Bruno Bauer, a biblical student and professor at a Berlin University, openly wrote in 1840 that Jesus was a creation of several Roman aristocrats. Ernest Renan, a former Jesuit student, put forth the same view in his book The Life of Jesus. Meanwhile, others who have studied and researched the Jesus story emphatically disavow the historical reality of the biblical Jesus. - Dr. Wally F. Dean [ more quotes ] "The Mania of Religion", p. 119 1995