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   Title: The Life of Jesus Christ in Its Historical Connexion and
   Historical Developement.
   Creator(s): Neander, Augustus (1789-1850)
   Print Basis: New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers (1870)
   Rights: Public Domain
   CCEL Subjects: All;
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    THE

                              LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST

    IN ITS

  HISTORICAL CONNEXION AND HISTORICAL
  DEVELOPEMENT.

    BY

AUGUSTUS NEANDER.

    TRANSLATED FROM THE

    Fourth German Edition.

    BY

  JOHN M'CLINTOCK AND CHARLES E. BLUMENTHAL,

    PROFESSORS IN DICKINSON COLLEGE.

  NEW YORK:

  HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

    329 & 331 PEARL STREET,

    FRANKLIN SQUARE.

  1870.

   Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
   eight hundred and forty-eight, by
   HARPER & BROTHERS,
   in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
   of New York.
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TO MY CHRISTIAN BRETHREN
IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

   THE present age may be considered an epoch of transition in the
   developement of the kingdom of God; and, as such, it is full of signs.
   Among the most striking of them is a greater zeal for the spread of the
   Gospel and the Bible through all nations, combining many and various
   agencies for that work; as well as a closer union among all earnest
   Christians, seekers of salvation and truth, of all lands, however
   widely separated--a new Catholic Church, which, amid all the diversity
   of outward ecclesiastical forms, is preparing that unity of the spirit
   which has Christ for its foundation. Especially is it matter of
   rejoicing to see a growing spirit of fraternal union between the
   Christians of the Old World and those of the New; a land in which
   Christianity (the destined leaven for all the elements of humanity, how
   various soever) developes its activities under secular relations so
   entirely novel.

   It was, therefore, very gratifying to me to learn that Professors
   M'CLINTOCK and BLUMENTHAL had determined to put this volume, the fruit
   of my earnest inquiries, before the transatlantic Christian public in
   an English dress. To see a wider sphere of influence opened for views
   which we ourselves (amid manifold struggles, yet guided, we trust, by
   the Divine Spirit) have recognized as true, and which, in our opinion,
   are fitted to make a way right on through the warring contradictions of
   error, cannot be otherwise than grateful to us. For truth is designed
   for all men: he who serves the truth works and strives for all men. The
   Lord has given to each his own charisma, and with it each must work for
   all. What is true and good, then, is no man's own; it comes from the
   Father of Lights, the Giver of every good gift, who lends it to us to
   be used for all. And what is true, must prove itself such by bearing
   the test of the general Christian consciousness.

   But the pleasure with which I write these words is not unmingled with
   anxiety. To write a history of the greatest Life that has been
   manifested upon earth--that Life in which the Divine glory irradiated
   earthly existence--is indeed the greatest of human tasks. Yet the
   attempt is not presumptuous (as I have said in the preface to the
   German edition), if it be made upon the Gospel basis: every age
   witnesses new attempts of the kind. It is part of the means by which we
   are to appropriate to ourselves this highest life; to become more and
   more intimate with it; to bring it nearer and nearer to ourselves.
   Every peculiar age will feel itself compelled anew to take this Divine
   Life to itself through its own study of it, by means of science,
   animated by the Holy Spirit; to gain a closer living intimacy with it,
   by copying it. To eat His flesh and drink His blood (in the spiritual
   sense) is indeed the way to this intimacy; but science also has its
   part to do, and this work is its highest dignity. But yet, in view of
   the grandeur and importance of this greatest of tasks, in view of the
   difficulties that environ it, and our own incapacity to execute it
   adequately, we cannot see our work diffused into wider and more distant
   circles, without fear and trembling. We are fully conscious of the
   dimness that surrounds us, growing out of the errors and defects of an
   age just freeing itself from a distracting infidelity. May we soon
   receive a new outpouring of the Holy Ghost, again bestowing tongues of
   fire, so that the Lord's great works may be more worthily praised!

   I have another, and a peculiar source of anxiety. This book has arisen
   (and it bears the marks of its origin) amid the intellectual struggles
   which yet agitate Germany, and constitute a preparatory crisis for the
   future. Those who are unacquainted with those struggles may, perhaps,
   take offence at finding not only many things in the book hard to
   understand, but also views at variance with old opinions in other
   countries yet undisturbed. The English churches (even those of the
   United States, where every thing moves more freely) have perhaps, on
   the whole, been but slightly disturbed by conflicting opinions of
   precisely the kind that find place among us. Had they to deal with the
   life-questions with which we have to do, they would be otherwise
   engaged than in vehement controversies about church order and other
   unessential points. It would be easier, then, for them to forget their
   minor differences, and rally under the one banner of the Cross against
   the common foe. Perhaps a nearer acquaintance with the religious
   condition of other lands may contribute to this end.

   I am, notwithstanding, still afraid that some readers unacquainted with
   the progress of the German mind, which has developed new intellectual
   necessities even for those who seek the truth believingly, may take
   offence at some of the sentiments of this book. Especially will this be
   likely to happen with those who have not been accustomed to distinguish
   what is Divine from what is human in the Gospel record; to discriminate
   its immutable essence from the changeful forms in which men have
   apprehended it; in a word, with those who exchange the Divine reality
   for the frail support of traditional beliefs and ancient harmonies. I
   would lead no man into a trial which he could not endure; I would
   willingly give offence to none, unless, indeed, it were to be a
   transitory offence, tending afterward to enlarge his Christian
   knowledge and confirm his faith. How far this may be the case, I am not
   sufficiently acquainted with the transatlantic Church to be a competent
   judge. Nor would I, on my own sole responsibility, have introduced this
   work (which arose, as I have said, among the struggles of our own
   country) to a foreign public: this I leave to the esteemed translators,
   hoping that their judgment of the condition of things there may be well
   founded.

   But of this I am certain, that the fall of the old form of the doctrine
   of Inspiration, and, indeed, of many other doctrinal prejudices, will
   not only not involve the fall of the essence of the Gospel, but will
   cause it no detriment whatever. Nay, I believe that it will be more
   clearly and accurately understood; that men will be better prepared to
   fight with and to conquer that inrushing infidelity against which the
   weapons of the old dogmatism must be powerless in any land; and that
   from such a struggle a new theology, purified and renovated in the
   spirit of the Gospel, must arise. Everywhere we see the signs of a new
   creation; the Lord will build himself, in science as well as in life, a
   new tabernacle in which to dwell; and neither a stubborn adherence to
   antiquity, nor a profane appetite for novelty, can hinder this work of
   the Lord which is now preparing. May we never forget the words of the
   great apostle, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty."
   Whatever in this book rests upon that one foundation than which none
   other can be laid, will bear all the fires of the time; let the wood,
   hay, and stubble which find place in all works of men, be burned up.

   Perhaps the impulse [1] which the American mind has received from the
   profound COLERIDGE, who (like SCHLEIERMACHER among ourselves) has
   testified that Christianity is not so much a definite system of
   conceptions as a power of life, may have contributed, and may still
   further contribute, to prepare the way for a new tendency of scientific
   theology in your beloved country.

   A. NEANDER.

   Berlin, November 4 1847.
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   [1] Not, it is to be hoped, a one-sided, partisan tendency, as is
   justly remarked by Professor PORTER, whose article on "Coleridge and
   his American Disciples," in the Bibliotheca Sacra for February, 1847, I
   have read with great interest.
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TRANSLATORS' PREFACE.

   THE work, of which an English version is presented in this volume,
   appeared originally in 1837. It has already passed through four
   editions, from the last of which [2] this translation has been made.

   It is well known that Dr. NEANDER has been engaged for many years in
   writing a "General History of the Christian Religion and Church," and
   that he has published separately an account of the "Planting and
   Training of the Early Christian Church by the Apostles." He would
   doubtless have felt himself constrained, at some period, to give a
   history of the life and ministry of the Divine Founder of the Church;
   and, indeed, he states as much in the preface to this work (page xxi.).
   The execution of this part of his task, however, would perhaps have
   been deferred until the completion of his General History, had not the
   "signs of the times" urged him to undertake it at once. Its immediate
   occasion was the publication, in 1835, of STRAUS'S "Life of Christ,"
   [3] a work which, as every one knows, created a great sensation, not
   merely in the theological circles of Germany, but also throughout
   Europe. A brief sketch of the state and progress of parties in Germany
   may be useful to readers not familiar with the literature of that
   country; and we here attempt it, only regretting our incapacity to give
   it fully and accurately.

   Notwithstanding the dread with which German theology is regarded by
   many English and some American divines, it was not in German soil that
   the first seeds of infidelity in modern times took root. It was by the
   deistical writers of England, in the early part of the last century,
   that the authenticity of the sacred records was first openly assailed.
   The attacks of Toland, Chubb, Morgan, &c., were directed mainly against
   the credibility and sincerity of the sacred writers; and their blows
   were aimed, avowedly, against the whole fabric of Christianity. It is
   needless to say that they failed, not merely in accomplishing their
   object, but in making any very strong or permanent impression on the
   English mind. Nor has an infidelity of exactly the same type ever
   obtained firm footing in Germany. The English Deism, first promulgated
   in the Wolfenbuettel fragments, set the German theologians at work upon
   the canon of Scripture, and upon Biblical literature in general, with a
   zeal and industry un known before; and many of them pushed their
   inquiries with a freedom amounting to recklessness; but a direct and
   absolute denial of the authority of the word of God is a thing almost
   unknown among them. Still, professed theologians, of great talents and
   learning, and holding high official positions, adopted a theory (the
   so-called Rationalism) more dangerous than avowed infidelity, and
   succeeded, for a time, in diffusing its poison to a painful extent.

   The declared aim of the Rationalists was to interpret the Bible on
   rational principles; that is to say, to find nothing in it beyond the
   scope of human reason. Not supposing its writers to be impostors, nor
   denying the record to be a legitimate source, in a certain sense, of
   religious instruction, they sought to free it of every thing
   supernatural; deeming it to be, not a direct Divine revelation, but a
   product of the human mind, aided, indeed, by Divine Providence, but in
   no extraordinary or miraculous way. The miracles, therefore, had to be
   explained away; and this was done in any mode that the ingenuity or
   philosophy of the expositor might suggest. Sometimes, for instance,
   they were no miracles, at all, but simple natural facts; and all the
   old interpreters had misunderstood the writers. Sometimes, again, the
   writers of the sacred history misunderstood the facts, deeming them to
   be miraculous when they were not; e. g., when Christ "healed the sick,"
   he merely prescribed for them, as a kind physician, with skill and
   success; when he "raised the dead," he only restored men from a swoon
   or trance; when he "subdued the storm," there was simply a happy
   "coincidence," making a strong impression upon the minds of the
   disciples; when he fed the "five thousand," he only set an example of
   kindness and benevolence which the rich by-standers eagerly followed by
   opening their stores to feed the hungry multitude, &c., &c. But even
   this elastic exegesis, when stretched to its utmost capacity, would not
   explain every case: some parts of the narratives were stubbornly
   unyielding, and new methods were demanded. For men who had gone so far,
   it was easy to go farther; the text itself was not spared; this passage
   was doubtful, that was corrupt, a third was spurious. In short,
   "criticism," as this desperate kind of Interpretation was called, was
   at last able to make any thing, and in a fair way to make nothing, out
   of the sacred records. But still the rationalist agreed with the
   orthodox supernaturalist in admitting that there was, at bottom, a
   basis of substantial truth in the records; and asserted that his
   efforts only tended to free the substantive verity from the
   envelopements of fable or perversion with which tradition had invested
   it. The admission was a fatal one. The absurdities to which the theory
   led could not long remain undetected. It was soon shown, and shown
   effectually, that this vaunted criticism was no criticism at all; that
   the objections which it offered to the Gospel history were as old as
   Porphyry, or, at least, as the English Deists, and had been refuted
   again and again; that the errors of interpretation into which the older
   expositors had fallen might be avoided without touching the truth and
   inspiration of the Evangelists; and, in a word, that there could be no
   medium between open infidelity and the admission of a supernatural
   revelation. During the first quarter of the present century the
   conflict was waged with ardour on both sides, but with increasing
   energy on the side of truth; and every year weakened the forces of
   rationalism. Still, the theological mind of Germany was to a
   considerable extent unsettled: its Tholucks and Hengstenbergs stood
   strong for orthodoxy; its Twesten and Nitszch applied the clearest
   logic to systematic theology; its Marheineche and Daub philosophized
   religiously; its Bretschneider and Hase upheld reason as the judge of
   revelation; while not a few maintained the old rationalism, though with
   less and less of conviction, or at least of boldness.

