Atheists: As a poll, how many of you believe...?

I think it began with people inspired by the story many decades/centuries later. The idea of an organized religion didn't really begin until they realized he wasn't coming back in their lifetime, which is when Paul started organizing the disparate groups through his letters.

I can't say I believe it because there are no contemporary writings about the jesus character. But I don't reject the notion that a man named jesus lived in that particular place at that particular time. Christianity was just another rip off of every other religion and mythology before it. It really didn't have anything to do with anyone named jesus at the time.

No, this particular brand of craziness started with Saul aka Saint Paul.

He's the one who started teaching the Gentiles and created these modern "Christians"

Jesus preached to the Jewish people about how to be a better Jew, not how to become a "Christian"

All that stuff about using him to get to god was to say he would teach them how to serve god with a willing heart,.

No, this is all on Paul. He was a bad, bad man.

I think that's likely to be how it began, but I have no firm opinion. Also, if the biblical figure of Jesus was based on a real person, we know nothing of any significance about him.

I'm curious: How do you determine who is a "serious scholar"? Is that one who does believe Christianity started that way?

Not specifically named Jesus, but I imagine there was a guy on whom the Jesus character was loosely based.

"are you aware that no serious scholars share your view?" - That is a flat out lie. There are plenty of serious scholars that will tell you without hesitation that there is no historical proof that the Bible Jesus actually existed. Because there isn't any.

Christianity came about like most religions - as a means to control a large undereducated population through fear. This is why society as a whole is less religious now....we are far more educated.

Update 2: Again for those of you do not believe this, are you aware that no serious scholars share your view?

and yet NOT ONE SINGLE Believer can show that the biblical jesus even existed..Not one of your scholars can either..

Not actually Valid reliable evidence to support their claim,,is it..

I believe the religion began with the Jesus stories, yes.

I don't do "belief."

While there may have been an actual "Jesus" person (though not divine or any "son of god" thing), there's really no evidence to show there was -- so I see no reason to "believe" there was such a person. If there was, the "gospel" stories tell us nothing about that real person, because they're so full of invented myth and magic and other nonsense, so if there was such a person we know nothing about him at all.

The origin of Christianity as a later invention of myth and ritual without there being an actual "Jesus" person is at least as plausible, if not more so, than it starting from an actual person. It would be easier to do some real historical research on the subject if later christians hadn't burned or destroyed anything that didn't fit their decided-upon "orthodox" myths beginning in about the 4th century CE.

edit: "Remember that it did not exist in AD 1, and did exist by AD 60."

Mithraism did not exist in 30 BCE. By 50 CE, there were at least 600 Mithraea in Rome alone, thousands beyond that. Do you think that means that Mithras was a real person? Of course it doesn't. Same goes for your "jesus" character.

"Again for those of you do not believe this, are you aware that no serious scholars share your view?"

That's a false statement. There are hundreds of "serious scholars" who agree that evidence can't tell us if there was an actual "Jesus," or anything about such a person if he existed. And if you ask the vast majority of those who DO think there was an actual "Jesus," they'll tell you they "believe" there was -- most won't say anything like, "Oh, absolutely, it's an established fact."

I believe that the obviously fictional character of Jesus was most likely based on a real man. The problem is, the Romans crucified hundreds of people who claimed to be the next prophet, and the man christ was based on could've been any one of them.

The biggest evidence for his nonexistence is the lack of a childhood.

There is no evidence to show that such a person actually existed.