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ORIGINS

O F

CHRISTIANITY

NEW WORKS,
By ERNEST RENAN.
Uniform with this volume, price $1.75.
I. — The Life of Jesus.
LL-t-The Apostles.
HI. — Saint Path, {inprett.}
The works of Ernest Renan are of great^power and learning,
earnestly and honestly written, beautiful in style,
admirable in treatment, and filled with
reverence, tenderness, and
warmth of heart.
*$* Single copies sent by mail, free, on receipt of price, by
C1RLETON, PUBLISHER,
New York.

THE

LIFE °M$^
E itNE9(T R KPTAN

51

TBANSS^TED FROM THE OKIGINAL FRENCH BY

LES EDWIN WILBOUR
TBAXSLATOB Or LES XISBBABLB8.

MssK

NEW-YOEK:
CARLETOJV, PUBLISHER, 413 BROADWAY
PARIS: MGHEL LETT mERES.
M DCCC LXVI.

Entered, according to Act of CongressjtaAhejrear 1863,
Bt GEO. W OAK LfJO N,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Southern District of New ork

TO THE PURE SPIRIT

OF MY SISTER HENRIETTA,

WHO DIED AT BYBLCS, SEPTEMBER 24tH, 1861.

Do you remember, from your rest in the
bosom of God, those long days at Ghazir, where,
alone with you, I wrote these pages, inspired by
the scenes we had just traversed ? Silent by my
side, *you read every leaf, and copied it as soon
as written, while the sea, the villages, the
ravines, the mountains, were spread out at
our feet. When the overwhelming light of the
sun had , given place to the innumerable army
of the stars, your fine and delicate questions,
your discreet doubts, brought me back to the
sublime object of our common thoughts. One

VI DEDICATION.
day you told me that you should love this book,
first, because it had been written with you, and
also because it pleased you. If sometimes you
feared for it the narrow judgments of the frivo-
.ous man, you were always persuaded that spirits
truly religious would be pleased with it. In the
midst of these sweet meditations Death struck us
both with his wing ; the sleep of fever seized us
both at^he same hour ; I awoke alone ! . . . You
sleep now in the land of Adonis, near the holy
Byblus and the sacred waters where the women
of the ancient mysteries came to #mingle their
tears. Reveal to me, 0 my good genius, to me
whom you loved, those truths which master
Death, prevent us from fearing, and make us
almost love it.

CONTENTS.

PAOB
Dbdicatioh   f
Introduction  9
CHAPTER I.
Place of Jesns in the world's history  61
CHAPTER II.
Childhood and youth of Jesus— his first impressions  66
CHAPTER III.
Edncation of Jesus  ?2
CHAPTER IV.
Order of ideas amid which Jesus was developed  82
CHAPTER V.
First aphorisms of Jesus.— His ideas of a father God and a
pure religion. — First disciples  101
CHAPTER VI.
John the Baptist. — Journey of Jesus to John and his sojourn
in the desert of Judea. — Adopts the baptism of John .... 117
CHAPTER VII.
Development of the ideas of Jesus concerning the kingdom of
God   130
CHAPTER VIII.
Jesus at Capernaum  142
CHAPTER IX.
The disciples of Jesus  , 166
CHAPTER X.
The sermons bv the sea  166
CHAPTER XI.
The kingdom of God conceived as the advent of the poor .... 176

VU1 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XII.
Embassy of John from prison to Jesus. — Death of John. — Rela
tions of his school with that of Jesus  188
CHAPTER XIII.
First attempts upon Jerusalem  196
CHAPTER XIV.
Relations of Jesus with the Pagans and the Samaritans  208
CHAPTER XV.
Commencement of the legend of Jesus — his own idea of his
supernatural mission  216
CHAPTER XVI.
Miracles  229
CHAPTER XVII.
Definite form of the ideas of Jesus on the kingdom of God. . . . 240
CHAPTER XVIII.
The institutions of Jesus  254
CHAPTER XIX.
Increasing progression of enthusiasm and exaltation  266
CHAPTER XX.
Opposition to Jesus  276
CHAPTER XXI.
Last journey of Jesus to Jerusalem  287
CHAPTER XXII.
Machinations of the enemies of Jesus  301
CHAPTER XXHI.
The last week of Jesus  312
CHAPTER XXIV.
Arrest and trial of Jesus  327
CHAPTER XXV.
The death of Jesus  343
CHAPTER XXVI.
Jesus at the tomb  363
CHAPTER XXVII.
Fate of the enemies of Jesus  368
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Essential character of the work of Jesus  863

INTRODUCTION.
WHICH TREATS PRINCIPALLY OF THE SOURCES
OF THIS HISTORY.
A history of the " Origins of Christianity " would
embrace the obscure and, if I may use the word, sub
terranean period which extends from the first begin
nings of this religion to the time when its existence
becomes a public, well-known fact, evident to the eyes
of all men. Such a history would consist of four
books. The first, which I now present to the pub
lic, treats of the event itself which served as the start
ing-point of the new worship ; it is entirely filled by
the sublime person of the founder. The second would
treat of the apostles and their immediate disciples, or
rather of the revolutions in religious thought of the
first two Christian generations. I would close it about
the year 100, when the last friends of Jesus have died,
and all the books of the New Testament have become
fixed very nearly in the form in which we read them.
The third v/ould set forth the condition of Christianity
under the Antonines, slowly developing, and main
taining an almost permanent war against the empire,
which having now reached the highest degree of ad
ministrative perfection and being governed by philo
sophers, combats in the infant sect a society secret and
i»

10 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
theocratic, that denies it obstinately and undermines
it incessantly. This book would comprise the whole
of the second century. Finally, the fourth book would
show the decisive progress of Christianity from the
time of the Syrian emperors. In it the wise construc
tion of the Antonines would be seen falling in pieces,
he decay of the ancient civilization becoming irrevo-*
cable, Christianity profiting by its ruin, Syria conquer
ing the whole West, and Jesus, in company with the
gods and divinized sages of Asia, taking possession of a
society to which philosophy and a purely civil govern
ment no longer suffice. Then it is that the religious
ideas of the races grouped about the Mediterranean are
radically modified, oriental religions everywhere as
sume the ascendancy, Christianity, having become a
mighty church, entirely forgets its millennial dreams,
breaks its last connection with Judaism, and passes en
tirely into the Greek and Latin world. The literary
struggles and labors of the third century, already pub
lic matters, would be set forth only in general terms.
I should relate still more briefly the persecutions of
the commencement of the fourth century, the last ef
fort of the empire to return to its old principles,
which denied religious association any place in the
State. In conclusion, I should merely foreshadow the
change of policy which, under Constantine, inverted
conditions, and made of the freest and most sponta
neous religious movement, an official religion, sub
jected to the State and persecuting in its turn.
I know not that I shall have enough of life and ability
to complete a plan so vast. I shall be satisfied if, after
having written the life of Jesus, it is given to me to
relate, as I understand it, the history of the apostles.

INTRODUCTION. 11
the condition of the Christian consciousness daring
the weeks which followed the death of Jesus, the form
ation of the legendary cycle of the resurrection, the*
first acts of the church of Jerusalem, the life of St.
Paul, the crisis of the time of Nero, the vision of the
Apocalypse, the fall of Jerusalem, the foundation of
the Hebraic christianisms of Batanea, the compilation
of the gospels, the origin of the great schools of Asia
Minor, sprung from John. Every thing pales beside
this marvellous first century. By a singularity rare in
history, we see much more clearly what passed in the
Christian world from the year 50 to the year 75, than
from the year 100 to the year 150.
The plan followed in this history has prevented the
introduction into the text of long critical dissertations
on controverted points. A continuous system of notes
gives the reader the means of verifying by their sour
ces all the propositions of the text. In these notes, I
have strictly confined myself to citations from first
hand, I mean to the indication of the original passages
upon which each assertion or each conjecture rests. I
know that to persons little acquainted with these stu
dies, many other developments would have been ne
cessary. But I am unaccustomed to doing over again
what has been done and well done. To cite only books
written in French, those who will procure the follow
ing works :
Etudes critiques sur TEvangilc de saint Matthieu, par M. Albert
Rerille, pasteur de l'eglise wallonne de Rotterdam.*
Histoire de la thiologie chritienne au siecle apostolique, par M. Reuss,
* Leyden, Noothoven van Goor, 1862. Paris, Cherhuliez. A book crowned
by the Society of the Hague for the defense of theXhristian religion.

12 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
professeur a la Faculty de theologie et au seminaire protestant de
Strasbourg.* Des Doctrines Eeligieuses des Juifs pendant les deux siecles antirteurs
a Vfre ChrUiennc, par M. Michel Nicolas, professeur a la Faculte de
theologie protestante de Montauban.t
Vie de Jisus, par le Dr. Strauss, traduite par M. Littre, membre de
'iustitut.{ Revue de thiologie et de philosophic chritiennc, publiee sous la direc
tion de M. Colani, de 1850 a 1857. — Nouvelle Eevue de thiologie, faisant
suite a la precedente, depuis 1858.§
— those, I say, who will consult these excellent works, [
will find in them the explanation of a multitude of
points upon which I have been compelled to be very
succinct. The criticism in detail of the texts of the
gospels, in particular, has been done by M. Strauss
in a manner which leaves little to be desired. Al
though M. Strauss is mistaken in his theory of the
compilation of the gospels,^ and his book has, as I
think, the fault of looking too much from the theolog
ical and too little from the historical point of view,**
it is indispensable, in order to understand the motives
which have guided me in a great number of details,

» Strasbourg, Treuttel et Wurtz. 2e edition, 1860. Paris, Cherbullez.
t Paris, Michel Levy freree, 1860.
t Paris, Ladrange, 2e edition, 1856.
I Strasbourg, Treuttel et Wurtz. Paris, Cherbuliez.
• | While these pages are being printed, a book has appeared which I do not
hesitate to add to the preceding, although I have not been able to read it with
the attention which it deserves : Les EvangiUs. par M. Gustave d'Eichthal. Pre
miere partie : Exarnen critique et comparaiif des trois premiers evangiles. Paris,
Hachette,1863. 11 The great results obtained on this point were not reached until after the
first edition of M. Stl-auss's work. The learned critic, has, however, done jus
tice to them in his succeeding editions with much frankness.
** It is hardly necessary to.say that there is not a word in 31. Strauss 's book lo
justify the strange and absurd calumny by which an attempt has been made
to discredit among superficial people, a proper, exact, acute and conscientious
book, though spoiled in its general portions by an exclusive system. Not only
has M. Strauss never denied the existence of Jesus, but every page of his book
implies this existence. The truth is that M.. Strauss supposes that the individual
character of Jesus is more obscured to us than perhaps it really b.

INTRODUCTION. 1 3
to follow the discussions, always judicious though
sometimes rather subtle, of the book so well transla
ted by my learned brother, M. Littre.
I believe that I have neglected, among ancient au
thorities, no source of information. Five great collec
tions of writings, not to speak of a multitude of other
scattered data, remain to us in regard to Jesus and the
time in which he lived : first, the gospels and the
writings of the New Testament generally ; second,,
the compositions called the " Apocrypha of the Old
Testament ;" third, the works of Philo ; fourth, those
of Josephus ; fifth, the Talmud. The writings of
Philo have the inestimable advantage of showing us
what thoughts were fermenting in the time of Jesus
in souls occupied with great religious questions.
Philo lived, it is true, in quite another province ot
Judaism, but like Jesus he was very free from the
littlenesses which reigned at Jerusalem ; Philo is truly
the elder brother of Jesus. He was sixty-two years
old when the prophet of Nazareth was at the highest
degree of .his activity, and he survived him at least ten
years. What a misfortune that the chances of life
did not lead him into Galilee ! What would he not
have taught us !
Josephus, writing principally for the pagans, has
not the same sincerity in his style. His brief noti
ces of Jesus, John the Baptist, and Judas the Gaulon-
ite, are dry and colorless. We feel that he is seek
ing to present these movements so thoroughly Jew
ish in character and spirit, under a form which may
be intelligible to the Greeks and Romans. I think
the passage on Jesus authentic* It is perfectly in the
• Ant., Will, ui, 3.

14 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
style of Josephus, and if this historian had made men
tion of Jesus, it would have been in that way. We
perceive only that some Christian hand has retouched
the fragment, has added a few words without which
it would have been almost blasphemous,* and has per
haps curtailed or modified some expressions.! We
must remember that the literary fortune of Josephus
was made by the Christians, who adopted his writings
as documents essential to their sacred history. There
was put out, probably in the second century, an edi
tion corrected according to the Christian ideas.:): But
at all events, what constitutes the great interest of
Josephus for the subject before us, is the vivid light
which he throws upon the period. Thanks to him,
Herod, Herodias, Antipater, Philip, Annas, Caiaphas,
and Pilate are persons upon whom we put our finger,
and whom we see living before us with striking real-
The Apocrypha of the Old Testament, especially the
Jewish portion of the Sybilline verses, and the Book
of Enoch, taken with the Book of Daniel, which also
is really apocryphal, are of cardinal importance for the
history of the development of the Messianic theories,
and for the understanding of the conceptions of Jesus
in regard to the kingdom of God. The Book of Enoch,
in particular, which was very much read in the region
of Jesus, |[ gives the key to the expression " Son of

» " If it be lawful to call him a man."
•f Instead of y^Kfrhg oiyrog fy it was certainly JgioVdff ouroff i'hJyEro.
Cf. -4h£.,XX,ix,1.
J Busebius (Risi. eccl.t I, li, and Demonst. evang., Ill, 5,) quotes the passage on
Jesus as we now read it in Josephus. Origen (Contra Cels., I, 47; II, 13,) and
Eusebius (Hist, cccl., II, 23,) quote another Christian interpolation, which is
found in none of the manuscripts of Josephus that tia,re reached us.
1 Judse Epist.,14.

INTRODUCTION. 15
man," and the ideas which were associated with it.
The age of these different books, thanks to the labors
of Messrs. Alexandre, Ewald, Dillmann, and Reuss,
is now fixed beyond doubt. All now agree in placing
the compilation of the more important of them in the
second and first centuries before Christ. The date of
the Book of Daniel is still more certain. The character
of the two languages in which it is written ; the use ol
Greek words; the clear announcement, determinate
and dated, of events as late as the time of Antiochus
Epiphanes ; the false images of ancient Babylon traced
in it ; the general coloring of the book, which reminds
us in no wise of the writings of the captivity, which
corresponds on the contrary, by a multitude of analo
gies, with the beliefs, the manners, and the peculiar
fancies of the time of the Seleucid'se ; the apocalyptic
character of the visions ; the place of the book in the
Hebrew canon after the series of the prophets; the
omission of Daniel, in the panegyrics of the xxix.th chap
ter of Ecclesiasticus, in which his rank was, as it were,
indicated ; many other evidences which have been de
duced a hundred times, leave no doubt that the Book
of Daniel was the fruit of the great exaltation produced
among the Jews by the persecution of Antiochus
Not in the old prophetic literature must this book be
classed, but rather at the head of the apocalyptic liter
ature, as the first model of a style of composition in
which were to take their places after it, the various
sibylline poems, the Book of Enoch, the Apocalypse
of John, the Ascension of Isaiah, and the fourth book
of Esdras.
In the history of the origins of Christianity, the Talmud
has hitherto been far too much neglected. I think, with

16 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
M. Geiger, that the true idea of the circumstances amid
which Jesus was brought forth, must be sought in this
strange compilation, where so much precious informa
tion is mingled with the most insignificant scholasti
cism. Christian theology and Jewish theology having
really followed two parallel paths, the history of either
cannot be well understood without the history of the
other. Numberless material details of the gospels
find, moreover, their commentary in the Talmud. The
vast Latin collections of Lightfoot, Schoettgen, Bux-
torf, and Otho, contain a mass of such information. I
have made it a rule to verify in the original every
quotation which I have made, without a single excep
tion. The aid which has been rendered me in this
portion of my labor, by a learned Israelite, M. Neu-
bauer, who is exceedingly well versed in Talmudic lit
erature, has enabled me to go still further, and to clear
up the most delicate portions of my subject by some
new comparisons. The distinction of epochs is here
very important, the compilation of the Talmud extend
ing from the year 200 to the year 500, nearly. We
have brought to this as much discrimination as is pos
sible in the present condition of these studies. Dates
so recent will excite some fears among persons accus
tomed to accord value to a document only for the pe
riod at which it was written. But such scruples would
here be out of place. The teaching of the Jews from
the Asmonean epoch to the second century, was prin
cipally oral. We must not judge such intellectna
conditions after the habitudes of a time in which mucl
is written. The Vedas, the ancient Arab poems, were
preserved by memory for centuries, and yet these
compositions present a very definite and very delicate

INTRODUCTION. 17
form. In the Talmud on the contrary, the form is of
no account. We must add, that before the Mischna
of Judah the Holy, which superseded all the rest, there
were attempts at compilation, the first of which date
back perhaps further than is commonly supposed. The
style of the Talmud is that of running notes ; the com
pilers probably did nothing more than to class under cer
tain titles this enormous mass of rubbish which had been
accumulating in the different schools for generations.
We have yet to speak of the documents which, be
ing presented as biographies of the founder of Chris
tianity, must of course hold the first place in a life of
Jesus. A complete treatise on the compilation of the
gospels wonld be a volume of itself. Thanks to the
thorough studies of which this question has been the
subject for thirty years, a problem that would formerly
have been deemed impossible, has reached a solution
which leaves room for much uncertainty, but which is
amply sufficient for the demands of history. We shall
have occasion to return to this in our second book,
the composition of the gospels having been one of the
most important events to the future of Christianity
which occurred during the second half of the first cen
tury. We shall here touch but a single phase of the
subject, that which is indispensable to the substantia
tion of our narrative. Leaving aside all that belongs
to the description of the apostolic times, we shall in
quire only to what extent the data furnished by the
gospels may be employed in a history projected upon
rational principles.*
Let the gospels be in part legendary, that is evident
since they are fall of miracles and the supernatural ;
• Those who wish more ample developments may consult besides the work

18 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
bat there are different species of legends. Nobody
doubts the principal traits of the life of Francis d' As-
eisi, though in it the supernatural is met at every step.
Nobody, on the contrary, gives credence to the " Life of
Apollonius of Tyana," because it was written long after
its hero, and under the conditions of a pure romance. At
what period, by what hands, under what conditions
were the gospels compiled ? This is the capital ques
tion upon which depends the opinion that we must
form of their credibility.
We know that each of the four gospels bears at its
head the name of a person known either in the apos
tolic history or in the gospel history itself. These four
persons are not presented to us strictly as authors. The
formulae " according to Matthew," " according to
Mark," " according to Luke," ¦' according to John,"
do not imply that in the oldest opinion, these narratives
had been written from one end to the other by Mat
thew, Mark, Luke, and John ; * they signify only that
those were the traditions coming from each of these
apostles, and covered by their authority. It is clear
that if these titles are exact, the gospels, without ceas
ing to be in part legendary, assume a high value, since
they carry us back to the half century following the
death of Jesus, and even, in two cases, to eye-witnesses
of his acts.
As to Luke, in the first place, doubt is hardly possi
ble. Luke's gospel is a regular composition, founded
on anterior documents.f It is the work of a man who
of M. Keville already cited, the labors of Messrs. Eeuss and Scherer intbe.Be-iM
fe theologie, t. X, XI, XV, nouv. serie II. III. IV, and that of M. Nicolas in the
Revue germanique, 6ept. et dec, 1862. avril et juin, 1S63.
• So " The Gospel according to the Hebrews," " The Gospel according to the
Egyptians." f Luke, i, 1-4.

INTRODUCTION. 19
selects, prunes, combines. The author of this gospe
is certainly the same as the author of the Acts of the
Apostles.* Now the author of the Acts is a compan
ion of St. Paul, f a title perfectly fitting to Luke. \ 1
know that more than one objection may be interposed
to this ; but one thing at least is beyond doubt, that
the author of the third gospel and of the Acts, is a
man of the second apostolic generation, and that is
enough for our purpose. The date of this gospel may,
moreover, be determined with much precision by con
siderations drawn from the book itself. Chapter xxi,
inseparable from the rest of the work, was certainly
written after the siege of Jerusalem, and soon after. |
We are here, therefore, on firm ground ; for we have a
work written entirely by the same hand, and of the
most perfect unity.
The gospels of Matthew and Mark are far from hav
ing the same individual seal. They are impersonal
compositions, in which the author totally disappears.
A proper name written at the head of such works does
not mean much. But if the gospel of Luke is dated,
those of Matthew and Mark are also; for it is. certain
that the third gospel is posterior to the first, and pre
sents the character of a compilation much more ad
vanced. We have besides, in this respect, a most im
portant testimonial of the first half of the second cen
tury. It is by Papias, bishop of Hierapolis, a man of
weight, a man of tradition, who was all his life atten
tive to the collection of whatever could be learned of
» Adt, 1, 1. Comp. Luke, I, 1-4.
+ From xvi, 10 onward, the author speaks as an eye-witness.
1 2 Tim., tv, 11: Philem.,24; Col . , iv, 14. The name Lucas (a contraction (A
liucaftim) being very rare, we need fear none of those homonymies which throw
•o many perplexities over critical questions relative to the New Testament.
| Verses 9, 20, 24, 28, 32 Comp. xxii, 36.

20 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the person of Jesus.* After declaring that in such a
matter he prefers oral tradition to books, Papias
mentions two written works on the words and deed?
of Christ : first, a work of Mark, the interpreter of the
apostle Peter, brief, incomplete, not arranged in chro
nological order, comprising narratives and sayings
'Kexiivra, f) rfpa^eVa), composed from the accounts and
reminiscences of the apostle Peter ; secondly, a col
lection of sayings (Xo'yia) written in Hebrewf by Mat
thew, " and which everybody has translated as best he
could." Certain it is that these two descriptions cor
respond very well to the general physiognomy of the
two books now called " The Gospel according to Mat
thew," and " The Gospel according to Mark," the first
characterized by its long discourses ; the second, full
of anecdote, much more exact than the first in regard
to minute acts, brief to dryness, poor in discourses and
badly composed. That these two works as we read
them are absolutely similar to those which Papias
read, cannot be maintained ; in the first place, be
cause the work of Matthew to Papias was composed
exclusively of discourses in Hebrew, of which transla
tions varying considerably were in circulation, and in
the second place, because the work of Mark and that
of Matthew were to him quite distinct, compiled
without any concord, and, it seems, written in differ
ent languages. Now, in the present condition of the
texts, the Gospel according to Matthew and the Gos
pel according to Mark present parallel passages so
• In Eusebius, Hist. eccl. Ill, 39. No doubt whatever can be raised as to ths
authenticity of this passage. Eusebius. in fact, far from exaggerating the au
thonty of Pt-pias, is embarrassed by his simplicity, his orude millenarianism.
and explains it by treating him as a smaU mind. Comp. Irenrcus, Adv. hcer III i
f That is, in a Semitic dialect. ' '

INTRODUCTION. 21
long and so perfectly identical that we must sup
pose, either that the final compiler of the first had
the second before him, or that both have copied the
same prototype. What appears most probable is
that neither of Matthew nor of Mark have we the
original compilations; that our two first gospels are
already arrangements in which there has been an at
tempt to fill the hiatuses in one text by another. Each
wished indeed to possess a complete copy. He who
had only the discourses in his copy, desired to have the
narratives, and vice versa. Thus " the Gospel accord
ing to Matthew" is found to have incorporated nearly
all the anecdotes of Mark, and " the Gospel according
to Mark " now contains a multitude of traits which
come from the Logia of Matthew. Each moreover
drew largely from the evangelical traditions contin
uing about him. These traditions are so far from
having been exhausted by the gospels, that the Acts
of the Apostles and the most ancient Fathers quote
many sayings of Jesus which appear authentic, and
which are not found in the gospels that we possess.
It is of small importance to our present object to
carry this delicate analysis farther, and to endeavor to
reconstruct in some manner, on the one hand, the ori
ginal Logia of Matthew ; on the other, the primitive
narration as it flowed from the pen of Mark. The
Logia are undoubtedly represented to us by the grand
discourses of Jesus, which fill a considerable portion
of the first gospel. These discourses form, indeed,
when detached from the rest, a tolerably complete
whole. As to the narratives of the first and second
gospels, they seem to be based upon a common docu
ment, the text of which is found sometimes in one and

22 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
sometimes in the other, and of which the second gos
pel, as we now find it, is but a slightly modified repro
duction. In other words, the system of the life of Je
sus with the synoptics rests upon two original docu
ments : first, the discourses of Jesus collected by the
apostle Matthew ; second, the collection of aiiecdotes
and personal information which Mark wrote from Pe
ter's reminiscences. We may say that we now have
these two documents, mingled with matter frorii other
sources, in the two first gospels, which bear not wrong
fully the name of "Gospel according to Matthew,"
and " Gospel according to Mark."
There can be no doubt, at all events, that at a very
early day the discourses of Jesus were reduced to wri
ting in the Aramaean language, and that at an early
day also his remarkable deeds were recorded. These
Were not texts settled and fixed dogmatically. Besides
the gospels which have reached us, there were a mul
titude of others professing to represent the traditions
of eye-witnesses.* Little importance was attached to
these writings, and the collectors, like Papias, much
preferred oral tradition. f As they believed the world
near its end, they cared little to compose books for
the future ; it was important only to preserve in
their hearts the living image of him whom they
hoped soon to see again in the clouds. Hence the
little authority which the evangelical texts possessed
lor a hundred and fifty years. There Was no scrupl
about inserting additions, combining them diversely,
or completing some by others. The poor man who
• Luke, 1,1, 2;Origen, Hom-inLuc. I, init.; St. Jerome, Comment .n Mat Tirol
t Papias, in Eusebius, H. E., Ill, 39. Comp. Irenaeus, Adv. har., Ill, n et ru

INTRODUCTION. 23
has but one book, desires it to contain all that speaks
to his heart. They lent these little rolls to one ano
ther : each transcribed on the margin of his copy the
sayings and the parables which he found elsewhere,
and which touched him.* The finest thing in the
world thus resulted from an obscure and entirely pop
ular elaboration. No compilation had absolute value.
Justin, who often appeals to what he calls " the me
moirs of the apostles,"f had before him a condition of
the evangelical documents considerably differing from
that which we have ; at all events, he takes no care
to cite them textually. The gospel quotations in the
pseudo-Clementine writings of Ebionite origin, present
the same character. The spirit was everything ; the
letter nothing. It was when tradition grew weak in
the latter half of the second century that the texts
bearing the names of the apostles assumed decisive
authority and obtained the force of law.
Who does not see the preciousness of documents
thus composed of the tender memories, of the simple
recitals of the two first Christian generations, yet filled
with the strong impression which the founder had
made, and which seems long to have survived him ?
These gospels too, appear to come through that branch
if the Christian family which was most closely allied
to Jesus. The last labor of compilation, at least of the
text which bears the name of Matthew, appears to
have been done in one of the countries situated to the
north-east of Palestine, such as Gaulonitis, Haouran

• Thus the beautiful story John, viii, 1-11, has floated continually without
inding its fixed place in the framework of the received gospels.
t T<i acro(AV'i],aovsjjji,a<ra <ruv airoflVoXuv, a xaXsiVai suayyiXia,
Justin, Apd.,\, 33,66, 67; Dial mm Tryph.,Vt, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 10i, 106, 107

24 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
or Batanea, where many Christians took refuge during
the Roman war, where the relatives of Jesus were
still found in the second century,* and where the first
Galilean direction was preserved longer than any
where else.
Hitherto we have spoken only of the three gospels
called synoptic. We have now to speak of the fourth,
that which bears the name of John. Here is much
more ground for doubts, and the question is less near
a solution. Papias, who belonged to the school of
John, and who, if he had not heard him, as Irenaaus
will have it, had attended much upon his immediate
disciples, among others Aristion, and he who was
called Presbyteros Joannes, Papias, who had eagerly
collected the oral narrations of this Aristion and
Presbyteros Joannes, says not a word of a " Life of
Jesus" written by John. Had any such mention been
found in his work, Eusebius, who extracts from him
all that is of value for the literary history of the
apostolic century, would undoubtedly have remarked
it. The intrinsic difficulties drawn from the read
ing of the fourth gospel itself are equally great.
How is it that by the side of definite details, which
savor so strongly of an eye-witness, we find such dis
courses, totally different from those of Matthew ?
How, by the side of a general plan of a life of Je
sus, which appears much more satisfactory and exact
than that of the synoptics, these singular passages in
which we perceive a dogmatic interest peculiar to the
compiler, ideas entirely foreign to Jesus, and some'imes
indications which put us on our guard as to the good
• Julius Africanus, in Eusebius, Hist, eccl., I, 7.

