The Life of Jesus

The Life of Jesus

Ernest Renan

MODERN LIBRARY NEW YORK

TO THE PURE SOUL OF MY SISTER HENRIETTE
Who Died at Byblus on the 24th of September, 1861

Dost thou recall, from the bosom of God where thou reposest, those long days at Ghazir, in which, alone with thee, I wrote these pages, inspired by the places we had visited together? Silent at my side, thou didst read and copy each sheet as soon as I had written it, whilst the sea, the villages, the ravines, and the mountains, were spread at our feet. When the overwhelming light had given place to the innumerable army of stars, thy shrewd and subtle questions, thy discreet doubts, led me back to the sublime object of our common thoughts. One day thou didst tell me that thou wouldst love this book—first, because it had been composed with thee, and also because it pleased thee. Though at times thou didst fear for it the narrow judgments of the frivolous, yet wert thou ever persuaded that all truly religious souls would ultimately take pleasure in it. In the m

At what time, by what hands, under what circumstances, have the Gospels been compiled? This is the primary question upon which depends the opinion to be formed of their credibility.

I believe the passage respecting Jesus[1] to be authentic.

is not an easy task to reproduce the terseness and eloquence which characterize

It is not an easy task to reproduce the terseness and eloquence which characterize the original