   It was at this point that Strauss conceived the audacious idea of
   applying the mythical theory to the whole structure of the Evangelical
   history. All Germany has been more or less infected with the
   mytho-mania, since the new school of archaeologers have gone so deeply
   into the heathen mythology. A mythis omnis priscorum hominum cum
   historia tum philosophia procedit, says Heyne: and Bauer asks,
   logically enough, "if the early history of every people is mythical why
   not the Hebrew?" [4] The mere application of this theory to the sacred
   records was by no means original with Strauss: he himself points out a
   number of instances in which Eichhorn, Gabler, Vater, &c., had made use
   of it. His claim is to have given a completeness to the theory, or
   rather to its application, which former interpreters had not dreamed
   of; and, to tell the truth, he has made no halting work of it. That
   Jesus lived; that he taught in Judea; that he gathered disciples, and
   so impressed them with his life and teaching as that they believed him
   to be the Messiah; this is nearly the sum of historical truth contained
   in the Evangelists, according to Strauss. Yet he ascribes no fraudulent
   designs to the writers; his problem is, therefore, to account for the
   form in which the narratives appear; and this is the place for his
   theory to work. A Messiah was expected; certain notions were attached
   to the Messianic character and office; and with these Christ was
   invested by his followers. "Such and such a thing must happen to
   Messiah; Jesus was the Messiah; therefore such and such a thing must
   have happened to him." "The expectation of a Messiah had flourished in
   Israel long before the time of Christ; and at the time of his
   appearance it had ripened into full bloom; not an indefinite longing
   either, but an expectation defined by many prominent characteristics.
   Moses had promised (Deut., xviii., 15) `a prophet like unto himself,' a
   passage applied, in Christ's time, to Messiah (Acts, iii., 22; vii.,
   37). The Messiah was to spring of David's line, and ascend his throne
   as a second David (Matt., xxii., 42; Luke, i., 32); and therefore he
   was looked for, in Christ's time, to be born in the little town of
   Bethlehem (John, vii., 42; Matt., ii., 5). In the old legends the most
   wonderful acts and destinies had been attributed to the prophets: could
   less be expected of the Messiah? Must not his life be illustrated by
   the most splendid and significant incidents from the lives of the
   prophets? Finally, the Messianic era, as a whole, was expected to be a
   period of signs and wonders. The eyes of the blind were to be opened;
   the deaf ears to be unstopped; the lame were to leap, &c. (Isa., xxxv.,
   &c.). These expressions, part of which, at least, were purely
   figurative, came to be literally understood (Matt., xi., 5; Luke, vii.,
   21, sqq.); and thus, even before Christ's appearance, the image of
   Messiah was continually filling out with new features. And thus many of
   the legends respecting Jesus had not to be newly invented; they existed
   ready-made in the Messianic hopes of the people, derived chiefly from
   the Old Testament, and only needed to be transferred to Christ and
   adapted to his character and teachings." [5]

   These extracts contain the substance of Strauss's theory; his book is
   little more than an application of it to the individual parts of the
   history of Christ as given in the Evangelists. A few instances of his
   procedure will suffice. He finds the key to the miraculous conception
   in Matt., i., 22: " All this was done that it might be fulfilled which
   was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying," [6] &c. "The birth of
   Jesus, it was said, must correspond to this passage; and what was to
   be, they concluded, really did occur, and so arose the myth." The
   account of the star of the Magians, and of their visit from the East,
   arose from a similar application of Numbers, xxiv., 17; Psa. lxxii.,
   10; Isa., lx., 1-6, [7] &c The temptation of Christ was suggested by
   the trials of Job; its separate features helped out by Exod., xxxiv.,
   28; Lev., xvi., 8, 10; Deut., ix., 9, [8] &c. The Transfiguration finds
   a starting-point in Exod., xxxiv., 29-35. [9] So we might go through
   the book.

   The appearance of the work, as we have said, produced a wonderful
   sensation in Germany; greater, by far, than its merits would seem to
   have authorized. It was the heaviest blow that unbelief had ever struck
   against Christianity; and the question was, what should be done? The
   Prussian government was disposed to utter its ban against the book; and
   many evangelical theologians deemed this the proper course to pursue in
   regard to it. But Dr. Neander deprecated such a procedure as calculated
   to give the work a spurious celebrity, and as wearing, at least, the
   aspect of a confession that it was unanswerable. He advised that it
   should be met, not by authority, but by argument, believing that the
   truth had nothing to fear in such a conflict. His counsel prevailed;
   and the event has shown that he was right. Replies to Strauss poured
   forth in a torrent; the Gospel histories were subjected to a closer
   criticism than ever; and to-day the public mind of Germany is nearer to
   an orthodox and evangelical view of their contents than it has been for
   almost a century.

   Besides the general impulse given by Strauss to the study of the Four
   Gospels, he has done theology another good service. His book has given
   a deadly blow to rationalism properly so called. Its paltry criticism
   and beggarly interpretations of Scripture are nowhere more effectually
   dissected than in his investigations of the different parts of the
   history and of the expositions that have been given of it. In a word,
   he has driven rationalism out of the field to make way for his myths;
   and Neander, Ebrard, and others have exploded the myths; so that
   nothing re. mains but a return to the simple, truthful interpretations
   which, in the main, are given by the evangelical commentators.

   But, it may be asked, why trouble ourselves with controversies of this
   kind here? We cannot help it. Strauss's book, at first, could not find
   a respectable publisher in England; and a garbled translation,
   containing its very worst features, was put out in a cheap form for the
   million. The same, or a similar abridgment, has been circulated to a
   considerable extent in this country. And within the last year a
   translation of the whole work, from the last German edition, has been
   published in London in three handsome volumes. That the soil of many
   minds is ready to receive its pestilent doctrines, both in that country
   and in our own, is too sadly true to be denied. The Westminster Review
   for April, 1847, contains an article on Strauss and Parker which talks
   about the Evangelists in the coolest strain of infidelity imaginable,
   and refers, with obvious complacency, to the signs of "unbelief or
   illumination" (it cares not which) that are at present so abundant in
   England.

   To a certain extent, as we have remarked, Neander's Life of Christ has
   a polemic aim against Strauss. But this is a small part of its merits;
   indeed, but for the notes, an ordinary reader would not detect any such
   specific tendency. It unfolds the life of the Saviour from the record
   with great clearness and skill; it invests the outline, thus obtained,
   with the fresh colours of life, without resorting to forced
   constructions and vain imaginings; and, above all, it seeks, with
   child-like humility and reverence, to learn and exhibit the mind of the
   Spirit. The characteristic of spirituality, so strongly stamped upon
   all the works of this great writer, is especially prominent here. None,
   we think, can read the book without becoming not merely better
   acquainted with the facts of the life of Christ, but more anxious than
   ever to drink into its spirit.

   At the same time, it is not to be concealed that Neander differs in his
   views on some points of doctrine, as well as of interpretation, from
   most Evangelical theologians. We wish to state distinctly that we do
   not hold ourselves responsible for these peculiarities of opinion. It
   was at one time our purpose to append notes to such passages as we
   deemed most objectionable; but after mature deliberation this intention
   was laid aside. It is hardly fair to criticise a man in his own pages,
   even if one is able to do it. The general spirit and tendency of the
   work cannot, we are sure, be otherwise than beneficial, or we should
   never have attempted to translate it. Its specific errors can be met
   and refuted elsewhere.

   The noble candour of Neander in the letter which precedes this preface
   must disarm all severity. Let us remember, in our judgment of what may
   appear to us even grave errors of opinion in the book, that its author
   has fought for every step of ground that has been gained of late years
   by spiritual religion in Germany; and, while we lament the "dimness"
   which this great man confesses with such Christian-like humility, let
   us acknowledge the grandeur of his idea of the kingdom of God, and the
   earnestness of his devotion to it. His starting-point, and many of his
   paths, are different from ours; it must, therefore, gladden our hearts,
   and may, perhaps, confirm our faith, to see that he reaches, after all,
   the general results of Evangelical theology.

   One word for the translation. We have tried to do our best; but we feel
   that we have not done very well. It is hard to translate German; and of
   all German that we have tried to put into intelligible English,
   Neander's is the hardest. We have not attempted a literal version (for
   we want the book to be read); nor on the other hand, have we willingly
   gone into mere paraphrase. We have sought to seize the sense of the
   author, and to express it in our own tongue; but none can be better
   assured than ourselves that we have very often failed. Readers of the
   original work will see that we have taken some liberties with it which
   demand explanation. The division of the text into books, chapters, and
   sections will, we hope, make the work more intelligible and acceptable
   to English readers. In many of the author's paraphrases of Scripture
   passages we have substituted the words of the English version, where it
   could be done without affecting the sense; and many passages, also, to
   which he had merely alluded, are quoted at length. A few sentences have
   been transferred from the text to the notes; and a few passages of the
   notes, of purely polemical interest, which would have needed
   explanation to put them fairly before the American public, have been
   omitted. In all that we have done, we have endeavoured to comply with
   the spirit of Dr. Neander's wishes, as kindly communicated to us by
   himself.

   January 5, 1848.

   LIST OF DR. NEANDER'S WORKS.

   Das Leben Jesu Christi, in seinem geschichtlichen Zusammenhange und
   seiner geschichtlichen Entwickelung: 1^te Aufl., 1837; 4^te Aufl., 1845
   (The Life of Jesus Christ, in its Historical Connexion and Historical
   Developement: 1st ed., 1837; 4th ed., 1845).

   Geschichte der Pflanzung und Leitung der Christlichen Kirche durch die
   Apostel: 1^te Aufl., 1832; 4^te Aufl., 1847 (History of the Planting
   and Training of the Christian Church by the Apostles: 1st ed., 1832;
   4th ed., 1847).

   Allgemeine Geschichte der Christlichen Religion und Kirche (General
   History of the Christian Religion and Church).

   (a) Die drei ersten Jahrhunderte: 1^te Aufl. in 3 Baenden; 2^te Aufl.
   in 2 Bd., 1842-43. (The three first centuries: 1st edition in 3
   volumes, 1825; 2d edition in 2vols., 1842-43.)

   (b) Das 4^te-6^te Jahrhundert: 1^te Aufl. in drei Baenden, 1828; 2^te
   Auf. in 2 Bd., 1846-47. (Fourth to sixth century: 1st ed. in 3 vols.,
   1828; 2d in 2 vols., 1846-47.)

   (c) 6^te-8^te, in 1 Bd. (Sixth to eighth, 1 vol.), 1834.

   (d) 8^te-11^te, in 1 Bd. (Eighth to eleventh, 1 vol.), 1836.

   (e) 11^te-13^te, in 2 Baenden. (Eleventh to thirteenth, 2 vols.), 1841
   and 1845.

   Ueber den Kaiser Julianus und sein Zeitalter (The Emperor Julian and
   his Times), 1812.

   Genetische Entwickelung der vornehmsten Gnostischen Systeme (Genetical
   Developement of the principal Gnostic Systems), 1818.

   Anti-Gnosticus. Geist des Tertullianus und Einleitung in dessen
   Schriften (Anti-Gnosticus. Genius of Tertullian and Introduction to his
   Writings), 1825.

   Der heilige Chrysostomus und die Kirche in dessen Zeitalter, 2 Bd.,
   1820; 2^te Aufl. l^te Bd., 1832 (Chrysostom and the Church in his
   Times, 2 vols., 1820; 2d ed. of 1st. vol., 1832).

   Der heilige Bernhard und sein Zeitalter (Bernard and his Times), 1813.

   Denkwuerdigkeiten aus der Geschichte des Christenthums und des
   Christlichen Lebens: l^te Aufl. in 3 Bd., 1822; 3^te Aufl. in 2 Bd.,
   1845-46 (Memorabilia from the History of Christianity and the Christian
   Life: 1st ed. 3 vols., 1822; 3d ed. 2 vols.. 1845-46).

   Kleine Gelegenheitschriften praktisch-Christlichen, vornehmlich
   exegetischen und historischen Inhalts, 3^te Aufl., 1829 (Smaller
   Treatises, chiefly exegetical and historical, 3d ed., 1829).

   Das Eine und das Mannichfaeltige des Christlichen Lebens; Eine Reihe
   kleiner Gelegenheitschriften, groessertentheils biographischen Inhalts
   (Series of smaller Treatises, chiefly biographical), 1840.

   Das Princip der Reformation, oder Staupitz und Luther (The Principle of
   the Reformation; or Staupitz and Luther), 1840.
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   [2] Das Leben Jesu Christi, in seinem geschichtlichen Zusammenhange und
   seiner geschichtlichen Entwickelung dargestellt von Dr. AUGUST NEANDER,
   vierte und verbesserte Auflage, Hamburg, bei Friedrich Perthes, 1845.

   [3] Das Leben Jesu, Kritisch bearbeitet von Dr. DAVID FRIEDRICH
   STRAUSS. 8 Bde Tubingen, 1835, 4te Aufl., 1840.

   [4] Strauss, i., S: 8.

   [5] Strause, i., S: 14.

   [6] Strauss, i., S: 29.

   [7] Ibid., S: 36.

   [8] Ibid., S: 56.

   [9] Ibid., S: 107.
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PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

   IN the Preface to my Representation of the Christian Religion and
   Church in the Apostolic Age, I assigned my reasons for the separate
   publication of that work, and stated its relations to my General
   History of the Church. It remained for me to treat of that which formed
   the ground of the manifestation and existence of the Apostolical Church
   itself, viz., the Life and Ministry of the Divine Founder of the
   Church; and I have, moreover, been urged from many quarters to execute
   this necessary portion of my work. I was made to pause in the former
   undertaking by the lofty sacredness of the subject and its many
   difficulties; how much more, then, in the latter! But the signs of the
   times (to which, as a historian of the Church, I could not but take
   heed), the uncertainty of human affairs, and the opportunity afforded
   by a pause in my General History, have overcome my scruples, and led
   me, trusting in God, to go on with this work.

   Yet well may he hesitate who undertakes to write the life of CHRIST!
   "Who, indeed (as HERDER finely answered Lavater), could venture, after
   John, to write the life of Christ?" [10] Who will not agree with ANNA
   MARIA VON SCHURMANN, that such an attempt is "to paint the sun with
   charcoal: the life of a Christian is the best picture of the life of
   Christ?" [11]

   Yet why should not history (though assured that its description must be
   far behind the reality) occupy itself with the highest manifestation
   that has appeared in humanity--a manifestation which sanctifies, but
   does not spurn, the labours of men? The artist, inspired by devotion,
   paints a picture of Christ without any aid from history, merely from
   intuition of the idea of Christ. But we have the lineaments of the
   historical Christ, in fragments at least; and there is wanting only
   insight into their connexion to frame them into a harmonious whole. We
   feel the necessity of calling up vividly before our minds, in our own
   stage of life and scientific progress, this realized Ideal, which
   belongs to all ages; and at particular epochs in the mutations of time
   this necessity is always felt anew. The image of Christ, not of
   yesterday nor to-day, ever renews its youth among men, and, as the
   world grows old, penetrates it with a heaven-tending youthful vigour.
   What PHOTIUS says of the various ideas of Christ among different
   nations may be applied to different periods of time, viz., "that each,
   by a new representation, must make itself familiar with the image of
   Christ." Obviously, however, the peculiarities of different periods
   must be distinguished. Some periods mark a new creation in the
   Christian Church and in humanity, as already appeared; others, by
   dissolution and crisis, prepare the way for it. Our age belongs to the
   latter class: we stand between the old world and a new one to be called
   into being by the ever old and ever new Gospel. For the fourth time
   Christianity is preparing a new epoch in the life of humanity. Our
   labors can only be preparatory to that new creation, when, after the
   regeneration of life and science, the great acts of God shall be
   proclaimed with new tongues of fire! [12]

   But it may be questioned, also, whether it is possible, from the
   authorities in our hands, to exhibit a connected description of the
   life of CHRIST? Christian consciousness will be satisfied with nothing
   less than an intuition of Christ's life as a whole; and, therefore,
   science must undertake to free it from all alloy, and to found it on a
   substantial basis. It is by means of the Christian consciousness that
   we feel ourselves allied to all Christianity since the outpouring of
   the Holy Ghost--Christian consciousness, the living source from which
   every thing in life and science, which has really enriched the Church,
   has proceeded and must proceed; a far different thing from the
   changeful culture of the day, which, without it, must ever be ephemeral
   and transitory. To serve this last is the most wretched of servitudes.
   It is, indeed, time for a new beginning of Biblical criticism, of New
   Testament exegesis, of inquiries into the formation of the canon. There
   are great difficulties, indeed, especially in the chronology, [13] in
   the work which we have to do. But this, instead of deterring, must only
   stimulate us to greater efforts. We must only guard against
   relinquishing our hopes too hastily, and keep aloof from all prejudices
   either of antiquity or novelty; and then this undertaking may be one of
   the preparations, however trifling, for a new epoch in this part of
   history.