INTRODUCTION. 25
faith of the narrator ? How, in short, by the side of
the purest, the most just, the most truly evangelical
views, these 6pots in which we would fain see the in
terpolations of an ardent sectary? Is it indeed John,
the son of Zebedee, the brother of James, (of whom
no single mention is made in the fourth gospel), who
was able to write in Greek these lessons of abstract
metaphysics to which neither the synoptics nor the
Talmud present any analogy ? All this is weighty,
and, for my part, I dare not be certain that the fourth
gospel was written entirely by the pen of an ex-fisher
man of Galilee. But that in substance this gospel is
sued towards the end of the first century, from the
great school of Asia Minor, which held to John, that ;
it presents to us a version of the Master's life, worthy
of high consideration and often of preference, is de
monstrated, both by external evidence and by the ex
amination of the document itself, in a manner that
leaves nothing to be desired.
And first, there is no doubt that towards the year 150
the fourth gospel was in existence and was attributed to
John. Formal texts of St. Justin,* Athenagoras,f Ta-
tian,^: Theophilus of Antioch,| and Irenaeus,§ show that
from that time this gospel was used in all controversies,
and served as the corner-stone for the development ol
the doctrine. Irenaeus is formal ; now, Irenaeus is of the
Bchool of John, and between him and the apostle there
was only Polycarp. The part of this gospel in gnost
icism, and particularly in the system of Valentine,!]" in

* Apol.,l, 32, 61; Dial, cum Tryph., 88. f Legatiopro Christ., 10.
1 Adv. Grcec. ,5,7. Cf. Eusebius, H. E.,TV, 29; Theodoret, Hxrelie. faovl. 1, 20.
T Ad Autolycum, II, 22. § Adv. har.,ll, xxil,5; III, I, Cf. Eus., H.E., V. 8.
f Irenaeus, Adv. hcer.,l, in 6; III, xi, 7; St. Hippolytus, PMLosophwmena, VI,
u,29 sew.
3

26 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Montanism* and in the contest of the Quartodecima-
ni,f is no less decisive. The school of John is that
tli.e course of which is most clearly seen during the
second century ; now, this school cannot be under
stood if we do not pla-ce the fourth gospel^: at its very
cradle. The first epistle also, attributed to St. John,
is certainly by the same author as the fourth gospel ;
now the epistle is identified as John's by Polycarp,|
Papias§ and Irenseus.T
But above all the book itself is of an impressive
character. The author speaks continually as an eye
witness ; he desires to pass for the apostle John. If,
therefore, this work is not really by the apostle, we
must admit a deception which the author confesses to
himself. Now, although the ideas of that day were,
in matters of literary honesty, essentially different from
ours, we have no example in the apostolic world, of a
forgery of this kind. Moreover, not only does the au
thor desire to pass for the apostle John, but we see
clearly that he writes in the interest of that apostle.
On every page the intention is betrayed of showing
that he was the faxprite of Jesus,** that upon all the
most solemn occasions (at the Supper, on Calvary, at
the grave) he held the first place. The relations, fra
ternal on the whole, though not excluding a certain
rivalry, of the author with Peter,f f his hatred on the
contrary to Judas, %% a hatred perhaps anterior to the
betrayal, seem to disclose themselves her* and there.

• Irenaeus, Adv. Tuer. , III, xi, 9. + Eusebius, H. E. , V, 24.
+ 1 John, i, 3, 5 The two works present the most complete identity of style,
the same peculiarities, the same favorite expressions
|| Epist. adPMlip. ,7. (, In Eusebius, H. E., Ill, 39.
V Ada. hair., Ill, xvi,5,8. Cf. Eusebius, H. E., V, 8.
•* XIII, 23; XIX, 26; XX, 2, xxi, 7, 20.
+* John XVIII, 15, 16; XX, 2-6; XXI, 16-19. JJ vi, 65; in, 6; «n,21 leqq.

INTRODUCTION. 27
We are tempted to believe that John, in hvs old age,
having read the evangelical narrations which were in
circulation, remarked, on the one hand, various inac
curacies,* on the other hand, was wounded at seeing
that there had not been accorded* to him a sufficiently
prominent p/ace in the history of Christ ; that then he
began to dictate many things which he knew better
than the rest, with the intention of showing that in a
great number of cases in which mention had been
made of Peter only, he had figured with and before
him.f Already in the lifetime of Jesus, this slight
feeling of jealousy had betrayed itself between the
sons of Zebedee and the other disciples.:]: Since the
death of James, his brother, John was the sole pos
sessor of the affectionate memories of which these two
disciples, by the confession of all, were the deposita
ries. Hence his perpetual care to keep in mind that he
is the last surviving eye-witness,] and the pleasure that
he takes in relating circumstances with which he alone
could be acquainted. Hence so many little traits of
precision which seem like the scholia of an annotator :
"It was the sixth hour;" "it was night;" "the ser
vant's name was Malchus ;" " they had made a fire of
coals, for it was cold ;" " now the coat was without
seam." Hence, finally, the disorder of the compila
tion, the irregularity of the progress, the disconnec
tion of the first chapters ; so many things inexplicable
on the supposition that this gospel is only a theologi-
* The manner in which Aristion or Presbyteros Joannes expressed himselt on the
Gospel of Mark before Papias (Eusebius, H. E.,lll, 39,) implies, indeed, a kind
criticism, or rather a sort of exouse, which seems to suppose that John's disci
ples had some better conception of the same subject.
t Com. John, xvm, 15 seqq. , with Matt, xxvl, 58; John, xx, 2-6, with Mark
xvi, 7. See also John, xm, 24, 25.
X 6ee hereafter, p. 162.
| i 14- xix, 35- xxi, 24 seqq. Comp the first epistle of St. John i, 3, 5.

28 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
cal thesis without historical value, and which, on the
contrary, are perfectly comprehensible, if we see in
them, according to the tradition, the memories of an
old man, sometimes of marvellous freshness, sometimes
having suffered strange mutations.
A capital distinction, indeed, must be made in the
gospel of John. On the one hand, this gospel presents
to us a picture of the life of Jesus which differs con
siderably from that of the synoptics. On the other,
he puts into the mouth of Jesus discourses, the tone,
the style, the manner, the doctrines of which have no
thing in common with the Logia reported by the sy
noptics. Under this second relation the difference is
so great that we must make a decided choice. If
Jesus spoke as Matthew has it, he could not have spo
ken as John has it. Between the two authorities, no
critic has hesitated, none will hesitate. A thousand
miles from the simple, disinterested, impersonal tone
of the synoptics, the gospel of John discovers continu
ally the preoccupations of the apologist, the after
thoughts of the sectary, the intention of proving a the
sis and of convincing adversaries.* Not by preten
tious, heavy, badly-written tirades, saying little to the
moral sense, did Jesus found his divine work. Eveu
if Papias had not told us that Matthew wrote the say
ings of Jesus in their original tongue, the naturalness,
the ineffable truth, the peerless charm of the synoptic
discourses, their thoroughly Hebraic manner, the ana
logies which they present to the sayings of the Jewish
doctors of the same period, their perfect harmony with
• See, for example, chap, ix and xi. Notice especially the strange effect at
passageslike John, xix, 35; xx, 31; xxi, 20-23, 24-25, when we remember ti '
total absence ofrefleotions which distinguishes the synoptics. ^

INTRODUCTION. 29
Galilean nature, all these characters, if we compare
them with the obscure gnosticism and the distorted
metaphysics which fill the discourses of John, speak
loudly enough. This does not mean that there are not
in the discourses of John wonderful flashes of light,
touches which come really from Jesus.* Bat the mys
tic tone of these discourses corresponds in no wise to
the character of the eloquence of Jesus such as we
imagine it from the synoptics. A new spirit has come;
gnosticism has already commenced ; the Galilean era
of the kingdom of God is ended ; the hope of the
speedy coming of Christ grows dim ; we are entering
into the aridities of metaphysics, into the darkness of
abstract dogma. The spirit of Jesus is not there, and
if the son of Zebedee really traced these pages, cer
tainly he had entirely forgotten while writing them
the lake of Genesareth, and the delightful conversa
tions which he bad heard upon its banks.
A circumstance, moreover, which fully proves that
the discourses reported by the fourth gospel are not
historic, but compositions intended to cover with the
authority of Jesus, certain doctrines dear to the com
piler, is their perfect harmony with the intellectual
state of Asia Minor, at the time they were written.
Asia Minor was then the theatre of a singular move
ment of syncretic philosophy ; all the germs of gnos
ticism were already in existence^] John appears to
have drunk from these foreign fountains. It may be
that after the crises of the year 68 (the date'of the apo
calypse) and the year 70 (the fall of Jerusalem), the
old apostle, with his ardent and mobile soul, disabused
* For example rv, 1 seqq. ; xv, 12 seqq. Many sayings recounted by John are
found in the synoptics (xn, 16; xv, 20).

30 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
of the belief in the speedy appearance of the Son of
man in the clouds, inclined towards the ideas which he
found about him, many of which readily amalgamated
with certain Christian doctrines. In attributing these
new ideas to Jesus, he but followed a very natural in
clination. Our memories are transformed with all the
rest ; the idea of a person whom we have known,
changes with us.* Considering Jesus as the incarna
tion of truth, John could not but attribute to him what
he had come to take for truth.
And now finally, we will add that probably John
himself had small part in this, that this change was
made around him rather than by him. We are some
times tempted to believe that precious words, coming
from the apostle, were employed by his disciples in a
sense very different from the primitive^evangelical
spirit. Indeed, certain portions of the fourth gospel
-Save been added afterwards; such is the twenty-first
chapter entire,f in which the author seems to have in
tended to render homage to the apostle Peter after his
death, and to reply to the objections which might be,
or which had already been, drawn from the death of
John himself (v. 21-23). Several other passages bear
traces of erasures and corrections.^:
It is impossible, at this distance, to possess the key
of all these singular problems, and doubtless, many
surprises would be in reserve for us, could we penetrate
into the secrets of this mysterious school of Ephesus,
which more than once appears to have taken delight
» Thus Napoleon became a liberal in the memory of his companions in exile
when they, after their return, were thrown intothemidst of the political societV
+ The verses xx, 80-31, evidently formed the ancient oonclusioB.
I VI, 2, 22; VII, 22.

INTRODUCTION. 31
in obscure paths. But a decisive test is this. Every
person who sits down to write the life of Jesus without
a rigid theory as to the relative value of the gospels,
allowing himself to be guided entirely by the senti
ment of the subject, will be led in a multitude of cases
to prefer the narrative of John to that of the synop
tics. The last months of the life of Jesus in particular
are explained only by John ; many features of the
Passion, unintelligible in the synoptics,* assume in the
relation of the fonrth gospel, probability and possibili
ty. On the contrary, I dare defy any person to com
pose a consistent life of Jesus, if he makes account of
the discourses which John attributes to Jesus. Thi3
style of extolling himself and demonstrating himself
incessantly, this perpetual aigumentation, this scenic
representation without simplicity, these long moraliz-
ings at the end of each miracle, these stiff and awk
ward discourses, the tone of which is so often false and
unequal,f are unendurable to a man of taste by the
side of the delicious sayings of the synoptics. We
have here, evidently, artificial pieces,;]: which repre
sent to us the teachings of Jesus, as the dialogues of
Plato render to us the conversation of Socrates. They
are in some sort the variations of a musician improvis
ing on his own account upon a given theme. The
theme may be not without some authenticity ; but in
the execution, the artist gives his fantasy full play.
We feel the factitious procedure, the rhetoric, the gloss.|
* For example, that which concerns the announcement of the treachery of
Judas. + See, for example, 11, 25; in, 32, 33, and the long disputations of chap, vn,
viii and ix. . „ 
j Often we feel that the author seeks pretexts for bringing in discourses (oh.
in, v, vm, xin seqq.
|[ For example, chap. xvu.

32 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY,
Besides, the vocabulary of Jesus is not found in the
fragments of which we are speaking. The expression
" kingdom of God," which was so familiar to the mas
ter,* is seen but once.f On the other hand, the style of
the discourses attributed to Jesus by the fourth gospel,
presents the most complete analogy to that of the epis
tles of St. John ; we see that in writing bis discourses,
the author followed, not his memories, but the rather
monotonous movement of his own thought. An entire
new mystic language is unfolded, a language of which
the synoptics had not the least idea (" world," " truth,"
"life," "light," " darkness," etc.). Had Jesus ever
spoken in this style, which has in it nothing Hebrew,
nothing Jewish, nothing Talmudic, if I may so express
myself, how could a single one of his hearers have
kept the secret so well.
Literary history furnishes, moreover, another exam
ple which presents the closest analogy with the histo
rical phenomena that we have described, and which
serves to explain it. Socrates, who like Jesus, did not
write, is known to us by two of his disciples, Xeno-
phon and Plato, the first corresponding by his lim
pid, transparent, impersonal style, to the synoptics, the
second reminding us, by his vigorous individuality, of
the author of the fourth gospel. To set forth the So-
cratic teaching, must we follow the " Dialogues " of
Plato, or the " Memorabilia " of Xenophon ? There
can be no doubt in regard to this ; the whole world
cleaves to the "Memorabilia," and not to the " Dia
logues." Does Plato, however, teach us nothing in
regard to Socrates ? Would a careful critic, in writing
• Besides the synoptics, the Aots, the Epistle of St. Paul and the ADocalvivui
attest it f John, m, s, 5. yuuypse

INTRODUCTION. 33
the biography of the latter, neglect the " Dialogues ?"
Who would dare to maintain that? The analogy,
moreover, is not complete, and the difference is in fa-
vor of the fourth gospel.
The author of this gospel is, in fact, the better bio
grapher, as if Plato, although attributing to his mas
ter fictitious discourses, knew most important things
in regard to his life, of which Xenophon was entirely
ignorant. Without pronouncing upon the material question,
what hand traced the fourth gospel, and even while
inclining to believe that the discourses at least are not
by the son of Zebedee, we admit, therefore, that this is
really " the Gospel according to John," in the same
sense as the first and second gospels are really the gos
pels " according to Matthew," find " according to
Mark." The historical sketch of the fourth gospel is
the life of Jesus as it was known in the school of John ;
it is the relation which Aristion and Presbyteros Jo
annes gave to Papias without telling him that it was
written, or rather attaching no importance to that pe
culiarity. I will add that, in my opinion, this school
was better acquainted with the external circumstances
of the life of the founder than the group whose mem
ories made up the synoptic gospels. It had, especially
in regard to the sojourns of Jesus at Jerusalem, data
which the others did not possess. The adherents of
the school treated Mark as an indifferent biographer,
and had invented a system to explain his hiatuses.*
Certain passages of Luke, in which there is, as it were,
an echo of the Johannic traditions,-]* prove, moreover,
* Papias, loc. cit.
f Thus the pardon of the woman taken in adultery, the acquaintance of Luke
with the family of Bethany , his type of the character of Martha answering to tin
S*

34 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
that these traditions were not entirely unknown to the
rest of the Christian family.
These elucidations will be sufficient, I think, to show,
in the course of the narrative, the motives which de
termined me to give the preference to one or another
of the four guides which we have for the life of Jesus.
Upon the whole, I accept the four canonical gospels as
authentic. All, in my judgment, date back to the first
century, and they are substantially by the authors to
whom they are attributed ; but in historic value they
are very unequal. Matthew clearly deserves unlimit
ed confidence as regards the discourses ; he gives the
Logia, actual notes from a clear and living memory of
the teaching of Jesus. A splendor at once soft and
terrible, a divine power, if I may use the term, itali-
ces these words, detaches them from the context, and
renders them easily recognizable to the critic He
who attempts the task of forming a regular composi
tion out of the gospel history, possesses in this respect
an excellent touchstone. The real words of Jesus will
not be concealed ; as soon as we touch them in this
chaos of traditions of unequal value, we feel them vi
brate; they come spontaneously, and take their own
place in the narration, vbere they stand out in unpar
alleled relief.
The narrative portions grouped in the first gospel
about this primitive knot, have not the same authority.
There are in them many legends of a rather flaccid
contour, sprung from the piety of the second Christian
tJujxdvEi of John (xn, 2) , the incident of the woman who wiped the feet of Je.
bus with her hair, a dim notion of the journeys of Jesus to Jerusalem the idea
that he appeared at the Passion before three authorities, the opinion of the au
thor that some ol the disciples witnessed the crucifixion, his acquaintance with
the action of Annas by the side of Caiaphas , he appearanae of the angel in the
agony (comp. John, xji, 28-29).

INTRODUCTION. 35
generation.* The gospel of Mark is much more firm,
more precise, less cumbered with fables of later inser
tion. Of the three synoptics, this has come to us the
oldest, the most original, that to which fewest subse
quent elements have been added. The material details
in Mark have a precision which we seek in vain in the
other evangelists. He is fond of reporting certain
words of Jesus in Syro-chaldaic.f He is full of minute
observations coming without any doubt from an eye
witness. Nothing opposes the idea that this eye-wit
ness, who evidently had followed Jesus, who had
loved him and known him intimately, and who had a
living remembrance of him, was the apostle Peter
himself, as Papias says.
As to the work of Luke, its historic value is clearly
less. It is a document of second-hand. The narration
is riper. The sayings of Jesus are more premeditated,
more composite. Some teachings are carried to excess
and falsified.:]: Writing out of Palestine, and certainly
after the siege of Jerusalem,§ the author indicates
places with less precision than the two other synoptics ;
he has a wrong idea of the temple which he imagines
to be an oratory, whither men went to perform their
devotions ;| he softens details endeavoring to reconcile
different accounts ;^[ he tones down passages which had
become embarrassing from the standpoint of a more
exalted idea of the divinity of Jesus ;** he exaggerates
the marvellous ;ff commits errors of chronology ;%%
* Ch'. I and n especially. See also xxvn, 3 seqq.; 19, 60, in comparison with
Mark. + v, 41; vn, 34; xv, 34. Matthew presents this peculiarity but once (xxvn, 46).
1 xiv, 26. The rules of the apostolate (ch. x) have an especial character of
exaltation. § xix, 41, 43-44; xxi, 9, 20; xxni, 29
I ii,37;xvin,10seqq ,xxiv,63. *J For example, iv,16
** in, 2;. He omits Matt., xxix, 36. f\ iv, 14; xxn, 43, 44.
XX For example, in what concerns Quirinius, Lysauias, and Thendas.

36 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
he ignores Hebrew entirely ;* quotes no word of Jesus
in that language, and calls all localities by their Greek
names. We feel the compiler, the man who has not
seen the witnesses himself, but who works upon texts,
and allows himself to do great violence to them in or
der to reconcile them. Luke probably had before him
the biographical collection of Mark and the Logia of
Matthew. But he takes great liberties with them ;
sometimes he fuses two anecdotes or two parables into
one;']' sometimes he decomposes one into two.:]: He
interprets documents according to bis personal under
standing ; he has not the absolute impassibility of
Matthew and Mark. We are able to say certain things
in regard to his tastes and his peculiar tendencies : he
is a very precise devotee ;J he makes it important
that Jesus performed all the Jewish rites ;§ he is an
exalted democrat and Ebionite, that is, thoroughly op
posed to property, and persuaded that the day of the
poor is at hand ;^[ he is especially fond of all the anec
dotes which place in relief the conversion of sinners,
the exaltation of the humble ;** he often modifies the
old traditions to give them this turn.ff He admits into
his first pages legends in regard to the infancy of Je
sus, told with these long amplifications, those canticles,
those conventional methods which form the essential
character of the „ oocryphal gospels. Finally, there
are in the account o ' the last days of Jesus some cir-

* Comp. Luke i, 31, with Matt., i, 21. f For example, xix 12-27
-f Thus, 1lie supper at Bethany furnishes him with two stories (vii, 36-4S and
31,38-42. || xxm, 56.
Su, 21, 22, 39, 41, 42. It is an Ebionite peculiarity. Cf PhUosophumena, VII VI 34
% The parable of Dives and Lazarus. Comp vi, 20 seqq.; 24 seqq • xn' 13
seqq. xvl entire; xxn, 35. Comp. Acts, n, 44, 46; v, 1 seqq. '
** The woman who anointed his feet, Zaccheus, the good thief, the parable ol
the Pharisee and the publican, the prodigal son.
ft For example, Mary of Bethany becomes to him a repentant courtezan.

INTRODUCTION. 37
cumstances full offender feeling and certain words of
Jesus of a delicious beauty,* which are not found in
the more authentic narratives, and in which we per
ceive the work of legend. Luke probably borrowed
them from a more recent collection, the main object of
which was to excite religious feelinsr.
Great reserve has of course been necessary in regard
to a document of this kind. It would have been as
uncritical to neglect it as to employ it without dis
crimination. Luke had before him originals which we
have not. He is less an evangelist than a biographer
of Jesus, a " harmonist," after the manner of Marcion
and Tatian. But he is a biographer of the first cen
tury, a divine artist who, independently of the materi
als which he derived from more ancient sources, pic
tures to us the character of the founder, with a happi
ness in feature, and an inspiration in the whole, a re
lief which the other two synoptics have not. His gos
pel has the greatest charm for the reader, for to the in
comparable be ;iity of the common ground, he adds a
portion of art and composition which singularly in
creases the effect of the portrait, without seriously in
juring its truth.
Upon the whole, we may say that the synoptic com
pilation has passed through three stages : first, the
original documentary state (Matthew's Xo'-yia, Mark's
Xs^-fv-ra -if irpa^s'vra), first collections which no longer
exist; second, the state of simple mixture, in which
the original documents are amalgamated with no effort
at composition, without disclosing any personal view
* Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, the bloody sweat, the meeting of the holy
women, the good thief, etc. The saying to the women of Jerusalem (xxm, 28
29) could hardly have been originated until after the siege in the year 70.

38 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
on the part of the authors (the present gospels of Mat.
thew and Mark) ; third, the state of combination or of
intended and premeditated digestion, in which we per
ceive the effort to reconcile the different versions
(Luke's gospel). The gospel of John, as we have said,
is a composition of a different order, and entirely pe
culiar. It will be remarked that I have made no use of the
apocryphal gospels. These compositions can in no
wise be put upon the same footing as the canonical
gospels. They are flat and puerile amplifications,
based upon the canonical gospels, and adding to them
nothing of value. On the contrary, I have been very
careful to collect the fragments preserved by the Fa
thers of the Church of ancient gospels which once ex
isted along with the canonical and which are now lost,
such as the Gospel according to the Hebrews, the Gos
pel according to the Egyptians, and the Gospels called
those of Justin, Marcion and Tatian. The two first
are especially important in that they were written in
Aramaean like the Logia of Matthew, that they appear
to constitute a variety of the gospel of that apostle,
and that they were the gospel of the Ebionim, that is,
of those little Christian communities of Batanea who
kept up the use of the Syro-chaldaic, and who appear
in some respects to have continued the line of Jesus.
But it must be confessed, that in the state in which
they have reached us, these gospels are inferior, for
critical authority, to the form of Matthew's gospel
which we possess.
The historic value which I attribute to the gospels
ie now, I think, quite understood . They are neither
biographies, after the manner of Suetonius, nor ficti-

INTRODUCTION. 39
tious legends like those of Philostratus ; they are le-
gendary biographies. I would compare them with the
legends of the Saints, the Lives of Plotinus, Proclus, Isi-
dorus, and other works of the same kind, in which his
toric truth and the intention of presenting models of
virtue are combined in different degrees. Inaccura
cy, which is one of the peculiarities of all popular
compositions, is especially perceptible in them. Sup
pose that ten or twelve years ago, three or four old
soldiers of the empire had each sat down to writo the
life of Napoleon from memory. It is clear that their
relations would present numerous errors and great dis
crepancies. One of them would put Wagram before
Marengo ; another would write without hesitation that
Napoleon drove the government of Robespierre from
the Tuileries ; a third would omit expeditions of the
highest importance. But one thing would certainly
be realized with a good degree of truth from these art
less relations, — the character of the hero, the impres
sion which he made upon those about him. In this
view, such popular histories are better than formal,
authoritative history. The same thing may be said
of the gospels. Intent solely on setting prominently
forth the excellence of the Master, his miracles and his
teachings, the evangelists exhibit complete indiffer
ence to everything which is not the very spirit of Je
sus. Contradictions as to times, places, persons were
regarded as insignificant ; for, the higher the degree
of inspiration attributed to the words of Jesus, the far
ther they were from according this inspiration to the
narrators. These were looked upon simply as scribes,
and had but one rule : to omit nothing that they knew.*
« See the passage of Papias hitherto cited.

40 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
It cannot be contradicted that to some extent pre
conceived ideas must have mingled with these memo
ries. Several stories, of Luke especially, were devised
in order to bring out vividly certain traits of the phy
siognomy of Jesus. This physiognomy itself suffered
changes every day. Jesus would be a phenomenon
unique in history, if, with the part which he enacted,*
he had not been early transfigured. The legend of
Alexander was complete before the generation of his
companions in arms was extinct ; that of St. Francis
d'Assisi commenced while he was yet alive. A rapid
work of metamorphosis was going on also, during the
twenty or thirty years which followed the death of Je
sus, and imposed upon his biography the absolute
traits of an ideal legend. Death adds perfection to
the most perfect man ; it renders him faultless to
those who have loved him. At the same time, more
over, that they wished to paint the Master, they wish
ed to demonstrate him. Many anecdotes were con
ceived to prove that in him the prophecies considered
as Messianic had been accomplished. But this pro
cess, the importance of which must not be denied, can
not explain all. No Jewish work of the time gives a
series of prophecies precisely set forth which the Mes
siah was to accomplish. Many of the Messianic allu
sions seized upon by the evangelists are so subtle, sc
distorted, that we can believe only that all that cor
responds to a doctrine generally admitted. Sometimes
the reasoning was thus : "The Messiah was to do a cer
tain thing : now Jesus is the Messiah ; therefore Je
sus has done a certain thing." Sometimes it was the
converse : " A certain thing happened to Jesus ; now
Jesus is the Messiah ; therefore a certain thine- -was to

INTRODUCTION. 41
happen to the Messiah.* Too simple explanations are
always false in an analysis of the tissue of these pro
found creations of popular sentiment, which defy all
systems by their richness and their infinite variety.
It is hardly necessary to say that with such docu
ments, in order to give only what is incontestable, we
must limit ourselves to general lines. In nearly all
ancient histories, even in those which are much less
legendary than these, the details leave room for infi
nite doubt. When we have two accounts of the same
act, it is extremely rare that the two accounts agree.
Is not this a reason, when we have but one, for imag
ining many perplexities ? We may say that among
the anecdotes, the speeches, the celebrated sayings re
ported by the historians, not one is rigorously authen
tic. Were there stenographers to fix these fleeting
words ? Was there an annalist always present to note
the gestures, the manner, the feelings of the actor ?
Endeavor to arrive at the truth in regard to the man
ner in which this or that cotemporaneous event hap
pened ; you will not succeed. Two accounts of the
same occurrence given by eye-witnesses differ essen
tially. Must we therefore renounce all the coloring
of narratives, and confine ourselves to the general
enunciation of facts ? This would be to suppress his
tory. Indeed, I do believe that, if we except certain
short, almost mnemonic axioms, none of the discourses
reported by Matthew are literal ; our stenographed
trials scarcely are. I willingly admit that this admi
rable relation of the Passion contains a multitude of
approximations. Should we, however, write the life
of Jesus, omitting these teachings which represent to
• See, for example, John, xix, 23, 24.

