The Life of Jesus of Nazareth

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth, by
Rush Rhees

The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Jesus of Nazareth, by
Rush Rhees This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost
and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it
away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Life of Jesus of Nazareth
Author: Rush Rhees
Release Date: August 20, 2004 [EBook #13228]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE
OF JESUS OF NAZARETH ***

Produced by Distributed Proofreaders

[Transcriber's note: Superscripted letters and numbers have been
marked with a preceding caret (^).]

The Life of Jesus of Nazareth
A Study
By
Rush Rhees
1902

Copyright, 1900, By Charles Scribner's Sons

To
C. W. McC.
In Recognition of Wise Counsel, Generous Help and Loving
Appreciation

"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.
A word concerning the point of view adopted. The church has inherited
a rich treasure of doctrine concerning its Lord, the result of patient
study and, frequently, of heated controversy. It is customary to
approach the gospels with this interpretation of Christ as a premise, and
such a study has some unquestionable advantages. With the apostles
and evangelists, however, the recognition of the divine nature of Jesus
was a conclusion from their acquaintance with him. The Man of
Nazareth was for them primarily a man, and they so regarded him until
he showed them that he was more. Their knowledge of him progressed
in the natural way from the human to the divine. The gospels,
particularly the first three, are marvels of simplicity and objectivity.
Their authors clearly regarded Jesus as the Man from heaven; yet in
their thinking they were dominated by the influence of a personal Lord
rather than by the force of an accepted doctrine. It is with no lack of
reverence for the importance and truth of the divinity of Christ that this
book essays to bring the Man Jesus before the mind in the reading of
the gospels. The incarnation means that God chose to reveal the divine
through a human life, rather than through a series of propositions which
formulate truth (Heb. i. 1-4). The most perennially refreshing influence
for Christian life and thought is personal discipleship to that Revealer
who is able to-day as of old to exhibit in his humanity those qualities
which compel the recognition of God manifest in the flesh.
An Appendix is added to furnish references to the wide literature of the
subject for the aid of those who wish to study it more extensively and
technically; also to discuss some questions of detail which could not be
considered in the text. This appendix will indicate the extent of my

indebtedness to others. I would acknowledge special obligation to
Professor Ernest D. Burton, of the University of Chicago, for generous
help and permission to use material found in his "Notes on the Life of
Jesus;" to Professor Shailer Mathews, also of Chicago, for very
valuable criticisms; to my colleague, Professor Charles Rufus Brown,
for most serviceable assistance; and to the editors of this series for
helpful suggestions and criticism during the making of the book. An
unmeasured debt is due to another who has sat at my side during the
writing of these pages, and has given constant inspiration, most
discerning criticism, and practical aid.
The Newton Theological Institution, April, 1900.

Contents


Part I
Preparatory

I
The Historical Situation