How was the legend of “Jesus Christ” born?
Nothing in history can be proven the way we can prove something in a laboratory. Some scholars say the gospels were written so far after the events that legend developed and distorted what was finally written down, turning Jesus from merely a wise teacher into the mythological Son of God. Is that a reasonable hypothesis, or is there good evidence that the gospels were recorded earlier than that, before legend could totally corrupt what was ultimately recorded? There are two separate issues here, and it is important to keep the separate. I do think there’s good evidence for suggesting early dates for the writing of the gospels. But even if there wasn’t, your argument crumbles. Why? The standard scholarly dating, even in very liberal circles, is Mark in the 70s, Matthew in the 80s, John in the 90s. But listen: That’s still within the lifetimes of various eyewitnesses of the life of Jesus, including hostile eyewitnesses who would have served as a corrective if false teachings about Jesus
