I agree with this, but that is not all it takes. To be satisfied, one needs to only reach the necessary understanding for their own curiosity. That depends upon a number of variables that can be different between us (information, beliefs, ethics etc) - not just our way of thinking.
The fact that you maintain religious beliefs despite possessing knowledge of scripture means our methods of thinking are nothing alike.
I see that they have referenced books, and I have not been able to easily obtain those books online. I have also searched nearby libraries and they do not have those references available. Therefore I can only wonder at this stage where they have obtained their information to believe that Jesus was taught by John, because the bible does not provide that information. I wonder whether you have already found the answer to that question?
I didn't recall this immediately, but I heard in a college class that Jesus was an apocalyptic doomsayer. That was apparently a thing to do back in the day. John the Baptist was his predecessor and Jesus' following fractured off, though they remained sympathetic to one another.
He was a preacher and a professor of faith just as Jesus was, but being lesser in righteousness and anointing than Jesus, yet still fit to teach. His interest had not changed just because Jesus came along, and you can see that many who had received his teaching continued to hear him (while others desired to follow Jesus instead). When you consider 1 John 2:27, you can see that the same applies in Christianity these days - and you will notice this when you observe characters on this website. We are all largely independent in our ministry, we don't generally seek to learn from each other, and sometimes we will have a difference of opinion. Generally as you observe us interacting, you will recognise that we have unique characters, some having strengths and weaknesses that others don't have, and that's exactly the sort of relationship that prophets have always had (when you consider the likes of the OT prophets - they didn't try to draw disciples after themselves, but served The Lord independently of a loyalty to each other).
For John the Baptist to have followed Jesus, would have meant that there was one less voice preaching repentance in the wilderness, and we would easily recognise that if he had his approval from God to be teaching, then there is nothing more that he could really gain by following Jesus.
Like you said above, we both have our own standards of credulity. Given the Christian version of Jesus I'm familiar with, I find it difficult to accept that a righteous man would go his own way after meeting Jesus.
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