Hi,
KingsXfan:
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That is confusing to me because even Neitzche believed he existed, and
even went on to say he respected him (unlike Paul of Tarsus).
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What Neitzche believed has no bearing on the truth. I also respect some of the thing Jesus is said to have done (there are numerous exceptions), and even Paul had *some* good ideas; his statement in II Corinthians 3:6 ("The Law brings death, but the Spirit brings life.", CEV) is amoung them. Nevertheless, I have much more respect for Jesus than Paul.
Irregardless, the *existence* of Jesus and Paul is not proved by the fact that people assign words and actions to them... every fictional character ever invented is proof of that!
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Maybe if I "met" the other saviors, I'd realize it was all the same
thing (shrug).
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Well, that's easy enough to arrange... there are numerous books on all of them. I recommend reading a Mahayana version of the Buddha's story (less accurate historically, but much better story telling); just about any telling of the rise of The Prophet (Muhammad) -- that's a great tale!; and many of the Greek legends are quite entertaining. If you're looking for stories similar to that of Jesus's, try Isis (egyptian), or Mythras (roman), or Krishna (hindu). All three are dying and rising god's.
One of my reading books over christmas this year was Joseph Campbell's "The Hero with a Thousand Names", which I didn't finishing reading, but which goes into great detail describing the similarities of almost all religious tales. I suspect this reveals something about the structure of the human mind.
ERiC