Can I be a Christian if I respect the historical Jesus but not the Gospel claims?
Read Dave’s answer
Answer 1
No, it’s not fair, because saying that you “respect the historical Jesus” implies that a Christian who would dispute your views about “the historical Jesus” does NOT respect the historical Jesus.
That is an insult to the beliefs of the Christian, which beliefs can arguably be supported with at least as much evidence, probably far more, as your beliefs are.
For example, I would argue that Jesus did NOT believe that he was going to free the Jews from the yoke of Rome. There is no documentary (i.e. Biblical) support for such a notion, but much support for the idea that he was a spiritual and not a temporal Savior. Yes, Rome executed him as a criminal, but that does not mean he failed. Instead, it means that he was willing to honor the will of His Father and endure unimaginable injustice in order to fulfill the infinite Atonement required by the sins of all mankind.
The historical Jesus - the Jesus of the Gospels, since the Gospels constitute unprecedented historical evidence for the life of Jesus and what he taught and said - knew that he was the Son of God and thus divine & that his mission was indeed to fulfill the will of his Father and die that might rise again and that all mankind might live.