   As for those who deny that our field is properly historical, and place
   it in a pre-historical and mythical region, I need say nothing here, as
   I have sought to refute them in the course of the work itself.

   In regard to my relations to the various theological parties of the
   age, I must refer to the Preface to the first volume of my "Apostolic
   Age;" and to my letter to DEWAR, chaplain to the British Embassy in
   Hamburg. Whatever appears to me to be true, or most probable, after
   candid and earnest inquiry, with all reverence for the sacredness of
   the subject, I utter, without looking at consequences. Whoever has a
   good work to do must, as Luther says, let the devil's tongue run as it
   pleases. There are two opposite parties whom I cannot hope to please,
   viz., those who will forcibly make all things new, and fancy, in their
   folly, that they can shake the rock which ages could not undermine; and
   those who would retain, and forcibly reintroduce, even at the expense
   of all genuine love of truth, every thing that is old; nay, even the
   worn-out and the obsolete. I shall not please those hypercritics who
   subject the sacred writings to an arbitrary subtilty, at once
   superrational and sophistical; nor those, on the other hand, who
   believe that here all criticism--or at least all criticism on internal
   grounds--cometh of evil. Both these tendencies are alike at variance
   with a healthful sense for truth and conscientious devotion to it; both
   are alike inimical to genuine culture. There is need of criticism where
   any thing is communicated to us in the form of a historical tradition
   in written records; and I am sure that an impartial criticism, applied
   to the Scriptures, is not only consistent with that child-like faith
   without which there can be no Christianity or Christian theology, [14]
   but is necessary to a just acuteness [15] and profoundness of thought,
   as well as to that true consecration of mind which is so essential to
   theology. The childlike faith of the theologian who cannot violently
   rid himself of the critical element of his times or of human nature, is
   thus proved, as it were, in the fire of temptation; this is the
   tentatio (particularly in this age of scientific struggle) which must
   go along with oratio and meditatio, in the depths of the earnest and
   humble spirit. Without this priestly consecration, there can be no
   theology. It thrives best in the calmness of a soul consecrated to God.
   What grows amid the noisy bustle of the world and the empty babble of
   the age is not theology.

   God reveals himself in his word as he does in his works. In both we see
   a self-revealing, self-concealing God, who makes himself known only to
   those who earnestly seek him; [16] in both we find stimulants to faith
   and occasions for unbelief; in both we find contradictions whose higher
   harmony is hidden except from him who gives up his whole mind in
   reverence; in both, in a word, it is the law of revelation that the
   heart of man should be tested in receiving it; and that, in the
   spiritual life as well as in the bodily, man must eat his bread in the
   sweat of his brow.

   Berlin, July 18, 1837.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [10] "I write the life of Christ--I? Never. The Evangelists have
   written it as it can and ought to be written. Let us, however, not
   write it, but become it?" (Beitraege zur naeheren Kenntniss Lavater's,
   von Ulrich Hegener: Leips., 1836.) May the good Zurichers, who have
   lately shown themselves so worthy of their sires in their resistance to
   revolutionary violence and their enthusiasm for the faith (dogma
   Christianum dogma populare, Augustin. opus imperf. c. Julian, ii., 2),
   erect a Christian national memorial by an edition, as complete as
   possible, of Lavater's correspondence.

   [11] Cf. Reinhard, Plan Jesu, 1; Heubner's Anm.

   [12] Most keenly does the author feel (as did his late friend, B.
   Jacobi, who has left behind him a blessed and honoured memory) that his
   work bears the marks of its production in an age of crisis, of
   isolation, of pain, and of throes.

   [13] Wherever I have not sure grounds for decision, I say "perhaps:"
   nor am I ashamed of it, unfashionable as "perhaps" is, nowadays, in
   matters of science. Would that our young votaries of science would lay
   to heart the excellent words of NIEBUHR, on the degrees of confidence,
   in the "Lebensnachrichten," ii., 208.

   [14] But the theologian must have more than a merely critical mind and
   critical aims: he needs a spiritual mind, a deep acquaintance with
   divine things; and he must study the Scriptures with his heart as well
   as head, unless he wishes his theology to be robbed of its salt by his
   criticism.

   [15] Not too sharp, so as to be notched.

   [16] This is the pervading thought of Pascal (the sage for all
   centuries) in his Pensees, though blended with many errors of
   Catholicism and absolute Predestination. Great thanks ate due to
   Faugere for the edition of this work (1844) in its original form.
     __________________________________________________________________

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.

   THE reception of this work among the opposing theological parties of
   the age has been such as I anticipated in the Preface to the first
   edition. It is, therefore, the less necessary for me to vindicate
   myself against special accusations on any side. I am satisfied that the
   principles of my theological procedure are in the main correct, and
   that their claims will finally be justified. To answer the revilings or
   false inferences of fanatical prejudice on either hand, or to enter
   into purely personal controversy, forms no part of my purpose. Yet, in
   order to leave no room for doubt as to my own theological stand-point,
   it appears necessary that I should notice a few of the opinions that
   have been passed upon the work.

   A review from the pen of Consistorial Counsellor SCHULZ has appeared in
   the Allgemeine Darmstaedtische Kirchenzeitung, which opposes me merely
   by dictatorial decisions; and, by isolating various passages [17] of my
   work from their connexion, ascribes to me opinions which are foreign to
   my whole theological system What I say will not be disputed by any one
   who candidly examines that review and compares it with my work. I have
   called the attention of my readers in this edition to these perversions
   of my words; perversions in which SCHULZ shakes hands with men of a
   school directly opposite to his own. Were I not satisfied of his
   integrity, I should be under the necessity of calling them dishonest
   perversions; as the case is, I see in them only the prejudice of that
   enthusiasm of reason so admirably characterized by JACOBI in his
   remarks upon "Reason which is not Reason" (ii., 492). Of those who are
   enslaved by this enthusiasm, he says: "Their belief is always reason,
   nor can they recognize another's reason except in his belief. They
   inquire not how he feels, perceives, observes, or infers, but only what
   his opinions are--whether they agree with their canon or not; and that
   decides the matter." This stand-point as surely generates a prejudice
   which precludes all just judgment of the opinions of others, and leads
   (though unconsciously) to falsehood, as does the enthusiasm for an
   absolute system of doctrines which lays down, as a standard, a definite
   number of articles of faith, or principles therewith connected, and
   makes this standard a criterion of every one's claim to Christianity.
   In the judgments formed of my work, as well as in many other matters of
   our time, these two sets of prejudices have led to similar results.

   "What," inquires SCHULZ several times, "will the believers in creeds
   say to this?" Now, as to the opinion of this or that set of men, I am
   indifferent; it concerns me only to know how far m statements accord
   with truth, especially Christian truth. It is proper that I should say,
   however, that I go along with those who oppose "creed-believers" (to
   use SCHULZ's term) so far as this viz., that I could not subscribe to
   any of the existing symbols (except the Apostles' creed, which
   testifies to those fundamental facts of Christianity that are essential
   to the existence of the Christian Church) as an unconditional
   expression of my religious convictions.

   I believe that our path lies, through the strifes and storms of the
   present time, to a new creation in the Church, when the same Holy
   Spirit [18] that works in the life of the Church, and produces all
   truly Christian creeds as expressions (defective, indeed, as all human
   representations of the Divine must be, and stamped with the varying
   culture of the time) of Christian truth, will produce a symbol adapted
   to the new stage of the Church's developement, if it become necessary
   that such an expression of the animating faith of the Church be given
   in a new literal form. But I go along with the theologians (so called
   creed-believers) in what I believe to be the fundamental principle of
   the Reformation and of the Evangelical Church; the doctrines, viz., of
   the corruption of human nature (not, however, excluding, but
   presupposing, an element of affinity for God [Gottverwandte] in human
   nature); and of justification by faith in Jesus as the Redeemer. The
   essential part of the Evangelical Confession (the Augsburg Confession
   and its Apology), so far as it is an exposition of this doctrine,
   together with the unchangeable verities to which the Apostles' Creed
   bears witness, seem to me the irrefragable basis of the Evangelical
   Church; which, on this basis, protests against all popery whether the
   Roman or any other impure spirit of the age; against human statutes, no
   matter of what kind. Dr. SCHULZ reproaches me for speaking of the
   sinfulness of human nature. On the other hand, I cannot but be
   astonished that this truth, so clearly revealed in the Scriptures, nay,
   lying at their basis, and so plainly written upon every human heart,
   should be denied by any man. He wishes, moreover, that the terms
   "natural reason" and "self-righteousness" may hereafter not appear in
   my writings. In this respect I cannot possibly gratify him. These terms
   have a well-established right in the Evangelical Church; the
   conceptions which they express are closely connected with its
   fundamental principle; they are, moreover, firmly founded in Biblical
   Anthropology. [19] They are not the offshoot of a "new Evangelical"
   Theology, but of an old Evangelical faith. It is a mere pretended
   "enlightenment" (which, notwithstanding it may, by destroying, prepare
   the way for better things, is yet in its positive elements a source of
   darkness) that can object to those conceptions.

   I have to thank Dr. HASE for the kindness with which he has spoken of
   my work in the Jahrbuecher fuer wissenschaftliche Kritik; but it would
   take more space than a preface will allow to come to an understanding
   with him upon the points in Apologetics and Dogmatics on which he
   touches in his review. I can only remark, that a description of the
   life of Christ (although it must proceed from the Christian
   consciousness, which alone can afford a living intuition of it) does
   not necessarily demand for its foundation a complete and well-defined
   theory of the person of Christ. On the contrary, it would be one of the
   excellences of such a work, that various doctrinal tendencies (if
   supranaturalistic) could be satisfied with it. It must deal with facts,
   which are more weighty than men's conceptions, changeful as they are.
   All dogmatical theories except those which are willing to do violence
   to history must agree in acknowledging certain facts. What I have said
   of the human developement of the life of Christ harmonizes well with
   the consequent doctrine of a status exinanitionis; without this, in
   fact, the human life of Christ can have no reality. As to my views of
   the Ascension, I must adhere to them, until I can be convinced that
   without them the full import of Christ's resurrection can be asserted.
   Nor is it simply strength of faith that leads me to these results; from
   the beginning my religious life has been too much affected by the
   culture of this age to allow me to glory in such a faith--to compare
   myself with those men of child-like simplicity, those heroes whose
   Divine confidence is exalted above all doubt. [20] I have adopted them
   from consecutive reasoning upon the principles of the Christian faith.
   There is no middle ground here; unless, indeed, in order to avoid
   admitting a limit to all explanation, without, at the same time,
   affirming the opposite, we cover up the difficulty in phrases and
   formulas.

   To all those who consider the Socratic ignorance as folly, and who have
   settled beforehand the highest questions--questions whose right answers
   the great MELANCTHON placed among the beatitudes of the intuition of a
   better life--my dogmatical system must appear weak and unsatisfactory.

   In the reviewer of my work in the Halle Literaturzeitung
   (Church-counsellor SCHWARZ of Jena), I am happy to recognize a worthy
   man, who can acknowledge with congenial spirit, even amid differences
   of opinion, the work of an earnest mind and of serious study--a
   phenomenon every day becoming rarer in this age of selfish and excited
   party spirit. I am gratified, though not surprised, to find, from the
   beautiful notice of my book by Dr. LUeCKE, that that old and worthy
   friend agrees with me in all essential points.

   To find ourselves at one in the recognition of certain truths with men
   whom we must admire and honour on many accounts, ever. though our
   convictions, on important subjects, may be op. posed to each other,
   cannot be otherwise than gratifying. I have no sympathy with that
   narrowness of mind which refuses to do justice to the advocate, however
   able, of opinions which we ourselves must reject. That is an unworthy
   arrogance which, in its zealous defence of a holy cause (a cause which,
   above all others breathes humility, and teaches us more and more that
   all our knowledge is but fragmentary), deems itself authorized to look
   down haughtily upon its opponent, however superior in scientific
   ability; or even seeks to cover the weakness of its own arguments by
   what is intended, according to the sickly taste of the age, to pass for
   wit and humour.

   I cannot, therefore, but rejoice to find that my treatment of the
   subject, with that of others engaged in the same controversy, has
   induced Dr. Strauss to soften down his mythical theory of the life of
   Christ in various points, and to acknowledge the truth of several
   results arrived at by my historical inquiries. In his public
   acknowledgment of this I recognize a candour and love of truth which is
   far more honourable than mere intellectual greatness. At the same time,
   I am grateful to him for the kindness with which he has spoken of me
   personally. A certain degree of harmony, then, may be attained by the
   application of those fundamental principles of historical criticism
   which all sound thinkers must acknowledge to be correct. Yet it is only
   a certain degree; it is easy to be understood how the harmony thus
   reached is interrupted by the wider differences which lie at the
   foundation of the subject.

