Origins of Christianity and the New Testament

"The phrase, "the Quest for the Historical Jesus" has become popular through hundreds of new books. If you subscribe to cable you will find documentaries on History, Discovery, Smithsonian, and National Geographic Channels. New archaeological discoveries often make headlines (especially those in the Galilee), and "deconstructionist histories" are often designed to shock. For many lay Christians, a new fascination with the study of Jesus is confusing. We have the gospels, the letters of Paul and the rest of the New Testament that told the story. And these stories are re-enacted in the liturgy at Christmas and Easter. Priests and ministers are trained in Seminaries to elucidate the "meaning" of the texts, updating them for modern Christians. Why does any of this need "revision?" And what is meant by "the historical Jesus?" Is he different from the Jesus of the New Testament? The simple answer is "yes," if we mean that the Jesus who was an apocalyptic prophet in the first century is different from the "Christ" of the churches (divine) and eventually the second member of "The Trinity," co-equal with god (325 CE). Centuries of later Christian theology and traditions are constantly read back into the gospels where they are historically out of place. For example, Jesus was not the founder of Christianity; all our evidence demonstrates that he (and his early followers) were not interested in starting a new religion. Jesus was not "the first Christian.""--