@dalehileman,
It's not only your opinion but almost everybody's but I don't know why. Excluding the Bible and Josephus Flavius's books of more than doubtful value, you can't read about him as a historical person in any text of the early centuries.
In all of the Gnostic texts, he fights on cosmic or celestial scenes.
I think Josephus made the first awkward attept to historicize the celestial myths,
and the Evangelists developed it.