been invented. If I were a Jewish man living in the first century, and if I wanted to invent a Messiah, it certainly wouldn't have looked like Jesus. I would have invented someone who kicked some Roman butt and told fabulously glorious militaristic stories on just how he accomplished it. I would have never made-up a story about Messiah getting crucified. Messiahs don't get crucified, period. They would die of natural causes, just like everyone else-- the way of all the earth.

This gives Jesus, as he's presented in the Gospels, a true ring of authenticity.