Hello Garymazeffa, thanks for taking the time to respond.
You said:
"That's not the case. Sorry. A tip-off is the writings of Paul, created in the 50s CE. They don't provide detailed information on Jesus's life at all, just the developing philosophy/religion."
On the contrary, my friend!
Paul is certainly familiar with the life of Jesus. He refers to Jesus' life and teaching constantly -- but he doesn't stop to tell the stories.
This indicates that both Paul and his audience are familiar with the life of Jesus, such that he doesn't need to rehash the things they already know.
A prominent example is Paul's reference in 1 Corinthians 15 to the Scriptures that say Jesus will be buried for three days and rise again.
There is no Old Testament prophecy that says Messiah will be buried for three days.
The only one who makes that prophecy is Jesus, who says it directly in Matthew and Mark.
Paul appeals to Jesus' own prophecy of how long He'll be buried and calls it Scripture. He doesn't stop to retell the story or even say where it was taken from -- he trusts that his audience already knows it.
Irenaeus even records that Luke wrote down the Gospel that Paul preached. Far from being ignorant of the life of Jesus, Paul's selection of stories formed the basis for the third Gospel.
You said:
"The four Gospels built on this and fleshed out Jesus. Major divisions between being saved by faith alone and staying with Jewish beliefs created a division within the developing Christian camp. There is nothing new when it comes to religion—it is still dividing."
It'd be hard for Paul to quote from Gospels that didn't exist, my friend.
Yet Paul refers to Jesus' prophecy in Matthew and Mark in 1 Corinthians and calls it Scripture -- something written.
You said:
"The Gospels were written after the fall of the Jewish temple and provided validity by prophesying the destruction."
Again, there's no evidence of such a thing.
Multiple, independent ancient historians record that Mathew, Mark, and Luke all wrote long before the Temple's destruction.
