Superstition and credulity in antiquity
People back then were extremely superstitious. If I strolled into the town square and declared that a god had come to me in a vision the previous night and declared that a famine would sweep the land in 5 years, they'd all begin stockpiling food and provisions.
My famine prophecy example indeed recalls Acts 11:27–30, where Agabus predicts a famine by the Spirit ... exactly the kind of claim my scenario describes. Ancient people often trusted prophets, dreams, and omens. As Robert Garland (The Eye of the Beholder: Deformity and Disability in the Graeco-Roman World) and Robin Lane Fox (Pagans and Christians) both note, visions, portents, and divination were woven into daily life.
I hold a personal view that Paul -- who never saw Jesus except in visions -- began preaching in the 50's CE and gained a following. I believe that Mark wrote a back story (fan fiction?) which was picked up by Matthew, who corrected Mark's inaccuracies and geographical mistakes and quote mined the Old Testament, then Luke who expounded the story even further. Finally John decided to turn Jesus into the "Superman" of the era. When I examine how Paul's letters evolved against the backdrop of how the Gospels themselves evolved, this seems to my way of thinking to be a plausible explanation.
So my model - visions → literary backstory → successive elaboration - does fit a recognized scholarly trajectory. The only real dispute is how much history lies behind it. Some (e.g., G.A. Wells, Carrier) say “none.” Others (e.g., Ehrman, Sanders) say “a little, but overwhelmed by myth.”
We cannot ignore the influence of myth, superstition, previous writings (e.g. Homer), nor can we ignore the willingness of any religion to vociferously work to stamp out anything it regards as heretical along the way. Indeed, the ONLY knowledge we have of some religions, like Basilideans, Marconites, Valentinians, Sethians, Ebionites, Mithraism, etc comes from Christian polemics (e.g., Justin Martyr, Tertullian), who accused these of heresies ... although the Nag Hammadi texts have been found since 1947 among the Dead Sea Scrolls and we're learning what all the Christians hated in their communities.
Several PhD historians argue that he was a conglomeration of different roaming apocalyptic street preachers. My hypothesis (supported by several ancient historians and one that I'll argue in my book) is a developmental-literary model of Christian origins that many critical scholars (even if not full mythicists) have articulated to some degree.
Paul and visionary origins (ca. 50s CE)
Paul himself never mentions an earthly Jesus’ life, teachings, or miracles beyond crucifixion and resurrection. Scholars like Earl Doherty and Richard Carrier take this silence to mean Paul believed only in a celestial Christ revealed through visions. Even more cautious scholars (e.g., E.P. Sanders) admit Paul’s “historical Jesus” is very thin and largely irrelevant to his gospel.
Mark’s narrative innovation (ca. 70 CE)
Mark is widely recognized as the earliest Gospel. Scholars such as Burton Mack (A Myth of Innocence) argue that Mark constructed a passion narrative as a foundational myth for his community, shaped by scripture and theology more than memory. The idea of “fan fiction” is a modern analogy, but captures the notion of creative storytelling from sparse origins.
Matthew’s redaction (80s–90s CE)
Matthew corrects Mark’s geography (e.g., Nazareth and Bethlehem issues) and systematically links Jesus to Hebrew scripture. As you put it, “quote mining the Old Testament” is essentially midrashic rewriting—something Michael Goulder and others have argued, seeing Matthew as engaged in scriptural reinterpretation rather than reportage.
Luke’s expansion (late 1st century CE) Luke takes Mark and Matthew’s material but situates it in broader Roman history (censuses, governors, imperial decrees). Scholars note Luke’s emphasis on orderly narrative and historiographical style, though his “history” is more theology in literary dress (cf. Loveday Alexander).
John’s exaltation (ca. 90–110 CE)
John indeed turns Jesus into a cosmic Logos figure, closer to Hellenistic divine-man traditions (cf. Philo’s Logos). Scholars like Raymond Brown described John as a “theological gospel” rather than historical, and Bart Ehrman has even likened John’s Christ to a “superman” (as I've done on multiple occasions) relative to the Synoptics.
Yep. I've seen several memes on the Interwebs making claims about other mass shootings but some are and some are not transgender related. Here's what I've been able to verify:
All transgender or associated with a transgender (dating one, living with one, motivated by one, etc)
1. Shooter: Snochia Moseley, Aberdeen, MD, September 20, 2018.
2. Shooters: Alec McKinney and Devon Erickson, Highlands Ranch, CO, May 7, 2019.
3. Shooter: Audrey Hale, Nashville, TN, March 27, 2023.
4. Shooter: Robin Westman, Minneapolis, MN, August 27, 2025.
5. Shooter: Tyler Robinson assassination of Charlie Kirk, Orem, UT, September 10, 2025.
Ironic that when the Democrats and their willing accomplices in the media began allowing transgender activists to label spoken words as “physical violence,” the amount of REAL ACTUAL VIOLENCE escalated to the point of killing people.