   The chief points of controversy turn upon essential differences of
   religious thought and feeling. These fundamental differences are
   clearly set forth by Dr. Strauss in the closing dissertation of his
   third edition, and in his essay on the Permanent and the Transitory
   (das Bleibende und Vergaengliche) in Christianity. They are to be found
   chiefly in opposing views of the relation of God to the world, of the
   personality of spirit, of the relation between the here and the
   hereafter, and of the nature of sin. The controversy, to our mind, does
   not lie between an old and a new view of Christianity, but between
   Christianity and a human invention directly opposed to it. It is
   nothing less than a struggle between Christian Theism and a system of
   world- and self-deification. This system (by a relative historical
   necessity) had to unfold itself in theological and philosophical
   rationalism, in order to be overthrown by the power of Christian truth
   in the natural progress of life and thought. Symptoms of it can be
   detected in the sects of the Middle Ages, and in many of the
   manifestations that preceded the Reformation; and it would have broken
   forth at an earlier period, had not the Evangelical enthusiasm of the
   Reformation suppressed it for a time. We may apply here the words of
   MELANCTHON, uttered, with his deep historical insight, in a connexion
   akin to this: Dogmatum semina, quae longe graviora tumultus aliquando
   excitatura fuerant, nisi Lutherus exortus esset ac studia hominum alio
   traxisset (Corpus Reformator., tom. i., f. 1083). Far be it from me to
   judge the heart of any man; in this regard each must be his own
   accuser. A man that knows he serves a truth above the range of the
   human mind knows, at the same time, how far below it he himself stands,
   and how high, on the other hand, others, whose individual culture
   modified by the spirit of the age may have laid them open to error, may
   in heart be raised above their error. Whoever has entered into the
   struggles of his age will be willing, at the same time that he judges
   himself, to be mild in his judgments of others, who, although they may
   have been further carried away by those same struggles, have preserved
   a seemly and becoming moderation. It is the principle alone that is in
   question, and that cannot be judged too strictly.

   I conclude with the golden words of one of the greatest men of modern
   times in testimony of the truth, and in opposition, not only to the
   vain attempt to amalgamate Christianity with the principle of modern
   mis-culture, but also to the spirit which seeks to reduce all minds to
   one mode of doctrinal conception--to the stand-point which strives to
   make the piece-work of human knowledge absolute. "The man who does not
   hold Christ's earthly life, with all its miracles, to be as properly
   and really historical as any event in the sphere of history, and who
   does not receive all points of the Apostolic Creed with the fullest
   conviction, I do not conceive to be a Protestant Christian. And as for
   that Christianity which is such according to the fashion of the modern
   philosophers and Pantheists, without a personal God, without
   immortality, without an individuality of man, without historical
   faith--it may be a very ingenious and subtle philosophy, but it is no
   Christianity at all. Again and again have I said that I know not what
   to do with a metaphysical God; and that I will have no other but the
   God of the Bible, who is heart to heart. Whoever can reconcile the
   metaphysical God with the God of the Bible, may try it, and write
   symbolical books to suit all ages; but he who admits the absolute
   inexplicability of the main point, which can only be approached by
   asymptotes, will never grieve at the impossibility of possessing any
   system of religion." [21] May the man who, with rare world-historical
   insight, was able to explain the signs of the times, be heard of many!

   Berlin, May 6, 1839.
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   [17] The reviewer has been able to point out but one
   oversight--certainly no proof of careless haste in a work on such a
   subject. The mistake was one which might have happened to any one in an
   unlucky moment, which could not fail to be noticed by any one, and
   which, in fact, was noticed by myself as soon as I glanced again at the
   passage.

   [18] The Holy Spirit going out from faith in Christ, who was crucified
   for the sins of men, who truly rose from the dead and ascended to
   heaven; the Holy Spirit, which has proved itself the same since the
   first Christian Pentecost, at all times, among all people, learned or
   unlearned; not the changeful spirit of the times, which corresponds
   more nearly to what is called in the New Testament the spirit of the
   world, and whose manifestations stand opposed to those of the Holy
   Spirit.

   [19] It is a trick of Jesuitism (which is by no means confined to one
   form, but often assumes the shape of the fanaticism of reason or
   understanding) to protest (in form) against the tendencies of the
   journal called the Evangelische Kirchenzeitung, while, in fact, the
   protest is not meant to bear against those tendencies--not against
   antiquated dogmas--but against the unchangeable fundamental truths of
   the Church of Christ; truths which can appear to be antiquated dogmas
   only to the shallow and superficial spirit of the times; a spirit as
   contracted as it is conceited. At the same time, it cannot be denied
   that the one-sidedness, the exaggerations and multiform sickliness of
   the tendencies referred to may have contributed to produce a reaction.
   We say this sine ira et studio, with a full sense of the sincere and
   earnest zeal, and the true Christian endeavours and results (if those
   tendencies which find an organ in the Kirchenzeitung.

   [20] Truth before all things. I would not seem to be what I am not.
   This book, which could only have arisen in this age of strife and
   discord, is itself a mirror of the progress of my mind.

   [21] Leben Niebuhr's, Thl. ii., 344. We cannot be too grateful to the
   publishers for putting forth this treasure of sound feeling and
   profound truth.
     __________________________________________________________________

PREFACE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

   I HAVE sought, in this fourth edition, to improve as far as 1 could,
   both the matter and form of the work; but do not deem it necessary to
   add any thing to what has been said in former prefaces upon my mode of
   treating the subject. I have thought it best, in spite of a desire to
   economize space, to republish those prefaces; adding here and there a
   remark called for by the relations of the times, which I should have
   otherwise put into a separate preface. Although I would willingly have
   buried in oblivion the unpleasant personal allusions (contained in the
   second preface) to a man whom I honour and esteem, I have considered it
   necessary to republish it, in view of the truths which it contains, and
   their bearing upon the times.

   And now let my book, with the blessing of God, enter anew among the
   strifes of the age; standing in the midst of which, I shall not suffer
   myself to be shaken or perplexed by the "ta en meso amphoterothen
   kteinetai."

   A. NEANDER

   Berlin, 3d August, 1845.
     __________________________________________________________________

