Final Note: Mythical Elements Were Indeed Added

There is little doubt that when the early church told their stories about Jesus they threw in some mythical elements, most notably the virgin birth story, but probably some others as well. How many I cannot say exactly. My argument is that there was a person named Jesus who was at the core of these expanding stories. He was a doomsday prophet and nothing more. The church came to believe he was the one predicted to return because of non-veridical visions, not his resurrection. Such a doomsday prophetic figure like Jesus makes the most sense when it comes to who started the Jesus cult. Jesus himself did.