In the Gospels, it’s not conflation, but deliberate emulation. For example, it’s already in mainstream literature that Mark appears to have modeled the crucifixion narrative on the story of Jesus ben Ananias who died in the 60s during the siege of Jerusalem. (I discuss this and cite the literature in OHJ.)

And many sayings of Jesus actually originated as sayings of apostles, like Paul. They were then simply repackaged and rewritten as sayings of Jesus.

I have not seen any evidence of accidental conflation. When things get “layered on” to Jesus, it always looks deliberate.

LOL

Did you ever address the problem of why Luke goes out of the way to ensure and explain that Jesus was born in Bethlehem even while stating Joseph was an inhabitant of Nazareth? Wouldn’t it have been easier just to say Jesus was a native of Bethlehem if Jesus was initially only a spiritual/heavenly figure who only gradually gained the attributes of an individual in history?

Question #2 Or can Luke be considered reliable enough to have preserved a real even in his story of Stephen’s martyrdom…implying the possibility memories of Stephen provided a model for the Passion story?

Question #3 As I understand it “Stephen” means “crown,” especially one for a victor. Yet, given the prominence of Stephen the crown, James and John the pillars and Peter the rock, which collectively an image of a doorway into the celestial temple [sorry, no, not a DS9 shout out] recalling Hebrews, can Stephen be read as a tradition of Jesus by another name, prior to elevation to the Godhead? In other words, Stephen’s martyrdom and the Passion are yet another doublet?

Question #4 Doesn’t the presence of “Herod” as well as Pontius Pilate imply that the first followers of the Way did not know who crucified Jesus, rendering all theories of origins of Christianity in a resurrection experience absurdities?

Question # 5 Or does the presence of Herod simply imply a syncretic effort to identify “Jesus” with John the Baptist?

Question #6 In general, do some of the refractory elements in the gospels, the ones that can’t be traced to scriptural precedents claimed as history, fit an effort to identify the Jesus who is expected to return with every serious claimant as political messiah in recent memory? (Not just John the Baptist, but Judas the Galilean, and even the Egyptian?)

Question #7 Can Paul’s marks be interpreted as tattoos, rather than crucifixion stigmata, which imply an Egyptian influence?

Question #8 Is it probable that an essential use of the early Gospels was in public readings to a largely illiterate audience?

Question #9 If so, then is it likely the abrupt ending of Mark introduced purely oral esoteric teaching, as revealed by Jesus to the naked young man? (Who was presumably to be identified with the reader/author of a suitable age for a first advent in Pilate’s era)

Question #10 Is the beloved disciple story possibly incorporated as bona fides, so to speak, for esoteric teaching by a man claiming to be the beloved disciple. after similar public reading of that Gospel?

Question #11 Is the rather abrupt end of Acts, which is very unlikely to have been written before Paul’s ultimate fate was determined, suggestive that no one really knew what happened to him? (As might be expected if Paul bribed his judges, then fled..or absconded. Or if he simply recanted.)

Question #12 Is it possible that the Simon Magus character was a fictional scapegoat for sayings or actions attributed to Simon Peter by hostile critics within the broader movement?

Question #13 Is it possible that the Gospel of Thomas (or Q if it existed) Is more or less the equivalent of an anthology of anecdotes designed for amateur speakers, with no sectarian commitment?

Question #14 Is it possible that Revelations is a revised non-Christian apocalypse adapted for polemic use by the addition of the seven churches material?

Question #15 Can the focus on the Temple attributed to Jesus reflect traditions of an historical person in the now lost (and likely misrepresented) Sadducee tradition, or is it more likely an expression of messianic movements after the Jewish War or leading to Bar Kokhba’s revolt?

I hope that you get a chance to see these, as I think they are interesting questions.

Question #2 Or can Luke be considered reliable enough to have preserved a real even in his story of Stephen’s martyrdom…implying the possibility memories of Stephen provided a model for the Passion story?

Question #3 As I understand it “Stephen” means “crown,” especially one for a victor. Yet, given the prominence of Stephen the crown, James and John the pillars and Peter the rock, which collectively an image of a doorway into the celestial temple [sorry, no, not a DS9 shout out] recalling Hebrews, can Stephen be read as a tradition of Jesus by another name, prior to elevation to the Godhead? In other words, Stephen’s martyrdom and the Passion are yet another doublet?

Question #4 Doesn’t the presence of “Herod” as well as Pontius Pilate imply that the first followers of the Way did not know who crucified Jesus, rendering all theories of origins of Christianity in a resurrection experience absurdities?

Question # 5 Or does the presence of Herod simply imply a syncretic effort to identify “Jesus” with John the Baptist?

Question #6 In general, do some of the refractory elements in the gospels, the ones that can’t be traced to scriptural precedents claimed as history, fit an effort to identify the Jesus who is expected to return with every serious claimant as political messiah in recent memory? (Not just John the Baptist, but Judas the Galilean, and even the Egyptian?)

Question #7 Can Paul’s marks be interpreted as tattoos, rather than crucifixion stigmata, which imply an Egyptian influence?

Question #8 Is it probable that an essential use of the early Gospels was in public readings to a largely illiterate audience?

Question #9 If so, then is it likely the abrupt ending of Mark introduced purely oral esoteric teaching, as revealed by Jesus to the naked young man? (Who was presumably to be identified with the reader/author of a suitable age for a first advent in Pilate’s era)

Question #10 Is the beloved disciple story possibly incorporated as bona fides, so to speak, for esoteric teaching by a man claiming to be the beloved disciple. after similar public reading of that Gospel?

Question #11 Is the rather abrupt end of Acts, which is very unlikely to have been written before Paul’s ultimate fate was determined, suggestive that no one really knew what happened to him? (As might be expected if Paul bribed his judges, then fled..or absconded. Or if he simply recanted.)

Question #12 Is it possible that the Simon Magus character was a fictional scapegoat for sayings or actions attributed to Simon Peter by hostile critics within the broader movement?

Question #13 Is it possible that the Gospel of Thomas (or Q if it existed) Is more or less the equivalent of an anthology of anecdotes designed for amateur speakers, with no sectarian commitment?

Question #14 Is it possible that Revelations is a revised non-Christian apocalypse adapted for polemic use by the addition of the seven churches material?

Question #15 Can the focus on the Temple attributed to Jesus reflect traditions of an historical person in the now lost (and likely misrepresented) Sadducee tradition, or is it more likely an expression of messianic movements after the Jewish War and/or leading to Bar Kokhba’s revolt?

I hope that you get a chance to see these, as I think they are interesting questions.