"_I would preach ... the need to the world of the faith
in a Christ, the claim that Jesus is the Christ, and the demand
for an intelligent faith, which indeed shall transcend but shall
not despise knowledge, or neglect to have a knowledge to
transcend._"--John Patterson Coyle




Preface



The aim of this book is to help thoughtful readers of the gospels to
discern more clearly the features of him whom those writings inimitably
portray. It is avowedly a study rather than a story, and as a companion to
the reading of the gospels it seeks to answer some of the questions which
are raised by a sympathetic consideration of those narratives. These
answers are offered in an unargumentative way, even where the questions
are still in debate among scholars. This method has been adopted because
technical discussion would be of interest to but few of those whom the
book hopes to serve. On some of the questions a non-committal attitude is
taken in the belief that for the understanding of the life of Jesus it is
of little importance which way the decision finally goes. Less attention
has been given to questions of geography and archæology than to those
which have a more vital biographical significance.