Notes:
Our earliest Christian writings come from the pen of the apostle Paul, who
wrote from around A.D. 48 to around A.D. 60. All recognized scholars and historians
support this fact.' They agree Paul was a historical figure, a contemporary of Jesus,
who, as a convinced rabbi, knew the early Christians well enough that he at first
sought their extinction. In the late thirties he converted to Christianity, became
a recognized Christian apostle, and finally was executed for his faith by Nero in
A.D. 66. There is no fact of early Christianity more historically verified and generally
accepted by foes and friends alike.
What is more, Paul's writings constitute the backbone of the New Testament.
Since the life and ministry of Paul overlaps the historical beginnings of the
Christian movement, he is the most historically dependable window into the
faith of the earliest disciples of Jesus.
What scholars, such as those from the Jesus Seminar, and storytellers, such
as Dan Brown, would have us believe is this: The "original Gnostic disciples“
believed in a mortal (non-deity) Jesus. These disciples wrote their "gospels"
portraying Jesus as a good man, a moral teacher, but not as divine.
But these disciples somehow lost control of "their" Jesus to a group who took
over (Brown uses the dramatic term