Liberal Christian views

• the gospels were products of several decades of thinking about the significance of Jesus' life and teaching
• Jesus' teaching and the stories associated with him had been passed down by word of mouth and would have been altered and even exaggerated in the telling. this process can be seen in the gospels themselves, e.g. in the differing accounts of the calming of them storm that are found in the first three gospels
• the influence of greek philosophy and mystery religions led to the human Jesus being transformed into a divine figure. this is reinforced by the outlook of modern science, which rejects the possibility of miracles
• in conclusion, Jesus, then, was a human being like all other humans, though his deeply spiritual nature gave his teaching authority