"Jesus of Nazareth, and the Founding of Christianity," for which
the present articles must be regarded as furnishing only a few
introductory hints. This work has been for several years on my
mind, but as it may still be long before I can find the leisure
needful for writing it out, it seemed best to republish these
preliminary sketches which have been some time out of print. The
projected work, however, while covering all the points here
treated, will have a much wider scope, dealing on the one hand
with the natural genesis of the complex aggregate of beliefs and
aspirations known as Christianity, and on the other hand with the
metamorphoses which are being wrought in this aggregate by modern
knowledge and modern theories of the world.

The views adopted in the present essay as to the date of the
Synoptic Gospels may seem over-conservative to those who accept
the ably-argued conclusions of "Supernatural Religion." Quite
possibly in a more detailed discussion these briefly-indicated
data may require revision; but for the present it seems best to
let the article stand as it was written. The author of
"Supernatural Religion" would no doubt admit that, even if the
synoptic gospels had not assumed their present form before the
end of the second century, nevertheless the body of tradition
contained in them had been committed to writing very early in
that century. So much appears to be proved by the very variations
of text upon which his argument relies. And if this be granted,
the value of the synoptics as HISTORICAL evidence is not
materially altered. With their value as testimony to so-called
SUPERNATURAL events, the present essay is in no way concerned.