Life of Jesus (Volume 2); Translation Newly REV. from the 23d and Final Ed (Paperback)

Book may have numerous typos, missing text, images, or index. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. 1915. Excerpt: ... APPENDIX. VALUE OF THE FOURTH GOSPEL AS AN HISTORICAL DOCUMENT. The chief difficulty that meets the historian of the life of Jesus is to estimate rightly the authenticity of the sources on which he must rely. On the one hand, what is the value of the Gospels called " Synoptics;" on the other hand, what use is to be made of the Fourth Gospel? As to the former, all those who follow the critical method in dealing with these topics are substantially agreed. The Synoptics represent the tradition (often legendary) of the first two or three Christian generations regarding the person of Jesus. This leaves much uncertainty in the detail of the narrative, and compels the constant use of such phrases as, " It was said," " Some have related that," etc. Still, it is enough to inform us of the general character of the Founder, the method and main features of his teaching, and the most essential incidents of his life. Those writers of his biography who do not go outside the circle of the Synoptics differ from one another no more than the narrators of Mahomet's life, who make use of the hadith. The biographers of the Arabian prophet may have various opinions as to the authenticity of this or that anecdote; but in the main everybody is agreed as to the value of the hadith: everybody classes them as legendary or traditional material, true in their way, but not as accurate documents of history properly so called. But there is no such agreement among scholars as to the use we are justified in making of the Fourth Gospel. I have made use of this document with no end of reserves and precautions. In the opinion of excellent judges, I ought not to have made any use of it at all, with the possible exception of the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters, which contain the story of the Crucifixion. Almost all the...