I would also like to know the real history of Christianity. What role was played by the real Jesus(es?) that existed, John the Baptist, Saul / Paul, the special three: Peter, James, and John, James "the brother of the Lord", the writers of the Gospels, Mary the mother, the sisters Mary and Martha, and the other women, the various Herod's, Pilate, the Jewish leaders, and others?

It's more important to me now than when I unskeptically accepted what I was told as a Mormon. I very much need to determine whether the atheist's arguments are valid because I discounted them as a Mormon, for good reasons I thought at the time. In reanalyzing the whole belief in God idea I've had to realize that I didn't think it through well enough.

Zindler in his article "How Jesus got a life" at

http://atheists.org/church/jesuslife.html

and in his articles gives an atheist historian's view on questions about the origin of Christianity.

I would appreciate it if people would show me where Zindler errs. To just say "Zindler is wrong, I and everyone else know." isn't good enough for me.