Jesus, His Opinions and Character, the New Testament Studies of a Layman (Classic Reprint)

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Excerpt from Jesus, His Opinions and Character, the New Testament Studies of a Layman It had been for many years a cherished purpose of the writer of the following chapters to examine, without prejudice or prepossession, t he authentic documents in which are found the traditions of the origin of Christianity, and to ascertain what they indicate in reference to the character, opinions, and controlling purposes of Jesus. Engrossing occupation in professional employments, while requiring the postponement of the undertaking, better qualified for its successful performance, by knowledge acquired of the most approved methods of analyzing and formulating evidence, and of determining its probability and strength and the conclusions of fact which it compelled. The leisure of the last few years brought to the writer the opportunity to attempt the realization of a task which may perhaps be deemed beyond the scope of his scholarship and critical powers. The many books upon the same subject that have appeared within the last few years in this country and in other countries, where thought is active and free, indicate that, so far from being exhausted, the life of Jesus has only begun to be studied. Most of these books have been written with the purpose, more or less confessed, of strengthening and confirming the devout prepossessions by which they were inspired. Of the fewer of them written in a historic spirit, and regarding Jesus, his character, teachings, and influence as normal developments of a civilization that has advanced, not only by steady growth, but by strong impulses given to it by the incursion of great men and the spring-tide of great epochs, some have been marred by lack of method in their study and of consistency and probability in the character they have delineated, some by arbitrary marshalling of the traditions to support a fanciful mythical theory, and still others by the confession, everywhere virtually expressed in them, that the barren compliment of sentimental adulation was to be offered to a dethroned Deity in compensation for degrading him from the height of worship where reason had ceased to recognize him. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.