Anonymous wrote:Mmm. I think that Jesus considered himself Jewish. It’s the later followers, especially Paul, who invented the religion that we call “Christianity.”
+1
Here's a great book on it. I put some of the snippets below to explain better than I ever could.
https://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Apocalyptic-Prophet-New-Millennium/dp/019512474X
"Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet -- meaning that the core of his teachings was that the world as his generation knew it would soon come to an end and a new age (the Kingdom of God) would be ushered in by what Ehrman calls a "cosmic judge" known as the Son of Man. "
In his view, Jesus was not the Son of Man but he was ushering in the Son of Man.
Basically, Dr. Erhman points out that Jesus was not only a teacher but was convinced like many apocalyptic prophets that "the end is nigh". Therefore his teachings were aimed at what one must do to be "saved" when the end comes at an early date. Paul was similarly convinced but he and the rest of Christendom found it convenient to change the page when the end didn't come when prophesied. There was then a shift of meaning: the teachings, often unrealistic, were changed to be what life should be based on and consequently influenced the development of Western Civilization until this day.