Nick:

Why does everybody seem to read the Bible as either literally true or entirely false? Does nobody else think Jesus was an extraordinary man whose life was mythologised by people trying to spread his valuable message?

My answer:

I take the Bible to be words of God and Jesus to be God the Son second in the Trinity but there are some people with those beliefs which you state Thomas Jefferson had that belief ,he wrote what is known as the Jefferson Bible by cutting out the miracles from the life of Jesus in the Gospels . He call this book Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth

From his introduction

(““I, too, have made a wee-little book from the same materials (The Gospels) which I call the Philosophy of Jesus. It is a pardigma of his doctrines, made by cutting the texts out of the book and arranging them on the pages of a blank book, in a certain order of time or subject. A more beautiful or precious morsel of ethics I have never seen. It is a document in proof that I am a REAL CHRISTIAN, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus, very different from the Platonists who call ME infidel and THEMSELVES Christians and preachers of the Gospel, while they draw all their characteristic dogmas from what its author never said nor saw. They have compounded from the heathen mysteries a system beyond the comprehension of man, of which the great reformer of the vicious ethics and deism of the Jews, were he to return to earth, would not recognize one feature.

-Jefferson to Mr. Charles Thompson.””)

He end's his book with the burial of Jesus

But what evidence do you or Jefferson or anyone has that Jesus was not the Son of God , that the miracles in the Bible didn't happen. Even in the Talmud Jesus is spoken as someone who did things out of the ordinary . It calls him a sorcerer.

Tractate Sanhedrin Daf 43a

(“AND A HERALD PRECEDES HIM etc. This implies, only immediately before [the execution], but not previous thereto. [In contradiction to this] it was taught: On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, 'He is going forth to be stoned because he has practised sorcery and enticed Israel to apostacy. Any one who can say anything in his favour, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.' But since nothing was brought forward in his favour he was hanged on the eve of the Passover.”)

We also see in the earliest copy of Josephus Who was born around 30 AD and in 100AD, whose parents might of seen the miracles of Jesus, he states about Jesus

Antiquities.18.3.3 (“ (63) Now, there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works--a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was [THE] Christ; (64) and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him, for he appeared to them alive again the third day, as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him; and the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day.”)

And for something to be mythologised about Jesus it would be very difficult in such a short span which the New Testament was written for there would of been many people who was alive during Jesus and Apostles life span that could of testified against it.

Nick:
Thank you very much for that. I’ve actually been thinking, surely I’m not the first person to head down this path? I’m stunned to see Jefferson was among them (though I’ve taken quite an irrational dislike to him since Hamilton).

On Josephus, it’s likely he never mentioned Jesus at all. I forget all the details, but I’ve been well-convinced by scholars his section on Jesus was added later.

My response:

The only reason why some scholars believe it was added because the early church fathers qouted Josephus as a source but the earliest manuscripts of Josephus states the phrase I qouted on him. Josephus else where mentions James The brother of Jesus being killed and states he was the brother of Christ.

Antiquities.20.9.1 (“ (200) when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper opportunity [TO EXERCISE HIS AUTHORITY]. Festus was now dead, and Albinus was but upon the road; so he assembled the sanhedrin of judges, and brought before them the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James, and some others, [OR, SOME OF HIS COMPANIONS]; and when he had formed an accusation against them as breakers of the law, he delivered them to be stoned;”)

So in the way he mentioned James shows that before hand he had mentioned Jesus previously and spoke about him as to mention James as Jesus brother..

Nick :

Yes, that makes perfect sense. Also, I take back what I said. There is the undisputed mention in context of James.