42 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
as so vividly the physiognomy of his discourses, and
confine ourselves to saying with Josephus and Tacitus
" that he was put to death by the order of Pilate at the
instigation of the priests V That would be, in my
opinion, a species of inaccuracy worse than that to
which we are exposed by admitting the details which
the texts furnish us. These details are not true to the
letter ; but they are true with a superior truth ; they
are truer than the naked truth, in this sense, that they
are truth rendered expressive and eloquent, raised to
the bight of an idea.
I beg those persons who may think 1 have accorded
too great confidence to stories in great part legendary,
to remember the observation which I have just made.
To what would the life of Alexander be reduced, were
we to confine ourselves to that which is absolutely
certain ? Even the traditions that are in part erro
neous, contain a portion of truth which history cannot
neglect. M. Sprenger has not been blamed for mak
ing, in writing the life of Mahomet, great account of
the hadith or oral traditions in regard to the prophet,
or for often attributing literally to his hero sayings
known only from this source. The traditions in regard
to Mahomet, however, have no historical character su
perior to that of the discourses' and narratives which
compose the gospels. They were written between the
year 50 and 140 of the hegira. In writing the histo
ry of the Jewish schools during the centuries which
immediately preceded and followed the birth of Chris
tianity, we should have no scruples about attributing
to Hillel, Schammal and Gamaliel the maxims which
are assigned to them by the Misohna and the Gemara,

INTRODUCTION. 43
Although these great compilations were put into form
several hundred years after the doctors in question.
As to those who believe, on the contrary, that his
tory should be written by reproducing without inter
pretation the documents that have come down to us, 1
beg them to observe that in such a subject that is not
permissible. The four principal documents are in fla
grant contradiction one with another ; Josephus, more
over, sometimes corrects them. We must make a
choice. To assert that an event could not have hap
pened in two ways at once, nor in an impossible way,
is not to impose upon history an a priori philosophy.
When we possess several different versions of a single
act, when credulity has mingled fabulous circupistan-
ces with all these versions, the historian should not
conclude that the act is unreal ; but he should in such
cases be upon his guard, compare the texts and pro
ceed by induction. There is in particular one class of
relations to which this principle must necessarily be
applied, — supernatural relations. To seek to explain
these relations or to reduce them to legends, is not to
mutilate the facts in the name of theory ; it is to base
ourselves upon the observation of facts. None of the
miracles with which ancient histories are filled, occur
red under scientific conditions. Observation never
once contradicted, teaches us that miracles occur only
in periods and countries in which they are believed in
and before persons disposed to believe in them. No
miracle was ever performed before an assembly of men
capable of establishing the miraculous character of an
act. Neither men of the people nor men of the world
are competent for that. Great precautions and a long
habit of scientific research are requisite, In our days

44 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
have we not seen nearly all men the dupes of gross
prestiges or puerile illusions ? Marvellous acts attested
by every inhabitant of small towns have become, ut>
der a more severe scrutiny, acts of felony.* If it is
certain that no cotemporaneous miracle bears exam
ination, is it not probable that the miracles of the
past, all of which were performed in popular assem
blages, would also present to us, were it possible for us
to criticise them in detail, their share of illusion?
It is not therefore in the name of this or that phi
losophy, but in the name of constant experience, that
we banish miracle from history. We do not say " Mi
racle is impossible ;" we say : " there has been hither
to no miracle proved." Let a thaumaturgist present
himself to-morrow with testimony sufficiently import
ant to merit our attention ; let him announce that he
is able, I will suppose, to raise the dead ; what would
be done ? A commission composed of physiologists,
physicians, chemists, persons experienced in historical
criticism, would be appointed. This commission would
choose the corpse, make certain that death was real,
designate the hall in which the experiment should be
made, and regulate the whole system of precautions
necessary to leave no room for doubt. If, under such
conditions, the resurrection should be performed, a
probability almost equal to certainty would be attain
ed. However, as an experiment ought always to be
capable of being repeated, as one ought to be capable
of doing again what one has done once, and as in the
matter of miracles there can be no question of easy or
difficult, the thaumaturgist would be invited to repro
duce his marvellous act under other circumstances
• See the Gazette des Tribunaua, 10 sept, et 11 nov. 1851. 28 mal 1857.

INTRODUCTION. 45
upon other bodies, in another medium. If the miracle
succeeds each time, two things would be proven : first,
that supernatural acts do come to pass in the world ;
second, that the power to perform them belongs or is
delegated to certain persons. But who does not see
that no miracle was ever performed under such condi
tions ; that always hitherto the thaumaturgist has cho
sen the subject of the experiment, chosen the means,
chosen the public ; that, moreover, it is, in most cases,
the people themselves who from the undeniable need
which they feel of seeing in great events and great
men something divine, create the marvellous legends
afterwards. Till we have new light, we shall main
tain, therefore, this principle of historical criticism,
that a supernatural relation cannot be accepted as
such, that it always implies credulity or imposture,
that the duty of the historian is to interpret it, and to
seek what portion of truth and what portion of error
it may contain.
Such are the rules which have been followed in the
composition of this life. To the reading of the texts I
have been able to add a fresh source of light, an ex
amination of the places in which the events occurred.
The scientific commission for the exploration of an
cient Phoenicia, of which I was the director in 1860
and 1861,* led me to reside on the frontiers of Galilee
and to traverse it frequently. I have travelled through
(he evangelical province in every direction ; I have
fisited Jerusalem, Hebron, and Samaria ; scarcely any
locality important in the history of Jesus has escaped
me. All this history which, at a distance, seems float
ing in the clouds of an unreal world, thus assumed a
• The book containing the results of this mission Is in press.

46 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
body, a solidity which astonished me. The striking
accord of the texts and the places, the wonderful har
mony of the evangelical ideal with the landscape
which served as its setting, were to me as a revela
tion. I had before my eyes a fifth gospel, torn but
Btill legible, and thenceforth, through the narratives of
Matthew and Mark, instead of an abstract being,
which one would say had never existed, I saw a won
derful human form live and move. During the sum
mer, having been compelled to go up to Ghazir in
Mount Lebanon to take a little rest, I fixed with rapid
strokes the image which had appeared to me, and the
result was this book. When a cruel fate intervened
to hasten my departure, I had but few pages left to
write. The book has been, in this way, composed en
tirely near the very place where Jesus was born and
developed. Since my return, I have labored inces
santly to verify and to test in detail the sketch which
I had written in haste in a Maronite hut with five or
six volumes about me.
Many will, perhaps, regret the biographical form
which has thus been given to my work. When I for
the first time conceived a history of Christianity, what
I wished to write was in fact a history of doctrines, in
which men would have had scarcely any part. Jesus
would hardly have been named; I should have en-
deavored, above all, to show how the ideas which were
produced under his name, germinated and spread over
the world. But I have learned since, that history ia
not a mere play of abstractions, that in it men are
more than doctrines. It was not a certain theory in
regard to justification and redemption which produced
the Reformation ; it was Luther, it was Calvin. Par-

INTRODUCTION. 47
seeism, Hellenism, Judaism, might have combine 8 in
all forms ; the doctrines of the resurrection and the
Word might have been developed for centuries with
out producing this fecund, unique, sublime fact, which
is called Christianity. This fact is the work of Jesus,
of St. Paul, of St. John. To write the history of Je
sus, St. Paul and St. John, is to write the history of
the origins ofChristianity. The previous movements
belong to our subject only in so far as they serve to
throw light upon these extraordinary men, who must
of course have had some relation with what pre
ceded them. In such an effort to revivify the lofty
souls of the past, we must be permitted to some extent
to divine and conjecture. A great life is an organic
whole which cannot be represented by the simple ag
glomeration of little facts. A deep feeling must em
brace the whole and form its unity. The method of
art in such a subject is a good guide ; the exquisite
tact of a Goethe would here find full scope. The es
sential conditions of art creations is to form a living
system every portion of which answers and demands
every other. In histories of this kind the great sign
that we have attained the truth, is success in combin
ing the texts so as to constitute a logical, probable,
concordant narrative. The intimate laws of life, of the
advance of organic products, and of the toning down
of shades, must be consulted at every step ; for what
we have here to find, is not the material circumstance,
impossible to verify, but the very soul of the history ;
what we have to seek is not the petty certainty of the
minutiae, but the justness of the general idea, the truth
of the coloring. Each touch which violates the rules
of classic narration, should warn us to beware ; for the

48 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
fact which we have to narrate was living, natural and
harmonious. If we do not succeed in rendering it such
in our narration, surely it is because we have not at
tained to the right view of it. Suppose that in restor
ing the Minerva of Phidias according to the texts, an
unnatural, maimed, artificial whole should be produ
ced ; what must we conclude therefrom ? But one
thing : that the texts demand artistic interpretation,
that they must be gently entreated until they finally
combine to produce a whole in which all the materials
are happily fused. Should we be sure of having then,
feature for feature, the Greek statue ? No ; but at
least we would not have a caricature ; we would have
the general spirit of the work, one of the forms in
which it might have existed.
This idea of a living organism we have not hesitated
to take as a guide in the general structure of the nar
rative. The reading of the gospels is enough to show
that their authors, though they had in their minds a
very just plan of the life of Jesus, were not guided by
very rigorous chronological data ; Papias, moreover,
tells us so expressly.* The expressions : " In those
days  after that  then  and it came to
pass that  ," etc., are simple transitions designed
to connect the different stories. To leave all the ma
terials furnished us by the Evangelists in the disorder
in which tradition gives them, would no more be to
write the history of Jesus, than one would write the
history of a celebrated man by giving promiscuously
the letters and anecdotes of his youth, his old age, am
his prime. The Koran, which also presents to us in
the most complete confusion the fragments of the dif-
*Loe. cU.

INTRODUCTION. 49
ferent periods of the life of Mahomet, has yielded its
secret to an ingenious criticism ; the chronological order
in which these fragments were composed, has been
discovered with approximate certainty. Such a read-
iustment is much more difficult for the gospel, the
public life of Jesus having been shorter and less
crowded with events than the life of the founder of
Islam. However, the attempt to find a clue by which
to guide our steps in this labyrinth, cannot be taxed
with gratuitous subtlety. It is no great abuse of hy
potheses to suppose that a religious founder begins by
adopting the moral aphorisms which are already in cir
culation in his time, and the practices which are most
prevalent; that, when more mature, and in possession
of his full powers, he takes pleasure in a species of
calm, poetic eloquence, far removed from all contro
versy, suave and free as pure sentiment ; that he
gradually becomes exalted, excited by opposition, and
ends in polemics and strong invective. Such are the
periods which have been distinguished in the Koran.
The order adopted with an exquisite tact by the syn
optics, supposes an analogous progress. Read Mat
thew attentively, and there will be foand in the dis
tribution of the discourses, a gradation strongly anal
ogous to that which we have just indicated. There
will be observed, moreover, the difference in forms of
expression of which we make use when we attempt to
explain the progress of the ideas of Jesus. The reader
may, if he prefers, see in the divisions adopted in this
regard, only the sections indispensable to the method
ical exposition of a profound and complex mind.
If the love of a subject may assist in its comprehen
sion, it will also be recognized, I hope, that this condi-
3*

50 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
tion has not been wanting. To write the history of a
religion, it is necessary, first, to have believed it (with
out that, we could not understand by what it has
charmed and satisfied the human conscience) ; in the
second place, to believe it no longer implicitly ; for
implicit faith is incompatible with sincere history.
But love^ goes without faith. Because we do not at
tach ourselves to any of the forms which captivate
human adoration, we do not renounce the enjoyment
of all that is good and beautiful in them. No passing
vision exhausts divinity; God was revealed before JeL.
sus, God will be revealed after him. Widely unequal
and so much the more divine, as they are the greater
and the more spontaneous, the manifestations of the
God concealed in the depths of the human conscience,
are all of the same order. Jesus cannot therefore, be
long exclusively to those who call themselves his dis
ciples. He is the common honor of all who bear a
human heart. His glory consists, not in being ban
ished from history ; we render him a truer worship by
showing that all history is incomprehensible without
him.

LIFE OF JESUS.

CHAPTER I.
PLACE OF JESUS IN THE WORLD'S HISTORY.
The capital event of the history of the world is the
-evolution by which the noblest portions of humanity
passed from the ancient religions, comprised under the
Vague name of paganism, to a religion founded upon
the divine unity, the trinity, the incarnation of the
Son of God. This conversion required nearly a thou
sand years for its accomplishment. The new religion
occupied at least three hundred years in its formation
alone. But the origin of the revolution with which
we have to do, is an event which occurred during the
reigns of Augustus and Tiberius. Then lived a su
perior person who by his bold initiative, and by the
love which he inspired, created the object and fixed
the starting-point of the future faith of humanity.
Man, when first he distinguished himself from the
an:mal was religious, that is to say he saw, in nature,
something beyond reality, and, for himself, something
beyond death. This feeling, for thousands of years,

52 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
wandered about in the strangest way. With aiany
races, it never went beyond a belief in sorcerers in the
crude form in which we still find it in certain parts of
Oceanica. With some, the religious sentiment culmi
nated in the shameful scenes of butchery which char
acterize the ancient religion of Mexico. With others,
especially in Africa, it reached pure fetishism, that is
the adoration of a material object, to which were at
tributed supernatural powers. As the instinct of love,
which at times raises the commonest man above him
self, sometimes changes into brutality and ferocity, so
this divine faculty of religion long seemed a cancer
which must be extirpated from the human race, a
cause of errors and of crimes which the wise must en
deavor to suppress.
The brilliant civilizations which were developed in
a very remote antiquity by China, by Babylonia and
Egypt, caused religion to take certain steps in advance.
China attained at a very early date a species of sensible
mediocrity, which forbade any great disorders. It
knew neither the advantages nor the abuses of the
genius of religion. At all events, it had in this re
spect no influence over the direction of the great cur
rent of humanity. The religions of Babylonia and
Syria never extricated themselves from a basis of
amazing sensuality ; these religions continued, until
their extinction in the fourth and fifth centuries of our
era, schools of immorality, in which were sometimes
•opened, by a sort of poetic intuition, penetrating vistas
of the divine world. Egypt, beneath a species of ap
parent fetishism, had at an early day metaphysical
dogmas and a lofty symbolism. But undoubtedly
these interpretations of a refined theology were not

LIFE OF JESUS. 53
primitive. Never has man, in possession of a clear
idea, amused himself \>y clothing it in symbols ; gen
erally it is after long reflection, and because it is im
possible for the human mind to resign itself to the ab
surd, that ideas are sought beneath the old mystic im
ages, the meaning of which has been lost. It is not
from Egypt, moreover, that the faith of humanity has
come. The elements which, in the religion of a Chris
tian, come, through a thousand transformations, from
Egypt and Syria, are external forms without much
consequence, or scoria such as the most refined wor
ships always retain. The great faults of the religions
of which we are speaking, was their essentially super
stitious character; what they scattered over the world
was millions of amulets and abracadabras. No grand
moral thought could originate among races debased
by centuries of despotism, and accustomed to institu
tions which prohibited almost every exercise of indi
vidual liberty.
The poetry of the soul, faith, liberty, honor, devo
tion, appeared in the world with the two great races
which, in one sense, have formed humanity, I mean
the Indo-European race and the Semitic race. The
first intuitions of the Indo-European race were essen
tially naturalistic. But it was a deep, moral natural
ism, a loving embrace of nature by man, a delicious
poetry, full of the feeling of the infinite, the principle
in short of all that German and Celtic genius, of what
a Shakespeare, of what a Goethe was afterwards to ex
press. It was neither premeditated religion nor mo
rality; it was melancholy, tenderness, imagination; it
was above all entirely serious, the essential condition
of morality and religion. The faith of humanity, how-

54 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
ever, could not come from it, because these o.d wor
ships had great difficulty in detaching themselves from
polytheism, and did not attain to a very clear symbol.
Brahminism has lived to our days only by the aston
ishing privilege of conservation which India seems to
possess. Buddhism failed in all its attempts towards
the west. Druidism remained a form exclusively na
tional and without universal range. The Greek at
tempts at reform, Orphism, the Mysteries, did not suffice
to give solid aliment to souls. Persia alone succeeded
in forming a dogmatic religion, almost monotheistic,
and wisely organized; but it is very possible that even
this organization was imitated or borrowed. At all
events, Persia did not convert the world; she was
converted, on the contrary, when she saw rising upon
her frontiers the banner of divine unity proclaimed
by Islam.
To the Semitic* race belongs the glory of having
produced the religion of humanity. Far beyond the
confines of history, under his tent, remaining pure
from the disorders of a world already corrupt, the Be
douin patriarch prepared the faith of the world.
Strong antipathy to the voluptuous worships of Syria,
great symplicity of ritual, complete absence of tem
ples, the idol reduced to insignificant theraphim, such
was his superiority. Among all the nomadic tribes of
the Semites, that of the Beni- Israel was already marked
for immense destinies. Ancient relations with Egypt,
whence resulted perhaps some appropriations purely
material, had only increased their repugnance to idol-
* This word simply designates here those nations which speak or have snoken
one of the languages called Semitic. Such a designation is very defective- but it
is one of those words like " Gothic architecture" and " Arabic numerals" 'which
we must preserve in order to be understood, even after the erroi which t]u>»
imply has been demonstrated. cn uiey

LIFE OF JESUS. 55
atry. A " Law " or Thora, written at a very remote
period, upon metallic tables, and which they referred
to their great liberator Moses, was already the code of
monotheism, and contained, compared with the insti
tutions of Egypt and Chaldea, mighty germs of social
equality and of morality. A chest, or portable ark,
with rings on the sides through which to pass staves,
constituted their entire religious materiel ; in it were
collected the sacred objects of the nation, its relics, its
memories, the "book" in fact,* the journal of the
tribe always open, but in which they wrote with great
discretion. The family entrusted with bearing the
staves and watching over these portable archives, be
ing near the book and controlling it, very soon became
important. Thence, however, did not come the insti
tution which decided the future ; the Hebrew priest
does not differ much from other priests of antiquity.
The characteristic which distinguishes Israel essential
ly among theocratic nations, is that its priests were al
ways subordinate to individual inspiration. Besides
its priests, each nomadic tribe had its ndbi or prophet,
a species of living oracle which was consulted for the
solution of obscure questions requiring a high degree
of clairvoyance. The nabis of Israel, organized in
groups or schools, had great ascendancy. Defenders
of the ancient democratic spirit, enemies of the rich,
opposed to all political organizations, and to whatever
would lead Israel into the ways of other nations, they
were the real instruments of the religious pre-eminence
of the Jewish people. They early announced un
bounded hopes, and when the nation, the victim in
part of their impolitic counsels, had been crushed by
• lSam.,x,25.

56 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the Assyrian power, they proclaimed that an unlimited
kingdom was in reserve for them, that one day Jeru
salem would be the capital of the whole world, and
that the human race would become Jewish. Jerusa
lem and^ its temple appeared to them like a city placed
upon the summit of a mountain, towards which all na
tions must flow, like an oracle whence the law of the
universe must emanate, like the center of an ideal realm,
in which the human race, made peaceful by Israel,
should taste again the joys of Eden.*
Unknown accents already made themselves heard
in exaltation of the martyr, and in celebration of the
power of the " man of sorrows." Concerning one of
those sublime sufferers, who like Jeremiah, reddened
with their blood the streets of Jerusalem, an inspired
one wrote a canticle on the sufferings and the tri
umph of the " Servant of the Most High," in which all
the prophetic power of the genius of Israel seems con
centrated, f " He shall grow up before him as a ten
der plant, and as a root out of a dry ground : he hath
no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see hi in,
there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is
despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces
from him ; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sor
rows : yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God,
and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgres-
sions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastise
ment of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes
we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray ;
« Isaiah, n,l-4, and especially ch. xl seqq , ix seqq.; Micah iv, 1 seqq. It
must be remembered that the second portion of the book of Isaiah, from ch xi
Is not by Isaiah. f lea., lii, 13 seqq., and Lin entire. '

LIFE OF JESUS. 57
we have turned every one to his own way ; and the
Lord hath laid on him- the iniquity of us all. He was
oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his
mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so lie opened
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from
judgment: and who shall declare his generation ? foi
he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the
transgression of my people was he stricken. And he
made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in
his death ; because he had done no violence, neither
was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord
to bruise him ; he hath put him to grief; when thou
shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his
seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the
Lord shall prosper in his hand."
Great changes were at the same time going on in
the Thora. New texts, professing to present the true
law of Moses, like Deuteronomy, were produced, and
inaugurated in reality a spirit very different from that
of the old nomads. An intense fanaticism was the
dominant trait of this spirit. Insane believers inces
santly provoked assaults upon every one who strayed
from the worship of Jehovah ; a code of blood, de
creeing the penalty of death for religions crimes, was
successfully established. Piety almost always leads to
strange contradictions of vehemence and gentleness.
This zeal, unknown to the crude simplicity of the time
of the Judges, inspires tones of moving exhortation
and of tender unction, which the world had never
heard till then. A strong tendency towards social
questions began already to be felt ; Utopias, dreams of
perfect society found place in the code. A mixture of

58 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
patriarchal morality and ardent devotion, of primitive
intuitions and pious refinements like those which filled
the soul of a Hezekiah, a Josiah and a Jeremiah, the
Pentateuch was thus fixed in the form in which we see
it, and became for centuries the absolute rule of the
national mind.
This great book once created, the history of the
Jewish people developed itself in an irresistible tide.
The great empires which succeeded one another in
Western Asia, by destroying all its hope of a terres
trial kingdom, threw it back upon religious dreams
with a. kind of gloomy passion. Little caring for na
tional dynasty or political independence, it accepts all
. governments which leave it free to perform its wor
ship and to follow its usages. Israel henceforth shall
have no other leadership than its religious enthusiasts,
no other enemies than those of the divine unity, no
other country than its Law.
And this Law, it is important to remark, was wholly
social and moral. It was the work of men imbued
with a lofty ideal of the present life, and believing
that they had found the best means of realizing it.
The universal conviction is that the Thora, well ob
served, cannot fail to give perfect happiness. This
Thora has nothing in common with the Greek or Ro
man " Laws," which, taking small note of any thing save
abstract right, enter little into questions of happiness
and of private morality. We perceive in advance that
the results which are to flow from it will be of the so
cial order and not of the political order, that the work
upon which this people is at labor, is a kingdom of
God, not a civil republic, a universal institution, not a
nationality or a country.

LIFE OF JESUS. 59
Through many faintings by the way, Israel main
tained this vocation admirably. A succession of pious
men, Esdras, Nehemiah, Onias, the .Maccabees, eaten
up with the zeal of the Law, upheld the defence of the
ancient institutions. The idea that Israel is a nation
of saints, a tribe chosen of God, and bound to him by
a covenant, roots itself more and more immovably.
An immense expectation fills every soul. All Indo-
European antiquity had placed Paradise at the begin
ning ; all its poets had wept a golden age departed.
Israel placed the golden age in the future. The eter
nal poetry of religious souls, the Psalms, were born of
this exalted pietism, with their divine and melancholy
harmony. Israel became truly and pre-eminently the
people of God, while about it the pagan religions be
came more and more degraded, in Persia and Babylo
nia to an official charlatanry, in Egypt and Syria to a
crude idolatry, in the Greek and Latin world to pa
rades. What the Christian martyrs did in the first cen
turies of our era, what the victims of persecuting or
thodoxy did in the very bosom of Christianity up to
our time, the Jews did during the two centuries which
preceded the Christian era. They were a living protest
against superstition and religious materialism. An
extraordinary movement of ideas, ending in the most
opposite results, made them at this period the most
striking and the most original nation in the world.
Their dispersion along the whole 6hore of the Mediter
ranean, and the use of the Greek language, which they
adopted out of Palestine, prepared the way for a pro
paganda of which the ancient forms of society, cut up
into small nationalities, had yet afforded no example.
To the time of the Maccabees, Judaism, notwithstand

60 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
ing its persistence in announcing that it would one day
be the religion of the human race, had had the char
acter of all the other worships of antiquity: it was a
family worship, a tribe worship. The Israelite really
thought that his worship was the best, and spoke with
contempt of foreign gods. But he believed also that
the religion of the true God was made for him alone.
The worship of Jehovah was embraced on entering the
Jewish family ; * that was all. No Israelite dreamed
of converting other nations to a worship which was
the patrimony of the sons of Abraham. The develop
ment of the pietist spirit, after Esdras and Nehemiah,
led to a conception much more. solid and more logical.
Judaism became the true religion absolutely ; the
right to embrace it was accorded to all who desired ;f
soon it became a pious work to make as many converts
as possible.:]: Undoubtedly the delicate feeling which
raised John the Baptist, Jesus, and St. Paul above the
mean ideas of race, did not yet exist ; by a singular
contradiction, these converts (proselytes) found small
consideration, and were treated with disdain. | But
the idea of an exclusive religion, the idea that there is
something in the world superior to country7, to blood,
to laws, the idea which shall make the apostles and
the martyrs, was founded. A deep pity for pagans,
however splendid might be their mundane fortune, is
henceforth the feeling of every J^w.§ By a cycle
of legends, intended to furnish models of immova
ble firmness (Daniel and his companions, the mother
• Euth, i, 16. -f Esther, ix, 27.
% Matt.,xxm, 15; Josephus, Vita, 23; S. J., II, xvn, 10- VII in 3- Ant XX
&Jv52S£; xxiv-ii,"3.1 JuT- XIT> 9a seqq-; TaoitU8> -*¦"¦¦ n> 8'5; ,/at''v, >i
« Mischna, ScheUU, x, 9; Talmud of Babylon, Niddah, fol. 13 b, Jebamoth 47 h
Kidduschin, 70 b; Midrasch, JaVcut Ruth, fol. 163 d. '
Apocryphal letter of Baruch, in Fabricius, Cod. pseud. T. T. II, 147 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 61
of the Maccabees and her seven sons,* the romance
of the hippodrome of Alexandria),! the guides of the
people sought above all to inculcate this idea that
virtue consists in a fanatical attachment to determinate
religious institutions.
The persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes made this
idea a passion, almost a frenzy. It was something
closely analogous to this which took place under Nero,
two hundred and thirty years afterwards. Rage and
despair threw the faithful into the world of visions and
of dreams, the first apocalypse, the "Book of Daniel,"
appeared. It was a sort of reproduction of prophet-
ism, but under a very different form from the ancient,
and with a much broader idea of the destinies of the
world. The Book of Daniel gave in some sort their
final expression to the Messianic expectations. The
Messiah was no longer a king after the manner of Da
vid and Solomon, a theocratic and Mosaic Cyrus ; he
was a " son of man " coming with the clouds of hea
ven, ¦{: a supernatural being, clothed in human appear
ance, commissioned to judge the world and to preside
over the golden age. Perhaps the Sosiosch of Persia,
the great prophet to come, commissioned to prepare the
reign of Ormuzd, furnished some features to this new
ideal. | The unknown author of the Book of Daniel
had, at all events, a decisive influence upon the relig
ious event which was to transform the world. He
furnished the scenic representation, and the technical

-* II Maccabees, vn, and the DeMaccabceis, attributed to Josephus. Cf. Epistta
to the Hebrews, xi, 33 seqq.
" III Maccabees (apocr.); Rufin. Suppl. ad Jos., Contra Apionem, II, 5.
vn, 13 seqq.
Vendidad, xix,18,19; Minohhired, a passage published in the Zeitschrift der
tieutschenmorgenlandischen Gesellscha.fi, I, 2P3; Boundehe*cK, xxxi The lack of any
certain chronology of the Zend and Pehlvic texts leaves much doubt floating
over these comparisons between Jewish and Persian beliels.

Vll

62 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
terms of the new Messianism, and to him may be ap
plied what Jesus said of John the Baptist: The
prophets were until John ; since that time the kingdom
of God.
We must not believe, however, that this movement,
so profoundly religious and passionate, had for its
moving spring particular dogmas, as has been the case
in all the contests which have broken out in the bosom
of Christianity. The Jew of this period was as little
a theologian as possible. He did not speculate on
the essence of the divinity ; the beliefs in- regard to
angels, "the end of man, the divine personalities, the
first germ of which already began to show itself, were
optional beliefs, meditations to which every one might
yield himself according to the cast of his mind, but of
which a multitude of people had never heard. Indeed
the most orthodox remained strangers to these pecu
liar notions, and held to the simplicity of Mosaism.
No dogmatic power analogous to that which orthodox
Christianity conferred upon the church, then existed.
Not until the third century, when Christianity fell into
the hands of arguing races, insane for dialectics and
metaphysics, did this fever of distinctions commence,
which makes the history of the Church the history of
an endless controversy. There was disputation also
among the Jews; zealous schools found contradictory
solutions for nearly all agitated questions ; but in these
contentions, the principal details of which the Talmud
has preserved, there is not a word of speculative the
ology. To keep and maintain the law, because the
law is just, and because when well kept, it gives hap
piness, this was the whole of Judaism. No credo, no
theoretic symbol. A disciple of the boldest Arabic

LIFE OF JESUS. 66
philosophy, Moses Maimonides, could become the ora
cle of the synagogue, because he was a most rigid ob
server of the. law.
The reigns of the last Asmoneans and that of
Herod saw the exaltation increase still more. They
were filled with an uninterrupted series of religious
movements. In proportion as the government became
secularized and passed into unbelieving hands, the
Jewish people lived less and less for earth and
became more and more absorbed by the strange work
which was being effected among them. The world,
diverted by other spectacles, has no knowledge of
what is passing in this forgotten corner of the East.
Souls which keep pace with their century are, how
ever, better informed. The delicate and clairvoyant
Virgil seems to respond, as by a secret echo, to the
second Isaiah; the birth of a e-hild throws him into
dreams of universal regeneration.* These dreams
were common and formed a style of literature, which
was covered by the name of the Sibyls. The quite recent
formation of the Empire exalted the imagination;
the grand era of peace upon which the world wai
entering, and that impress of melancholy sensibility
which souls experience after long periods of rev
olution, gave birth on every side to unlimited hopes.
In Judea expectation was at its height. Holy per
sons, among whom are cited an aged Simeon, who
according to the legend, held Jesus on his arms, and
Anna, daughter of Phanuel, who was considered a
prophetess,! passed their lives about the temple,
* Eel. iv. The Cumceum carmen (v. 4\ was a kind of Sibylline apocalypse,
stamped with the philosophy and history familiar to the East. See Servius on
this verse, and Carmina SibyUina, III, 97-817. Cf Tac, Hist., V,13.
t Luke, ii, 25 seqq.

