[MRM]

Jesus was from Jewish royalty? I guess if you stretch more than a bit. He was a decendant of King David, but so were a couple of dozen thousand other people. More like a clan than a royal family.

He was very lower/working class. The fact that he was hung on a cross itself tells us of his social standing; that was a punishment reserved for the low classes.

As for Mary M, that's more than the historical evidence can prove one way or the other. The simple fact is that there is not enough historical evidence for us to know exactly who she was. From what is available the context of her appearance is wrong for being a prostitute and is more likely that of a fairly well off woman, possibly a financial backer of Jesus. But that is all deduction; the historical record is just too empty to know for sure. I'm not sure what Jewish Royalty would have been at that time. Don't recall hearing about Jewish kings being particularly active at that time. Might have upset that guy in Rome.

I base my understanding on findings by reputable historians. If you're going to start citing the Gnostic Gospels and documents that are even less historical than that, we'll have a differance of opinion of what reputable means. I don't dispute that the gospels of which you speak are historical documents. They weren't frauds like the stuff that supposedly back up the Da Vinci Code story. But they are best described as pamphlets that were put together long after Jesus dies as popuar culture items of the day, putting together wit and wisdom of Jesus, something like Mao's Little Red Book.

On the other hand, if the suppressed gospels are as true and significant as you describe, doesn't that prove the divinity of Christ and simply suggest a mystery that's even greater and more wonderous than the one traditional Christians believe in?