text: I believe Jesus of Nazareth existed. I don't think he is a myth.
  The Gospels were written only a few decades after Jesus' death.
  By contrast, Moses or Abraham died centuries before the Torah/Five Books of Moses were written down.
  "The early Christians seem to have believed Christ would return within their lifetime and establish God's kingdom on earth."
  I agree.
  St. Paul's letters and the other epistles were written "before" the Gospels were. The early Christian religion in those letters is very different than what Christianity became. I believe, for example, that the concept of Jesus' divinity or the Trinity would have been foreign to St. Paul. Also, the Gospels were written over a period of 40 years, during which time, the adherents of early Christianity were kicked out of or left Judaism, and Jews fought and lost a war of independence against Rome. The Gospel of Mark is very different from the Gospel of John.
  Christianity succeeded because it adapted to fit Roman concepts.