64 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
fasting and praying that it might please God not to
take them from the world until they had seen the ac
complishment of the hopes of Israel. A mighty
incubation is felt, the imminence of something un
known. This confused medley of visions and dreams, this
alternation of hopes and deceptions, these aspirations
incessantly trampled down by a hateful reality, at
length found their interpreter in the incomparable
man to whom the universal conscience has decreed the
title of Son of God, and that with justice, since he
caused religion to take a step in advance incompar
ably greater than any other in the past, and probably
than any yet to come.

LIFE OF JESUS. 65

CHAPTER H.

01UDHOOD AND YOUTH OF JESUS— HIS FIRST IM
PRESSIONS.
Jesus was born at Nazareth,* a small town in Gal
ilee, which before him had no celebrity.f All his
life he was designated by the name of " Nazarene, "J
and it is only by an awkward detour] that the legend
succeeds in fixing his birth at Bethlehem. We shall
further on see§ the motive of this supposition and
* Matt., xm, 54 seqq ; Mark, vi, 1 seqq.; John I, 45, 46.
\ It is not mentioned in the books of the Old Testament, or in Josephus or in
the Talmud.
$ Mark, i,24; Luke, xviii, 37; John,xrx,19; Acts, n, 22; in, 6. Hence the
name of Nazwrenes, long applied to Christians, and which still designates them
in all Mahometan countries.
H The assessment made by Quirinius, with which the legend connects the
journey to Bethlehem, is subsequent by at least ten years to the year when, ac
cording to Luke and Matthew, Jesus was born. The two evangelists indeed
place his birth under the reign of Herod (Matt., n, 1, 19, 22; Luke, i, 5). Now
the assessment of Quirinius was not until after the deposition of Archelaus, ten
years after the death of Herod, in the year 37 of the era of Actium (Josephus,
Ant., XVII, xm, 5; XVIII, i, 1; n, 1)- The inscription by which it was formerly
attempted to show that Quirinius made two assessments is now known to be a
forgery (see Orelli, Ins. lat. , No. 623, and the supplement of Henzen, same num
ber; Borghesi, Ihstes considaires [still unpublished], at the year 74*2). The assess
ment in any event would be applied only to the parts reduced to Roman
provinces and not to the tetrarchies. The texts by which it is sought to prove
that some of the statistical and registrary acts ordered by Augustus extended
oyer the domain of the Herods, either do not imply what they are made to say,
or are by Christian authors, who have borrowed this item from Luke's gospel.
But what fully proves that the journey of the family of Jesus to Beth
lehem is unhistorical, is the reason which is given for it. Jesus was not
of the family of David (see hereafter, 217), and, had he been, still we cannot
conceive that his parents would have been compelled, for an act purely regis
trary and financial, to go to inscribe their names at a place their ancestors had
left a thousand years before. "By imposing such an obligation the Roman au
thority would have sanctioned claims full of danger to itseLt
^ Ch xiv.

66 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
how it was the necessary consequence of the Messiamo
character attributed to Jesus* The precise date of
his birth is unknown. It occurred under the reign of
Augustus, towards the year 750 of Rome, probably
some years before the year 1 of the era which all civ
ilized nations date from the day of his birth, f
The name of Jesus,' which was given him, is a vari
ation of Joshua. It was a very common name ; but
'naturally mysteries were afterwards sought in it, and
an allusion to his Saviorship.J Perhaps he himself,
like all mystics, became exalted on this account. More
than one great calling in history has thus been occa
sioned by a name casually given to a child. Ardent
natures are never willing to see chance in anything
that concerns them. For them all has been ordered
by God; and they see a sign of the superior will in the
most insignificant circumstances.
The population of Galilee was diversified, as even
the name of the country | indicated. This province
numbered among its inhabitants in the time of Jesus,
many non-Jews (Phoenicians, Syrians, Arabs and even
Greeks). § Conversions to Judaism were not rare in
these mixed countries. It is impossible therefore to
* Matt. , n, 1 seqq. ; Luke n. 1 seqq. The omission of this story in Mark and
the two parallel passages, Matt., xm, 64, and Mark vi, 1, in which Nazareth
figures as the " own country" of Jesus, prove that there was no such legend in
the primitive text which furnished the historical sketch of the present gospeis ol
Matthew and Mark. It is in cousequence of oft-repeated objections that the
modilications at the beginning of Matthew would have been added, modifications
not in such flagrant contradiction with the rest of the text that it was thought
necessary to correct those places which had been written previously from an en
tirely different point of view. Luke, on the contrary (iv, 16), writing with re
flection, uses, in order to be consistent, a modified expression. As to John, he
knows nothing of the journey to 1'ethlehem ; to him, Jesus is simply " of Naza
reth" or a " Galilean" on two occasions when it would have been of the high
est importance to quote his birth at Bethlehem (I, 45, 46; n, 41, 4'.?).
¦j- It is well known that the calculation which serves as the basis of the vulgai
era was made in the sixth century by Dionysius the Little. This calculation is
partly based on data which are purely hypothetical.
1 Matt., i, HI; Luke i, 31.
I Gelil Haggmtim, circle of the Gentiles.
\ Strabo, XVI, I , 85; Jos., Vita, 12.

LIFE OF JESUS. 67
raise here any question of race and to inquire what
blood flowed in the veins of him who has most contri
buted to efface in humanity all distinction of blood.
He came from the ranks of the people.* Ilia
father Joseph and his mother Mary were in moderate
circumstances, artizans living by their toil,f in this
condition so common in the East, which is neither
ease nor want. The extreme simplicity of life in such
countries, by removing the demand for comfort, ren
ders the privilege of the rich almost useless and
makes all voluntarily poor. On the other hand, the
total lack of taste for the arts and for what contributes
to the elegance of material life, gives to the houses
of those who lack for nothing an appearance of pri
vation. With the exception of something sordid and
repulsive which Islamism carries with it every where,
the town of Nazareth, in the time of Jesus, did not,
perhaps, differ much from what it is to-day.^: We see
the streets in which he played when a child, in these
stony paths or these little squares which separate the
dwellings. The house of Joseph without doubt close
ly resembled those poor shops, lighted by the doof,
serving at once for the work-bench, as kitchen and as
bedroom, having for furniture a mat, some cushions
on the ground, one or two earthen vessels and a painted
chest. The family, whether the product of one or more
marriages, was rather numerous. Jesus had brothers
* The origin of the genealogies intended to connect him with the house of Da-
rid will be explained hereafter (ch. xiv). The Ebionim suppressed them (Epiph.,
Adv. hcer., xxx, 14).
t Matt., xm, 55; Mark, ti, 3; John, vi, 42.
X The rude appearance of the ruins which cover Palestine proves that the
towns which were not reconstructed in the Roman style, were very badly built.
As to the form of these houses, it is, in Syria, so simple and so imperiously do-
pianded by the climate, that it could never have changed.

68 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
and sisters,* who seem to have been younger than
he.f All remained unknown; for it appears that the
four persons who are given as his brothers, and among
whom one at least, James, attained great importance
in the first years of the development of Christianity,
were his cousins german. Mary, indeed, had a sister
named Mary also,:]: who married a certain Alpheus
or Cleophas (these two names appear to designate
the same person),| and was the mother of several sons
who played a very considerable part among the first
disciples of Jesus. His cousins german, who adhered
to the young master, while his real brothers were
opposed to him,§ assumed the title of "brothers of
the Lord."T The real brothers of Jesus, as well as
their mother, had no importance until after his death.**
Even then they do not appear to have equalled their
cousins in consideration, whose conversion had been
* Matt., xn, 46 seqq.; xin,55seqq.; Mark, m, 31 seqq.; vi,3. Luke, vm, 19
seqq.; John, II, 12; vn, 3, 5,10; Acts, 1, 14.
+ Matt. , i, 25.
X That these two sisters bore the same name is a singular fact. Probably there
is some mistake about it, arising from the habit of giving the Galilean women
almost indiscriminately the name of Mary.
[| They are not etymologically identical. FA\paib£ is the transcription of
the Syro-Chaldaic name Halphai; KXcdtfaj or KXsbVag is a shortened form of
KXeoirUrp og . But there may have been an artificial substitution of one for
the other, as the Josephs called themselves " Hegesippus", the Eliakims " Alci
mus", etc.
& John, vn, 3 seqq.
f Indeed, the four persons who are given (Matt., xm, 55; Mark, vt, 3) as sons
of Mary, the mother of Jesus: James, Joseph or Joses, Simon and Juda, appear
again, or nearly so, as the sons of Mary and Cleophas (Matt., xxvn, 56; Mark,
xv, 40; 67ai.,i,19; James, 1,1; Jude.l; Euseb., Chron., ad ann. It. dcccx; Hist.
esc!., HI, 11, 32; Constit. Apost., VII, 46). The hypothesis which we have proposed
alone relieves us from the enormous difficulty of supposing two sisters each hav
ing three or four sons bearing the same names, and admitting that James and
Simon, the first two bishopB of Jerusalem, called the " brothers of the Lord,"
were the real brothers of Jesus, who were hostile to him at first, but were after
wards converted. The evangelist, hearing these four sons called " brothers ol
the Lord," might have put, by mistake, their names in the passage, Matt. , xm,
56 = Mark, vi, 3, in place of the names of the real brothers, who still remained
in obscurity. We may thus explain how the character of the persons called
" brothers of the Lord," of James for example, is so different from that of the
real brothers of Jesus, as we see it drawn in John, vn, 3 seqq. The expression
" brother of the Lord" evidently constituted in the primitive church a kind of
order something like that of the apostles. See especially I Car., ix, 5.
•• Acts, i, 14.

LIFE OF JESUS. (39
more spontaneous, and whose character appears to have
had more originality. Their names were unknown, to
such a degree that when the evangelist puts in the
mouth of the people of Nazareth the enumeration of
the natural brothers, it is the names of the sons of
Cleophas which are immediately presented to his mind
His sisters married at Nazareth,* and there he spent
his early years. Nazareth was a little town, situated
in a fold of land broadly open at the summit of the group
of mountains which closes on the north the plain of Es-
draelon. The population is now from three to four thou
sand and it cannot have varied very much.f It is quite
cold in winter and the climate is very healthy. The
town, like all the Jewish villages of the time, was a
mass of dwellings built without pretensions to style,
and must have presented that poor and uninteresting
appearance which is offered by villages in Semitic
countries. The houses, from all that appears, did not
differ much from those cubes of stone, without interior
or exterior elegance, which now cover the richest por
tion of the Lebanon, and which in the midst of vines
and fig-trees, are nevertheless very pleasant. The en
virons, moreover, are charming, and no place in the
world was so well adapted to dreams of absolute happi
ness. Even in our days, Nazareth is a delightful so
journ, the only place perhaps in Palestine where the
soul feels a little relieved of the burden which weighs
upon it in the midst of this unequalled desolation,
The people are friendly and good-natured; the gar
dens are fresh and green. Antoninus Martyr, at the
* Mark, ti, 3.
i According to Josephus (B. J. in, in. 2), the smallest Tillage In Galilee had
more than five thousand inhabitants. There is probably in this some exaggera
tion

70 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
end of the sixth century draws an enchanting picture
of the fertility of the environs, which he compares to
paradise.* Some valleys on the western side fully
justify his description. The fountain about which the
life and gayety of the little town formerly centered
has been destroyed ; its broken channels now give but
a turbid water. But the beauty of the women who
gather there at night, this beauty which was already
remarked in the sixth century, and in which was seen
the gift of the Yirgin Mary,f has been surprisingly
well preserved. It is the Syrian type in all its lan
guishing grace. There is no doubt that Mary was
there nearly every day and took her place, with her
urn upon her shoulder, in the same line with her un-
remembered countrywomen. Antoninus Martyr re
marks that the Jewish women, elsewhere disdainful
to Christians, are here full of affability. Even at this
day, religious animosities are less intense at Nazareth
than elsewhere.
The horizon of the town is limited, but if we ascend
a little to the plateau swept by a perpetual breeze,
which commands the highest houses, the prospect is
splendid. To the west are unfolded the beautiful lines
of Carmel, terminating in an abrupt point which
seems to plunge into the sea. Then stretch away the
double summit which looks down upon Megiddo, the
mountains of the country of Shechem with their holy
places of the patriarchal age, the mountains of Gil-
boa, the picturesque little group with which are as
sociated .the graceful and terrible memories of Solaru
and of Endor, and Thabor with its finely-rounded form,
which antiquity compared to a breast. Through a do-
* Diner., kjb. f Antoninus Martyr, toe. cit.

LIFE OF JESUS. 71
pression between the mountains of Solam and Thabor,
are seen the valley of the Jordan and the high plains
of Persea which form a continuous line in the east. To
the north, the mountains of Safed, sloping towards the
sea, hide St. Jean d'Acre, but disclose the gulf of
Khaifa. Such was the horizon of Jesus. This enchant
ed circle, the cradle of the kingdom of God, repre
sented the world to him for years. His life even went
little beyond the limits familiar to his childhood. For,
beyond, to the north, you almost see upon the slope
of Hermon, Cesarea Philippi, his most advanced point
into the Gentile world, and to the south, you feel be
hind these already less cheerful mountains of Samaria,
sad Judea, withered as by a burning blast of abstrac
tion and of death.
If ever the world still Christian, but having attained
a better idea of what constitutes respect for origins,
shall desire to substitute authentic holy places for the
mean and apocryphal sanctuaries which were' seized up
on by the piety of the barbarous ages, it is upon this
height of Nazareth that it will build its temple.
There, at the point of advent of Christianity, and at
the centre of action of its founder, should rise the
great church in which all Christians might pray.
There also, upon this soil in which sleep Joseph the
carpenter, and thousands of forgotten Nazarenes, who
have never crossed the horizon of their valley, the
philosopher would be better situated than in any other
place in the world, to contemplate the course of hu
man things, to find consolation for their uncertainty,
to find faith in the divine object which the world pur
sues through innumerable dejections, and notwith
standing the vanity of all things.

72 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER HI.

EDUCATION OP JESUS.

This nature at once smiling and grand, was the
whole education of Jesus. He learned to read and
write,* doubtless according to the method of the
East, which consists in putting into the hands of the
child a book, that he repeats in concert with his little
school-fellows until he knows it by heart.f It is
doubtful, however, whether he really understood the
Hebrew writings in their original tongue. The biog
raphies make him quote from them in the Aramaean
tongue ; his principles of exegesis, as nearly as we can
make them out from those of his disciples, closely re
sembled those which were current at that time,:]: and
which compose the spirit of the Targums and the
Midraschim.% The school-master in the little Jewish towns was the
hazzan, or reader of the synagogue. fl Jesus attended
little upon the higher schools of the scribes or soferim,
(Nazareth perhaps had none), and he had none of
those titles which confer in the eyes of the common
people the privileges of learning. ^ It would at- a
* John, Tin, 6. f Testam. des douze Pair. Levi, 6.
t Matt., xxvn, 46; Mark, xr, 34.
& Jewish translations and commentaries of the Talmudic epoch.
| Mlschna, Schabbalh, I, 3. ^] Matt. , nil, 54 seqq. ; John, Til, 16.

LIFE OF JESUS. 73
great mistake, however, to suppose that Jesus was
what we call illiterate. The education of the schools
marks among us a wide distinction, in the relation of
personal worth, between those who have received i
and those who have been deprived of it. It was not
thus in the East, nor generally in the good old ages.
The crude condition in which, among us, in conse
quence of our isolated and entirely individual life, he
remains, who has not been to the schools, is unknown
in these forms of society where moral culture and es
pecially the general spirit of the time are transmitted
by perpetual contact with men. The Arab, who has
had no school-master, is often highly distinguished
nevertheless ; for the tent is a kind of school always
open, where the meeting of well-bred people gives
birth to a great intellectual and even literary move
ment. Delicacy of manners and acuteness of mind
nave nothing in common in the East with what we
call education. On the contrary, the school men are
considered pedantic and ill-bred. In this state of so
ciety, ignorance, which among us condemns a man to
an inferior rank, is the condition of great deeds and ot
great originality.
It is not probable that he knew Greek. This- lan
guage was little fcnown in Judea beyond the classes
which participated in the government of the towns in
habited by pagans, like Cesarea.* The native idiom
of Jesus was the Syriac dialect mixed with He-
brow, which was then spoken in Palestine. f Still less
• Mischn&^Schelcalim, in, 2; Talmud of Jerusalem, MegiUa, htdnca. xi; Sota, Tin,
1; Talmud of Babylon, Baba Kama, 83 a; Megilla, 8 6 seqq.
¦(¦ Matt., xxvn, 46; Mark, in, 17; v, 41; vn, 34; xiv, 36; xv, 34. The expression
ij ifurpiog ©wvt], in the writers of this time, always designates the Semitic dia
lect which was spoken in Palestine (II Mac, vn, 21, 27; xn, 37; Jets, xxi, 37,
M , xxn 2; xxyi, 14; Josephus, Ant., XVIII, ti, 10; XX, sub. fin.; B. J. prooem. 1

74 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
had he any knowledge of Greek culture. This culture
was proscribed by the Palestinian doctors, who united
in the same malediction " he who breeds swine and
he who teaches his son the wisdom of the Greeks."*
At all events, it had not penetrated into little towns
ike Nazareth. Notwithstanding the anathema of the
doctors, it is true, some Jews bad already embraced
the Hellenic culture. Not to speak of the Jewish
school of Egypt, in which attempts to amalgamate
Hellenism and Judaism had been continued for nearly
two hundred years, Nicholas of Damascus had become
at this very time, one of the most distinguished, most
learned and most honored men of his age. Very soon
Josephus was to furnish another example of a Jew
completely Hellenized. But Nicholas was Jewish in
nothing but race ; Josephus declares that he was an
exception among his cotemporaries,f and the whole
schismatic school of Egypt had so completely de
tached itself from Jerusalem, that no mention of it is
found either in the Talmud or in Jewish tradition. It
is certain that at Jerusalem Greek was very little stu
died, that Greek studies were considered dangerous
and even servile ; that they were declared good at
most as an ornament for women. ^ The study of the
Law alone was considered liberal and worthy of a
serious man.| A learned rabbi, when as^ced at what
V,vi. 3; V, ix, 2; VI, II, 1; Contra Apion., I, 9; De Macch., 12, 16). We shall show
hereafter that some of the documents which served as a basis for the synoptio
evangelists were written in this Semitic dialect. The same was the case with
several of the apocryphal books (IV Mac. , ad calcem, etc.). In short, the Chris
tian community which issued directly from the first Galilean movement (Naza-
renes, Ebionim, etc.), which long continued in Batanea and Haouran, spoke a
Semitic dialect (Eusebius, De situ etnomin- he. ftebr.,at the word Xu/o'a; Epiph.
Adv. hcer. , xxix, 7, 9; xxx, 3; St. Jerome, In Matth., xn, 13; Dial. adv.Pelag., Ill ,2).
* Mischna, Sanhedrin, xi, 1; Talmud of Babylon, Baba Kama, 82 b and 83 aj
Sola, 49, a and b; Menachoth, 64 6; Comp. II, Mac, iv, 10 seqq.
+ Jos., Ant, XX, xi, 2. X Talmud of Jerusalem, Peah, l, 1.
Q Jos., Ant., loc. cit ; Orig., Contra Ceteum, II, 34.

LIFE OF JESUS. 75
time it was proper to teach children " the wisdom of
the Greeks," answered : " At the hour which is neither
day nor night, for it is written of the Law : Thou shalt
study it day and night."*
Neither directly nor indirectly, therefore, did any
element of Hellenic culture make its way to Jesus.
He knew nothing beyond Judaism, his mind pre
served this frank simplicity which is always enfeebled
by an extensive and varied culture. In the very bo
som of Judaism, he was still a stranger to many efforts
some of which were parallel to his own. On one hand,
the asceticism of the Essenes, or Therapeutes,f on the
other, the fine essays in religious philosophy, made by
the Jewish school of Alexandria, and ingeniously in
terpreted by Philo, his cotemporary, were to him un-.
known. The frequent resemblances which we find
between him and Philo, those excellent maxims of the
love of God, of charity, of rest in God4 which seem
an echo between the Gospel and trie writings of the
illustrious Alexandrian thinker, come from the com
mon tendencies which the demands of the age inspired
in all elevated souls.
Happily for him, he knew no more of the grotesque
scholasticism which was taught at Jerusalem, and
which was so>>n to constitute the Talmud. If a few
Pharisees had already brought it to Galilee, he did
not attend upon them, and when he afterwards came
in contact with this silly casuistry, it inspired in him
nothing but disgust. We may suppose, however, that
• Talmud of Jerusalem, Peah, i, 1; Talmud of Babylon, Menachoth, 99 6.
f The Therapeutes of Philo are a branch of the Essenes. Their name
even appears to be only a Greek translation of that of the Essenes ('Etfo-aibi,
asaya," physicians"). Cf Philo, De Vita contempt, init.
X See especially the treatises Quis rerum divinarwm. hares sit and De PhilanHuropia
ofl'hilo.

76 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the principles of Hillel were not unknown to him.
Hillel, fifty years before him, had pronounced aphor
isms closely analogous to his. By his poverty endured
with humility, by the sweetness of his character, by
the opposition which he made to the hypocrites and
priests, Hillel was the real teacher of Jesus,* if we may
say teacher when speaking of so lofty an originality.
The reading of the books of the Old Testament pro
duced upon him much greater impression. The canon
of the sacred books was composed of two principal
parts — the Law, that is, the Pentateuch, and the
Prophets as we now possess them. A vast allegorical
exegesis was applied to all these books, and sought to
extract what is not in them, but what responded to
the aspirations of the time. The Law, which repre
sented, not the ancient laws of the country, but rather
Utopias, the factitious laws and the pious frauds of the
time of the pietistic kings, had become, since the na
tion had ceased to govern itself, an inexhaustible
theme of subtle interpretations. As to the prophets
and psalms, they were persuaded that nearly all the
allusions in these books which were even slightly mys
terious, related to the Messiah, and they sought in ad
vance the type of him who was to realize the hopes of
the nation. Jesus shared the universal taste for these
allegorical interpretations. But the real poetry of the
Bible, which was lost to the puerile expositors of Je
rusalem, was fully revealed to his exquisite genius.
The Law appears to have had for him but little
charm ; he thought he could do better. But
the religious poetry of the psalms was in won-
« Pirke Aboth ch. iandn; Talm. of Jerus., Pesachim, ti, 1; Talm. u Bab., Pa
achim, 66 a; Schabbal.h, 30 b and 31 a; Jama, 85 b.

LIFE OF JESUS. 77
derful harmony with his lyrical soul ; all his life
they were his sustenance and his support. The proph
ets, Isaiah in particular and his continuatorof the timo
of the captivity, with their splendid dreams of the fu
ture, their impetuous eloquence and their invectives
intermingled with enchanting pictures, were his real
teachers. Undoubtedly he read also many modern
writings, whose authors, to gain an authority now ac
corded only to very ancient writings, hid themselves
beneath the names of prophets and patriarchs. One of
these books made a deep impression upon him, the
book of Daniel. This book, composed by an exalted
Jew of the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, and placed
by him under the shelter of an ancient sage,* was the
summing up of the spirit of the latter days. Its au
thor, the real creator of the philosophyof history, for
the first time dared to see in the movement of the
world, and the succession of empires, merely a func
tion subordinate to the destiny of the Jewish people.
Jesus was at an early period thrilled by these lofty
hopes. Perhaps also, he read the books of Enoch,
then revered equally with the sacred books, f and the
other writings of the same kind, which upheld so
great a movement in the popular imagination. The
advent of the Messiah with his glories and his ter
rors, the nations dashing one agairst another, the cata
clysm of heaven and earth, wert the familiar food of
his imagination, and as these revolutions were thought
* The legend of Daniel was already formed in the seventh century B. C. (Eze-
kiel xiv, :4 seqq. ; xxvm, 3). It was for the necessities of the legend that he was
made to live in the time of the Babylonish captivity.
t Jude, 14 seqq. II Petri, n, 4, 1 ; Testam. des dmize Pair. , Simeon, 5; Levi, 14,
16; Juda, 18; Zab. 3. ; Dan. 5; Nephtali, 4. The " Book of Enoch" still forms an
Integral portion of the Ethiopian Bible As it has come to us in the Ethiopian
version, it is composed of pieces of different dates, the oldest of which are or the
year 130 or 150 B. C. Some of the pieces are analagous to the discourses of Je
ns. Compare ch. xcvi-xcix with Luke, vi, 24 seqq.

78 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
to be at hand, so that a multitude of people were
seeking to compute their times, the supernatural order
of things into which such visions transport us, appear
ed to him from the first perfectly simple and natural.
That he had no knowledge of the general condition
of the world may be learned from every line of his
most authentic discourses. The earth to him appears
still to be divided into kingdoms which are at war ; he
seems to be ignorant of the " Roman peace," and the
new state of society which his century inaugurated.
He had no precise idea of the Roman power ; the name
of "Caesar" alone had reached him. Pie saw the building,
in Galilee or its environs, of Tiberias, Julias, Diocesarea
and Cesarea, pompous works of theHerods who sought
by these magnificent constructions, to prove their ad
miration for Roman civilization and their devotion to
the members of the family of Augustus, whose names
by a freak of fate, serve to-day, grotesquely mutilated,
to designate the wretched hamlets of the Bedouins.
Probably he saw also Sebaste, the work of Herod the
Great, a gala city, whose ruins would lead to the be
lief that it was brought ready made, like a piece of
mechanism which had only to be set up in its place.
This ostentatious architecture, which arrived in Judea
by cargoes, these hundreds of columns all of the
same diameter, the ornament of some insipid " Rue
de Rivoli," such is what he called " the kingdoms of
the world and all their glory." But this luxury of
power, this governmental and official art was displeasing
to him. What he loved was his Galilean villages,
confused medleys of cabins, of threshing-floors and
wine-presses cut in the rock, of wells and tombs, of
fig and olive trees. He always continued near to na>

LIFE OF JESUS. 79
ture. The court of the kings seemed to him a place
where people wear fine clothes.* The charming im
possibilities with which his parables swarm, when he
puts kings and mighty men upon the scene, f proves
that he had no conception of aristocratic society save
that of a young villager who sees the world through
the prism of his own simplicity.
Still less was he acquainted with the new idea,
created by Greek science, which is the basis of all
philosophy and which modern science has fully con
firmed, the exclusion of the capricious gods to whom
the early faith of the ancient ages attributed the gov
ernment of the universe. Nearly a century before
him Lucretius had given admirable expression to the
inflexibility of the general regime of nature. The
negation of miracle, this idea that everything is pro
duced in the world by laws in which the personal in
tervention of superior beings has no share, was the
common law in the great schools of all countries
which had received Greek science. Perhaps even
Babylon and Persia were not strangers to it. Jesus
knew nothing of this advance. Though born at a
time when the principle of positive science had al
ready been proclaimed, he lived in the midst of the
supernatural. Never perhaps had the Jews been
more devoured by the thirst of the marvellous. Philo,
who lived in a great intellectual centre, and who had
received a very complete education, has only a false
chimerical science.
Jesus differed in this point in no wise from his coun
trymen. He believed in the devil whom he looked
upon as a sort of genius of evil,:]: and imagined, with
• Matt. , n, 8. f See, for example, Matt. , xxii, 2 seqq. X Matt. , vi, 13.

