The Liturgy of St. James called him "the brother of God". It uses a specific syntactical construction to identify James by his kin, (God). That's some family.
You hit the nail on the head, this is key to Jesus being historical. It's imperative that 'brother of the Lord' be understood to mean that James was literally a blood sibling and that Josephus' shorter reference be understood to be reliable without question.
He was listed as a church Father, and his writings are the earliest so anything is possible. I wouldn't say he founded Christianity but he may have developed the philosophical and theological foundations of Christianity. If Paul wasn't the founder he certainly was a chief architect. Now that...
"The church preserved the Philonic writings because Eusebius of Caesarea labeled the monastic ascetic group of Therapeutae and Therapeutrides, described in Philo’s The Contemplative Life, as Christians, which is highly unlikely. Eusebius also promoted the legend that Philo met...
You describe an unheard of Jesus and ask me for evidence?
:facepalm:
Maybe you might want to read up a little on Jerusalem, about what happened to it and its inhabitants in 70CE, and as it existed through the ages including its present day location.
He's simply not the Jesus character we read about, he's unheard of.
The author of Mark is writing of a failed Pauline tradition, Jerusalem lay in ruins, it's about destruction and despair, and a loss of faith. It ends with the tomb empty, and the women are afraid and tell no one.
Judging by the biblical account, how could anyone miss it? You say he didn't matter, was a mere peasant which is to ignore his regal entrance into the walled city along with everything written of him. Did this very well known Jesus exist or not? You keep on about another Jesus as if you want to...
What Jesus are you referring to? The biblical Jesus drew huge crowds where ever he went, made a victorious entrance into Jerusalem and drew the attention of the religious authorities, had a high profile trial, was executed and his body placed in a tomb owned by a man with connections and wealth.
Philo wrote about Pilate and the conflicts between the Jews and Roman government in Jerusalem. Philo was in Jerusalem at or about the very time of the supposed execution of this biblical Jesus, but failed to notice.
In that case, we have no idea who founded Christianity, but:
Philos primary importance is in the development of the philosophical and theological foundations of Christianity. Philo of Alexandria [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
The probability of Socrates existing rather than being an invention of Plato stands or fails on the assessment of the information available, the same for a Jesus of the gospels or a Christ figure from the epistles.