He has been replaced by the wayward minister already. The ones who need a new plane or home in italy etc.

Need, or want ? They only need to face reality and that it is a fairy tale. They want a Jesus figure to be believed as real for promotional and marketing purposes.

They still need Jesus so they can point to someone who " suffered for everyone's sins" , one of the central doctrines of their faith. As far as following what he said... Well, they love to cherry pick the verses they like and disregard others. Actually, they seem to follow Paul more. I remember going to services... "Paul this and Paul that... " yeah... They pretty much follow him. That is why it is Paulinian Christianity. I now sleep in on Sunday's. ?

Well. You can airbrush Christ out of the Bible and keep the bits you like. But then it wouldn't be Christianity, would it.

If Jesus goes away you end up with a mash up of Buddhism, far eastern and some Egyptian philosophies.

Christianity hasn't been tied to Jesus for a really long time now. In fact, if Jesus were to come back preaching his own gospel, Christian's would only crucify him again, for being Liberal/Socialist/Commi/Pinko/Immigrant/Anchor Baby.

The philosophy and the central figure are a chicken and egg problem. A person can be attracted to either and migrate to both. If we look at modern want-to-be religions (cults) people come for either. If the central figure is discredited, the religion and the group union falls apart but the survivors may still subscribe to the philosophy. The feeling survives when the Kool Aid stops flowing.

Removing Jesus is the same as removing their 'god'. They are one in the same.