80 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
every other, that nervous diseases were the work of
demons, who took possession of the patient and tor
mented him To him the marvellous was not the ex
ceptional ; it was the moral condition. The idea of
the supernatural with its impossibilities, was not con
ceived until the day when the experimental science
of nature was discovered. The man who is a stranger
to all notion of physics, who believes that by a prayer
he changes the course of the clouds, controls disease
and even death itself, sees nothing extraordinary in
miracle, since the whole course of things is to him the
result of the free volitions of divinity. This intellec
tual state was always that of Jesus. But in his great
soul such a faith produced effects entirely different
from those which it produced upon the multitude. With
the multitude, faith in the special action of God led to
a silly credulity and to the deceptions of charlatans.
To him it gave a deep idea of the familiar relations
of man with God and an exaggerated faith in the
might of man ; admirable errors which were the prin
ciple of his power ; for if they were one day to put
him to the fault in the eyes of the physicist and the
chemist, they gave him a power over his time which no
individual ever wielded before or since.
Early in life his peculiar character revealed itself.
Tradition delights in showing him even when a
child in rebellion against the paternal authority and
leaving the common track to follow his calling.* It is
certain at least that the relations of kindred were lit
tie to him. His family seems not to have loved hi in, -J
* Luke, u, 42 seqq. The apocryphal gospels are full of such stories carried to
the grotesque.
t Matt., xm, 57; Mark, ti, 4; John Til, 3 seqq See hereafter, page 153,uote (f

LIFE OF JESUS. 81
and at times, we find him harsh towards them.* Jesus,
like all men exclusively absorbed in an idea, came to
make small account of ties of blood. The bond of
the idea is the only one which snch natures recognize.
" Behold my mother and my brethren," said he stretch
ing forth his hand towards his disciples ; " whosoever
shall do the will of my father, the same is my brother
and my sister." The simple people did not understand
him thus, and one day a woman, passing by him, ex
claimed, it is said : " Blessed the womb that bare thee,
and the paps that gave thee suck !" " Blessed rather,"
he answered, " they that hear the word of God and
keep it."f Soon, in his daring revolt against nature, he
was to go still farther, and we shall see him tramp
ling under his feet all that is human, kindred, love, coun
try, devoting heart and soul only to the idea which
appeared to him as the absolute form of the good and
the true.
* Matt, xii, 48; Mark, in, 33; Luke, Till, 21- John, u, 4; Gospel according to Um
Hebrews, in St. Jerome, Dial. adv. Pelag., Ill, 2.
J Luke, xi, 27 seqq.

82 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER IT.
OBDER OF IDEAS AMID WHICH JESUS WAS DEVELOPED
As the cooled earth permits us no longer to compre
hend the phenomena of the primitive creation, because
the fire which pervaded it is extinguished, so the ex
planations of reason are always insufficient in some
respect, when we apply our timid processes of induc
tion to the revolutions of those creative epochs which
have decided the destiny of the human race. Jesus
lived in one of those periods when the part of public
life is played with freedom, when the stakes of human
activity are centupled. Every grand life, then, in
sures death ; for such movements presuppose a liberty
and an absence of preventive measures, which cannot
exist without a terrible counterpoise. Now, man risk
little and wins little. In the heroic ages of human ac
tivity man risked all and won all. The good and the
bad, or at least those who considered themselves and
were considered such, form opposing armies. By the
scaffold lies the path to apotheosis ; grand characters
have incriminated traits which engrave them as eter
nal types in the memory of men. If we except the
French Revolution, no historic medium was so fitting
as that in which Jesus was formed, to develop those

LIFE OF JESUS. 83
bidden powers which humanity holds as if in reserve,
and which 6he never reveals except in her days of fever
and of danger.
If the government of the world were a speculative
problem, and the greatest philosopher were the man
best fitted to tell his fellows what they should believe,
then from calmness and reflection would spring those
grand moral and doctrinal rules which are called reli
gions. But it is not so. If we except Sakya-Mouni,
the great religious founders have not been metaphysi
cians. Buddhism itself, although the product of pure
thought, conquered half of Europe for reasons entirely
political and moral. As to the Semitic religions, they
are as little philosophic as possible. Moses and Ma
homet were never given to speculation ; they were men
of action. It was by proposing action to their coun
trymen, their cotemporaries, that they mastered hu
manity. Jesus, likewise, was no theologian, no phi
losopher with a system more or less admirable. To be
a disciple of Jesus, it was necessary to sign no formu
la, to pronounce no profession of faith; but a single
thing was necessary, to follow him, to love him. He
never argued in relation to God, for he felt him direct
ly within himself. The shoal of metaphysical subtle
ties upon which Christianity struck in the third centu
ry, was in no wise the work of the founder. Jesus had
neither dogmas nor system, but a fixed personal re
solve, which, having surpassed in intensity every oth
er created will, directs even to this hour the destinies
of humanity.
The Jewish people had the advantage, from the Ba
bylonish captivity to the middle ages, of being always
in a very intense condition. This is why the deposita-

84 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
ries of the national spirit, during this long period,
seem to write under the action of a high fever, which
places them continually above and beneath reason,
rarely in its medium path. Never had man seized
upon the problem of the future and of his destiny
with a courage more desperate, more determined to
rush to extremes. Making no separation of the .'.ate
of humanity from that of their little race, the Jewish
thinkers are the first who cared for a general theory
of the progress of our species. Greece, always shut
up in herself, and mindful only of the quarrels of her
little towns, had admirable historians; but before the
Roman epoch, we may search Greece in vain for a gene
ral system of historical philosophy, embracing all hu
manity. The Jew, on the contrary, thanks to a kind
of prophetic sense which at times renders the Semite
marvellously apt to see the grand outlines of the fu
ture, carried history into religion. Perhaps he owes
a little of this spirit to Persia. Persia, from a remote
epoch, conceived the history of the world as a series
of evolutions, over which a prophet presides. Each
prophet has his hazar, or reign of a thousand years,
(chiliasm), and of these successive ages, analogous to
the millions of centuries of each buddha of India, is
the woof of events composed which prepares for the
reign of Ormuzd. At the end of time, when the circle
of chiliasms shall be exhausted, will come the final pa
radise. Men will then -live happy ; the earth will be
like a plain ; there will be but one language, one law,
and one government for all men. But this advent
will be preceded by terrible calamities. Dahak (the
Satan of Persia) will break the chains which bind him
and will fall upon the world. Two prophets will come

LIFE OF JESUS. 85
to console men and to prepare for the grand advent.*
These ideas made their way over the world and pene
trated even to Rome, where they inspired a cycle of
prophetic poems, the fundamental ideas of which were
the division of the history of humanity into periods,
the succession of the gods corresponding to these pe
riods, a complete renewal of the world, and the final
advent of the golden age.f The book of Daniel, the
book of Enoch, and certain portions of the Sibylline
books, \ are the Jewish expression of the same theory.
It is true that these were not the thoughts of all. They
were embraced at first only by a few persons of lively
imagination and inclined to foreign doctrines. The
arid and narrow-minded author of the book of Esther
never thought of the rest of the world except with
feelings of malevolence and disdain. § The disabused
epicurean who wrote Ecclesiastes, thinks so little of
the future that he considers it useless even to labor for
his children; in the eyes of this egotistic bachelor the
final word of wisdom is to spend as you go.| But the
great deeds of a nation are usually done by the minority.
With its enormous faults, harsh, egotistic, sneering,
cruel, narrow, subtle, sophistical, the Jewish nation is
still the author of the finest movement of disinterested
enthusiasm in all history. The opposition always cre
ates the glory of a country. The greatest men of a
nation are those which it puts to death. Socrates cre
ated the glory of Athens, who deemed that she could
not live with him. Spinoza is the greatest of modern
* Yacna,xm, 24; Theopompus, in Plut., Delsideet Osiride, ^47; Minokhired, pa*
lage published in the Zeitschnft der Deutschen morgenlandischen GeseUschaft, I , p. 263
•f Virg., Eel. iv; Servins, on v. 4 of this eclogue; Nigidius, cited by Servius
on v 10. X B»ok III, S7-)>17.
t) Tl,13; Til; 10; Tin, 7, 11-17; ix, 1-22; and in the apocryphal portions: lx, 10, 11
11T, 13 seqq. ; xvi, 20, 24.
1 Eccl.,l,ll;ll, 16, 18-24; ui,19-22;iv, 8,15, 16;t, 17, 18;T1,3, 6; VU1,15;1X,9,10

86 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Jews, and the synagogue expelled him with ignominy,
Jesus was the glory of the people of Israel, who cruci
fied him.
A gigantic dream for centuries had pursued the
Jewish people, and renewed it continually in its de
crepitude. A stranger to the theory of individual re
compense, which Greece had disseminated under the
name of the immortality of the soul, Judea had con
centrated upon her national future all her power to
love and to desire. She believed that she had the di
vine promise of a limitless future, and as the bitter re
ality, which, from the ninth century before our era,
gave the kingdom of the world more and more to force,
brutally trampled down these aspirations, she threw
herself upon the most impossible alliances of ideas, and
attempted the strangest expedients. Before the cap
tivity, when all the earthly future of the nation was
dissipated by the separation of the northern tribes,
they dreamed of the restoration of the house of David,
the reconciliation of the two fragments of the people,
and the triumph of theocracy and the worship of Je
hovah over the idolatrous worships. At the time of
the captivity, a poet, full of harmony, saw the splen
dor of a future Jerusalem, to which the nations and
the far-off isles should be tributary, in colors so soft
that one would have said that a ray from the beaming
face of Jesus illumined it at a distance of six hundred
years.* The victory of Cyrus seemed for a time to realize all
that had been hoped. The grave disciples of the
Avesta and the worshippers of Jehovah believed them
selves brothers. Persia had succeeded, by banishing
* Isaiah, lx, etc.

LIFE OF JESUS. 87
the multitudinous devas and transforming them into
demons (divs), in drawing from the ancient Arian con
ceptions, essentially naturalistic, a species of monothe
ism. The prophetic tone of many of the precepts of
Iran had close analogy to certain compositions of Ho-
sea and Isaiah. Israel rested under the Achaemenides,*
and, under Xerxes (Ahasuerus), made himself feared
by the Iranians themselves. But the triumphal and
often brutal entrance of the Greek and Roman civili
zation into Asia, threw him back into his dreams.
More than ever, he invoked the Messiah as judge and
avenger of the nations. He required a renewal of all
things, a revolution taking the globe by the roots and
shaking it from top to bottom, to satisfy the enormous
demand which was excited in him hy the feeling of
his superiority and the sight of his humiliations.f
Had Israel possessed the doctrine, termed spiritual
istic, which separates man into two parts, body and
soul, and thinks it perfectly natural that while the
body rots, the soul survives, this storm of rage and
energetic protest would have had no cause for exis
tence. But this doctrine, sprung from Greek philoso
phy, was not in the traditions of the Jewish mind. The
ancient Hebrew writings contain no trace of future re
wards or punishments. While, the idea of the solida
rity of the tribe existed, it was natural not to look for
strict retribution according to the merits of each per
son. Wo to the pious man who fell upon an impious
age ; he suffered with the rest the public calamities
flowing from the general impiety. This doctrine,
handed down from the wise men of the patriarchal pe
riod, resulted every day in indefensible contradictions.
* The whole book of Esther breathes a spirit of strong attachment to this
^Apo'oryphal letter of Baruoh, in Fabriclus, Cod. pseud. T. T., II p. 147 seqq.

88 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Even in the time of Job it was severely shakei. ; the
old men of Teman who professed it were men behind
the times, and the young Elihu, who comes in to op
pose them, dares to put forth first of all this essentially
revolutionary idea : wisdom is no longer to the aged.*
With the complications which the world had assumed
6mce Alexander, the old Temanite and Mosaic princi
ple became still more intolerable.f Never had Israel
been more faithful to the Law, and yet they had suf
fered the atrocious persecutions of Antiochus. Only a
decl aimer, accustomed to repeat ancient phrases de
nuded of meaning, dared profess that these woes came
because of the unfaithfulness of the people. jj: What !
these victims who died for their faith, these heroic
Maccabees, this mother with her seven sons, shall Je
hovah forget them eternally, abandon them to the cor
ruption of the grave ? | An incredulous and worldly
Sadducee, indeed, might not shrink before such a result j
a consummate sage, like Antigonus de Soco,§ indeed,
might maintain that we must not practice virtue like
a slave for a reward, that we must be. virtuous without
expectation. But the mass of the nation could not be
satisfied with that. Some, cleaving to the principle of
philosophic immortality, pictured to themselves the
just living in the memory of God, glorious forever in
the remembrance of men, judging the impious who have
persecuted them.T " They live in the eyes of
* Job, xxxn, 9.
f It is remarkable however that Jesus, son of Sirach, adheres to it strictly
(xvu, 26-28; xxii, 10, 11; xxx, 4 seqq.; xli, 1, 2; xuv, 9). The author of Wisdom
is of au entirely different opinion (iv. 1, Greek text).
X Est., xiv, 6, 7 (apocr ); Apocryphal Epistle of Baruch (Fabricius, ad. pseud
V. I. II, p. 147 seqq). j II, Mace, vn. \ Pirlce Aboth., i, 3.
3f Wisdom, ch. ii-vi; Ve raiionu imperio, attributed to Josephus, 8,13,16,18.
Still we must remark that the author ot this last treatise gives the motive of per
sonal remuneration only the second place. The principal motive of the martyrs
is the pure love of the Law, the advantage which their death will bring to the
people and the glory which will be attached to their name. Comp. Wisdom, iv
1 seqq.; Ecc1.,xliv seqq. ; Jos. 3. J., II, viu, 10; III, vm, 5. '

LIFE OF JESUS. 89
God ;"* such is their recompense. Others, the Phari
sees especially, had recourse to the dogma of the
resurrection.f The just will live again to share in the
Messianic reign. They will live again in the flesh,
and for a world of which they will be the kings and
judges; they will witness the triumph of their ideas
and the humiliation of their enemies.
We find among the ancient people of Israel only
very uncertain traces of this fundamental dogma. The
Saddu'cee, who did not believe in it, was in reality
faithful to the old Jewish doctrine ; the Pharisee, the
partizan of resurrection, was the innovator. But in
religion it is always the zealous portion which makes
innovations ; it is the party of progress, it is that which
achieves results. The resurrection, an idea totally dif
ferent from the immortality of the soul, moreover,
grew very naturally out of the former doctrines and
condition of the people. Perhaps Persia also furnished
some of its elements.:): At all events, combining with
the belief in the Messiah and the doctrine of a speedy
renewal of all things, it formed those apocalyptic the
ories which, without being articles of faith (the ortho-,
dox sanhedrim of Jerusalem seems not to have adopted
them), were rife in the imagination of all and produced
from one end to the other of the Jewish world an in
tense fermentation. The total absence of dogmatic
rigor allowed very contradictory notions to be accept
ed at the same time, even on a point so important.
Sometimes the just man was to awaitthe resurrection ;|
sometimes he was received at the moment of his death
into Abraham's bosom.§ Sometimes the resurrection
• Wisdom, iv,l;Derat. imp., IB, IS. , t n Mace, tii, 9, 14; xn, 43, 44
t Theopompus, Diog. Laeri, Prooem., 9. Boundehesch, c. xxxi. The trace)
Of the doctrine of the resurrection in the Avesta are Tery doubtful
1 John, xi, 24. d Luke, xvi, 22. Cf. De rat. imp. , 13, 16, 18.

90 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
was universal,* sometimes reserved for- -"the faithful
alone. f Sometimes it supposed a renewed earth and a
new Jerusalem ; sometimes it imp'ied a preliminary
annihilation of the universe.
» Jesus, with his earliest thoughts, entered into the
burning atmosphere which created in Palestine the
ideas that we have set forth. These ideas were taught
at no school ; but they were in the air, and his soul
was soon filled with them. Our hesitations, our doubts
never reached him. Upon this summit of the moun-
tain of Nazareth, where no modern man can sit with
out an anxious feeling, perhaps frivolous in regard to
his future, Jesus has sat twenty times without a doubt.
Free from selfishness, the source of our sorrows, which
makes us seek greedily an interest beyond the tomb
for virtue, he thought only of his work, his race, hu
manity. To him these mountains, this sea, this azure
sky, these high plains in the horizon were not the mel
ancholy vision of a soul questioning nature as to its
fate, but the sure symbol, the transparent shadow of
an invisible world and a new heaven.
He never attached much importance to the political
events of his time, and he was probably ill-informed
concerning them. The dynasty of the Herods lived in
a world so different from his, that undoubtedly he knew
it only by name. Herod the Great died about the
year of his birth, leaving imperishable memories, mon
uments which were to force the most malevolent pos
terity to associate his name with that of Solomon, nev
ertheless an unfinished work, impossible of continua'
tion. _ An ambitjous wordling wandering in a labyrinth
of religious strife, this astute Idumean had that ad-
* Dan., xn, 2. | II Mace. , vn, 14.

LIFE OF JESUS. 91
vantage which is given by coolness and reason, devoid
of morality, in the midst of passionate fanatics. But
his idea of a worldly kingdom of Israel, even had it
not been an anachronism in the state of the world in
which he conceived it, would have fallen like the sim-
ilar project formed by Solomon, from the difficulties
arising out of the very character of the nation. His
three sons were only lieutenants of the Romans, anal
ogous to the rajahs of India under the English rule.
Antipater or Antipas, tetrarch of Galilee and Perea,
whose subject Jesus was all his life, was an idle prince, a
nobody,* a favorite and parasite of Tiberius, f too often
led astray by the evil influence of his second wife He-
rodias4 Philip, tetrarch of Gaulonitis and Batanea,
to whose territory Jesus made frequent journeys, was
a much better sovereign. § As to Archelaus, ethnarch
of Jerusalem, Jesus could not have known him. He
was about ten years old when this man, weak, charac
terless, and sometimes violent, was deposed by Augus
tus.] The last trace of autonomy was now lost to Jerusa
lem. United with Samaria and Idutnea, Judea formed
a sort of additament of the province of Syria, where
the senator Publius Sulpicius Quirinius, a consul well
known^f in history, was imperial legate. A series of
Roman procurators, subordinate in questions of im
portance to the imperial legate of Syria, Coponius,
Marcus Ambivius, Annius Rufus, Valerius Gratus, and,
at length (A. D. 26), Pentius Pilatus, followed, con-
* Jos., Ant., XVIII, v, 1; tii, 1, 2; Luke, in, 19.
,+ Jos.,^ni.,XVIII,II,3;lv, 6;t,1. 1 Ibid., XVIII, Til, 2.
{ Ibid. XVIII, 4, 6. I Ibid., XVII, xn, 2. B. J"., II, vn, 3.
ft Orelli, Inscr. lot., No. 3693; Henzen, Suppl. , No. 7011: Fasti prcenestini, at March
6th and April 28th (in the Corpus inscr. lot., I, 314, 317); Borghesi, Pastes consu.
Xaires [not yet published], at the year 742; E.Bergmann, Deinscr.lat.adP.fi.
<^rinium,uliridetur,referenda (Berlin 1851). Cf. Tac.,^rm.,II,30;III,48; Straho,
XII, vi, 6.

92 ORIGINS Off -CHRISTIANITY.
Btautly occupied in extinguishing the volcano which
was in eruption beneath -thex feet.*
Continual seditions exme'd! by the zealots of Mosa-
ism, kept Jerusalem, indeed, in incessant agitation
during this whole period.f The death of the seditious
was certain ; but death, when the integrity of the Law
was at stake, was greedily sought. To pull dowD
the eagles, to destroy the works cf art erected by He
rod, in which the Mosaic regulations were not always
respected,^: to rebel against the votive shields set up
by the procurators, the inscriptions of which seemed
tainted with idolatry,! were perpetual temptations to
fanatics who had reached that degree of exaltation
which takes away all desire of life. Judas,,son of Sa-
ripheus, and Mathias, son of Margaloth, two very cel
ebrated doctors of the law, formed thus a bold party
of aggression against the established order, which con
tinued after their execution. § -The Samaritans were
agitated by similar movements."!" It seems that the
Law had never had more passionate partizans than at
the moment when he already lived who, by the full
authority of his genius and his great soul, was to abro
gate it. The " Zelotes" (JTenaim) or "Sicarii," pious
assassins who imposed upon themselves the task of
killing whoever disobeyed the Law in their presence,
began to appear.** Representatives of an entirely dif
ferent spirit, thaumaturgists, considered as a speciea
of divine persons, found credence, in consequence of
* Jos. Ant.,1. XVIII.
+ Ibid., books XVII and XVIII entire, and B. J, hooks I and II.
I Jos. Ant., XV, x. 4. Comp. Book of Enoch, xovn, 13, 14.
|| Philo, Leg. ad Caium, ^ 38.
S Jos. Ant., XV, vi, 2 seqq.; B. J., I, xxxm, 3 seqq.
| Jos., Ant., XVIII, iv, 1 seqq.
«* Mischna, Scmhedrin, ix, 6; John, xvi, 2; Jos., B. J., book IV seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 93
the imperious necessity felt by the age for the super
natural and the divine.*
A movement which had much more influence upon
Jesus was that of Juda the Gaulonite or the Galilean.
Of all the obligations to which countries newly con
quered by Rome were exposed, the assessment was
the most unpopular.f This measure, which always
astonishes nations little accustomed to the burdens of
great central administrations, was particularly hateful
to the Jews. Already under Dayid we see a census
provoke violent recriminations and the threats of the
prophets.:]: The census, in fact, was the basis of the
tax ; now the tax, according to the ideas of the pure
theocracy, was almost impious. God being the only
master whom man should recognize, to pay tithes to a
mundane sovereign, is in some sort to put him in the
place ef God. A complete stranger to the idea of the
State, the Jewish theocracy in this, merely carried to
its last result the negation of civil society and of all
government. The money of the public treasury was
considered to be stolen.§ The assessment ordered by
Quirinius (A. D. 6) thoroughly awoke these ideas and
caused great fermentation. A commotion broke out
in the northern provinces. A certain Juda, of the
town of Gamala, on the eastern shore of Lake Tiberias,
and a Pharisee, named Sadok, gathered together, by
denying the lawfulness of the tax, a numerous school,
which soon came to open revolt, || The fundamental
* Acts, Tin, 9. Verse 11th implies that Simon the Magician was already cele
brated in the time of Jesus.
¦f Discours de Claude, a Lyon, tab. n, sub fin. De Boissieu, Inscr. ant. de Lyon,
p. 136, | II Sam., xxiv.
§ Talmud de Bab., Baba Kama, 113 a; Schabbath, 33 6.
| Jos., Ant., XVIII, i, 1, 6; B. J., II, tiii, 1; Acts, t. 37. Before Juda the Gau
lonite, the Acts place another agitator, Theudas; but that is an anachronism; the
commotio o of Theudas was A. D. 44 (Jos., Ant, XX, t, 1).

94 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
maxims of the school were that no person should be
called " master," that title belonging to God alone,
and that liberty is better than life. Juda had un
doubtedly many other principles which Josephus, al
ways anxious not to compromise his co-religionists,
intentionally passes over in silence ; for we could not
understand that for an idea so simple, the Jewish his
torian should give him a place among the philosophers
of his nation, and regard him as the founder of a fourth
school, parallel to those of the Pharisees, Sadducees,
and Essenes. Juda was evidently the chief of a Gali
lean sect, which was full of Messianism, and which ended
in a political movement. The procurator Coponius
crushed the sedition of the Gaulonite ; but the school
survived and preserved its leaders. Under the guidance
of Menahem, the son of the founder, and of a certain
Eleazar, his relative, we find it very active in the final
struggles of the Jews against the Romans.* Jesus,
perhaps, saw this Juda who bad so different a concep
tion of the Jewish revolution from his own ; he knew
his school, at all events, and it was probably through
reaction against his mistake, that he pronounced the
axiom in relation to the penny of Caesar. The wise
Jesus, far removed from all sedition, profited by the
error of his precursor and looked to another kingdom
and another deliverance.
Galilee was thus a vast caldron in which the most
diverse elements were in ebullition. f An extraordina
ry contempt of life, or rather a species of appetite for
death was the consequence of these commotions.^: Ex-
• Jos., B. J., 11, xvn, 8 seqq.
f. Luke, xm, 1. The Galilean movement of Juda, son of Hezekiah, seems not
to have had a religious character; perhaps, however, its character was concealed
by Josephus (Ant., XVII, x, 5).
X Jos.,4itf.,XVI,Ti,2,3;XVIII,t,l.

LIFE OF JESUS. 95
perience counts for nothing in the grand movements
of fanaticism. Algeria, in the early days of the
French occupation, saw arise every spring inspired
leaders, who declared that they were invulnerable and
wore sent by God to drive out the unbelievers ; the
next year their death was. forgotten, and their succes
sor found no weaker faith. Very severe in one res
pect, the Roman rule, little given to intermeddling
as yet, permitted much liberty. These great brutal
dominations, terrible in repression, were not suspicious
like those powers which have a dogma to preserve.
They let all things move on until they deemed the day
come for rigorous action. In his wayfaring life, we
do not see that Jesus was ever interfered with by the
authorities. Such freedom and above all the good-for
tune of Galilee in being much less closely bound in
the bonds of Pharisaic pedantry, gave to that country
a great superiority over Jerusalem. The revolution,
or in other words Messianism, set all wits at work.
They believed that they were on the eve of seeing the
great renewal appear; Scripture tortured in various
ways served to feed the most colossal expectations. In
each line of the simple writings of the Old Testament
they saw the assurance and in some sort the programme
of the future reign which should bring peace to the just
and seal forever the work of God.
At all times, this division into two parties, opposite
in interest and in spirit, had been to the Hebraic na
tion an element of fruitfulness in the moral order.
Every people called to high destinies must be a little
world complete, containing within itself the opposite
poles. Greece presented at a distance of few miles
Sparta and Athens, the two antipodes to a superficial

9fi ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
observer, in reality rival sisters, each necessary to the
other. It was the same with Judea. Less brilliant in
one sense than the development of Jerusalem, that of
the north was upon the whole much more fruitful ; the
most living works of the Jewish people had always
come from thence. A complete absence of the senti
ment of nature, resulting in something withered, nar
row and fierce, stamped all works purely Hierosolymite
with a character grandiose but sad, arid and repulsive.
With its solemn doctors, its inspired canonists, its
hypocritical and atrabiliary devotees, Jerusalem would
not have conquered humanity. The north gave to the
world the artless Shulamite, the humble Canaanite, the
impassioned Magdalen, the good foster-father Joseph,
the Virgin Mary. The north alone formed Christian
ity ; Jerusalem, on the contrary, is the real country
of that obstinate Judaism which, founded by the
Pharisees and fixed by the Talmud, has crossed the
middle ages and finally reached us.
A. transporting nature contributed to form this
spirit, so much less austere, less bitterly monotheistic,
if I may use the word, which impressed upon all the
dreams of Galilee an idyllic and charming character.
The saddest country in the world is perhaps the region
about Jerusalem. Galilee, on the contrary, was a
country very green, .and full of shade and pleasant
ness, the true country of the Canticle of canticles and
of the songs of the well-beloved.*-" During the two
* Jos., .8. J, III, m, 1. The horrible condition to which this country Is re
duced, especially near Lake Tiberias, should not deceiTe us. This land, now
burned over, was once a terrestrial paradise. The baths of Tiberias, to-day a
hideous place, were formerly the finest spot in Galilee (Jos. , Ant., XVIII n 3)
Josephus (B. J., Ill, x, 8) praises the tine trees of the plain of Genesareth,
where there is now not one. Antoninus Martyr, towards the year 600 fifty
years before the Moslem invasion, finds Galilee still covered -with delightful
plantations, and compares its fertility to that of Egypt (Ilin., $ 6)

LIFE OF JESUS. 97
months of March and April it is a dense mass of flow
ers of an incomparable freshness of colors. The ani
mals are small but extremely gentle. Lively and
graceful turtle-doves, blue-birds so slight that they
alight upon a blade of grass without bending it, crest
ed larks that come almost to the feet of the traveller,
little brook turtles with quick, soft eyes, storks of
grave and modest air, putting off all timidity, allow
themselves to be approached very closely by man and
seem to call him. In no place in the world do the
mountains spread out with more harmony or inspire
loftier ideas. Jesus seems to have loved them especi
ally. The most important acts of his divine career
were performed upon the mountains ; there he was
best inspired ;* there he had secret conferences with
the ancient prophets and showed himself to his disciples
already transfigured. f
This goodly country, now become, in consequence
of the enormous impoverishment which Islamism has
effected in human life, so sad, so distressing, but
where all that man could not destroy still breathes
abandon, gentleness and tenderness, was overflowing
in the time of Jesus with gayety and comfort. The
Galileans were considered energetic, brave and labo
rious.^: If we except Tiberias, built by Antipater in
honor of Tiberius (towards the year 15) in the Roman
6tyle,| Galilee had no large cities. The country was
nevertheless densely populated, covered with small
towns and large villages, and carefully cultivated in
every part.§ By the ruins which remain to us of its
• Matt., v, 1; xit, 23; Luke, ti, 12.
iMatt. , xvn, 1 seqq. ; Mark, ix, 1 seqq. ; Luke, ix, 28 seqq.
Jos., B. J., Ill, m, 2. || Jos , XVIII, n, 2; B J., II, ix, 1; Vita, 1J, 18, M
Jos.B J., Ill, m, 2. 6

98 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
ancient splendor, we perceive an agricultural people,
with no endowments for art, careless of luxury, indif
ferent to the beauties of form and exclusively idealist.
The country must have been delightful : it abounded
in springs and fruits ; the large manors were shadow
ed with vines and fig-trees ; the gardens were clumps ol
lemon, pomegranate and orange trees.* The wine was
delicious, if we may judge of it by that which the
Jews still make at Safed, and it was much used.f
This life, content and easily satisfied, did not lead to
the stolid materialism of our peasantry, the coarse
jovialty of abundant Normandy or the heavy gayety
of the Belgians. It became spiritualized in ethereal
dreams, in a sort of poetic mysticism confounding
heaven and earth. Leave the austere John the Bap
tist to his desert of Judea to preach "penitence, to cry
without ceasing, to live on locusts in company with
the jackals. Why should the companions of the bride
groom fast while the bride-groom is with them?
Gladness sh&ll make a portion of the kingdom of God.
Is it not the daughter of the humble in heart, of the
men of good will?
The whole history of the birth of Christianity thus
became a delightful pastoral. A Messiah at wedding
feasts, the harlot and the good Zacchens invited to his
feasts, the founders of the kingdom of heaven like a
cortege of paranymphs: this is what Galilee dared,
what she compelled the world to accept. Greece
traced in sculpture and poetry charming pictures of
* We may judge by some enclosures in the environs of Nazareth. Cf. Anto
ninus Martyr I. c The aspect of the great farms is still well preserved in thf
southern part of the country of Tyre (once the tribe of Asher). Traces of thr,
anoient Palestinian agriculture, with its utensils cut in the rock (threshing
floors, wine-presses, corn-bins, troughs, mills, etc.), are met with also at even
6tep. *
? Matt., ix, 17; xi, 19; Mark, n, 22; Luke, t, 37; tii, 34; John, n, 3 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 99
human life, but always without perspective or distant
horizons. Here are no marble, no excellent workmen,
no exquisite and refined language. But Galilee cre
ated upon the groundwork of popular imagination the
most sublime ideal ; for behind its idyl the fate of hu
manity is decided and the light which illumines its
picture is the sun of the kingdom of God.
Jesus lived and grew in this intoxicating medium.
From his childhood, he went to Jerusalem almost
every year to the feasts* The pilgrimage was to the
provincial Jews a delightful custom. Whole series of
psalms were devoted to celebrating the pleasure of
these family journeys,f enduring several days, in
spring, across hills and valleys, all having in prospect
the splendors of Jerusalem, the terrors of the sacred
courts, the pleasantness of brethren dwelling to
gether.^: The route which Jesus followed ordinarily
in these journeys was that which is followed to-day,
by Ginaea and Shechem. | From Shechem to Jerusa
lem it is very difficult. But the vicinity of the old
sanctuaries of Shiloh and Bethel, near which the road
passes, keeps the soul aroused. Ain-el-Haramieh, the
last station,§ is a place of charming melancholy, and
few impressions equal that experienced upon encamp
ing there for the night. The valley is narrow and
gloomy ; a dark water oozes from the rocks pierced
with sepulchres, which form its walls. It is, I think,
the "Valley of tears," or of the dripping waters, cele-
Luke, n, 41. t Luke, n, 42-44.
X See especially Psalms lxxxit, cxxn and cxxm (Vulg. lxxxtiii, cxxi and
cxxxu). 1 Luke,ix,61-53;xvii,ll; John, iv, 4; Jos., Ant., XX, vi, 1; B.J., II, xn, 3
Vita, 52. Often, however, the pilgrims came by Perea to avoid Samaria when
tney incurred danger. Matt, xix, 1; Mark, x, 1.
f> According to Josephus (Vita, 52), it was a three days' journey. But the
days' journey from Shechem to Jerusalem had ordinarily to be cut in two.

