Lack of agreement in these projections among scholars emphasizes the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of academic agreement. To the average layperson, unable to follow the linguistic polemics, the academic disputes contribute only to buttress their doubts about the validity of the Christian faith.
Common sense follows a simpler scenario which the average layperson can follow.
Common sense recognizes that explaining the figure of Jesus affords only a few alternatives. The New Testament record of Jesus is true and unembellished. The New Testament record of Jesus is partly true and partly embellished. Each of these possibilities requires a reasonable explanation. First, if the New Testament record of Jesus is valid and accurate, then common sense must admit that such men as the gospel writers could have written what they saw and heard.