Thus, the idea that Jesus, as a human being, was begotten in the way human beings are, not created as God brought into being all living things, was perfectly plausible.
The "not created" does not refer to that distinction. It refers to the Christological disputes over the nature of Christ - was He preexistant or not? And if so, in what WAY is He preexistent? The "not created" isn't referring to anything in Jesus' conception, but to the question of His nature: Is he begotten (proceding) from the being of God, or is He merely a creation (albeit the first!)? THAT was the question facing the bishops assembled at Nicea.
"- Jesus was not physically begotten by God, but was the physical son of Joseph (a position most Christians today tend to at least concede to have merit, but one that was strongly opposed by the framers of the Nicene Creed)"
And for good reason. It contradicts Scripture, and it makes Jesus a fraud, his death on the Cross worth absolutely zero. The Virgin Birth, as well as the Ressurection, is one of Christianity's non-negotiables. And to claim a place in Christendom while still saying "Jesus was the physical son of Joseph" is akin to saying "I'm a communist, but I believe the means of production should be in private possesion.". A contradiction in terms.
"- Jesus is a legendary persona and thus was never begotten or created."
I don't know of any serious historians (Christians or otherwise) who claim this. I know Georg Brandes did back in the 19th century, but he wasn't a historian, and his "reasoning" was laughable. I've been so unfortunate as to waste about an hour of my life reading his book on the subject.
"Of course none of this is relevant to the validity of Christianity, either in the fourth and fifth century or today. QED."
Nothing has been proven, so the QED is misplaced.
Furthermore: What we're discussing here is not only RELEVANT to the validity of Christianity - we're at the core of the matter here. If Jesus isn't who He himself says He is, and who Niceno-Constantinopolitanum claims he is, then there is no Christianity. Or rather: Christianity is false and should be abandoned.
How awesome, then, that it isn't so