100 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
brated as one of the stations by the way in that de
lightful psalm lxxxiv,* and become to the sadly sweet
mysticism of the middle ages, the emblem of life. The
next day in good time they will be at Jerusalem;
such an expectation, even at this day sustains the car
avan and renders the night short and sleep light.
These journeys, in which the united nation inter
communicated its ideas, and which were nearly always
focuses of great agitation, put Jesus in contact with
the soul of his people, and doubtless inspired in him
a lively antipathy to the faults of the official represen
tatives of Judaism. It is said that the desert soon be
came another school to him and that he made in it
long sojourns.* But the God which he found there
was not his own. It was at most the God of Job,
severe and terrible, rendering an account to no man.
Sometimes Satan came to tempt him. He returned
then into his dear Galilee, and found again his heav
enly Father, in the midst of the green hills, and the
clear springs, among the flocks of children and women
who, with joyful soul and the song of the angels in
their hearts, were awaiting the salvation of Israel.
• ixxxm according to the Vulgate, v. 7. f Luke, it, 42; t, U

LIFE OF JESUS. 101

CHAPTER V.

riBST APHORISMS OP JESUS. — HIS IDEAS OP A FATHEB
OOD AND a PUKE BELIOIOK. — FIBST DISCIPLES.
Joseph died before the public life of his son began.
Mary thus remained the head of the family, and this
explains why her son, when it was desired to distin
guish him from the many others of the same name,
was usually called the " son of Mary."* It seems
that becoming by the death of her husband a stran
ger in Nazareth, she retired to Cana,f of which she
may have been a native. Cana:]: was a small town
eight or ten miles from Nazareth, at the foot of the
mountains which limit on the north the plain of Aso-
chis.§ The prospect, less grand than at Nazareth,
extends over the whole plain and is closed most pic
turesquely by the mountains of Nazareth and the hills
of Sephoris. Jesus appears to have made this place
his residence for some time. There he probably passed
a portion of his youth, and thence came his first
splendors. • This is the expression of Mark, ti, 8. Cf. Matt. , xm, 55. Mark does not
know Joseph. John and Luke, on the contrary, prefer the expression " son at
Joseph." Luke, in, 23; it, 22; John, i, 45; ti, 42.
t John, n, 1; it, 46. John alone is informed on this point.
X I accept as probable the opinion which identifies Cana of Galilee with Kama
el Jem. Arguments hpwever can be made in favor of Kef r-Kenna, four or five
miles north-northeast of Nazareth. || l$ovr el-Buttauf.
6 John, n, 11; it, 44. One or two of the disciples were from Cana. John, xvi,
2; Matt., x, 4; Mark, in, 8.

102 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
He worked at the trade of his fathei, which was
that of a carpenter.* This was no humiliating or un
welcome circumstance. The Jewish customs de
manded that the man devoted to intellectual labors
should understand some occupation. The most cele
brated doctors had trades ;f thus St. Paul, whose edu
cation had been so well cared for, was a tent-maker. :£
Jesus never married. All his power to love was
transferred to what he considered his celestial vocation.
The extremely delicate feeling which we notice in him
towards women, | never departed from the exclusive
devotion which he had to his idea. He treated as
sisters, like Francis d'Assisi and Francis de Sales,
those women who were enamoured with the same
work as he; he had his St. Claires, his Francoises de
Chantal. Only it is probable that they loved him
more than the work ; he was undoubtedly more loved
than loving. As often happens in very lofty natures,
tenderness of heart was in him transformed into infi
nite sweetness, vague poetry, universal charm. His
relations, intimate and free, but of an entirely moral
order, with women of equivocal conduct is explained
also by the passion which attached him to the glory
of his Father, and inspired in him a kind of jeal
ousy of all beautiful creatures who might contribute
to it.§
What was the progress of the mind of Jesus during
this obscure period of his life? Through what medi
tations did he launch out into the prophetic career?
We are ignorant, his history having come to us in the
• Mark, vi, 3; Justin, Dial, cum Tryph.,88.
+ For example, Eabbi Iohanan the Shoemaker, Rabbi Isaac the Blacksmith '
i Acts, xvin, 3. ] See hereafter p. 157-158
§ Luke, vn, 37 seqq.; John, it, 7 seqq.; vm, 3 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 103
state of isolated stories and without exact chronology.
But the development of living products is everywhere
the same, and there can be no doubt that the growth
of a personality as mighty as that of Jesus obeyed
very rigid laws. A lofty idea of divinity, which he
did not owe to Judaism and which seems to have
been entirely the creation of his great soul, was the
foundation of all his power. Here it is that we must
most of all renounce those ideas with which we are
familiar and those discussions in which small minds
wear themselves away. Properly to understand the
degree of the piety of Jesus, we must rid ourselves
of all that has intruded itself between the Gospel and
ourselves. Deism and paganism have become the twc
poles of theology. The paltry discussion of scholas
ticisms, the aridity of soul of Descartes, the thorough
irreligion of the eighteenth centuiy, by diminishing
God and in some sort limiting him by the exclusion
of all that is not him, stifled in the breast of modern
rationalism every fruitful feeling of divinity. If God
is, indeed, a determinate being without us, the person
who believes that he has private relations with God is
a " visionary," and as the physical and physiological
sciences have shown us that every supernatural vision
is an illusion, the deist who is at all consistent finds
himself beyond the possibility of comprehending the
great beliefs of the past. Pantheism on the other
hand, by denying the divine personality, is as far ai
possible from the living God of the ancient religions.
Were the men who have most loftily comprehended
God, Sakya-Mouni, Plato, St. Paul, St. Francis d'Assisi
and St. Augustine at some moments of his changeful life,
deists or pantheists ? Such a question has no meaning.

104 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
The physical and metaphysical proofs of the existence
of God to them would have had no interest. They
felt the divine within themselves. In the first rank of
this grand family of the true sons of God, we must
place Jesus. Jesus has no visions ; God does not speak
to him from without ; God is in him ; he feels that he
is with God, and he draws from his heart what he says
of his Father. He lives in the bosom of God by unin
terrupted communication ; he does not see him, but he
understands him without need of thunder and burning
bush like Moses, of a revealing tempest like Job, of an
oracle like the old Greek sages, of a familiar genius
like Socrates, or of an angel Gabriel like Mahomet.
The imagination and hallucination of a St. Theresa, for
example, here 50 for nothing. The intoxication of the
Soufi proclaiming himself identical with God is also an
entirely different thing. Jesus never for a moment
enounces the sacrilegious idea that he is God. He be
lieves that he is in direct communion with God ; he be
lieves himself the son of God. The highest conscious
ness of God which ever existed in the breast of hu
manity was that of Jesus.
It is clear, on the other hand, that Jesus, setting out
with such proclivity of soul, will be in no wise a spec
ulative philosopher like Sakya-Mouni. Nothing is
further from scholastic theology than the gospel.* Tht
speculations of the Greek Fathers in regard to the di
vine essence come from an entirely different spirit.
God conceived immediately as Father, this is the
» The discourses which the fourth gospel attributes to Jesus already contain
a germ of theology. But these discourses being la contradiction with those of
the synoptic gospels, which represent without any doubt the primitive Logia,
they should be considered as elements of apostoUc history, and not as material
for the life of Jesus.

LIFE OF JESUS. IN)
whole theology of Jesus. And that was not with him
a theoretical principle, a doctrine more or less proven,
and which he sought, to inculcate. He used no argu
ment with his disciples;* he exacted from them no ef
fort of attention. He did not preach his opinions, he
preached himself. Oftentimes the greatest and most
disinterested souls present, associated with a high de
gree of elevation, this peculiarity of perpetual atten
tion to themselves and extreme personal susceptibility,
which in general is peculiar to women. f Their per
suasion that God is within them and is perpetually
caring for them, is so strong that they have no fear of
imposing themselves upon others ; with our reserve,
our respect for the opinion of others, which is a por
tion of our weakness, they have nothing to do. This
exalted personality is not egotism ; for such men, pos
sessed by their idea, gladly give their life to seal their
work ; it is the identification of the me with the object
which it has embraced, carried to its last extent. It is
pride to those who see in it only the personal fantasy
of the founder; it is the finger of God to those who see
the result. The fool here almost touches the inspired
man ; only the fool never succeeds. Hitherto it has
never been given to aberration of mind to produce a
serious effect upon the progress of humanity.
Jesus undoubtedly did not at once reach this lofty
affirmation of himself. But it is probable that from
the very first he looked to God in the relation of a son
to a father. This is his great act of originality ; in
this he is in no wise of his raee.J Neither the Jew nor
• See Matt., ix, 9, and the other analogous accounts.
+ See, for example, John, xxi, 15 seqq.
J The beautiful soul of Philo met here, as on so many other points, with thai
of Jesus. Deconfm.Umg., ^ 14; DeMigr. Abr., kl; Desomniis.il, Ml; Deagric.
Noc^^Demitatiimenomtmjm^i. But Philo has hardly a Jewish mind.

106 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the Moslem havelearned this delightful theology of love.
The God of Jesus is not the hateful master who kills us
when he pleases, damns us when he pleases, saves
us when he pleases. The God of Jesus is Our Father.
We hear him when we listen to a low whisper within
us which says, " Father."* The God of Jesus is not
the partial despot who has chosen Israel for his people
and protects it in the face of all and against all. He
is the God of humanity. Jesus will not be a patriot
like the Maccabees, or a theocrat like Juda the Gau-
lonite. Rising boldly above the prejudices of his na
tion, he will establish the universal fatherhood of God.
The Gaulonite maintained that men should die rather
than give to another than God the name of " master;"
Jesus leaves this name to whoever chooses to take
it, and reserves for God a gentler title. According to
the mighty ones of the earth, to him the representa
tives of force, a respect full of irony, he founds the su
preme consolation, the recourse to the Father which
each one has in heaven, the true kingdom of God
which each one bears in his heart.
This name of " kingdom of God " or " kingdom of
heaven "f was the favorite term of Jesus to express
the revolution which he brought into this world. :{:
Like nearly all the Messianic terms, it came from the
Book of Daniel. According to the author of this ex
traordinary book, to the four profane empires, destined
to be destroyed, will succeed a fifth empire, which will
« Gal., it, 6.
f The word " heaven " in the rabbinic language of this period, Is synonymous
with the name of " God," which they avoided saying. Comp. Matt., xxi, '.5
Luke, xv, 18; xx, 4.
X This expression recurs on every page of the synoptic evangelists" of the Acts
of the Apostles, and of St. Paul. If it appears but once in St. John, (in, 3 and
6) , it is because the discourses reported by the fourth evangelist are far from re
presenting the real words of Jesus.

LIFE OF JESUS. 107
be that of the saints and which will endnre forever.*
This reign of God upon the earth naturally received
the most diverse interpretations. In the Jewish the
ology, the " kingdom of God " is usually nothing but
Judaism itself, the true religion, the monotheistic wor
ship, piety. f During the latter portion of his life,
Jesus believed that this reign was to be realized ma
terially by a speedy renewal of the world. But this
undoubtedly was not his first thought.^ The admira
ble moral which he draws from the idea of this father
God is not that of enthusiasts who believe the world
near its end, and who are preparing by ascetism for a
chimerical catastrophe ; it is that of a world which
desires to live and which has lived. " The kingdom
of God is within you," said he to those who subtly
asked for external signs. | The material conception of
the divine advent was only a cloud, a passing error
which death consigned to oblivion. The Jesus who
founded the real kingdom of God, the kingdom of the
meek and lowly, this is the Jesus of the earlier days,§
days chaste and without alloy, when the voice of his
Father resounded in his heart with a purer tone.
There were then some months, perhaps a year, during
which God really lived upon the earth. The voice of
the young carpenter suddenly assumed extraordinary
sweetness. Infinite charm exhaled from his person, and
the companions of his youth no longer recognized him.f
« Dan., n, 44; vn, 13, 14, 22, 27.
¦f Mischna, Berakoth, n, 1, 3; Talmud of Jerus. , Berakoth, n, 2; Kidduschin, 1, 2,
Talmud of Bab. , Berakoth, 15 a; MekOta, 42 b; Siphra, 170 b. The expression oc
curs often in the Midraschim.
X Matt., vi, 33; xn, 28; xix, 12; Mark, xn, 34; Luke, xn, 31.
J Luke, xvn, 20-21.
§ The grand theory of the apocalypse of the Son of man is in fact reserved, in
the synoptics, until the chapter preceding the story of the passion. The first
teachings especially in Matthew are entirely moral.
f Matt, xm, 54 seqq.; Mark, vi, 2 seqq.; John, vi, 42.

J 08 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
He had yet no disciples, and the throng which
pressed around him was neither a sect nor a school ;
but they felt already a common epirit, something gen
tie and penetrating. His lovely character, and doubt
less one of those transporting countenances* which
sometimes appear in the Jewish race, created around
him a circle of fascination which hardly any, among
this friendly and artless people, could resist.
Paradise had been, indeed, transported upon earth.
had not the ideas of the young master too widely over
stepped the level of common goodness, above which
the human race has hitherto been incapable of being
elevated. The brotherhood of men, sons of God, and
the moral consequences which result from this, were
deduced with an exquisite sentiment. Like all the
rabbis of the time, Jesus, little given to consecutive
reasonings, compressed his doctrine into aphorisms
concise .and of an expressive form, sometimes strange
and enigmatical.f Some of these maxims come from
the books of the Old Testament. Others were the
thoughts of more modern sages, especially of Antigo-
nus of Soco, Jesus, the son of Sirach, and Hillel,
which were known to him, not through learned studies,
but as proverbs often repeated. The synagogues were
rich in maxims very happily expressed, which formed
a sort of current proverb literature.^ Jesus adopted
nearly all this oral instruction, infusing into it a loftier
meaning.| Increasing ordinarily upon the duties ch*
« The tradition of the ugliness of Jesus (Justin, Dial, cum Tryph 85 P8 100)
comes from the desire to find realized in him a pretended Messianic trait (Isaiah
iiii,2). v
t The Logia of St. Matthew piece together many of these axioms, to make grand
discourses. But the iragmentary form is perceptible in the »»ams
1 The sentences of learned Jews of the time are collected in the little book en
titled : Pirke Aboth. ^
| The comparisons will be made hereafter as they present themselves. It Is

LIFE OF JESUS. 109
dared by the Law and the elders, he demanded per
fection. All the virtues of humility, of forgiveness, of
charity, of abnegation, of severity to self, virtues whieii
are rightly named Christian, if by that is meant that
they were really preached by Christ, were in germ in
these first teachings. For justice, he contented him
self with repeating the well known axiom, "Do not to
others that which ye would not that they should do
unto you."* But this ancient wisdom, which was still
somewhat selfish, was not enough for him. He went
far beyond :
" Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek,
turn to him the other also. And if any man sue thee
at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy
cloak also."f
" If thy right eye often d thee, pluck it out, and cast
it from thee."^:
" Love your enemies ; do good to them that hate you ;
pray for them that persecute you."|
" Judge not that ye be not judged. § Forgive and
ye shall be forgiven. ^[ Be ye merciful as your Father
in heaven is merciful.** It is more blessed to give
than to receive. "ff
sometimes supposed that the compilation of the Talmud being posterior to that
of the Gospels, appropriations might have been made by the Jewish compilers
from the Christian morality. But that is inadmissible; there was a wall of sep
aration between the church and the synagogue. Christian literature and Jewish
literature had before the xmth century, scarcely any influence upon each
other. * Matt, vn, 12; Luke, vi, 31. This axiom was already in the book of Tobit,iv,
16. Hillel made use of it habitually (Talm. of Bab. , Schabuath, 31 a), and de
clared like Jesus that it was the epitome of the Law.
t Matt., v, 39 seqq. ; Luke, vi, 29. Comp. Jeremiah, in, 30.
X Matt., v, 2<.'-J,u; xvm, 9; Mark, ix, 46.
J Matt., v, 44; Luke, vi, 27 Comp. Talm. of Bab. Schabbath, 88 b; Joma, 23 a.
S Matt, vn. 1; Luke, vi, 37. Comp Talm. of Bab. Kdhuboth, 105 b.
1 Luke', vi, 37. Comp. Levit., xix, 18; Prov., xx, 22; Ecclesiastes, xxvni, 1
seqq «* Luke, vi, 86; Siphre, 51 6 (Sultzbach, 1802).
ff A saying reported in the Acts, xx, 35.

110 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
" Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased ; and
he that hnmbleth himself shall be exalted."*
Concerning alms, pity, good works, gentleness, the
desire of peace, complete disinterestedness of heart, he
had little to add to the doctrines of the synagogue. f
But he gave to them an accent full of unction, which
made new aphorisms uttered long before. Morality
is not composed of principles more or less well ex
pressed. The poetry of the precept, which makes it
lovely, is more than the precept itself, taken as an ab
stract verity. Now, it cannot be denied that the max
ims borrowed by Jesus from his predecessors, produce,
in the gospel, an effect totally different from that in
the ancient Law, in the Pirke Aioth, or in the Tal
mud. It is not the ancient Law, it is not the Talmud,
which has conquered and changed the world. Little
original in itself, if by that is meant that it can be re-
composed almost entirely with more ancient maxims,
the evangelical morality remains none the less the
highest creation which has emanated from the human
conscience, the most beautiful code of perfect life that
any moralist has traced.
He did not speak against the Mosaic law, but it is
clear that he saw its insufficiency, and allowed it to be
understood. He constantly repeated that it was ne
cessary to do more than the ancient sages had said. %
He prohibited the least harsh word;| he forbade di-
vorce§ and all oaths ;T he blamed retaliation ;** he
* Matt., xxin, 17; Luke xiv, 11; xvnl, 14. The sayings reported by St. Je
rome from the " Gospel according to the Hebrews" (Comment, in Epist. ad Ephes.f
T,4; in Ezek. ,xvni; Dial. adv. Felag , III, 2). are marked by the same spirit
^Deui., xxiv, xxv, xxvi, etc , Is ,lvhi, 7; Prim., xix, 17 ;PirkeAboth,l; Talmud
Of Jerusalem, Peah, i, 1; Talmud of Babylon, Schabbath, 63 a.
X Matt. , v, 20 seqq. || Matt. , v, 22.
I Matt. , t, 31 seqq. Compare Talm. of Bab. , Scmhedrin, 22 a.
f Matt. , t , 33 seqq. « Matt. , T, 88 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. Ill
condemned usury ;* he declared voluptuous desire as
criminal as adultery.f He desired universal forgive
ness of injuries.^ The motive with which he enforced
these maxims of lofty charity was always the same : —
"That ye may be the children of your Father which i8
in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil
and on the good. If ye love," added he, " them only
which love you, what reward have ye ? do not even
the publicans the same? And if ye salute your breth
ren only, what is that ? do not the heathen the same ?
Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect."|
A pure worship, a religion without priests and with
out external practices, reposing entirely upon the feel
ings of the heart, upon the imitation of God,§ upon
the immediate communion of the conscience with the
heavenly Father, were the result of these principles.
Jesus never recoiled before that bold deduction which
made of him, in the bosom of Judaism, a revolutionist
of the highest stamp. Wherefore mediators between
man and his Father? God seeing only the heart, of
what use these purifications, these rites, which reach
only the body?^[ Tradition itself, a thing so holy to
the Jew, is nothing compared with pure feeling.** The
hypocrisy of the Pharisees, who in praying turned
their heads to see if anyone were looking, who gave
their alms with ostentation, and put upon their dress
signs which made them known as pious persons, all
these affectations of false devotion were revolting to
« Matt. , v, 42. The Law forbade it also (Deut., xv, 7-8), but less formally,
and usage authorised it (Luke, vn. 4i seqq.).
t Matt. , xxvn, 23. Compare Talmud, Masseket-KaUa (edit. Purth, 1793) , fol
si 6. y
Matt., v, 23 seqq. f \ Matt. , v, 45 seqq. Compare Lev. , xi, 44.
Compare Philo, De migr. Abr., ^ 23 and 24; De vita contemplativa, entire.
' Matt. , xv, 11 seqq. ; Mark, vn, 6 seqq. «• Mark, tii, 6 seqq.

112 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
him.* "They have their reward," said he; "but
when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what
thy right hand doeth ;' that thine alms may be in se
cret: and thy Father which seeth in secret, himself
shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest,
thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are : for .they love
to pray standing in the synagogues, and in the corners
of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily,
I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou,
when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when
thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in
secret ; and thy Father which seeth in seci'et, shall re
ward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions, as the heathen do : for they think that they
shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye
therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth
what things ye have need of before ye ask him."f
He affected no external sign of asceticism, content
ing himself with praying or rather meditating upon the
mountains and in solitary places, where man has al
ways sought God4 This lofty idea of the communion
of man with God, of which so few souls, even after him,
were to be capable, was condensed into a prayer, which
he thenceforth taught to his disciples :|
" Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on
earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily
bread. And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive
those who have trespassed against us. Lead us not in
» Matt, ti,1 seqq. Compare Ecclesiastes, xtii, 18; xxrx, 16: Talm. of Bab
Chagina,ba;BabaBathra 9 6. *
f Matt., vi, 2-8 X Matt., xiv, 23; Luke, rv,42,v, 16;ti,12.
1 Matt., vi, 9 seqq.; Luke xi, 2 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 113
to temptation ; but deliver us from the Evil One."*
Ho insisted particularly upon this idea that our heav
enly Father knows better than we what we need, and
that we almost insult him in asking for a definite
thing.f Jesus, in this, did nothing more than to deduce the
consequences of the great principles which Judaism
had established, but which the official classes of the
nation tended more and more to disown. The Greek
and Roman prayer was almost always a mass of ver
biage full of egotism. Never had pagan priest said to
the faithful: "If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and
there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against
thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy
way ; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come
and offer thy gift.":}: Alone in antiquity, the Jewish
prophets, Isaiah especially, in their antipathy to the
priesthood, had seen the true nature of the worship
which man owes to God. " To what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices ? lam full of the burnt
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; incense is
an abomination unto me ; for your hands are full of
blood. Make clean your thoughts ; cease to do evil;
learn to do well; seek justice, and come then."| In
the latter days, some teachers, Simeon the Just,§ Je
sus, son of Sirach,^" and Hillel,** almost reached the
goal, and declared that the sum of the Law was jus
tice. Philo, in the Judaic-Egyptian world, attained
at the same time with Jesus to ideas of a high moral
* That is to say from the devil. f Luke, xi, 6 seqq. X Matt. , v , 23-24.
I Isaiah, i,ll seqq. Compare ibid., ltiii entire;Hosea, ti, 6; Malachi, i, 10 seqq.
§ Pirke Aboth, I, 2. T[ Ecclesiastes , xxxt, 1 seqq.
** Talm. of JeruB. , Pesachim, Ti,l;Talm of Bab., same treatise, 66 a; Schalibafk,
81 a.

114 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
holiness, the consequence of which was little regard
for the rites of the Law.* Schemai'a and Abtalion,
more than once, showed that they also were very libe
ral casuists. f Rabbi Iohanan soon came to place
works of mercy above even the study of the Law.^
Jesus alone, nevertheless, said it in an effective man
ner. Never was any man less a priest than Jesus,
never more an enemy of the forms which stifle religion
under the pretext of preserving it. By that, we are
all his disciples and his continuators ; by that he has
laid an eternal rock, the corner-stone of true religion,
and, if religion be the one thing needful to humanity,
by that he has earned the divine rank which has been
assigned to him. An idea absolutely new, the idea of
,a worship founded upon purity of heart and human
fraternity, made through him its entrance into the
world, an idea so elevated that the Christian church
was upon this point completely to betray his inten
tions, and that, in our days, but few souls are capable
of comprehending it.
An exquisite perception of nature furnished him
at all times with expressive images. Sometimes a re
markable penetration, what we call genius, set off his
aphorisms; at others, their vivid form was due to the
happy employment of popular proverbs. " How canst
thou say to thy brother, ' Let me pull out the mote
out of thine eye;' and, behold, a beam is in thine own
eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of
thine own eye ; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast
out the mote out of thy brother's eye."]
• Quod Deusimmut. , ^ 1 and 2; De Abrahamo, § 22; Quis rerum divin. lucres, h 13
seqq. ; 55, 68 seqq. ; Deprofugis, § 7 and 8; Quod omnlsprobus liber, entire; De vita am-
iemplativa, entire.
f Talm. de Bab., Pesachim, 67 6. X Talmud of Jerusalem, Peak, i, 1.
Matt. , vn, 4-6. Compare Talmud of Babylon, BOba Bathra, 15 6; .Era<Au»,16u

LIFE OF JESUS. 115
These lessons, long time shut up in the heart of the
young master, had gathered already a few converts.
The spirit of the day was towards small churches ; it
was the time of the Essenes or Therapeutes. Rabbis,
each with his doctrine, Schemaia, Abtalion, Hillel,
Schammai, Juda the Gaulonite, Gamaliel, and many
others, of whose maxims the Talmud * is composed,
appeared on all sides. They wrote very little. The
Jewish teachers of that day did not make books ; ev
erything passed in conversation and in public lessons,
to which they sought to give a character easy of re-
tention.f On the day when the young carpenter of
Nazareth began to produce in public these maxims,
for the most part already known, but which, thanks to
him, were to regenerate the world, it was not, then,
an event. It was one rabbi the more (true, the most
charming of all), and around him a few young men
eager to hear him and seeking the unknown. Time is
required to compel the attention of men. There were
yet no Christians ; true Christianity, nevertheless, was
founded, and never doubtless was it more perfect than
at this first moment. Jesus will add to it nothing
more that will be durable. What do I say? In one
sense, he will compromise it ; for every idea in order
to succeed, must needs make sacrifices ; none comes
immaculate out of the struggle of life.
To conceive the truth, indeed, is not enough ; it is
needful to give it success among men. For that, ways
less pure are necessary. Indeed, were the gospel con
fined to a few chapters of Matthew and Luke, it would
be more perfect, aud would*not now give rise to so
* See especially Pirke Aboih, ch. i.
f The Talmud, a summary of thi-s vast movement of the schools, hardly began
to be written until the second century of our era.

