Easter Meditations: Did the Ancient Myth Become a Historical Fact?

What actually happened in Palestine c. 2000 years ago? Did the ancient myth of the dying and resurrecting God become fact, as C. S. Lewis eventually concluded? Or was the life of Christ, as we now have it, based on that of Apollonius of Tyana? Or was it inspired by the characters of the First Jewish Revolt? Or was a mere list of aphorisms, based on Greek philosophy, transformed into a moving, but purely fictional narrative? After two thousand years, the debate continues. What is certain is that Christianity inspired the creation of some of the greatest and most beautiful art and architecture and music ever created in the history of the world. Hence, some holy, godly influence was clearly at work, whether it was indeed that of the Holy Spirit, or of some other force. Moreover, whether the Myth was in fact played out in history or not, the Myth itself, if taken as a summation of and a comment upon the Human Condition, remains profoundly true.