CONTENTS

   INTRODUCTION.
   CHAPTER I.
   THE IDEA OF THE HISTORY OF CHRIST IN GENERAL.
   S: 1. The Indifference of Criticism rejected. 1
   S: 2. The Truth, that Christ is God-man, presupposed. 2
   S: 3. This Presupposition and the historical Accounts mutually confirm
   and illustrate each other. 3
   CHAPTER II.
   SOURCES OF THE HISTORY OF CHRIST.
   S: 4. Traditional Origin of the Synoptical Gospels. 6
   S: 5. Genuineness of John's Gospel. 6
   S: 6. Results of Criticism. 7
   BOOK I.
   BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS.
   CHAPTER I.
   INTRODUCTION.
   S: 7. Scantiness of our Information in regard to this Period of
   Christ's Life; nothing further essential to the Interests of Religion.
   11
   S: 8. Fundamentally opposite Modes of apprehending the Accounts.
   CHAPTER II.
   THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION.
   S: 9. The miraculous Conception demanded `a priori, and confirmed `a
   posteriori 13
   S: 10. No trace of a Mythus in the Narrative. Such a Myth could not
   have originated among the Jewish People. 13
   S: 11. Objections to the Credibility of the Narrative from the
   subsequent Dispositions of Christ's Relations answered, (1) from the
   Nature of the Case; (2) from the Name Jesus. 16
   S: 12. Analogical Ideas among the Heathen. 17
   CHAPTER III.
   THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST.
   S: 13. The Birth of Christ in its Relations to the Jewish Theocracy. 18
   S: 14. The miraculous Events that accompanied it. 19
   S: 15. Tile Taxing; Jesus born at Bethlehem. 20
   S: 16. The Announcement of the Shepherds. 21
   S: 17. The Sacrifice of "Purification," and the "Ransom of the
   First-born." Their Weight as Proof against the Mythical Theory. 23
   S: 18. Simeon's prophetic Discourse. 24
   S: 19. The longing of the Heathen for a Saviour. The Star of the Wise
   Men. 25
   S: 20. The Massacre of the Innocents, and the Flight into Egypt. 27
   S: 21. The Return to Nazareth. 28
   S: 22. Brothers and Sisters of Jesus; the mention of them in the Gospel
   Narrative a Proof of Credibility. 29
   S: 23. Consciousness of Messiahship in the Mind of Jesus. Christ among
   the Doctors. 30
   BOOK II.
   THE MENTAL CULTURE OF JESUS: HIS LIFE TO THE TIME OF HIS PUBLIC
   MINISTRY.
   CHAPTER I.
   JESUS NOT EDUCATED IN THE THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS OF THE JEWS.
   S: 24. The Pharisees. 35
   S: 25. The Sadducees. 35
   S: 26. The Essenes. 37
   S: 27. The Alexandrian Jews. 39
   S: 28. Affinity of Christianity, as absolute Truth, for the various
   opposing Systems. 39
   S: 29. Christ's Doctrine revealed from Within, not received from
   Without. 39
   S: 30. The popular Sentiment in regard to his Connexion with the
   Schools. 40
   CHAPTER II.
   THE LIFE OF JESUS TO THE OPENING OF HIS PUBLIC MINISTRY.
   S: 31. Consciousness of Messiahship in Christ.. l41
   BOOK III.
   PREPARATIVES TO THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF CHRIST
   PART I.
   OBJECTIVE PREPARATION: MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST
   CHAPTER I.
   RELATION OF THE BAPTIST TO THE JEWS.
   S: 32. How far the Baptist revived the Expectation of a Messiah. 45
   S: 33. Causes of Obscurity in the Accounts left us of the Baptist.
   Sources, viz., the Evangelists, Josephus. 46
   S: 34. The Baptist's mode of Life and Teaching in the Desert. 48
   S: 35. John as Baptist and Preacher of Repentance. 49
   S: 36. Relations of the Pharisees and Sadducees to the Baptist. 50
   S: 37. Relations of the Baptist to the People, and to the narrower
   Circle of his own Disciples. 52
   S: 38. John's Demands upon the People compared with those of Christ.
   His humble Opinion of his own Calling. 52
   CHAPTER II.
   THE RELATION OF THE BAPTIST TO THE MESSIAH.
   S: 39. The Baptist's Explanation of his Relation to Messiah. The
   Baptism by Water and by Fire. 53
   S: 40. The Baptist's Conception of Messiah's Kingdom. 54
   S: 41. The Baptist's Recognition of Jesus as Messiah. 55
     (1) Import of his Baptism of Jesus. 57
     (2) The Continuance of his Ministry. 57
     (3) Possible Wavering in his Convictions. 58
     (4) His Message from Prison. 60
     (5) Conduct of his Disciples towards Jesus. 60
   S: 42. The Phenomena at the Baptism, and their Import. 61
     (1) No ecstatic Vision. 61
     (2) The Ebionitish View, and its Opposite. 62
     (3) Developement of the Notion of Baptism in New Testament. 63
     (4) The Baptism of Christ not a Rite of Purification. 64
     (5) But of Consecration to his Theocratic Reign. 65
     (6) John's previous Acquaintance with Christ. 65
     (7) Explanation of John, i., 31. 66
     (8) The Vision and the Voice: intended exclusively for the Baptist.
   67
   PART II.
   SUBJECTIVE PREPARATION: THE TEMPTATION OF CHRIST.
   CHAPTER I.
   IMPORT OF THE INDIVIDUAL TEMPTATIONS.
   S: 43. The Hunger. 70
   S: 44. The Pinnacle of the Temple. 71
   S: 45. The World-Dominion. 72
   CHAPTER II.
   IMPORT OF THE TEMPTATION AS A WHOLE.
   S: 46. Fundamental Idea. 73
   S: 47. The Temptation not an inward one, but the Work of Satan. 73
   BOOK IV.
   THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO ITS REAL CONNEXION.
   PART I.
   THE PLAN OF CHRIST
   CHAPTER I.
   THE PLAN OF CHRIST IN GENERAL.
   S: 48. Had Christ a conscious Plan? 79
   S: 49. Connexion with the Old Testament Theocracy. 81
   S: 50. Christ's steadfast Consciousness of Messiahship. 81
   S: 51. His Plan underwent no Alterations. 82
   S: 52. Two-fold Bearing of the Kingdom of God. (1) An inward, spiritual
   Power: (2) A world-renewing Power. 86
   CHAPTER II.
   THE PLAN OF CHRIST IN ITS RELATION TO THE OLD TESTAMENT IDEA OF THE
   KINGDOM OF God.
   S: 53. Christ's Observance of the Jewish Worship and Law. 88
   S: 54. His Manifestation greater than the Temple..... 89
   S: 55. The Conversation with the Samaritan Woman. 90
   S: 56. The "Destroying" and "Fulfilling" of the Law. 91
   S: 57. The Interpolation in Luke, vi., 4. (Cod. Cant.). 92
   CHAPTER III.
   NEW FORM OF THE IDEA OF THE PERSON OF THE THEOCRATIC KING.
   S: 58. The Names "Son of God" and "Son of Man" 94
   S: 59. Import of the Title "Son of Man," as used by Christ himself.
   Rejection of Alexandrian and other Analogies. 95
   S: 60. Import of the Title " Son of God" 96
     (1) John's Sense of the Title accordant with that of the other
   Evangelists. 96
     (2) And confirmed by Paul's. 97
   PART II.
   THE MEANS AND INSTRUMENTS OF CHRIST.
   CHAPTER I.
   THE MEANS OF CHRIST IN GENERAL.
   S: 61. Christ a Spiritual Teacher. 9S
   S: 62. Different Theatres of his Work as Teacher. 99
   S: 63. Choice and Training of the Apostles to be subordinate Teachers.
   100
   CHAPTER II.
   CHRIST'S MODE OF TEACHING IN REGARD TO ITS METHOD AND FORM.
   A. ITS GENERAL PRINCIPLES.
   S: 64. His Mode of Teaching adapted to the Stand-point of his Hearers.
   101
   S: 65. His Truth presented in Germ to be developed: Seeds of Thought.
   102
   S: 66. Its Results dependent upon the Susceptibility of the Hearers.
   103
   S: 67. This corresponds to the general Law of Developement of the
   Kingdom of God. 106
   B. CHRIST'S USE OF PARABLES.
   S: 68. Idea of the Parable. Distinction between Parable, Fable, and
   Mythus. 107
   S: 69. Order in which the Parables were delivered. Their Perfection.
   Mode of interpreting them. 108
   S: 70. Christ's Teaching not confined to Parables, but conveyed also in
   longer Discourses. 109
   S: 71. John's Gospel contains chiefly connected and profound
   Discourses, and why? 110
   S: 72. The Parable of the Shepherd, in John, compared with the Parables
   in the other Gospels. 111
   C. CHRIST'S USE OF ACCOMMODATION.
   S: 73. Necessity of Accommodation. 113
   S: 74. Distinction between Material and Formal Accommodation. 114
   S: 75. Christ's Application of Passages from Old Testament. 115
   CHAPTER III.
   CHOICE AND TRAINING OF THE APOSTLES AS TEACHERS.
   S: 76. Christ's Relation to the Twelve. Significance of the Number. The
   Name Apostle. 116
   S: 77. Choice of the Apostles. Of Judas Iscariot. 117
   S: 78. The Apostles uneducated Men. 119
   S: 79. Two Stages in their Dependence upon Christ. 120
   S: 80. Christ's peculiar Method of Training the Apostles. 121
   CHAPTER IV.
   THE CHURCH AND BAPTISM.
   S: 81. Founding of the Church. Its Objects. 122
   S: 82. Name of the Church. Its Form traced back to Christ. 123
   S: 83. Later Institution of Baptism as an initiatory Rite. 126
   CHAPTER V.
   THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST: THEIR CHARACTER AND OBJECTS.
   A. THE OBJECTIVE CHARACTER OF MIRACLES.
   S: 84. Connexion of Christ's Miracles with his Mode of Teaching. 127
   S: 85. Negative Element. 127
   S: 86. Positive Element. Teleological Object. 129
   S: 87. Relation of Miracles to the Course of Nature. 130
   S: 88. Relation of the individual Miracles to the highest Miracle,
   viz., the Manifestation of Christ. 131
   S: 89. Relation of Miracles to History. 132
   B. THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST AS VIEWED BY HIS CONTEMPORARIES.
   S: 90. Miracles deemed an essential Sign of Messiahship. 132
   C. CHRIST'S OWN ESTIMATE OF HIS MIRACLES.
   S: 91. Apparent Discrepancies: Mode of removing them. 134
     (1) Two-fold Object of the Miracles. 134
     (2) A Susceptibility for Impression presupposed. 135
   S: 92. His Explanation of the "Sign of the Prophet Jonah" 136
   S: 93. His Declaration, "Destroy this Temple," &c. 137
   S: 94. His Distinction between the Material and Formal in the Miracles.
   137
   S: 95. His Appeals to Miracles as Testimony. Three different Stages of
   Faith. 138
   S: 96. The Communication of the Divine Life the highest Miracle. 140
   CHAPTER VI.
   THE MIRACLES OF CHRIST CONSIDERED IN REGARD TO SUPERNATURAL AGENCY.
   S: 97. Transition from the Natural to the Supernatural in the Miracles.
   140
   A. MIRACLES WROUGHT UPON HUMAN NATURE.
   I. The Healing of Diseases.
   S: 98. Use of Spiritual Agencies. Faith demanded for the Cure. 141
   S: 99. Use of Physical Agencies. 142
   S: 100. Relation between Sin and Physical Evil. Jewish Idea of Punitive
   Justice. Christ's Doctrine on the Subject. 143
   II. Demoniacal Possession.
   S: 101. Two extreme Theories Analogous Phenomena. 145
   S: 102. Connexion of the Phenomena with the State of the Times. 146
   S: 103. Accommodation of the two extreme Theories. 147
   S: 104. Christ's Explanations of Demonism purely Spiritual. His
   Accommodation to the Conceptions of the Demoniacs. 149
   S: 105. Differences between Christ's Cures of Demoniacs and the
   Operations of the Jewish Exorcists. 150
   III. The Raising of the Dead.
   S: 106. Different Views on these Miracles. 151
   B. MIRACLES WROUGHT UPON MATERIAL NATURE.
   S: 107. Most obvious Manifestations of Supernatural Power. 152
   BOOK V.
   THE PUBLIC MINISTRY OF CHRIST ACCORDING TO ITS CHRONOLOGICAL CONNEXION.
   INTRODUCTION.
   ON THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE SYNOPTICAL GOSPELS AND JOHN.
   S: 108. Differences in Chronology. 155
   S: 109. Differences as to the Theatre of Christ's Labours. 155
   S: 110. Proof that Christ frequently exercised his Ministry in Judea
   and Jerusalem. 156
   PART I.
   FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF CHRIST'S PUBLIC MINISTRY TO THE TRIUMPHAL
   ENTRY.
   CHAPTER I.
   JESUS AND JOHN THE BAPTIST. THE FIRST DISCIPLES.
   S: 111. Message of the Sanhedrim to John at Bethabara. 159
   S: 112. John points to Jesus as the Suffering Messiah, and testifies to
   his Higher Dignity. 160
   S: 113. John and Andrew, Disciples of the Baptist, attach themselves to
   Jesus. Gradual Attraction of others. 162
   CHAPTER II.
   FIRST PUBLIC TEACHING OF CHRIST. CAPERNAUM.
   S: 114. Miraculous Draught of Fishes. Effect on Peter, Andrew, James,
   and John. 162
   S: 115. The Calling of Nathanael. 164
   CHAPTER III.
   CHRIST AT CANA.
   S: 116. The Water changed into Wine. Character and Import of the
   Miracle. 166
   CHAPTER IV.
   FIRST JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM TO ATTEND THE FEAST OF PASSOVER.
   S: 117. The Cleansing of the Temple. 168
   S: 118. The Saying of Christ, "Destroy this Temple," &c. 170
   S: 119. Christ and Nicodemus. 173
     (1) Dispositions of the Pharisees and People: of Nicodemus. 173
     (2) The New Birth. 174
     (3) The Birth of "Water and the Spirit" 175
     (4) Christ intimates his own Sufferings. 177
   CHAPTER V.
   JESUS AT AENON, NEAR SALIM.
   S: 120. Jealousy of John's Disciples. Final Testimony of the Baptist.
   His Imprisonment. 178
   CHAPTER VI.
   RETURN THROUGH SAMARIA TO GALILEE: THE SAMARITAN WOMAN.
   S: 121. First Impressions of the Samaritan Woman. 180
   S: 122. Christ's Decision between the Worship of the Jews and that of
   the Samaritans. 181
   S: 123. The Worship of God in "Spirit and in Truth" 182
   S: 124. Bearing of the Spiritual Worship upon Practical Life. 183
   S: 125. Christ Glances at the future Progress of his Kingdom, and at
   his own Death. 184
   S: 126. Subsequent State of the Samaritans. 185
   CHAPTER VII.
   CHRIST'S FIRST GENERAL MINISTRY IN GALILEE.
   S: 127. Christ heals the Nobleman's Son. Chooses Capernaum as his
   Abode. 185
   S: 128. Christ appears in the Synagogue at Nazareth. His Life is
   Endangered 186
   S: 129. Parable of the Sower. Christ's Explanation of it. 188
   S: 130. Parable of the Draw-net: of the Wheat and Tares. 190
   S: 131. Christ subdues the Storm. Character of the Miracle. Its moral
   Import. 191
   S: 132. The Gadarene Demoniac. 192
   S: 133. Return to the west Side of the Sea. Healing of the Issue of
   Blood. 195
   S: 134. Raising of Jairus's Daughter, and of the Widow's Son at Nain.
   196
   S: 135. Doubts of John Baptist in Prison. His Message. Christ's
   Testimony concerning Him. Relation of Old and New Dispensations. 198
   S: 136. Relation of the People to the Baptist and to Christ. The Easy
   Yoke and the Light Burden. Jewish Legalism contrasted with Christian
   Liberty. 201
   S: 137. Christ's Conversation with the Pharisees in regard to his
   Disciples' Mode of Life. The Morals of Fasting. 203
   S: 138. Parable of the New Patch on the Old Garment: of the New Wine in
   Old Bottles. 205
   S: 139. Forms of Prayer. The Lord's Prayer. 208
   S: 140. Christ and the Magdalen at Simon's House. Reciprocal Action of
   Love and Faith in the Forgiveness of Sins. 211
   S: 141. Call of Matthew the Publican. The Feast. 213
   S: 142. Christ's different Modes of Reply to those who questioned his
   Conduct in consorting with Sinners. Parable of the Prodigal Son: of the
   Pharisee and Publican. 214
   CHAPTER VIII.
   CHRIST'S SECOND JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
   S: 143. The Miracle of the Pool of Bethesda. The Words of Christ in the
   Temple to the Man healed. 217
   S: 144. Christ accused of Sabbath-breaking and Blasphemy. His Discourse
   in Vindication. 218
   S: 145. The Discourse continued: Christ intimates his greater Works.
   His Judgment, and the Resurrection. 219
   S: 146. The Discourse continued: Christ Appeals to the Testimony of his
   Works. 220
   S: 147. The Discourse continued: Incapacity of the Jews to Understand
   the Testimony of God in the Scriptures. 221
   CHAPTER IX.
   CHRIST'S SECOND COURSE OF EXTENDED LABOUR IN GALILEE.
   The Sermon on the Mount.
   Introduction.
   S: 148. (1) Place and Circumstances. 223
     (2) Subject-matter of the Sermon; viz., the Kingdom of God as the Aim
   of the Old Dispensation. 223
     (3) Two Editions of the Sermon: Matthew's and Luke's. 224
     (4) Its Pervading Rebuke of Carnal Conceptions of the Messiahship.
   224
   I. The Beatitudes.
   S: 149. Moral Requisites for Entering the Kingdom of God. 224
     (1) Poverty of Spirit. 224
     (2) Meekness. 225
     (3) Hungering and Thirsting after Righteousness. 226
   S: 150. Moral Result of Entering the Kingdom. "The Pure in Heart see
   God" 226
   S: 151. Moral Relations of the Members of the Kingdom to their
   Fellow-men; viz., they are "Peace-makers," and "Persecuted" 227
   II. Influence of the Members of the Kingdom of God in Renewing the
   World.
   S: 152. The Disciples of Christ the "Light" and "Salt" of the Earth.
   228
   III. The Law of Christian Life the Fufilment of the Old Law.
   S: 153. Fulfilling the Law and the Prophets. 229
   S: 154. Fulfilling the Law in the Higher Sense. General Contrast
   between the Juridical and Moral Stand-points. 231
   S: 155. Fulfilling the Law in the Higher Sense. Special Examples, viz.,
   (1.) Murder; (2.) Adultery; (3.) Divorce; (4.) Perjury; (5.) Revenge;
   (6.) National Exclusiveness. 232
   IV. True Religion contrasted with the Mock Piety of the Pharisees.
   S: 156. (1.) Alms, Prayer, and Fasting; (2.) Rigid Judgment of Self,
   Mild Judgment of others; (3.) Test of Sincerity. 235
   V. Warning to the Children of the Kingdom.
   S: 157. Exhortation to Self-denial. Warning against Seducers. 236
   VI. True and False Disciples Contrasted.
   S: 158. Test of Discipleship. 237
   S: 159. Healing of the Leper on the Way to Capernaum. 237
   S: 160. Healing of the Centurion's Slave at Capernaum. 238
   S: 161. Healing of the Deaf and Dumb Demoniac. Charge of a League with
   Beelzebub refuted. 239
   S: 162. Conjurations of the Jewish Exorcists. 241
   S: 163. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, and against the Son of Man.
   243
   S: 164. Purpose of Christ's Relatives to confine him as a Lunatic. 244
   S: 165. Demand for a Sign answered by "the Sign of the Prophet Jonah"
   245
   S: 166. Discourse at a Feast against the Pharisees and Lawyers. 246
   S: 167. The Disciples Warned against the Pharisees. Power of Truth. 248
   S: 168. Christ Heals a Paralytic at Capernaum. Charge of Blasphemy
   Repelled. 250
   S: 169. Withered Hand healed on the Sabbath. Objections anticipated.
   252
   S: 170. Infirm Woman healed on the Sabbath. Pharisees disconcerted. 253
   S: 171. Precedence at Feasts. Parable of the Great Supper. 254
   S: 172. The Pharisees attack the Disciples for plucking Corn on the
   Sabbath. Christ defends them. 255
   S: 173. Discourse against the merely outward Cleanliness of the
   Pharisees. 256
   S: 174. Trial Mission of the Apostles in Galilee. 257
     (1) Objects of the Mission. Powers of the Missionaries. 257
     (2) Instructions to the Missionaries. Reasons for the Exclusion of
   Samaritans and Heathen. 258
     (3) Instructions continued: the Apostles to rely on Providence. 260
   S: 175. Various Opinions entertained of Jesus. 260
   S: 176. Return of the Apostles. Feeding of the Five Thousand. 261
   S: 177. Christ Walks upon the Waters. 264
   S: 178. Christ in the Synagogue at Capernaum. 265
     (1) Carnal Mind of the Multitude rebuked. 265
     (2) Christ is the "Bread of Life" 266
     (3) Eating, Christ's Flesh and Drinking his Blood. 267
     (4) Sifting of the Apostles. Confession of Peter. 269
   CHAPTER X.
   JESUS IN NORTH GALILEE, AND ON THE WAY TO CESAREA PHILIPPI.
   S: 179. Reasons of the Journey. 270
   S: 180. Blind Man cured at Bethsaida. Peter's Second Confession. Power
   of the Keys. 270
   S: 181. The Disciples forbidden to reveal Christ's Messianic Dignity.
   Peter's Weakness rebuked. 272
   S: 182. Monitions to the Apostles. 273
     (1) Wisdom of Serpents and Harmlessness of Doves. 273
     (2) Parable of the Unjust Steward. 274
     (3) "Friends of the Mammon of Unrighteousness" 275
   S: 183. Caution against imprudent Zeal. 277
   S: 184. The Syro-Phoenician Woman. (1.) Her Prayer; (2.) Her Repulse;
   (3.) Her persevering Faith; (4.) The Result. 279
   S: 185. The Transfiguration. 281
   S: 186. Elias a Forerunner of Messiah. 283
   S: 187. Cure of a Demoniac, after vain Attempts of the Disciples. 283
   S: 188. The Disciples' Failure explained. The Power of Faith. Prayer
   and Fasting. 285
   S: 189. Return to Capernaum. Dispute for Precedence. The Child a
   Pattern. Acting in the Name of Christ. 286
   S: 190. Christ's two Sayings, "He that is not against you is for you;"
   and, "He that is not for me is against me" 288
   S: 191. The Stater in the Fish 290
   CHAPTER XI.
   CHRIST'S JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM TO ATTEND THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES.
   S: 192. His Precautions against the Sanhedrim. 291
   S: 193. Christ Explains the Nature of his Teaching as Divine
   Revelation. 292
   S: 194. The Pharisees attempt to arrest Him. 293
   S: 195. Christ a "Spring of Living Water," and the "Light of the
   World." Validity of his Testimony of Himself. 294
   S: 196. Connexion between Steadfastness, Truth, and Freedom. 296
   S: 197. Vain Attempts of the Sanhedrim. First Decision against Christ.
   297
   S: 198. Man born Blind healed on the Sabbath. Individual Sufferings not
   to be judged a Punishment for Sin. 298
   S: 199. Attempts of the Sanhedrim to corrupt the restored Man. "The
   Sight of the Blind, and the Blindness of the Seeing." 300
   S: 200. Parable of the Good Shepherd. The Parable extended. 301
   S: 201. Divisions among the People. Christ returns to Galilee. 302
   CHAPTER XII.
   RETURN FROM CAPERNAUM TO JERUSALEM THROUGH SAMARIA.
   S: 202. Reasons for the Journey through Samaria. 303
   S: 203. Mission of the Seventy. Significance of the Number. 304
   S: 204. Instructions to the Seventy. The Wo to the Unbelieving Cities.
   305
   S: 205. Exultation of the Disciples. Christ warns them against Vanity.
   306
   S: 206. The Kingdom revealed to Babes. Blessedness of the Disciples in
   beholding it. 307
   S: 207. Requisites of Discipleship. Self-Denial, Submission, taking up
   the Cross. 309
   S: 208. Self-Denial further illustrated: Parables of the building of
   the Tower, of the Warring King, of the Sacrificial Salt, of the
   Treasure hid in a Field, of the Pearl of Great Price. 311
   S: 209. Christ refuses to interfere in Civil Disputes. His Decision in
   the Case of the Adulteress. 312
   S: 210. Christ Intimates the Future. 314
   S: 211. Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven. 314
   S: 212. The Fire to be Kindled. The Baptism of Sufferings. Christianity
   not Peace, but a Sword. 315
   S: 213. The Kingdom of God cometh not with Observation. 317
   S: 214. Christ's personal Return and the Day of Judgment. 317
   S: 215. Exhortation to Watch for Christ's Coming. The importunate Widow
   318
   S: 216. Call to entire Devotion. The Straight Gate. 319
   S: 217. The Signs of the Times. 320
   S: 218. The contracted Jewish Theocracy Rejected. 321
   S: 219. Parable of Dives and Lazarus. 321
   S: 220. Persecutions of Herod Antipas. 323
   S: 221. Christ Speaks of his Death. 323
   S: 222. Healing of the Ten Lepers. Ingratitude of the Nine. Gratitude
   of tie one Samaritan. 324
   CHAPTER XIII.
   CHRIST'S STAY AT JERUSALEM DURING THE FEAST OF DEDICATION.
   S: 223. His Statement of the Proofs of his Messiahship. His Oneness
   with the Father. He defends his Words from the Old Testament. 326
   CHAPTER XIV.
   CHRIST IN PERAEA (BETHABARA).
   S: 224. His Decision on the Question of Divorce. Celibacy. 328
   S: 225. The Blessing of Little Children. 331
   S: 226. Conversation with the rich Ruler of the Synagogue. 332
   S: 227. The Dangers of Wealth. 334
   S: 228. The Reign of Believers with Christ. 335
   CHAPTER XV.
   CHRIST IN BETHANY.
   S: 229. Family of Lazarus. Martha and Mary. Their different Tendencies.
   336
   S: 230. Sickness of Lazarus. Christ's Reply, to the Messengers. 337
   S: 231. Death of Lazarus. Christ's Conversation with the Disciples in
   regard to it. 338
   S: 232. Death of Lazarus. Christ's Conversation with Martha; with Mary.
   340
   S: 233. Resurrection of Lazarus. Christ's Prayer. 342
   S: 234. Measures of the Sanhedrim. 343
   CHAPTER XVI.
   CHRIST IN EPHRAIM.
   S: 235. The Necessity for his Death. 344
   CHAPTER XVII.
   CHRIST'S LAST PASSOVER JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM.
   S: 236. Journey to Jericho. Blind Bartimeus. 345
   S: 237. Christ Lodges with Zaccheus. 346
   S: 238. The Request of Salome. Ambition of the Disciples rebuked. 347
   S: 239. Parable of the Pounds. 348
   S: 240. Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. 349
   S: 241. Passion for Rewards rebuked. 350
   S: 242. Christ Anointed by Mary in Bethany. 351
   PART II.
   FROM THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY TO THE ASCENSION.
   CHAPTER I.
   FROM THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY TO THE LAST SUPPER
   S: 243. The Entry into Jerusalem. 354
   S: 244. Sadness of Christ at Sight of the City. 356
   S: 245. The Fig-tree Cursed. Parable of the Fig-tree. 357
   S: 246. Machinations of the Pharisees. 359
   S: 247. Union of the Pharisees and Herodians. Tribute to Caesar. 360
   S: 248. Christ's Reply to the Pharisees about the Resurrection. 361
   S: 249. His Exposition of the First and Great Commandment. 362
   S: 250. Parable of the Good Samaritan. 363
   S: 251. Christ's Interpretation of Psalm cx., 1. 364
   S: 252. The Widow's Mite. 366
   S: 253. Christ predicts the Divine Judgments upon Jerusalem. 366
   S: 254. He predicts the Coming of the Kingdom, and the Second Advent.
   367
   S: 255. Parable of the Marriage Feast of the King's Son. 369
   S: 256. Parable of the wicked Vine-dressers. 371
   S: 257. Parable of the Talents compared with that of the Pounds. 372
   S: 258. Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. 373
   S: 259. Christ teaches that Faith must prove itself by Works. 373
   S: 260. The Heathens with Christ. 375
   S: 261. Christ's Struggles of Soul. The Voice from Heaven. 376
   S: 262. Christ closes his Public Ministry. 378
   S: 263. Machinations of his Enemies. 378
   S: 264. Motives of Judas in Betraying Christ. 379
     (1) Avarice? 380
     (2) False Views of Christ's Messiahship? 381
     (3) Gradually developed Hostility? 383
   CHAPTER II.
   THE LAST SUPPER.
   S: 265. Object of Christ in the Last Supper. 384
   S: 266. Christ's washing of the Disciples' Feet. 386
   S: 267. His Words with, and concerning, his Betrayer. 387
   S: 268. Institution of the Eucharist. 388
   CHAPTER III.
   CHRIST'S LAST DISCOURSES AT TABLE WITH THE DISCIPLES.
   S: 269. The New Commandment. 391
   S: 270. The Request of Peter: Christ predicts his Denial. 392
   S: 271. He predicts Danger to his Disciples. 392
   S: 272. He consoles the Disciples. 394
   S: 273. Conversation with Philip and Thomas. 395
   S: 274. Of Prayer in the Name of Christ. He promises the Comforter. 397
   S: 275. Christ's Salutation of "Peace." Its Import. 398
   CHAPTER IV.
   DISCOURSES OF CHRIST AFTER RISING FROM TABLE.
   S: 276. Similitude of the Vine and Branches. The Law of Love. 399
   S: 277. Final Promise of the Holy Ghost. 400
   S: 278. Christ's Prayer as High-priest. 402
   CHAPTER V.
   GETHSEMANE.
   S: 279. Comparison of John's Gospel with the Synoptical Gospels. 404
   S: 280. The Agony in the Garden. 407
   S: 281. The Arrest. Peter's Haste rebuked. 408
   CHAPTER VI.
   THE TRIAL AND CONDEMNATION.
   S: 282. Night. Examination before Annas 410
   S: 283. Morning. Examination before Caiaphas. 411
   S: 284. Double-dealing of the Sanhedrim. 412
   S: 285. Christ before Pilate. His Kingdom not of this World. 413
   S: 286. Christ sent to Herod. 415
   S: 287. Pilate's Fruitless Efforts to save Christ. Dream of Pilate's
   Wife. 415
   S: 288. Last Conversation with Pilate. The Sentence. 416
   S: 289. Christ led to Calvary. Simon of Cyrene. 417
   CHAPTER VII.
   THE CRUCIFIXION.
   S: 290. Details of the Crucifixion. 418
   S: 291. Christ prays for his Enemies. The two Thieves. 419
   S: 292. Christ's Exclamation, Psalm xxii. His last Words. 420
   S: 293. Phenomena accompanying the Death of Christ. 421
   CHAPTER VIII.
   THE RESURRECTION.
   S: 294. Did Christ predict his Resurrection? 422
   S: 295. Sudden Transition of the Apostles from Dejection to Joy.
   Argument from this. 423
   S: 296. Was the Reappearance of Christ a Vision? 424
   S: 297. Was Christ's a real Death? 425
   S: 298. The Resurrection intended only for Believers. 428
   S: 299. The Women, Peter, and John at the Grave. 428
   S: 300. Christ appears to the Women to Mary; to the two Disciples on
   the Way to Emmaus. 429
   S: 301. Christ appears to Peter; to all the Apostles except Thomas. 431
   S: 302. Christ appears to five hundred Believers; to James; to all the
   Apostles. Conversation with Thomas. 432
   S: 303. Christ appears in Galilee to the Seven on Genesareth. 434
   S: 304. Christ appears in Galilee for the last Time. 435
   S: 305. Christ appears for the last Time near Jerusalem. 435
   CHAPTER IX.
   THE ASCENSION.
   S: 306. Connexion of the Ascension with the Resurrection. 436
   S: 307. The Ascension necessary for the Conviction of the Apostles. 437
   S: 308. Connexion of all the supernatural Facts in Christ's
   Manifestation. 438
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

