It's a weird feeling when you discover that someone is quoting you. In this particular case, someone known only as 'Vinnie' posted a copy of a newsgroup message I wrote about a year ago at http://www.iidb.org/vbb/archive/index.php/t-79598.html:

Stipulating (but not necessarily conceding) that the gospels are notbasically historical, the crucifixion is unlikely to be fabricated. The problem is this - Jesus is described as Christ from the beginning of the Christian movement. The Christ - or Messiah - was in Jewish expectation the king of Judah who would finally overcome foreign overlordship and restore the people of YHWH to their rightful place of glory.

Crucifixion at the hands of the Romans would present a prima facie case that Jesus was *not* the Messiah. It seems grossly improbable to suppose that any Christian would have made it up.

The guy actually calls me a scholar! Anyway, the message he refers to can be found at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/crosstalk2/message/15248".