In truth, it is negligible whether Jesus truly existed or not. Information about Jesus is vague at best. Most of the official gospels are collections of pre-existing legends (some had been around for centuries). We don't know his name, his birth date, his resting place. The historical documents of the time mention many Jewish figures, but they hardly mention a "Jesus". Skeptics have a point in doubting that Jesus existed at all. Ironically, stronger evidence of Jesus' existence comes from two gospels that the Roman empire decided to outlaw: the gospel of Thomas (that collects original sayings, not attributable to anybody before Jesus) and the gospel of Peter (that has the most detailed description of the passion and resurrection). There were countless prophets, magicians and revolutionaries in the age of Jesus. Rome was occupying Palestine and the Jews were waiting for the Messiah that would restore their freedom and deliver them the world. The legend of Jesus, as well as an earlier Judah, as well as John the Baptist, fits well in that era. Whether Jesus really existed or not, James did exist, Peter did exist and Paul did exist. James led the "Christian" movement in Palestine. Peter went to Rome and started the genealogy of the "popes". Paul invented the "Christian" ideology as we know it. In Palestine, the early Christians were probably involved in the three Jewish wars, the first of which started just one generation after the crucifixion of Jesus and a few years after the stoning of James. Through those wars, that ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the ban of Jews from it, it became apparent that Jesus and all the other self-appointed prophets of the time were not the messiah capable of releasing the Jews from Roman slavery. No wonder that Jews did not recognize Jesus as the messiah. When Costantinus converted to Christianity, Rome became the center of power also for Christianity and any challenging center was wiped out. The history of Christianity was changed so as to start in Rome with Peter. James was erased from the records. James' descendants (and therefore Jesus' descendants) in Palestine, the so called "disposyni", were dispersed and persecuted.

Eventually the Roman empire forced "its" version of Christianity on the whole world. The disposiny migrated south, the only place where they could avoid the persecution, and eventually settled in Arabia. Centuries later, their culture would originate Islam, and one of Islam's tenets would be that "evil people changed the books". If Jesus truly existed, most likely he was the last of the Maccabeans and therefore claiming the Jewish throne for himself, but he was an "odd" character, that most Jews scorned instead of worshiping. He convinced a few of them that he was the one meant to lead the Jewish people, the messiah predicted by the Bible, but most Jews would not believe that such an odd character could be the messiah. The Romans were not worried by his claim precisely because he was the object of scorn by his own people. When he began causing serious trouble, the Romans did what they did to all the dissidents: they crucified him. If the gospel of Thomas is true, then Jesus truly was a philosopher, and his words must have certainly impressed the few who listened to him. Then Paul would be the interpreter who translated those words for the masses and gave them the universal meaning that today we call the "Christian spirit". Today's Christianity is, inevitably, the Christianity that the Roman empire chose. Every Christian in the world worships what the Roman empire decided s/he should worship. In a sense, every Christian betrays the disposyni and possibly Jesus himself by accepting the dogma of the ones who killed Jesus and persecuted his descendants. Christianity therefore got a first twist when the Roman empire embraced it. Christianity is getting a second twist now that the American empire has embraced it. Just like Rome bestowed on Christianity the meaning that best served its interests, so America is bestowing on Christianity the meaning that best serves its interests. For example, greed is suddenly good, although the Gospels clearly state that criminals are more likely to enter Paradise than a rich man. The death penalty is good, even if the Gospels clearly preach forgiveness. Sooner or later, Americans will edit the Gospels the same way the Romans did and produce a new set of (self-serving) holy books. And Jesus will have been crucified one more time.