                                 INTRODUCTION.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

  CHAPTER I.

  THE IDEA OF THE HISTORY OF CHRIST IN GENERAL.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 1. The Indifference of Criticism rejected.

   IT has been often said that, in order to true inquiry, we must take
   nothing for granted. [22] Of late this statement has been reiterated
   anew, with special reference to the exposition of the Life of Christ.
   At the outset of our work we refuse to meet such a demand. To comply
   with it is impracticable; the very attempt contradicts the sacred laws
   of our being. We cannot entirely free ourselves from presuppositions,
   which are born with our nature, and which attach to the fixed course of
   progress in which we ourselves are involved. They control our
   consciousness, whether we will or no; and the supposed freedom from
   them is, in fact, nothing else but the exchange of one set for another.
   Some of these prepossessions, springing from a higher necessity,
   founded in the normal order of the universe, and derived from the
   eternal laws [23] of the Creator, constitute the very ground and
   support of our nature. From such we must not free ourselves.

   But we are ever in peril of exchanging these legitimate sovereigns of
   our spiritual being, against which nothing but arbitrary will can
   rebel, for the prepossessions of a self-created or traditional
   prejudice, which have no other than an arbitrary origin, and which rule
   by no better title than usurpation. But for this peril, the way of the
   science of life would be as safe as the way of life itself. Life moves
   on in the midst of such diversified and ever-commingling
   prepossessions, especially in our own time, which, torn by
   contrarieties (contrarieties, however, which subserve a higher wisdom
   by balancing each other), forms the period of transition to a new and
   better creation. On the one hand we behold efforts to bring the human
   mind again into bondage to the host of arbitrary prejudices which had
   long enough enslaved it; and on the other, we see a justifiable protest
   against these prejudices running into the extreme of rejecting even
   those holy prepossessions which ought to rule our spiritual being, and
   which alone can offer it true freedom.

   What, then, is the duty of Science? Must she dismiss all
   prepossessions, and work out her task by unassisted thought? Far from
   it. From nothing nothing comes; the Father of spirits alone is a
   Creator. Empty indeed is that enthusiasm which seeks only the mere
   sound of truth--abstract, formal truth. [24] This absolute abnegation
   of all prepossessions would free the soul from those holy ties by which
   alone it can connect itself with its source--the source of all
   truth--and comprehend it by means of its revelations in humanity. The
   created spirit cannot deny its dependence upon God, the only creative
   Spirit; and it is its obvious destination to apprehend the revelation
   of God in creation, in nature, and in history. So, the work of science
   can only be to distinguish the prepossessions which an inward necessity
   constrains us to recognize, from such as are purely voluntary. Indeed,
   the healthfulness of our spiritual life depends upon our ridding
   ourselves of the latter, and, at the same time, yielding in lowliness
   and singleness of heart to the former, as the law of the Creator, as
   the means by which light from heaven may be conveyed to our minds. All
   that the intellect has to do in regard to these last is to demonstrate
   their necessity, and to show that our being contradicts itself in
   rebelling against them.
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   [22] [Voraussetzungslosigkeit: "freedom from presuppositions."]

   [23] Of which, says Sophocles, beautifully,

   hon olumpos
   pater monos, oude nin thnata
   phuois aneron etikten, oude`
   ma'n pote la'tha katakoima'sei
   me'gas en tou'tois theo`s
   ou`de` gera'skei.

   [24] It is one of Pascal's best thoughts, that "On se fait une idole de
   la verite meme; car la verite hors de la charite n'est pas Dieu; c'est
   son image, et une idole, qu'il ne faut point aimer, ni adorer, et
   encore moins faut-il aimer ou adorer son contraire, qui est le men
   songe."
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 2. The Truth, that Christ is God-MAN, presupposed.

