[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by photon

I meant those are the things we THINK he taught through the writings we have today, but there's hardly anything from Jesus' time. Despite the supposed uproar he caused among the Jewish leaders, writings from that time are mostly silent about him.

I think that this is probably because the "uproar" in Jesus lifetime was somewhat muted. I had mentioned previously that I believed that the account of the triumphal entry was an idealized representation of a badly botched "coupe". A coupe in the sense that Jesus was causing problems for the reigning Temple priests, and he and his band of followers entered the Temple Mount with the intention of causing at least a scene. I furthermore believe that this was likely the catalyst in the desire on the part of the priests and Pharisees to have Jesus executed. Obviously, the event must have met with some very poor results, as Jewish historians are all silent about it. This is the sort of exaggeration that the Gospel writers suppied to Jesus life. Moments of minor significance nationally were blown extremely out of proportion in an effort to make Jesus a character who was larger than life.

Originally Posted by photon

I'm just asking do we really know what Jesus did teach, because while some Christians in the early church believed in Do unto others, other Christians believed in 3 gods, or 30 gods, or Jesus wasn't human, or Jesus was only human, or any number of other things.. And these beliefs came from writings by people who claimed to have known Jesus, just as the writings that make up the canon do.

The problem with placing many of the same Gnostic writings on the same plane of credibility as the canonical gospels is that they simply (outside of a few notable exceptions in the Secret Sayings of Thomas Didimus) do not meet the same criteria. The earliest of the Apostolic Fathers, Irenaeus, Clement, Tertullian, and Justin Martyr all allude to a great deal of stability regarding the teachings of the Church. The vast majority of scholars are in agreement here: that the Gnostics were on the fringe of the Christian movement, and that they did not survive much past the third century attests to this.

No, we do not know "really" what Jesus taught, but we do have a pretty good idea. I think that if you polled all the experts they would likely agree wholeheartedly to the following: that Jesus taught of the coming arrival of the "Kingdom of God". His understanding of this event was of a time when his oppressors and opponents would suffer "judgement", while his followers and those whom the Temple establishment and the ruling classes oppressed would receive "justice". I have no doubt that much of what he taught could be classified as dualistic and apocalyptic, but that the above sentence permeated the majority of his sayings and deeds.

Originally Posted by photon

We do know that some portions of the existing canon were added as time went on perhaps to combat other writings and beliefs the majority (or the scribe) thought to be heretical. The story where the pharasies bringing the adulteress to Jesus and he tells them that whoever has no sin can cast the first stone for example was added long after John was written, for what purpose who knows. And that's a pretty key phrase and point of doctrine for Christians.

The reason it was added and the reason it remained for so long was because it fit very well with the prevailing presentation of the rest of the Jesus narratives. This is what Scot McKnight has to say about the pericope in John:

"Although most scholars regard the passage as an addition to the text of the Fourth Gospel, the story of the woman caught in adultery and then forgiven by Jesus did and is consistent with his association with prostitutes (Matt 21:28–32). Jesus position on divorce shows mercy toward women (Mark 10:1–12; Matt 5:31–32). His treatment of women, though not explicitly prescribed for his followers, is a natural effect of what he thought about God, about the advent of the Kingdom, and about the new community he was establishing for Israel."

Scot McKnight, A New Vision for Israel: The Teachings of Jesus in National Context (Grand Rapids, Mich.; Cambridge, Mass.: Eerdmans, 1999) 222.