Remember when they laughed about Wikipedia? I can assure you the sections on Christianity are well-researched and edited, and abound with links to primary sources, making the trails so much easier to navigate.
You might as well call the Internet the Jesus Channel because it’s so packed with documentation and debate concerning every possible nook and cranny. Except one. That one dark hole in the center of the Jesus story.
Meet James the Just, first Bishop of Jerusalem, (above) which makes him the first Pope in Christendom. Wonder why almost nobody heard of him or celebrates his name? There’s a reason for that, and it’s because he led the movement that was sweeping through the Jewish ghetto in Jerusalem. James didn’t eat meat, drink alcohol, cut his hair, respect Roman authority.
But he did respect Jewish authority, for James and his congregation all had to be circumcised in order to get baptized, as they considered themselves a Hebrew sect and not a completely separate religion.
Any sick among the new inductees would have been treated with their holy anointing oil, whose primary ingredient was cannabis, which was having a miraculous success rate. James was a conservative who respected the ancient ways of Moses and the prophets, and rejected the materialism of Rome. He was leading a non-violent movement, family friendly, and not a bunch of gangsters plotting a government coup. I don’t believe James and his crew were getting high on cannabis, at least not on a daily basis, but I could be wrong.
Paul was a relative of King Herod, a Roman citizen, and he led a goon squad on a mission to wipe Christianity off the face of the earth. Despite the oppression, or maybe because of it, the First Christian Church of Jerusalem took off like a rocket.
Paul conspired with Peter to seize control of the church from within, and they do this through the Council in Jerusalem in the year 50. In the New Testament version of this epic meeting, Peter submits a proposal saying gentiles do not need to be circumcised to be baptized and James accepts idea and makes it dogma, thereby dividing Christianity and Judaism into two separate religions.
I would submit to you it is far more likely that the vegetarian James, who likely had hair past his waist as a razor had never touched his head, rejected this proposal and kept his church firmly within the realms of Judaism. Meanwhile, Peter had to be put in protective custody because everyone was so outraged by this proposal. Fortunately, Peter is rescued by an angel and whisked off to Rome, and anytime a magic story like that appears, I suspect some real story is being covered-up.
Paul had a vision of meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus, was blinded and then healed by a Christian and converted. But soon he had to flee to Rome, because nobody in Jerusalem believed this conversion.
Paul eventually met up with the incredibly talented Luke, who will write a third of the New Testament in highly literate Greek, while blending Egyptian and Greek art styles into the first Christian art movement. The bulk of the rest of the New Testament are letters written by Paul discussing various aspects of church dogma.
Soon after his Judgment in Jerusalem, James was lured to a parapet under guise of speaking to the multitudes and then pushed off, stoned and battered with a bat used to beat-out dirty laundry, sparking some of the worst riots the city has ever seen. When the population cannot be brought back under control, the Romans were forced to destroy the Temple and banish all Jews from Judea.
Think about it. Jesus crucified, no big deal, and no riots. James murdered, tear down the Temple and make the Jews homeless. The only way this makes sense is if Jesus never lived and was given human form 50 years after the fact.