   What, then, is the special presupposition with which we must approach
   the contemplation of the Life of Christ? It is one on which hangs the
   very being of the Christian as such; the existence of the Christian
   Church, and the nature of Christian consciousness. [25] It is one at
   whose touch of power the dry bones of the old world sprung up in all
   the vigour of a new creation. It gave birth to all that culture (the
   modern as distinguished from the ancient) from which the Germanic
   nations received their peculiar intellectual life, and from which the
   emancipation of the mind, grown too strong for its bonds, was developed
   in the Reformation. It is the very root and ground of our modern
   civilization; and the latter, even in its attempts to separate from
   this root, must rest upon it: indeed, should such attempts succeed, it
   must dissolve into its original elements, and assume an entirely new
   form. It is, in a word, the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God
   in a sense which cannot be predicated of any human being,--the perfect
   image of the personal God in the form of that humanity that was
   estranged from him; that in him the source of the Divine life itself in
   humanity appeared; that by him the idea of humanity was realized
     __________________________________________________________________

   [25] It was one of the epoch-making indications of SCHLEIERMACHER'S
   influence upon theology that he succeeded in stamping this phrase
   (Christian consciousness) as current, with the meaning that he assigned
   to it, in an age which (although some men, blind to the lessons of
   history, look back upon it longingly as the golden age of our nation)
   was guided only by the naked understanding, and destitute at once of
   faith and of true historical insight. He used it to denote Christianity
   as an undeniable. self-revealing power, entering into the life of
   humanity; an immediate, internal power in the spiritual world, from
   which went forth, and is ever going forth, the regeneration of the life
   of man, and which produces phenomena which can be explained in no other
   way. This phrase, and the thought which it expresses, are able to
   maintain their ground against that formalism of thought which is so
   hostile to every thing immediate, and wishes to substitute empty
   abstractions for the living powers that move the human race, as well as
   against that low and mean view of the world (impertinently obtrusive as
   it has been of late) which owns no power above those which build
   rail-ways and set steam-engines agoing. As the intuitive consciousness
   of God indicates to the human mind the existence, the omnipresent power
   and the self-revelation of a personal Deity, so does this "Christian
   consciousness" testify that Christ lived, and that he continues, by his
   Spirit, to operate upon mankind. The works of creation only reveal God
   to him who already has a consciousness of the Divine existence; for he
   who has not God within can find him nowhere. So it is only he who has a
   "Christian consciousness" that can recognize CHRIST in the fragments of
   tradition and the manifestations of history, or that can comprehend the
   history of CHRIST and his Church.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 3. This presupposed Truth and the Historical Accounts mutually
   confirm and illustrate each other.

   But as man's higher nature can only reach its true destiny in Christian
   consciousness, from which the great First Truth just mentioned is
   inseparable, it is necessary that this first truth should be shown to
   be essential also to the general consciousness of man. That it is so
   can be proved from its harmony with the universal and essential
   prepossessions of human nature; but the exhibition of this proof
   belongs more properly to the department of Apologetics. It is shown to
   be a necessary and not a voluntary prepossession; first, because it
   satisfies a fundamental want of human nature, a want created by
   history, and foreshadowing its own fulfilment; and, secondly, because
   this view of Christ's person arose from the direct impression which his
   appearance among men made upon the eye-witnesses, and, through them,
   upon the whole human race. This image of Christ, which has always
   propagated itself in the consciousness of the Christian Church,
   originated in, and ever points back to, the revelation of Christ
   himself, without which, indeed, it could never have arisen. As man's
   limited intellect could never, without the aid of revelation, have
   originated the idea of God, so the image of CHRIST, of which we have
   spoken, could never have sprung from the consciousness of sinful
   humanity, but must be regarded as the reflection of the actual life of
   such a CHRIST. It is Christ's self-revelation, made, through all
   generations, in the fragments of his history that remain, and in the
   workings of his Spirit which inspires these fragments, and enables us
   to recognize in them one complete whole. [26] It is a stream of the
   Divine Life which has spread abroad through all ages since the
   establishment of the Christian Church. And the peculiar mark of this
   Divine Life is precisely this, that it is grounded in a consciousness
   of absolute dependence upon Christ; that it is nothing else but a
   constant renewing after the image of Christ. But as we often find this
   stream darkened and troubled, we are necessarily led back to HIM, the
   well-spring from whom the full-flowing fountain of Divine Life gushes
   forth in all its purity; the Son of God, and the Redeemer of men. He
   who could with Divine confidence present himself as such to mankind,
   and call all men to come unto him to satisfy the cravings of their
   higher nature, must have had within himself the authority of an
   infallible consciousness.

   Now if we can show that the Life of Christ, without the aid of the
   First Truth which forms the ground of our conception of it, must be
   unintelligible, while, on the contrary, with its assistance, we can
   frame the Life into a harmonious whole, then its claims will be
   established even in the exposition of the Life itself. [27] Nay, the
   idea of Christ which has come down to us through Christian
   consciousness (the chief element of which is the impress which He
   himself left upon the souls of the Apostles) will, by comparison with
   the living manifestation (i. e., of Christ in his life), be more and
   more distinctly defined and developed in its separate features, and
   more and more freed from foreign elements.

   So it is in considering the life of any man who has materially and
   beneficially affected the progress of the race, especially if the
   results of his labours have touched upon our own interests. We form in
   advance some idea of such a man, and are not disposed, from any
   doubtful acts of his that may be laid before us, to change our
   preconceived notion for an opposite one.

   But while this preconceived idea may be our guide in studying the life
   of such a man, the study itself will contribute to enlarge and rectify
   the individual lineaments of the picture. But we must not lose sight of
   one important difference. In all other men there is a contrast between
   the ideal and the phenomenal. While in many of their traits we may
   discern the Divine principle which forms their individuality, the
   archetype of their manifestation in time, in others we see opposing
   elements, which go to make a mere caricature of that principle. We can
   obtain no clear view of the aim of the life of such men, unless we can
   seize upon the higher element which forms the individual character;
   just as an artist might depict accurately a man's organic features,
   and, for want of the peculiar intellectual expression, fail completely
   in giving the entire living physiognomy. But without a conception of
   the living whole we could not detect the separate features which mar
   the harmony of the picture. On the other side, again, if we contemplate
   the whole apart from the individual features, we shall only form an
   arbitrary ideal, not at all corresponding to the reality.

   In CHRIST, however, the ideal and the phenomenal never contradict each
   other. Al1 depends upon our viewing rightly together the separate
   features in their connexion with the higher unity of the whole. We
   presuppose this view of the whole, in order to a just conception of the
   parts, and to avoid regarding any necessary feature in the light of a
   caricature. This can the more easily be done, as the phenomena which we
   are here to contemplate stand alone, and can be compared with no other.
   And as, even in studying the life of an eminent man, we must commune
   with his spirit in order to obtain a complete view of his being, so we
   must yield ourselves up to the Spirit of Christ whom we acknowledge and
   adore as exalted above us, that He him self may show us his Divine
   image in the mirror of his Life, and teach us how to distinguish all
   prejudices of our own creating from the necessary laws of our being.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [26] Strauss, in his "Leben Jesu" (part ii., p. 719), has drawn a just
   distinction between the abstract idea of human perfection which is
   involved in our consciousness of sinfulness, and seems inseparable from
   our natural tendency to the idea of God, and the "actual (concrete)
   working out of the picture, with the traits of individual reality." In
   relation to this last he says, "Such a faultless picture could not be
   exhibited by a sinful man in a sinful age; but," adds he, "such an age,
   itself not free from these defects, would not be conscious of them; and
   if the picture is only sketched, and stands in need of much
   illustration, it may, even in a later and more clear-sighted age,
   willing to afford favorable illustrations, be regarded as faultless."
   In opposition to this, we have to say that the picture of the Life of
   Christ which has been handed down to us does not exhibit the spirit of
   that age, but a far higher Spirit, which, manifesting itself in the
   lineaments of the picture, exerted a regenerating influence not only in
   that age, but on all succeeding generations. The image of human
   perfection, concretely presented in the Life of Christ, stands in
   manifold contradiction to the tendencies of humanity in that period; no
   one of them, no combination of them, dead, as they were, could account
   for it. Whence, then, in that impure age, came such a picture (a
   picture which the age itself could not completely understand, of which
   the age could only now and then seize a congenial trait to make a
   caricature of), the contemplating of which raised the human race of
   that and following ages to a new developement of spiritual life? The
   study of this picture has given a new view of the destiny of humanity;
   a new conception of what the ideal of human virtue should be, and a new
   theory of morals: all which vanish, however, when we withdraw our gaze
   from its lineaments. The spirit of ethics, which had taken to itself
   only certain features of the picture broken from their connexion with
   the whole, and was corrupted by foreign elements that had bound
   themselves up with the Christian consciousness, was purified again in
   contemplating the unmutilated historical Prototype in the days of the
   Reformation. And whenever the spirit of the age cuts itself loose,
   either in the popular turn of thought or in the schools of philosophy,
   from this historical relation, it estranges itself also from the ethics
   of Christianity, and sets up a new and different ideal of perfection
   from that which the revelation of Christ has grounded in the
   consciousness of man. So much for what Strauss, l. c., and Baur
   (Gnosis, p. 655), have said against Schleiermacher.

   [27] Ta`s upothe'seis poiou'menos ouk archa`s, alla to onti upotheseis,
   hoion epitha'seis te kai horma's, as Plato says, in a different
   connexion, at the end of the sixth book of the Republic.
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

  CHAPTER II.

  SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF CHRIST.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 4. Traditional Origin of the Synoptical Gospels.

   IN using the authorities, I shall follow the general rules of
   historical criticism, and seek the truth by comparing the individual
   accounts with themselves and with each other. A correct judgment of the
   nature of the authorities may be derived from thus examining them in
   detail.

   The settled result of my investigations on this subject may be stated
   as follows: The historical remains, as well as the nature of the case,
   show that the writing of the Gospel history did not originate in any
   design to give a connected account of the life and public ministry of
   Christ as a whole, but rather grew out of a series of traditional
   accounts of separate scenes in his history. These accounts were partly
   transmitted by word of mouth, and partly laid down in written memoirs.
   The commission of the whole to writing naturally soon followed the
   spread of Christianity among the Greeks, a people much accustomed to
   writing. There can be no doubt that Paul made use of written memoirs of
   the life of Christ. [28] The objections of Weisse against this view are
   of no importance. Our first three Gospels resulted from the compilation
   of such separate materials, as Luke himself states in his introduction.
   [29] Matthew's Gospel, in its present form, was not the production of
   the apostle whose name it bears, but was founded on an account written
   by him in the Hebrew language, chiefly (but not wholly) for the purpose
   of presenting the discourses of Christ in a collective form.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [28] See my Apostol. Geschichte, 3d edit., p. 131.

   [29] Luke, i.. 1, 2.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 5. Genuineness of John's Gospel.

   John's Gospel, which contains the only consecutive account of the
   labours of Christ, arose in a very different way. It could have
   emanated from none other than that "beloved disciple" upon whose soul
   the image of the Saviour had left its deepest impress. So far from this
   Gospel's having been written by a man of the second century (as some
   assert), we can. not even imagine a man existing in that century so
   little affected by the contrarieties of his times and so far exalted
   above them. Could an age involved in perpetual contradictions, an age
   of religious materialism, anthropomorphism, and one-sided
   intellectualism, have given birth to a production like this, which
   bears the stamp of none of these deformities? How mighty must the man
   have been who, in that age, could produce from his own mind such an
   image of Christ as this? And this man, too, in a period almost
   destitute of eminent minds, remained in total obscurity! Was it
   necessary for the master-spirit, who felt in himself the capacity and
   the calling to accomplish the greatest achievement of his day, to
   resort to a pitiful trick to smuggle his ideas into circulation?

   And then, too, while it is thought sufficient to say of the three other
   Gospels that they were compiled from undesigned fables, we are told
   that such a Gospel as this of John was the work of sheer invention, as
   lately Dr. Baur has confessed, with praiseworthy candour. Strange that
   a man, anxious for the credit of his inventions, should, in the
   chronology and topography of his Life of Christ, give the lie to the
   Church traditions of his time, instead of chiming in with them;
   stranger still, that, in spite of his bold contradiction of the
   opinions of his age in regard to the history, his fraud should be
   successful! In short, the more openly this criticism declares itself
   against the Gospel of John, the more palpably does it manifest its own
   wilful disregard of history.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 6. Results of Criticism.

   A comparison of the representation of Christ derived from the
   traditions of the Apostolic Church, with that which the direct and
   personal knowledge of the beloved disciple affords to us, will not only
   aid our general conception of his image as a whole, but will also prove
   the identity of these two representations with each other, from their
   agreement as well in the separate features as in the general picture.

   It must be regarded as one of the greatest boons which the purifying
   process of Protestant theology in Germany has conferred upon faith as
   well as science, that tie old, mechanical view of Inspiration has been
   so generally abandoned. That doctrine, and the forced harmonies to
   which it led, demanded a clerk-like accuracy in the evangelical
   accounts, and could not admit even the slightest contradictions in
   them; but we are now no more compelled to have recourse to subtilties
   against which our sense of truth rebels. In studying the historical
   connexion of our Saviour's life and actions by the application of an
   unfettered criticism, we reach a deeper sense in many of his sayings
   than the bonds of the old dogmatism would have allowed. The inquiring
   reason need no longer find its free sense of truth opposed to faith;
   nor is reason bound to subjugate herself, not to faith, but to
   arbitrary dogmas and artificial hypotheses. The chasms in the Gospel
   history were unavoidable in the transmission of Divine truth through
   such lowly human means. The precious treasure has come to us in earthen
   vessels. But this only affords room for the exercise of our faith--a
   faith whose root is to be found, not in science, not in demonstration,
   but in the humble and self-denying submission of our spirits. Our
   scientific views may be defective in many points; our knowledge itself
   may be but fragmentary; but our religious interests will find all that
   is necessary to attach them to CHRIST as the ground of salvation and
   the archetype of holiness.
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     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

BOOK I.
     __________________________________________________________________

BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD

OF

JESUS.

                                    BOOK I.

                     THE BIRTH AND CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. [30]
     __________________________________________________________________
     __________________________________________________________________

  CHAPTER I.

  PRELIMINARY REMARKS.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 7. Scantiness of our Information in regard to this Period of
   Christ's Life.--Nothing further really essential to the Interests of
   Religion.

   IN writing the life of any eminent man, we should not be likely to
   begin with a period when his character was fully developed and his
   world-historical importance recognized. On the contrary, we should
   study the growth of his being--seek for the bud which concealed the
   seed, and the powers that conspired to unfold it.

