MARK GOODACRE says scholars should be Admitting our Ignorance about the Historical Jesus (in an essay at the Bible and Interpretation website):

The problem is that we are in denial. We simply do not want to admit that we do not have all the data we need to paint a complete picture of the historical Jesus. Good scholarship is sometimes born from a desire to fill in the gaps, and informed speculation can be a virtue. But over-confidence born out of an unrealistic expectation of the evidence will make future generations wonder what we were playing at.

Spot on.