What I find amazing is the way in which people from both sides of this debate (Jesus: Real or Not?) get so worked up emotionally at either trying to prove that Jesus existed and was the Son of God or whether He either never existed or was one of many minor players in history.
Jar writes:
...even if the stories are nothing more than tales told round the campfire, the lessons and message contained in them are still valid.
I cannot disagree with you there.
My question would be whether the whole idea of God communing with humanity originated from God directly influencing humanity or whether the idea originated from within humanity itself.
How would we know, in any case? One thing that amazes me about the "stories" is the fact that they speak to humanity. The issue of whether Jesus was divine while on earth or human while on earth is irrelevant.