   We cannot fail to have the same desire in studying that Life which far
   transcends every other, both in its own intrinsic excellence and in its
   bearing upon the history of the human race; but we are kept within very
   narrow limits on this point by the paucity of our materials,
   consisting, as they do, of fragmentary accounts, whose literal accuracy
   we have no right to presuppose. To exhibit these features in the life
   of Christ did not belong to the Apostolic mission, which was designed
   to meet religious rather than scientific wants; to relate the mighty
   acts of Christ, from the beginning of his ministry to the time of his
   ascension, rather than to show how, and under what conditions, his
   inner nature gradually manifested itself. It belongs to science to give
   a pragmatico-genetical developement of the history; religious faith
   occupies itself only with the immediate facts themselves. We cannot
   expect this part of the history to give so accurate a detail as that
   which treats of Christ's public ministry and his redemptive acts; nor
   do the wants of faith require it.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 8. Fundamentally opposite Modes of apprehending the Accounts.

   The problems offered to scientific inquiry at this point are, first, to
   distinguish the objective reality of the events from the subjective
   form in which they are apprehended in the accounts; and, secondly, to
   fill up, as far as may be, the chasms which necessarily arise in the
   history from its being composed of detached narratives. These problems
   nearly involve each other; for we must obtain a clear view of the
   events themselves, before we can solve the difficulties that arise in
   connecting them together. Of these, various views may be taken,
   different in themselves, yet each in harmony with the interests of
   religion.

   But this cannot be said of all the different views which may be taken
   of the subject. The attempt might be made, for instance, to explain the
   life of Christ just as that of any eminent man, on the natural
   principles of human developement; rejecting, of course, the first truth
   of Christian belief in Christ as the Son of God and our Saviour. This
   theory, denying the supernatural element of Christianity, necessarily
   leads its advocates to consider every thing in the Gospel accounts
   which contradicts it as simply mythical. Thus, even in what may be
   called the ante-historical part of our work, we find arrayed against us
   those views which always reject the supernatural in the events of the
   life of Christ; although this is a dispute which cannot be settled
   empirically by inquiries into the separate accounts; for this very
   distinction of historical and non-historical presupposes a final
   decision between these opposing views made elsewhere. Thus, the Deistic
   and Pantheistic theories, which, although they arise from directly
   opposite modes of thought, agree perfectly in opposing supernaturalism,
   must deny, in the outset, what the supernatural-theistic views hold to
   be essential to the idea of a genuine world-redeeming Christ.

   We must, then, in order to bring the individual features into harmony
   with our portraiture of Christ, form the latter definitely from a view
   of his whole life, and of the organism of that Christian consciousness
   which grows out of his impress left upon humanity, and manifests his
   perpetual revelation. In relation to the individual features of the
   history, it only remains to prove, by naked historical inquiry, that
   there is no sufficient ground, apart from the general prejudices of
   rationalism, to deny their historical basis; and to show that the
   origin of the accounts themselves cannot be explained without the
   actual occurrence of the events which they describe on the very ground
   where they arose.
     __________________________________________________________________

  CHAPTER II.

  THE MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 9. The Miraculous Conception demanded `a priori, and confirmed `a
   posteriori.

   IF, then, we conceive the manifestation of Christ to have been a super
   natural communication of the. Divine nature for the moral renewal of
   man, a new beginning in the chain of human progress; in one word, if we
   conceive it as a miracle, this conception itself, apart from any
   historical accounts, would lead us to form some notion of the beginning
   of his human life that would harmonize with it.

   It is true, this human life of Christ took its appointed place in the
   course of historical events--nay, all history was arranged with
   reference to its incorporation; yet it entered into history; not as
   part of its offspring, but as a higher element. Whatever has its origin
   in the natural course of humanity must bear the stamp of humanity; must
   share in the sinfulness which stains it, and take part in the strifes
   which distract it. It was impossible, therefore, that the second Adam,
   the Divine progenitor of a new and heavenly race, could derive his
   origin from the first Adam in the ordinary course of nature, or could
   represent the type of the species, the people, or the family from which
   he sprung, as do the common children of men. We must conceive him, not
   as an individual representative of the type which descended from our
   first parents, but as the creative origin of a new type. And so our own
   idea of Christ compels us to admit that two factors, the one natural,
   the other supernatural, were coefficient in his entrance into human
   life; and this, too, although we may be unable, `a priori, to state how
   that entrance was accomplished.

   But at this point the historical accounts come to our aid, by
   testifying that what our theory of the case requires did, in fact,
   occur. The essential part of the history is found precisely in those
   features in which the idea and the reality harmonize; and we must not
   only hold fast these essential facts which are so important to the
   interests of religion, but carefully distinguish them from unimportant
   and accidental parts, which might, perhaps, be involved in obscurity or
   contradiction.
     __________________________________________________________________

   S: 10. Mythical View of the Miraculous Conception.--No trace of it in
   the Narrative.--No such Mythus could have originated among the Jews.

   The accounts of Matthew and Luke agree in stating that the birth of
   Christ was the result of a direct creative act of God, and not of the
   ordinary laws of human generation. They who deny this must make one of
   two assumptions; either that all the accounts are absolute fables, or
   that some actual fact was the ground-work of the fabulous conception.

   Those who adopt the former view tell us that, after Christ had made
   himself conspicuous by his great acts, men, struck with his
   extraordinary character, formed a theory of his birth to correspond
   with it. But this assumption is utterly irreconcilable with the simple
   and prosaic style in which Matthew tells the story of Joseph's
   perplexity at finding Mary pregnant before her time; [31] and the
   supposition that this prosaic narrative was the offspring of some
   previous mythical description, is out of all harmony with the character
   of the primitive Christian times. As for the second assumption, those
   who adopt it can assign no possible fact to explain the origin of the
   account, but one of so base a nature as utterly to shock every
   religious feeling, and every just notion of the overruling Providence
   of God. Had such an occurrence ever been deemed possible, the fanatical
   enemies of Christ would very soon have made use of it. [32] Both these
   assumptions failing, nothing remains but to admit that the birth of
   Christ was a phenomenon out of the ordinary course of nature. [33]

   Nor would such a mythus have been consistent with Jewish modes of
   thought. The Hindoo mind might have originated a fable of this
   character, though in a different form from that in which the account of
   the Evangelists is given; but the Jewish had totally different
   tendencies. Such a fable as the birth of the Messiah from a virgin
   could have arisen any where else easier than among the Jews; their
   doctrine of the Divine Unity, which placed an impassable gulf between
   God and the world; their high regard for the marriage relation, which
   led them to abhor unwedded life; and, above all, their full persuasion
   that the Messiah was to be an ordinary man, undistinguished by any
   thing supernatural, and not to be endowed with Divine power before the
   time of his solemn consecration to the Messiahship, all conspired to
   render such an invention impossible among them. The accounts of Isaac,
   Samson, and Samuel cannot be quoted as in point; these case[ rather
   illustrate the Hebrew notion of the blessing of fruitfulness; and in
   them all the Divine power was shown, not in excluding the male, but in
   rendering the long-barren female fruitful, contrary to all human
   expectation. The conception of Christ would have been analogous to
   these, had Mary, after long barrenness, borne a son, or had Joseph been
   too old to expect offspring at the time. [34]

   It was on this very account, viz., because the miraculous conception
   was foreign to the prevailing Jewish modes of thought, [35] that one
   sect of the Ebionites, who could not free themselves from their old
   prejudices, refused to admit the doctrine; and the section which
   contains the account is excluded from the Ebionitish recension of the
   Gospel to the Hebrews, which arose from the same source as our Matthew.
   As for the single obscure passage in Isa., vii., it could hardly have
   given rise to such a tradition among the people of Palestine, where,
   unquestionably, Matthew's Gospel originated.
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   [31] We cannot believe, notwithstanding what Strauss says on this point
   in his 3d edition, that a fable could originally be presented in so
   prosaic a garb as that of Matthew. Cases are not wanting, however, in
   which the substance of a mythus, after it had come to be received as
   history, has been given out in a prosaic form.

   [32] They would have done so before Jewish malevolence employed the
   history of the miraculous conception to invent the fable which Celsus
   first made use of.--Orig., i., 32. Had any such legends been in
   circulation before, we should find some trace of them in the
   Evangelists, who do not conceal the accusations that were made against
   Christ.

   [33] Schleiermacher, whose reverence for sacred things forbade him to
   adopt the latter of these two suppositions, while his conscientious
   love of truth compelled him to admit the reality of the history, says,
   in comparing the statements of Matthew and Luke (Critical Inquiries, p.
   47), "We may well leave the statement of Matthew in the judicious
   indefiniteness in which it is expressed; while the traditional basis of
   the poetical announcement in Luke rebukes those impious explanations
   which soil the veil they cannot lift." But, in sober truth, no one can
   admit the veracity of the history, and, at the same time, deny the
   miraculous conception, without falling into the very conclusion which
   Schleiermacher rejects with such pious indignation.

   [34] E. g., in the apocryphal Gospel of James, ch. ix., it is stated,
   that when the priest was about to give Mary as a wife to the aged
   Joseph, the latter said, "I have sons and am old, while she is yet
   young; shall I not then become a mockery for the sons of Israel?"

   [35] Professor Weisse, in his work, "Die Evangelische Geschichte" (The
   Gospel History, critically and philosophically treated, Leips., 1838),
   admits that the Jews could not have invented this mythus, but ascribes
   to it a heathen origin. How, in view of the relations that subsisted
   between early Christianity and heathenism, the pagan mythus of the sons
   of the gods could so soon have been transformed into a Christian one;
   and how the latter could have found its way into St. Matthew's Gospel,
   which unquestionably had a Jewish-Christian origin, are among the
   incomprehensibilities which abound in Prof. W.'s very intelligible
   work. He says, p. 178, that "as Paul found himself involuntarily
   compelled, in addressing the Athenians, to quote Greek poetry (For we
   are also his offspring, Acts, xvii., 28), so it is possible that the
   apostles to the heathen were led to adopt the pagan mythus of the sons
   of the gods, in order to make known to them the truth, that Christ is
   the Son of God, in a form suited to their way of thinking, and that
   their figurative language, literally understood, formed the
   starting-point for such a mythus ." Things very heterogeneous are
   thrown together in this passage. What religious scruples need have
   hindered Paul from alluding to the consciousness of the Divine origin
   of the human race, which the Athenians themselves had expressed, and to
   the vague idea which they entertained of an unknown God? Not was such
   an allusion likely to be misunderstood. How could a man, imbued with
   Jewish feelings in regard to the heathen mythology (feelings which his
   conversion to Christianity would by no means weaken), compare the birth
   of the Holy One--of the Messiah--with those pagan fables, whose
   impurity could inspire him with nothing but disgust? Weisse has
   transferred his own mode of contemplating the heathen myths to a people
   that would have revolted from it. It is quite another thing when Weisse
   adduces the comparisons in which the early Christian apologists
   indulged. These men, themselves of heathen origin, were accustomed to
   the allegorical interpretations of the mythology, and it was natural
   for them to seek and occupy a position intermediate between their
   earlier and later views. But, so far from these comparisons having
   given rise to the accounts of the supernatural conception, it was the
   latter which caused the former. They wished to show to the heathen that
   this miraculous event was not altogether foreign to their own religious
   ideas, while they carefully guarded against the sensuous forms of
   thought involved in the myths; and, as they could presuppose this
   event, they had a right to employ the myths as they did, inasmuch as
   these poetical effusions of natural religion anticipated (though in
   sadly-distorted caricatures) the great truth of Christianity, that the
   union of the Divine with the human nature was brought about by a
   creative act of Omnipotence. The early apologists expressed this in
   their own way "Satan invented these fables by imitating the truth."
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   S: 11. Objections to the Narrative drawn from the subsequent
   Dispositions of Christ's Relatives, answered (1) from the nature of the
   case; (2) from the name Jesus.

   An objection to the credibility of the narrative has been raised on the
   ground that if such events had really preceded the birth of Christ, his
   own relatives would have been better disposed to recognize him as the
   Messiah. It is possible that the circumstances of his birth did raise
   their expectations to a lofty pitch; but as for thirty years no
   indications corresponding with ordinary views of the Messiah manifested
   themselves, their first impressions gradually wore away, only to be
   revived, however, by the great acts which Jesus performed after the
   opening of his public career. And as for Mary (in whom a doubt of this
   sort would appear still more strange, as she was directly cognizant of
   the miraculous features of the history), there is no proof whatever
   that she ever lost the memory of her visions, or relinquished the hopes
   they were so well calculated to raise. Her conduct at the marriage of
   Cana proves directly the reverse. She obviously expected a miracle from
   Christ immediately after the proclamation of his Messiahship by John
   the Baptist. The confirmation which John's Gospel, by its recital of
   this miracle, affords to the other evangelists is the more striking, as
   John himself gives no account of the events accompanying the birth of
   Christ. [36]

   The name Jesus itself affords additional proof that his parents were
   led by some extraordinary circumstances to expect that he would be the
   Messiah. Such names as Theodorus, Theodoret, Dorotheus, among the
   Greeks, were usually bestowed because the parents had obtained a son
   after long desire and expectation. As names were also given among the
   Jews with reference to their significancy, and as the name Jesus
   betokens "Him through whom Jehovah bestows salvation;" and, moreover,
   as the Messiah, the bearer of this salvation, was generally expected at
   the time, it must certainly appear probable to us that the name was
   given with reference to that expectation. Not that this conclusion
   necessarily follows, because the name Jesus, Joshua, was common among
   the Jews; but yet, compared with the accounts, it certainly affords
   confirmatory evidence.
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   [36] (a) John's silence in regard to the miraculous conception is no
   proof that he was either ignorant of the accounts of that event or
   disbelieved them. His object was to testify to what he had himself seen
   and heard, and to declare how the glory of the Only begotten had been
   unveiled to him in contemplating Christ's manifestation on earth. But
   that he recognized the miraculous conception is evident from his
   emphatic declarations (in opposition to the ordinary Jewish idea of the
   Messiah), that the Divine and the human were originally united in the
   person of Christ, and that the Logos itself became flesh in him; while
   at the same time he avers that "that which is born of the flesh is
   flesh." No man could hold these two ideas together without believing in
   the immediate agency of God in the generation of Christ (b) The
   objection that Jesus was known among the Jews as the son of Joseph and
   Mary, and that this fact was adduced against his claims, has been
   sufficiently met in the text; but it has been urged further that Ch