who wrote forty-five years after that event, is careful to tell
us, "The end is NOT immediately." Moreover, it must have been
written while the Paulo-Petrine controversy was still raging, as
is shown by the parable of the "enemy who sowed the tares," which
manifestly refers to Paul, and also by the allusions to "false
prophets" (vii. 15), to those who say "Lord, Lord," and who "cast
out demons in the name of the Lord" (vii. 21-23), teaching men to
break the commandments (v. 17-20). There is, therefore, good
reason for believing that we have here a narrative written not
much more than fifty years after the death of Jesus, based partly
upon the written memorials of an apostle, and in the main
trustworthy, save where it relates occurrences of a marvellous
and legendary character. Such is our author's conclusion, and in
describing the career of the Jesus of history, he relies almost
exclusively upon the statements contained in the first gospel.
Let us now after this long but inadequate introduction, give a
brief sketch of the life of Jesus, as it is to be found in our
author.


Concerning the time and place of the birth of Jesus, we know next
to nothing. According to uniform tradition, based upon a
statement of the third gospel, he was about thirty years of age
at the time when he began teaching. The same gospel states, with
elaborate precision, that the public career of John the Baptist
began in the fifteenth year of Tiberius, or A. D. 28. In the
winter of A. D. 35-36, Pontius Pilate was recalled from Judaea,
so that the crucifixion could not have taken place later than in
the spring of 35. Thus we have a period of about six years during
which the ministry of Jesus must have begun and ended; and if the