116 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
many objections ; but without miracles would it have
converted the world ? Had Jesus died at the period
which we have reached in his career, there would have
been in his life no page which wounds us ; but, grander
in the eyes of God, he would have remained unknown
of men ; he would be lost in the multitude of great
unknown souls, the best of all ; the truth would not
have been promulgated, and the world had not profit
ed by the immense moral superiority which his Father
had imparted to him. Jesus, son of Sirach, and Hillel
had enunciated aphorisms almost as lofty as those of
Jesus. Hillel, however, will never be considered the real
founder of Christianity. In morality, as in art, words
are nothing, deeds are everything. The idea which is
concealed beneath a picture of Raphael is a small thing ;
it is the picture alone that counts. Likewise, in mo
rality, truth becomes of value only if it pass to the
condition of feeling, and it attains all its preciousness
only when it is realized in the world as a fact. Men
ofindifferent morals have written -very good maxims.
Men.-very virtuous, also, have done nothing to continue
the,tradition of their virtue in the world. The palm
belongs to him who has been mighty in word and in
work, who has felt the truth, and, at the price of
his blood, has made it triumph. Jesus, from this
double point of view, is without equal; his glory re
mains complete, and will be renewed forever.

LIFE OF JESUS. 11.7

CHAPTER VI.

)OEH THE BAPTIST. — JOURNEY OP JESUS TO JOHN AND
HIS SOJOURN IN TIB DESEBT OP JU D E A . — A D OPT B
THE BAPTISM OP JOHN.

An extraordinary man, whose work, in the absence
of documents, remains to us in part enigmatical, ap
peared about this time and certainly had relations with
Jesus. These relations rather tended to make the
young prophet of Nazareth deviate from his way ; but
they suggested to him many important accessories of
his religious institution, and at all events, they fur
nished his disciples with a very strong authority to re
commend their master in the eyes of a certain class
of Jews.
Towards the year 28 of our era (the fifteenth year
of the reign of Tiberius), there passed through Pales
tine, the fame of a certain Iohanan or John, a young
ascetic full of ardor and of passion. John was of
priestly race,* born probably, at Jutta near Hebron or
at Hebron itself.f Hebron, beyond all others the patri-
*Luke, 1,6; a passage of the Gospel of the Eblonim preserved by Epiphaniua
(Adv. har,, xxx, 13).
f Luke, i, 32. It has been proposed with some veri-similitude, to regard "the
city of Juda" named in this passage ol Luke the city of Jutta (Joshua, xv, 66
xxi, 16. Bobinson (Biblical Researches, 1, 494; IL 208) found this Jutta still bear
ing the same name, six or eight miles south of Hebron.

118 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
archal city, situated on the borders of the desert 01
Judea, and within a few hours' travel of the great
desert of Arabia, was at that time what it is to-day,
one of the bulwarks of the Semitic spirit in its most
austere form. From his infancy John was Nazir, that
is to say devoted by vow to certain abstinences.* The
desert by which he was, as it were, environed, soon at
tracted him.f He led in it the life of an Indian yogui,
clad in skins or in stuff of camel's hair and having no
food but locusts and wild honey.:}: A certain number
of disciples were gathered about him, sharing his life
and meditating upon his severe words. One might
have believed himself transported to the banks of the
Ganges, if certain peculiar traits had not revealed in
this recluse, the last descendant of the greatest proph
et of Israel.
Since the Jewish nation had been seized by a
Bpecies of despair in reflecting upon its destiny, the
imagination of the people had turned again with much
comfort towards the ancient prophets. Now, of all
the personages of the past, whose memory came like
the dreams of a troubled night to arouse and agitate
the people, the grandest was Elias. This giant of the
prophets, in his rugged solitude of Carmel, sharing
the life of wild beasts, living in the caves of the rocks,
whence he emerged like a thunderbolt to make and
unmake kings, had become by successive transforma
tions a superhuman being, sometimes visible, some
times invisible, who had not tasted death. It was gener
ally believed that Elias was to come and restore Israel. |
• Lnke, i, 15. + Luke, i, 80.
X Matt., in, 4; Mark, i, 6; fragm. of the gospel of the Ebionim in Epiph., Adv.
tor., xxx, 13.
| Malachl, m, 23-24 (iv, 6-6 according to the Vulgate); EcceUsiasta, xlyui, 10
Matt., xvi, 14; xvii, 10 seqq; Mark, vi, 16; vni, 28; ix, 10 seqq.; Luke, ix, 8, 111
John, I, 21, 25.

LIFE OF JESUS. 119
The austere life which he had led, the terrible me
mentos that he had left, under the impression of
which the East yet lives,* that gloomy image which,
even in our days, causes trembling and destruction ;
all this mythology full of vengance and terrors, pro
duced a vivid and striking impression upon all minds,
and placed, in some sort, a birth-mark upon all the
products of the throes of the people. Whoever aspired
to a great deed among the people must imitate Elias,
and as solitary life had been the essential peculiarity
of this prophet, the masses had become accustomed to
look upon " the man of God " as a hermit. They im
agined that all the holy personages had their days of
penitence, of severe life, and of austerities. f The re
treat to the desert became thus the condition and the
prelude of high destinies.
Doubtless this thought of imitation had greatly oc
cupied John. \ Anchoretic life, so opposite to the spirit
of the ancient Jewish people, and with which vows of
the kind taken by the Nazirs and the Rechabites had
nothing in common, invaded Judea on all sides. The Es
senes or Therapeutes were established near the country
of John, upon the eastern borders of the Dead Sea.[
It was readily conceived that the leaders of sects must
be recluses, having their peculiar rules and their insti
tutes, like the founders of religious orders. The mas
ters of the youth were also at times a species of an-
chorites§ closely resembling the gourous^ of Brah-
* The ferocious Ahdallah, Pasha of St. Jean d'Acre, thought to have died
of fright from having seen him standing erect on the mountain. In the pictures
of the Christian churches, he is seen surrounded with cut-off heads. The Mw
lems fear him.
! Ascension d'lsaie, h, 9-11. X Luke, i, 17.
Pliny Nat.Hist.,Y, 17; Epiph.,^Jo har. xix;land2.
Josephus, Vita, 2. H Spiritual preceptors.

120 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
minism. Indeed was there not in this a remote influ
ence of the mounis of India ? Had not some of the
wandering Buddhist monks, who overran the world,
as, at a later period did the first Franciscans, preach
ing by their edifying exterior life and converting
people who did not know their language, turned their
steps in the direction of Judea, as they certainly had
in that of Syria and of Babylon ?* We know not. Bab
ylon had become some time previously a true focus of
Buddhism ; Boudasp (Bodhisattra) was reputed a Chal
dean sage and the founder of Sabianism. And what
was Sabianisml What its etymology indicates :f bap
tism itself, that is, the religion of frequent baptism, the
foundation of the sect still in existence, which is
called Christians of St. John or Mendaites, and which
the Arabs call el-Mogtasila,% " the baptists." It is
very difficult to follow out these vague analogies. The
sects floating between Judaism, Christianity, Bap
tism and Sabianism which we find in the region be
yond Jordan during the first centuries of our era,] pre
sent to the critic, from the confusion of the accounts
which have come to us, the most singular problem. We
may believe, in any event, that many of the external
practices of John, of the Essenes§ and of the Jewish
spiritual preceptors of the time, came from a recent in-
* I have developed this point elsewhere (Hist, gener. des langues semitiquet, III,
IV, 1; Journ. Asiat., fevrier-mars 1856.
•f The Aramaean verb Seba, origin of the name Sabians, is synonymous with
/3atf<ri'£w. X I have treated of this at greater length in the Journal Asiatique nov.-deo. 1853
etaout-sept. 185>. It is remarkable that the Elchasaites, a sabian or baptist
Rect. inhabit the same country as the Essenes (the eastern border of the Dead
Sea) and were confounded with them (Epiph., Adv. luer., XIX, 1, 2, 4; XXX, 16,
17: I, in, 1 and 2; PhiUsophumena, IX, in, 15 and 16; X, xx, 24)
f| See the accounts of Epiphanius of the Essenes, the Hemero-baptists, the
Nazarenes, the Ossenes, the Nazerencs. the Ehionites, the Sampsenes (Adv.
hcer. , books I and II) and those of the author of the Philosophvmena of the EJ cha-
¦ sites (hooks IX and X) .
\ Epiph., Adv. har., XIX, XXX, LIII.

LIFE OF JESUS. 121
fluence of the upper East. The fundamental rite which
characterized the sect of John, and which gave him
his name, has always had its center in Lower Chaldea,
and there constitutes a religion which has been per
petuated to our day.
That rite was baptism or total immersion. Ablutions
were already familiar to the Jews, as they were to all
the religions of the East.* The Essenes had given them
a special diffusion. f Baptism had become an ordinary
ceremony on the introduction of proselytes into the
bosom of the Jewish religion, a sort of initiation.^:
Never, however, before our Baptist had any one given
to immersion this importance or this form. John had
established the theatre of his work in that portion of
the desert of Judea which lies near the Dead Sea. J
At the periods when he administered baptism, He
went to the borders of the Jordan, § either at Bethany or
Bethabara,^f on the eastern bank, probably opposite Jer
icho, or at the place called jEnon or " the Fountains "**
near Salim, where there was much water.f f Thither,
large numbers, especially of the tribe of Judah,
* Mark, vn, 4; Jos., Ant., XVIII, v, 2; Justin, Dial, cum Tiyph. , 17, 29, 80;
Epiph.. Adv. to-., xvn. t J°8> B- J> H< vm- 5. 7, 9, 13.
X Mischna, Pesachim, vm, 8; Talm of Bab., Jebarnoth, 46 b; KerithuUi, 9 a; Aboda
Zara. 57 a; Masseket Gerim (edit. Kirchheim, 1851), p. 38-40.
|] Matt. , in, 1 ; Mark, i, 4. § Luke, in, 3.
ft John, i, 28; m, 26. All the manuscripts have Bethany; but, as no Bethany is
known in these parts, Origen (Comment, injoana. , VI, 24) proposes to substitute
Bethabara, and his correction has been very generally accepted. The two words
aie, moreover, of analogous significatiou, and seem to indicate a place where
there was a ferry-boat to cross the river.
** 'jEnon is the Chaldaic plural of JEnawan, " fountains."
ft John, in, 23. The situation of this place is doubtful. The circumstance
related by this Evangelist leads to the belief that it was not very near the Jordan.
Yet the synoptics are constant hi placing all the scenes of John's baptisms upon
the banks of this river (Matt., in, 6; Mark, i, 5; Luke, in, 3). The comparison of
verses 22 and 23 of the nid chap, of John, and verses 3 and 4 of the ivth chap, of
the same Evangelist, favors the belief that Salim was in Judea, and consequently
in the oasis of Jericho, near the mouth of the Jordan, since there can hardly be
found in the rest of the territory of the tribe of Judea a single natural basin
which would allow the total immersion of the whole person. Saint Jerome
thought Salim much farther north, near Beth-Schean or Scythopolis. But Rob
inson (Bibl Res., Ill, 3s3) could find nothing on the spot to justify this allega
tion. 6

122 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
thronged to him and were baptized.* In a few montha
he thus became one of the most influential men in
Judea, and all had to do with him.
The people regarded him as a prophet,f and many
imagined that he was Elias alive again. f The belief
in such resurrections, was wide spread ;| it was
thought that God would raise from their tombs some
of the ancient prophets to serve as guides in conduct
ing Israel towards its final destiny.§ Others held
John to be the Messiah himself, although he made no
such claim. "f The priests and the scribes, opposed to
this revival of prophecy, and always inimical to en
thusiasts, despised him. But the popularity of the
Baptist awed them and they dared not speak against
him.** It was a victory of popular opinion over the
aristocratic priesthood. When the chief priests were
compelled to explain themselves clearly upon this
point, it greatly embarassed them.ff Baptism was
however to John only a sign intended to make an im
pression and to prepare minds for some great move
ment. Doubtless he was possessed in the highest de
gree with the expectation of the Messiah, and his
principal action was directed by this. "Repent ye
6aid he, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."^ He
announced a " wrath " that is to say, terrible catastro
phes which were to come, |j|| and declared that the ax
was already laid unto the root of the tree and that the
tree would be soon cast into the fire. He represented
lis Messiah fan in hand, gathering the good graiu and
burning the chaff. Repentance, of which baptism
» Mark, i, 5; Jos., Ant., XVIII, v, 2. + Matt., xiv, 5; xxi, 26.
L Matt., xi, 14; Mark, vi, 15; John, i, 21. J Matt., xiv, 2; Luke, ix, 3.
See above, p. 118, note ||. f Luke, in, 15 seqq. ; John. 1, 2ft
Matt. , xxi, 25 seqq. ; Luke, vu, 30. f+ Matt. , loc. cit.
tt Matt., in, 2. |1 Matt., m, 7.

LIFE OF JESUS. 123
was a symbol, charity, the amendment of morals,*
were to John the great means of preparation for ap
proaching events. The exact date which he fixed for
the occurrence of these events is not known. So much
is certain, however, that he preached with much force
against the same adversaries as Jesus, against the
rich priests, the Pharisees, the doctors, official Juda
ism, in a word, and that, like Jesus, he was accepted
readily by the despised classes. f He reduced to no
thing the title of childreu of Abraham, and said that
God could create children of Abraham out of the
stones of the highway.^: It does not seem that he
possessed, even in germ, the grand idea which consti
tuted the triumph of Jesus, the idea of a pure reli
gion ; but he was of great service to that in substitut
ing a private rite for the ceremonies cf the law tc
which the priests were essential, much as the Flaggel-
lants of the middle ages were the precursors of the
Reformation, by taking away the monopoly of sacra
ments and of absolution from the official clergy. The
general tone of his sermons was harsh and severe.
The expressions which he used against his adversaries
appear to have been of the most violent character.!
They were rude and incessant invective. It is prob
able that he did not remain aloof from politics. Jose
phus, who almost touched him through his master
Banou, hints this in hidden phrase,§ and the catastro
phe which put an end to his days seems to suppose it.
* Luke, in, 11-14; Jos., Ant., XVIII,t, 2. f Matt., xxi, 32; Luke, ni,12-l(
1 Matt. , m, 9. j Matt. , in, 7; Luke, in, 7.
t, Ant., XVIII, v, 2. It should be observed that when Josephus exposes the
secret doctrines, more or less seditious, of his compatriots, he effaces everything
which indicates the Messianic belief, and covers over these doctrines, so as not to
give umbrage to the Eomans, with a varnish of generality which makes the
chiefii of the Jewish sects resemble professors of moral philosophy or stoics

124 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
His disciples led a very austere life * fasting frequent
ly and affecting a sad and anxious appearance. At times
the existence of a community of goods is perceptible
and the idea that the rich man is obliged to share
that which he has.f The poor appear already as those
who should be beneficiaries in the first rank of the
kingdom of God.
Although the central point of John's action was in
Judea, his fame soon penetrated into Galilee and
reached Jesus, who had already formed about him by
his first discourses a small circle of hearers. Enjoy
ing as yet little authority and doubtless desirous also
to see a master whose teachings had so much in com
mon with his own ideas, Jesus left Galilee and went
with his little school to visit John.:]: The new comers
were baptized like every body else. John cordially
welcomed this swarm of Galilean disciples, and was
not. displeased that they should remain distinct from
his own. The two masters were young; they had
many common ideas ; they loved each other and la
bored before the public with reciprocal good-will.
Such a state of things surprises us at the first thought
in regard to John the Baptist, and we are tempted to
doubt it. Humility has never been the characteristic
of strong souls among the Jews. It seems as though
« Matt., ix, 14. t Luke, m, 11.
X Matt., in, 13 seqq_.;Mark, i, 9 seqq. ; Luke, in, 21 seqq. ; John, i, 29 seqq.; in,
22 seqq. The synoptics make Jesus come to John before his public life com
mences. But if it is true as they say, that John recognized Jesus at once, and
gave him a great welcome, we must suppose that Jesus was already a master ol
some renown. The fourth Evangelist takes Jesus twice to John, once privately,
a second time with a troop of disciples. Without touching here upon the question
of the precise journeys of. Jesus (a question which cannot be resolved in view of
the contradictions of the documents, and the little care of the evangelists to be
exact in such matters) , without denying that Jesus might have made a journey
to John at a time when he was unknown, we adopt the datum furnished by the
fourth evangelist (in, 2- seqq. ) to wit, that Jesus before he was baptized by John
had a school formed. We must remember, moreover, that the first pages of ths
fourth evangelist are notes put together without rigorous chronological order.

LIFE OF JESUS. 125
a character so inflexible, a sort of constantly irritated
Lamennais, would be very passionate and suffer nei
ther rivalry nor partial adhesion. But this idea is
based upon a false conception of the person of John.
He is represented as an old man ; he was, on the con
trary, of the same age as Jesus,* and very young ac
cording to the notions of the times. He was not, in
the order of mind, the father of Jesus, but only his
brother. The two young enthusiasts, full of the same
hopes and the same hates, might well make common
cause and reciprocally support each other. Certainly an
old master seeing a man without celebrity come to him
and manifest airs of independence, would have revolt
ed at it ; there is hardly an example of the head of a
school welcoming with cordiality him who was to suc
ceed him. But youth is capable of all abnegations,
and we may believe that John, having recognized
in Jesus a spirit kindred to his own, accepted him
without selfish considerations. These pleasant relations
became thenceforth the starting-point of the whole sys
tem developed by the evangelist, which consists in giv
ing as the first basis of the divine mission of Jesus, the
attestation of John. Such was the degree of author
ity achieved by the Baptist that they thought no bet
ter voucher could be found in the world. But far from
the Baptist abdicating before Jesus, Jesus, during the
whole time that he spent with him, recognized him as
his superior, and developed his owji genius but timidly.
It seems, indeed, that notwithstanding his profound
originality, Jesus, during some weeks at least, was the
imitator of John. His path was yet obscure before
* Like, I, although all the details of the story, especially that which con
cerns the relationship of John with Jesus, are legendary.

126 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
him. At all epochs, moreover, Jesus yielded much
to opinion, and even adopted things which were not
in his direction, or for which he had little regard, for
the sole reason that they were popular; only, these
accessories were never injurious to his principal idea
and were always subordinate to it. Baptism had been
brought by John into great favor ; he thought himself
obliged to do likewise ; he baptized and his disciples
baptized also.* Undoubtedly they accompanied the
baptism by sermons similar to those of John. The
Jordan was thus covered on all sides with Baptists,
whose discourses met with greater or less success. The
pupil soon equaled the master, and his baptism was
much sought. There was on this subject jealousy
among the disciples ;f the disciples of John came and
complained to him of the growing success of the
young Galilean, whose baptism would soon, according
to them, supplant his own. But the two masters were
superior to these pettinesses. The superiority of John
was, moreover, too incompatible for Jesus, as yet lit
tle known, to think of combatting it. He desired only
to grow beneath his shadow, and thought himself
obliged, in order to win the multitude, to employ
the external means which had secured to John such
astonishing success. When he began to preach after
the arrest of John, the first words which are put into
his mouth are only a repetition of one of the familiar
phrases of the Baptist.:]: Many other expressions of John
are repeated literally in his discourses. | The two
schools appear to have lived a long time with a good
mutual understanding!, and after the death of John,
• John, in, 22-26; rr, 1-2. The parenthesis of Terse 2 seems to be a comment
added, or perhaps a tardy scruple of John correcting himself.
+ John,Hl,26;lT,l. 1 Matt., ill, 2; it, 17.
J Matt. , in. 7;xh,34;xxiii,33. § Matt., xi, 2-13.

LIFE OF JESUS. 127
Jesus, as his trusted brother, was one of the first to
be informed of the event.*
John, indeed, was very soon checked in his pro
phetic career. Like the ancient Jewish prophets, he
was, in the highest degree, a railer at the established
powers. f The extreme freedom with which he ex
pressed himself in their regard could not fail to create
embarrassment to him. In Judea, John does not ap
pear to have been disturbed by Pilate ; but in Perea,
beyond the Jordan, he was upon the territory of An-
tipater. This tyrant was disquieted by the ill-dissem
bled political leaven of the preaching of John. The
great gatherings of men created by religious and pa
triotic enthusiasm around the Baptist, were something
suspicious.^: A grievance entirely personal came,
moreover, in addition to these motives of state, to seal
the doom of the austere censor.
One of the most strongly marked characters of that
tragic family of Herods, was Herodias, granddaughter
of Herod the Great. Violent, ambitious, and passion
ate, she detested Judaism and despised its laws. J She
had been married, probably against her will, to her
uncle Herod,§ son of Mariamne, whom Herod the
Great had disinherited,^ and who had never been a
public character. The inferior position of her husband,
compared with the other persons of his family, gave
her no rest ; she would be a sovereign at any price.**
A ntipater was the instrument which she used. That
feeble man, having become distractedly enamoured of
* Matt., xiv, 12. t Luke, in, 19.
1 Jos. , Ant. , XVIII, v, 2. t Jos. , Ant. , XVIII, v, 4.
^Matthew (xiv, 3, in the Greek text) and Mark /vi, 17J prefer Philip; but this
is certainly an inadvertence (see Josephus, Ant., XVIII, v, 1 and 4.) The wife
of Philip was Salome, daughter of Herodias.
V Jos., Ant., XVII, iv, 2. ** Jos., Ant., XVIII, Til, 1, i;B J., II, ix, 8.

128 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
her, promised to espouse her and repudiate his first
wife, the daughter of Hareth, King of Petra and Emir
of the neighboring tribes of Perea. The Arab princess,
having discovered the project, resolved to fly. Dis
sembling her design, she feigned a desire to visit Ma-
chero, upon the territory of her father, and was con
ducted thither by the officers of Antipater.* Makaur,f
or Machero, was a colossal fortress, built by Alexander
JannaBiis, since rebuilt by Herod, in one of the most
abrupt wadys on the east of the Dead Sea.:]: It was a
wild region, strange, filled with fantastical legends,
and was believed to be the haunt of demons. | The
fortress was just on the line between the territories of
Hareth and Antipater. It was now in the posses
sion of Hareth. § He had been forewarned, and had
prepared everything for his daughter's flight, who,
from tribe to tribe, was taken back to Petra.
The almost incestuous^" union of Antipater and He
rodias was then accomplished. The Jewish laws upon
marriage were an incessant source of scandal between
the irreligious family of the Herods and the strict Jews.**
The members of that numerous and rather isolated
dynasty were reduced to the necessity of inter-mar
riage and frequent violations of the impediments pre
scribed by the Law were the result. John was the
echo of the general opinion in his energetic blame of
Antipater.f f This was more than enough to decide
Antqiater to act upon his suspicions. He caused the
* Jos., Ant., XVIII, v, 1.
f This form is found in the Talmud of Jerusalem (SchebiU, ix, 2) and in th
Targums of Jonathan and of Jerusalem (Numbers, xxn, 35).
X To-day Mkaur, in the wady Zerka Main. This place has not been visited
since Seetzen.
Jos. , De bell. Jud. , VII, vi, 1 seqq. § Jos. . Ant. , XVIIT, t, 1.
' Lev. , xvm , 16 ** Josi , Ant. , XV, tii, 10.
" Matt. , xit, 4; Mark, ti, 18 -.Luke, in, 19

I J

LIFE OF JESUS. 121/
Baptist to be arrested, and ordered that he be confined
in the fortress of Machero, which he had probably
seized after the departure of the daughter of Hareth.*
Timid, rather than cruel, Antipater did not wish to
put him to death. According to some reports, he
feared a popular tumult. f According to another ver
sion,:]: he took pleasure in listening to the prisoner, and
these conversations filled him with the greatest per
plexity. So much is certain, that the detention of
John was prolonged, and that he continued to exert
from the depths of his prison a wide-spread influence.
He corresponded with his disciples, and we shall again
find him in communication with Jesus. His faith in
the near approach of Messiah became stronger than
ever ; he followed attentively all movements without,
and sought to discover in them signs favorable to the
accomplishment of the hopes which supported him.
« Jos., Ant. , XVIII, v, 2. f Matt-, xit, 6.
t Mark, ti, 20. I read ^iro£Si and not eVoi'si.

130 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER VII.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE IDEAS OP JESUS OICERKUa
THE KINGDOM OP GOD.
Up to the arrest of John, which we place proxi
mately in the summer of the year 29, Jesus did not
leave the vicinity of the Dead Sea and the Jordan. A
sojourn in the desert of Judea was generally considered
the preparation for great deeds, a sort of " retreat "
before public acts. Jesus followed in this the example
of others, and passed forty days, with no company but
the wild beasts, keeping a rigorous fast. The imagina
tion of his disciples was much exercised concerning
this sojourn. The desert was, in the popular belief,
the abode of demons.* There are few regions in the
world more desolate, more God-forsaken, more closed
against life than the stony slope which forms the wes
tern border of the Dead Sea. It was believed that
during the time which he passed in this hideous coun
try, he suffered terrible temptations, that Satan had
endeavored to terrify him with his illusions or cajole
him with seductive promises, and that then the angels
had come to serve him as a reward for his victory.f
* Jobit, Tin, 3 ; Luke, xi, 24.
t Matt., it, 1 seqq.; Mark, i, 12-13; Luke, rv, I seqq. Certainly the striking
analogy which these stories present to the analogous legends of the Vendidai

LIFE OF JESUS. 131
It was probably on coming forth from the desert
that Jesus was apprised of the arrest of John the Bap
tist. He had no further reason for a prolonged sojourn-
in a country in which he was almost a stranger. Per
haps he feared that he might be comprehended in the
severities exercised in regard to John, and preferred
not to expose himself at a time when, in view of the
small celebrity which he had obtained, his death
would not serve the progress of his ideas. He return
ed to Galilee,* his true country, matured by an im
portant experience and having developed in contact
with a great man, very different from himself, the feel
ing of his originality. On the whole, the influence of
John had been more injurious than useful to Jesus.
It was a check in his developement ; everything goes
to 6how that when he descended to the Jordan his
ideas were superior to those of John, and that it was
by a species of concession that he inclined for a mo
ment towaids baptism. Perhaps if the Baptist, from
whose authority he could with difficulty have with
drawn himself, had been left in freedom, he would not
have been able to throw off the yoke of rites and of
external practices, and in that case he would undoubt
edly have remained an unknown Jewish sectary; for the
world would not have abandoned one set of rites for
another. Through the attraction of a religion disen
gaged from all external forms it is that Christianity
has enchanted lofty souls. The Baptist once imprisoned,
his school was greatly diminished, and Jesus was re-
(farg. xix) &ti& to the LaZitavistara(ch. xvn, xvm, xxi) would indicate that they
are myths only. But the meagre and concise recital of Mark, who here repre
sents evidently the original compilation, implies a real occurrence which has
since furnished the theme of legendary developments.
* Matt ., iv, 12; Mark, i, 14; Luke, it, 14; John, it, 3.

