They think, “Jesus was cool. I like him, and I’m gonna try to be like him.” Kind of like their guiding light is what would Jesus do? But there isn’t a focus on identification, recruiting others, judging others based on their religion, fear of God, fear of punishment for sinning, respect for clergy as an authority, rituals, worship, etc. Basically, just the example of Jesus’ life.
inb4: Christian lol!! got em!
The Gospel of John is the last one written, much later than the others and is full of things that are suspicious. Almost as if it was specifically written to direct a nascent cult into the direction it wanted them to go and not particularly inspired by any actual events.
oh interesting, TIL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gospel_of_John#Historical_reliability
Thanks! I’ll have to read the book of Mark and see how it compares (esp. I wonder if the events depicted in John 6 occur in the book of Mark).