132 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
stored to his own work. The only thing which he
owed to John, was, to a certain extent, lessons in
preaching and in popular agitation. From this time,
in fact, he preached with much more force and im
pressed himself upon the multitude with authority.*
It seems also that his sojourn with John, less by the
action of the Baptist than by the natural progress of
his own thought, greatly matured his ideas upon " the
kingdom of heaven." His watch-word thenceforth is
"good tidings," the announcement that the kingdom
of God is at hand.f Jesus will no longer be a delight
ful moralist, aspiring to concentrate sublime lessons in
a few brief and living aphorisms ; he is the transcen-
dant revolutionist, who essays to renew the world
from its deepest foundations, and to establish upon
earth the ideal which he has conceived. " To await
the kingdom of God," will be synonymous with being
a disciple of Jesus. | The words " kingdom of God "
or " kingdom of heaven," as we have already said,|
had long been familiar to the Jews. But Jesus gave
them a moral sense, a social bearing, at which-even the
author of the Book of Daniel, in his apocalyptic en
thusiasm, hardly dared to glance.
In the world as it is, it is evil which reigns, Satan
is the " prince of this world, "§ and all obey him. The
kings slay the prophets. The priests and the doctors
do not that which they command others to do. The
just are persecuted, and the peculiar portion of the
good is to weep. The " world " is thus the enemy of
God and his saints.^f The day is at hand ; for the
« Matt., tii, 29; Mark, i, 22; Luke, it, 32. t Mark, i, 14-16.
t Mark, xv, 43. | See aboTe, p. 106-107.
5, John, xn,31;xrv, S0;xvi, 11. Compare II Cor. , it, 4. Ephes., u, 2.
f John, i, 10; to, 7; xrv, 17, 22, 27; xv, 18 seqq. ; xvi,8. 30,33; xvn, 9,14, 16, 26.
This meaning of the word " world" especially characterises the writings of Paul
and John.

fe

LIFE OF JESUS. 133
abomination is at its height. The reign of good shall
have its turn.
The coming of this reign of good will be a grand
and sudden revolution. The world will seem to be
overturned; the present state of things being bad, in
order to represent the future it sufficed to imagine near
ly the contrary of every thing in existence. The first
shall be last.* A new order shall govern humanity.
Now good and evil are mixed like tares and good
grain in the field. The master permits them to grow to
gether; but the hour of violent separation will come.f
The kingdom of God will be like a great cast of the
net, which gathers good and bad fish ; the good are
placed in vessels, and the rest are cast away .% The
germ of this grand revolution will be at first unrecog
nizable. It will be like a grain of mustard seed,
which is the least of seeds, but which, cast into the
earth, becomes a tree in the brauches of which the
birds come and lodge ;|| or again it will be like the
leaven which, put into the dough, ferments the entire
mass.§ A series of parables, often obscure, was de
signed to express the surprises of this sudden advent,
its apparent injustice, its inevitable and definitive
character-^" Who will establish this reign of God? Let us re
member that the first idea of Jesus, an idea so deep
in him that it probably had no origin, but inhered in
the very roots of his being, was that he was the son
of God, the intimate of his Father, the executor of
his will. The response of Jesus to such a question
* Matt., xix, 30; xx, 16; Mark, x, 31; Luke, xni, 30.
i Matt., xm, 24 seqq t Matt., xm, 47 seqq
| Matt , xni, 31 seqq. ; Mark, it, 31 seqq.; Luke, xm, 19 seqq.
5 Matt. , xm, 33; Luke, xni, 21.
] Matt. , xm entire; xvni , 23 seqq. ; xx, 1 seqq. ; Luke, xni, 13 seqq.

134 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
could not therefore be doubtful. The conviction that
he was to bring about the reign of God took absolute
possession of his soul. He looked upon himself as the
universal reformer. The heavens, the earth, all na
ture, madness, disease and death are only instruments
to him. In his paroxysm of heroic will, he believes
himself all powerful. If the earth does not yield to
this supreme transformation, the earth will be ground
to powder, purified by fire and the breath of God.* A
new heaven will be created, and the whole world will
be peopled by the angels of God.
A radical revolution, f embracing even nature itself,
such, then, was the fundamental idea of Jesus. Thence
forth, doubtless, he renounced politics ; the example
of Juda the Gaulonite had shown him the inutility of
popular seditions. He never dreamed of revolt
against the Romans or the tetrarchs. The unbridled
and anarchical principle of the Gaulonite was not his.
His submission to the established powers, derisive in
reality, was complete in appearance. He paid tribute
to Caesar in order not to cause scandal. Liberty and
right are not of this world ; wherefore trouble his life
with idle susceptibilities? Despising the earth, con
vinced that the present world does not merit his care,
he took refuge in his ideal kingdom ; he founded this
grand doctrine of transcendant disdain,:}: the true doc
trine of the liberty of souls, which alone gives peace.
But he had not yet said : " Mj kingdom is not of this
world." Gloomy thoughts were also mingled with
his justest views. At times strange temptations crossed
* Matt. , xxn, 30.
t 'AiroxaraoVoWis tfavrwv. Acts, hi, 21.
t Matt, XVII, 23-26; xxn, 16-22.

LIFE OF JESUS. 135
his spirit. In the desert of Judea, Satan had offered
him the kingdoms of the earth. Not knowing the
power of the Roman Empire, he might, upon the deep
basis of enthusiasm which existed in Judea and which
resulted soon after in such terrible military resistance,
he might, I say, have hoped to found a kingdom by
the boldness and the number of his partisans. Many
times perhaps this supreme question was presented to
him, Shall the kingdom of God be realized by force or
by gentleness, by revolt or by patience ? One day, it
is said, the simple people of Galilee wished to take
him and make him a king.* Jesus fled into the moun
tain and remained there some time alone. His beauti
ful nature preserved him from the mistake which
would have made him an agitator or a rebel chief, a
Theudas or a Barkokeba.
The revolution which he desired to bring about was
always a moral revolution ; but he was not yet ready
to rely for its execution upon the angels and the final
trump. It was upon men and by men themselves that he
desired to act. A visionary who had no other idea than
the proximity of the last judgment would not have
had this care for the amelioration of man, and would
never have founded the most beautiful moral teaching
that humanity has received. Much uncertainty re
mained doubtless in his thought, and a noble senti
ment, rather than a fixed design, urged him to the
sublime work which has been realized by him, al
though in a manner far different from that which he
imagined. It is indeed the kingdom of God, or rather the
kingdom of the spirit, which he founded, aid if
• John, ti, 16,

136 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Jesus, from the bosom of his Father, sees his work
fructifying in history, he can well say with truth:
"Lo! that which J desired." What Jesus has es
tablished, what will remain eternally his, aside from the
imperfections which mingle with everything realized
by humanity, is the doctrine, of the liberty of souls.
Already Greece had presented upon this subject fine
ideas.* Many stoics had found means of being free
under a tyrant. But, in general, the ancient world had
imagined liberty as connected with certain political
forms ; the liberals were called Harmodius and Aris-
togiton, Brutus and Cassius. The true Christian is far
more free from every chain ; he is here below an ex
ile ; what to him is the temporary master of this earth
which is not his home ? Liberty for him is truth. f
Jesus did not know enough of history to comprehend
how exactly such a doctrine filled the need of the
time just when republican liberty was ending, and
the small municipal constitutions of antiquity were
expiring in the unity of the Roman empire. But his
admirable good sense and the truly prophetic instinct
which he had of his mission, guided him here with
marvelous safety. By this expression : " Render to \
Csesar the things that are Cassar's and to God the
things are God's," he has created something beyond
politics, a refuge for souls in the midst of the empire
of brutal force. Assuredly such a doctrine had its
dangers. To establish in principle that the sign by
which to recognize the legitimate power is to look at
a coin, to proclaim that the perfect man pays his tax
disdainfully and without discussion, was to destroy the
* V. Stobajus, Florilegium, ch. ixn, lxxtii, lxxxti seqq.
t John, vm, 32 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 137
republic in its ancient form and to favor all tyran
nies. Christianity, in this sense, has largely contribut
ed to weaken the sentiment of duty among citizens and
to deliver the world over to the absolute power of ac
complished facts. But in constituting an immense
free association which, for three hundred years, had
nothing to do with politics, Christianity amply com
pensated for the injury which it inflicted upon the
civic virtues. The power of the state was limited to
the things of earth, the soul was enfranchised, or at
ieast the terrible fasces of Roman omnipotence were
broken forever.
The man who is entirely absorbed in the duties of
public life never pardons those who put anything above
the struggles of party. He especially blames those
who subordinate political to social questions, and pro
fess for the former a species of -indifference. In one
sense he is right, for every exclusive direction is preju
dicial to the good government of human affairs. But
what progress in the general morality of the race have
parties produced ? Had Jesus, instead of founding his
heavenly kingdom, gone to Rome, worn himself out in
conspiring against Tiberius, or bewailing Germanicus,
what would have become of the world? As an aus
tere republican, a zealous patriot, he would not have
stopped the grand tide of affairs in his century, while
in declaring politics insignificant, he revealed to the /
world the truth that country is not everything, and \
that the man is anterior and superior to the citizen.
Our principles of positive science are offended by
the fancies which are included in the programme of
Jesus. We know the history of the earth ; cosmical
revolutions of the kind which Jesus expected, are pro-

138 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
dnced only by geological or astronomical causes, the
connection of which with moral powers has never been
established. But, to be just towards great creators, we
must not pause at the prejudices which they may have
shared. Columbus discovered America in consequence
of very erroneous ideas ; Newton thought his crazy
exposition of the Apocalypse as certain as his system
of the world. Do we rank any average man of our
time above a Francis d'Assisi, a Saint Bernard, a Joan
of Arc, or a Luther, because he is free from the errors
which they believed ? Would we measure men by
the correctness of their ideas in Physics, and their
more or less exact knowledge of the true system of the
world ? Let us comprehend better the position of
Jesus and the nature of his power. The deism of the
xvnith century and a certain kind of Protestantism
have accustomed us to consider the founder of the
Christian faith only as a great moralist, a benefactor of
humanity. We no longer see in the Gospel anything
more than good maxims ; we cast a prudent vail over
the strange intellectual condition into which he was
born. There are people who regret also that the
French Revolution was in many things a departure
from principles, and that it had not been conducted
by wise and moderate men. Let us not impose our
petty programmes of common-sense respectability upon
these extraordinary movements so far above our pitch.
Let us continue to admire the " morality of the Gos
pel ;" let us suppress in our religious instructions the
chimera which was its soul ; but let us not believe that
with simple ideas of happiness or of individual moral
ity the world can be moved. The idea of Jesus was
far more profound; it was the most revolutionary idea

LIFE OF JESUS. 139
which was ever evolved from a human brain ; it must
be taken in its completeness, and not with those timid
suppressions which rob it precisely of that which has
rendered it efficacious for the regeneration of humanity.
At bottom, the ideal is always a utopia. To-day, when
we desire to represent the Christ of the modern con
science, the consoler, the judge of the new epoch, what
is it that we do? What Jesus himself did 1830 years
ago. We suppose the conditions of the real world to
tally different from what they are ; we represent a
moral liberator breaking without weapons the chains
of the negro, ameliorating the condition of the poor,
delivering oppressed nations. We forget that this
supposes the world reversed, the climate of Virginia
and that of Congo modified, the blood and the race of
millions of men changed, our social complications re
duced to a chimerical simplicity, the political stratifi
cations of Europe thrown out of their natural order.
The "restitution of all things ''* desired by Jesus, was
not more difficult. That new earth, that new heaven,
that new Jerusalem which descends from heaven, that
cry, " Behold, I make all things new !"f are the common
characteristics of reformers. Forever will the contrast
of the ideal with the sad reality produce in humanity
those revolts against cold reason, which common minds
call madness, until the day of their triumph, when
those who have combatted them are the first to ac
knowledge their lofty wisdom.
That there was a contradiction between the belief in
the speedy destruction of the world and the habitual
moral philosophy of Jesus, conceived in view of a sta
ble condition of humanity, broadly analogous to that
• Acts, in , 21. f Rev. , xxi, 1,2,6.

140 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
which now exists, none will attempt to deny.* It was
just this contradiction which assured the success of his
work. The millennarian alone would have possessed
no power. The millennarianism gave the impulsion,
the morality secured the future. In this way, Chris
tianity united the two conditions of great success in
this world, a revolutionary starting-point, and the pos
sibility of life. Everything which is made to succeed,
must respond to these two needs ; for the world de
mands at the same time to change and to endure.
Jesus, while he announced an unparalleled revolution
in human affairs, proclaimed the principles upon which
society has reposed for the last eighteen hundred years.
That which indeed distinguishes Jesus from the agi
tators of his time and from those of all ages, is his
perfect idealism. Jesus, in some respects, is an anar
chist, for he has no idea of civil government. This
government seems to him purely and simply an abuse.
He speaks of it in vague terms, and like a man of the
people who had no idea of polity. Every magistrate
appears to him the natural enemy of the men of God ;
he announces to his disciples contests with the author
ities, without dreaming for a moment that they might
give cause for shame.f But never does the temptation
to substitute himself for the powerful and the rich ap
pear in him. He desired to annihilate riches and
power, but not to seize them. He predicts to his dis-
ciplee persecutions and punishments;^: but he did not
once permit himself to entertain the thoughtof armed
* The millennarian sects of England present the same contrast, I mean the
belief in a speedy destruction of the world, and nevertheless much good sense in
the practicalities of life, — an extraordinary attention to commercial and indus
trial affairs. f Matt., x, 17-18: Luke, xn, 11.
X Matt., T, 10 seqq.; x entire; Luke, ti, 22 seqq.: John, XT, 18 seqq.: xti,3
•eqq., 20, 33; xvn, 14. ' ' ** ' '

LIFE OF JESUS. 141
resistance. The idea of omnipotence through suffer- 1
ing and resignation, of triumphing over force by purity
of heart, is indeed an idea peculiar to Jesus. Jesus
was not a spiritualist, for everything to him resulted
in a palpable realization ; he has not the least notion
of a sonl separate from the body. But he is a perfect
idealist, the material to him being only the sign of the
idea, and the real, the living expression of that which
does not appear.
To whom should he address himself, upon whom re
ly to found the kingdom of God ? The mind of Jesus
in this never hesitated. What is high to men is an
abomination in the eyes of God.* The founders, of
the kingdom of . God shall be the simple. No rich, no
doctors, no priests ; women, men of the people, the
humble, the little ones.f The great sign of the Mes
siah is " the gospel preached to the poor.":}: The
gentle and idyllic nature of Jesus here resumes the as
cendant. An immense social revolution in which
ranks shall be inverted, in which all that is authorita
tive in this world shall be humbled, such is his dream.
The world will not believe hiin; the world will kill
him. But his disciples will not be of the world. |
They will be a little flock of the humble and the sim
ple, who will conquer by their very humility. The
sentiment which has made of "worldling" the antith
esis of " Christian," has in the thoughts of the master
its complete justification^
* Luke, xvi, 15
•(¦ Matt., v, 3, 10; xvm, 3; xix, 14, 23-24; xxi, 31; xxn, 2 seqq., Mark, x, 14-16
23-/5; Luke, iv, 18 seqq.; vi, 20; xvm, 16-17; 24-26.
X Matt., xi, 5. | John, xv, 19; xvn, 14, 16.
^ See especially the seventeenth chapter of St. John, expressing, if not a real
discourse delivered by Jesus, at least a feeling which was very deep among nil
disciples, and which certainly came from him.

142 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER VIII.

JESUS AT CAPEBKAUM.

Possessed by an idea more and more imperious and
exclusive, Jesus will henceforth advance with a kind
of impassible fatality along the path which his aston
ishing genius and the extraordinary circumstances in
which he lived had marked out for him. Thus far he
had communicated his thoughts only to a few persons
attracted to him privately ; henceforth his teaching
becomes public and popular. He was scarcely thirty
years of age.* The little group of hearers who had
accompanied him to John the Baptist had doubtless in
creased, and perhaps some of John's disciples had joined
him.f It is with this first nucleus of a Church that he
boldly announces, on his return into Galilee, the " good
tidings of the kingdom of God." That kingdom was
at hand, and he, Jesus, was that " Son of man " whom
the prophet Daniel had perceived in his vision as tho
divine executor of the final and supreme revelation.
We must remember that, in the ideas of the Jews,
antipathetic to art and mythology, the simple form of
man was superior to that of the cherubs, and the faa-
• Luke, m, 23; gospel of the Eblonim, in Epiph., Adv. hwr.,xjut, 13.
f John, 1, 37 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 143
tastic animals, which the imagination of the people,
since it had been subjected to the influence of Assyria,
supposed to be ranged around the divine Majesty. Al
ready in Ezekiel,* the being seated upon the supreme
throne, far above the monsters of the mysterious char
iot, the great revelator of the prophetic visions has the
likeness of a man. In the Book of Daniel, in the midst
of the vision of empires represented by animals, just as
the sitting of the great judgment commences and the
books are opened, a being " like the son of man " ad
vances towards the Ancient of days, who confers on
him the power to judge the world, and to govern it
forever.f Son of man is in the Semitic languages,
especially in the Aramaean dialects, simply7 a synonym
of man. But this great passage of Daniel struck the
imagination ; the word son of man became, at least in
certain schools, \ one of the titles of the Messiah por
trayed as the judge of the world and as king of the
new era which was about to open. | The application
which Jesus made of it to himself was therefore the
proclamation of his Messiahship and the declaration
of the speedy catastrophe in which he was to appear as
judge, clothed with the full powers which had been
delegated to him by the Ancient of days.§
The success of the preaching of the new prophet
was now decided. A group of men and women, all
characterized by a common spirit of youthful candor
and artless innocence, adhered to him and said : " Thou
•i,5,26seqq. t Daniel, vn, 13-14. Comp. vm, 15; x, 16.
1 In John, xn, 34, the Jews do not seem to be aware of this sense of the word.
I Book of Enoch, xlvi, 1, 2, 3; xlviii, 2, 3;lxii, 9, 14; lxx, 1 (division of Dill-
man) ; Matt., x, 23; xih,41; XVI, 27-28; xrx,28; XXIV, 27, 30, 37, 39, 4-1; xxv, 31,
XXVI, 64; Mark, xm, 26; xiv, 62; Luke, xn, 40; xvu, 24, 26, 30; xxi, 27, 30; xxn,
69; Acts, vn, 55. But the most significant passage is John v, 27, compared with Rev. ,
1, 13, xiv, 14. The expression " Son of woman" for the Messiah is found once Id
the Book of Enoch, ixn, 5. $ John, v, 22, 27.

144 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
art the Messiah." As the Messiah must be the son of
David, they naturally gave him that title, which waa
a synonym of the first. Jesus permitted it to be given
him with pleasure, although it caused him some em
barrassment, his birth being well known. For his
own part, the title which he preferred was that of
"Son of man," a title apparently humble, but one
which attached itself directly to the expectations of a
Messiah. It is by this expression that he designates
himself,* so much so that in his mouth " the Son of
man" was synonymous with the pronoun " I " which
he avoided using. But he is never thus addressed,
doubtless because the name in question could be fully
accorded to him only at the period of his second coming.
The center of activity of Jesus, at this epoch of
his life, was the little city of Capernaum, situated upon
the border of the Lake of Gennesareth. The name
of Capernaum into the composition of which enters
the word caphar, " village," seems to designate a small
straggling town of the ancient style, in opposition to
the great cities built according to the Roman fashion,
like Tiberias.f This name was 60 little known, that
Josephus in one passage of his writings,:}: took it for
the name of a fountain, the fountain being more cele
brated than the village which was situated near it.
Like Nazareth, Capernaum had no history, and had in
nowise participated in the unhallowed progress favor
ed by the Herods. Jesus attached himself very close
ly to this town and made it a second home.] Soon af
* This title occurs eighty-three times in the Gospels, and always in the dis
courses oi Jesus.
+ It is true that Tell-Hum, which is ordinarily identified with Capernaum,
offers ruins of very fine monuments. But, besides that the identification is
doubtful, these monuments appear to be of the second and third centuries
after Christ.
X B. J., Ill, x 8. | Matt. , ix, 1 ¦ Mark, ii, 1.

LIFE OF JESUS. 145
ter his return, he had made an effort at Nazareth
which was unsuccessful.* He could there do no
mighty work, according to the naive remark of one of
his biographers.f The acquaintance of the Nazarenes
with his family, which was of little note, was too inju
rious to his authority. They could not regard as the
son of David one whose brother, sister and brother-in-
law they- saw every day. It is remarkable, moreover,
that his family made strenuous opposition to him, and
flatly refused to believe in his mission.^ The citizens,
far more violent, desired, it is said, to kill him by
casting him headlong from a steep cliff.] Jesus aptly
remarked that this experience was the common lot of
all great men, and applied to himself the proverb :
" No man is a prophet in his own country."
This failure was far from discouraging him. He re
turned to Capernaum, § where he organized a series of
visits to the little villages around. The people of that
beautiful and fertile country were scarcely ever united
except on Saturday. He chose this day for his teach
ings. Each village had then its synagogue or place
of meeting. This was a rectangular hall, rather small,
with a portico, decorated with the Grecian orders.
The Jews having no distinctive architecture, had nev
er attempted to give to their edifices an original style.
The ruins of many ancient synagogues still exist in
Galilee.^" They are all constructed of large and good
materials ; but their style is very mean on account of
• Matt., xiii, 64 seqq ;Mark,vi,l seqq.; Luke, rv, 16 seqq.; 23-24; John, it, 44.
t Mark, ti, 6. Comp. Matt., xn, 58; Luke, it, 23.
t Matt, xm, 57; Mark, ti, 4; John, tii, 3 seqq.
| Luke, iv, 29. Probably reference is here made to the precipitous lock quite
near Nazareth, above the present church of the Maronites, and not to the pre
tended Mount of Precipitation, atan hour's distance from N azarcth. See Robinson,
II, 335 seqq. k Matt., iv, 13; Luke, iv, 31.
i At Tell-Hum, at Irbid (Arhela), at Meiron (Mero), at Jisch (Giscala), at
Kasyoun, at Nabartein, and two at Kefr Bereiiu.

146 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
that profusion of vegetable ornaments, of foliage and
of twists which characterizes Jewishmonuments.* In
the interior, there were benches, a chair for the public
reading, a closet to keep the sacred scrolls. f These
edifices, which had nothing in common with the tem
ple, were the center of all the Jewish life. The peo
ple assembled there on the Sabbath day for prayer and
the reading of the Law and the Prophets. As Juda
ism, out of Jerusalem, had no clergy proper, any per
son arose, read the lessons of the day (parascha and
ha/phtara), and added to this a midrasch or com
mentary, entirely personal, in which he set forth his
peculiar ideas.;}: This was the origin of the " homily,"
of which we find the complete model in the small
treatises of Philo. Any one had the right to make ob
jections and to question the reader ; so the congre
gation soon degenerated into a sort of free assembly.
It had a president,! " elders,"§ a hazzan, appointed read
er or beadle,^ " envoys,"** a species of secretaries or
messengers who carried on the correspondence be
tween one synagogue and another, and a scJiammatch
or sacristan. ff The synagogues were thus in fact little
* I dare not yet pronounce upon the age of these monuments, nor consequent
ly affirm that Jesus taught in any of them. What interest would not be attached
to the synagogue of Tell-Hum on such an hypothesis! The great synagogue of
Kefr-Bereim seems to me the oldest of all. It is quite pure in its style. That of
Kasyouu heurs a Greek inscription of the time of Septimus Severus. The great
importance which Judaism assumed in Upper Galilee after the Roman war leads
us to believe that many of these edifices date back only to the third century, when
Tiberias became the capital of Judaism.
fll Esdr.. vm, 4; Matt., xxm, ..; Jas., n,3;Mischna. MegiTla.ui.l: Roschhasschana
iv, 7 , etc. See especially the curious description of the synagogue of Alexandria in
the Babylonish Talmud, Sukka, 51, 6.
X Philo, cited in Eusebius, Prop, emng. , Tin, 7 ; and Quod omnisprdbus liber, <j 12
Luke, iv, Id; Acts, xm,16; xv, 21;Mischna, Megilla. in, 4 seqq.
1 A^xiimkyujog. h II£SO'/3>epoi.
If 'Tir"i]£sV?]c;. ** 'Atfo'tfroXoi or ciyyeXoi.
tt Aiaxovog. Mark.v, 22, 35 seqq.; Luke, iv, £0; vn, 3; vm, 41, 49; xm, 14
Acts, xm, 15; xvni. 8,17; £en.,ii, 1, Mischna, Jama, vn, 1; RoschhasscKana, it, 9;
Talm. Jems. , Sanhedrin, i, 7 ; Epiph. , Adv. har. , xxx, 4.11.

LIFE OF JESUS. 147
independent republics ; they had an extended juris
diction. Like all municipal corporations up to an ad
vanced period of the Roman Empire, they made hon
orary decrees,* adopted resolutions having the force
of law over the community, pronounceu sentence for
penal offences, the executor of which was ordinarily
the hazsan.f
With the extreme activity of mind which always
characterized the Jews, such an institution, notwith
standing the arbitrary severities which it permitted,
could not fail to occasion very animated discussions.
Thanks to the synagogues, Judaism has been able tr
preserve itself intact through eighteen centuries of
persecution. They were so many little worlds apart,
in which the national spirit was preserved, and which
offered to intestine struggle a field ready prepared.
There was expended an enormous amount of passion.
Disputes of precedence were intense among them. To
have a seat of honor in the first row was the recom
pense of a lofty piety, or the privilege of the rich
which was most envied.^ On the other hand, the
liberty, accorded to whomsoever chose to take it, of
constituting himself the reader and commentator of
the sacred text, gave wonderful facilities for the prop
agation of new ideas. This was one of the great op
portunities of Jesus and the means which he employed
most habitually to establish his doctrinal teaching.]
He entered the synagogue, and rose to read ; the has-
• Inscription of Berenice , In the Corpus inscr. grasc. , No". 6361 ; inscription of Kas ¦
youn, in the Mission de Phenicie, book IV [in press].
•(¦Matt., t, 25; x, 17; xxm, 34; Mark, xm, 9; Luke, xn, 11, xxi, 12; Acts,xxu,19,
xxvi, 11; II Cor., xi, 24; Miscbna, Maccolh, m, 12; Talm. de Bab., McgiUa, 7 6
Epiph., Adv. har , xxx, 11.
X Matt., xxm, 6; James, n, 3; Talm. Bab., Sukka, 51, 6.
| Matt., it, 23,- ix, 36; Mark, i, 21, 39; vi, 2; Luke, it, 15, 16,31, 44;xm, 10; John.
xvin 20.

148 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
van handed him the book, he unrolled it, and reading
the parascha or the Aaphtara of the day, drew from
that lesson some development conformable to his
ideas.* As there were few Pharisees in Galilee, the
discussion against him did not assume that degree of in
tensity and that acrimonious tone which, at Jerusalem,
would have stopped him short at the first step. The good
Galileans had never heard discourse so adapted to their
cheerful imaginations.f They admired him, they car
essed him, they believed that he spoke well and that
his reasons were convincing. The most difficult ob
jections he resolved with authority ; the charm of his
speech and of his person captivated these people still
young and not withered by the pedantry of the doctors.
The authority of the young master thus went on in
creasing day by day, and, naturally, the more others
believed in him, the more he believed in himself. His
sphere of action was quite limited. It was entirely
confined to the basin of Lake Tiberias, and even in
this basin it had a favorite region. The lake is twelve
or fifteen miles loug, by eight or ten broad ; although
presenting the appearance of a regular oval, it forms
from Tiberias to the entrance of the Jordan, a kind of
bay, the curve of wrhich measures about eight miles.
Here was the field in which the seed which Jesus
sowed found at length the earth well prepared. Let
us go over it step by step, endeavoring to lift the
mantle of barrenness and death with which the demon
of Islam has covered it.
On leaving Tiberias, we find at first rocky cliffs, a
mountain which seems crumbling into the sea. Then
• Luke, iv, 16 seqq. Comp. Mlschna, Joma, tii, 1.
f Matt, tii, 28; xm. 64; Mark, I, 22; Ti,l; Luke, it, 22,82.

LIFE OF JESUS. 149
the mountains trend away ; a plain (El-Ohoueir) opens
almost at the level of the lake. This is a delightful
grove of high verdure, furrowed by abundant waters,
which come in part from a large round basin of an
tique construction {Ain-Medawara). At the entrance
of this plain, which is the country of Genesaret pro
per, is found the miserable village of Medjdel. At
the other end of the plain (still following the sea) the
site of a village is encountered {Khan-MinyeK), very
fine fountains (Ain-et-Tin), a good road, straight and
deep, cut in the rock, which Jesus certainly often trod,
and which is the passage between the plain of Genes
aret and the northern slope of the lake. A mile fur
ther on, we cross a little salt-water river (Ain-Tabiga)
flowing out of the earth by several large springs a few
steps from the lake, which it enters in the midst of a
thicket of verdure. Finally, two miles beyond, upon
the arid slope which extends from Ain-Tabiga to the
mouth of the Jordan, a few huts and a cluster of rather
massive ruins are found, called Tell-Hum.
Five little cities, of which men will speak forever,
as much as of Rome or Athens, were, in the time of
Jesus, scattered over the space which extends from the
village of Medjdel to Tell-Hum. Of these five vil
lages, Magdala, Dalmanutha, Capernaum, Bethsaida,
and Chorazin,* the first only can now be identified
with certainty. The wretched village of Medjdel
doubtless preserves the name and the place of the lit
tle market town which gave to Jesus his most faithful
friend. f Dalmanutha was probably near by4 It is
not impossible that Chorazin wa3 a little inland to the
* The ancient Kinnereth had disappeared or changed its name.
t It is known that it was in fact Tery near Tiberias; Talm. Jerus. , Maasaroth,
in, l;Schebiit, ix, \;EruUn, v, 7. J Mark, Tin, 10. Comp. Matt., xv, 89

150 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
north.* As to Bethsaida and Capernaum,itisin truth
entirely by conjecture that they are located at Tell-
Hum, at Ain-et-Tin, at Khan-Minyeh, at Ain-Meda
wara. It would seem that in topography, as in history,
there has been a profound design to conceal the traces
of the great founder. It is doubtful whether we shall
ever succeed, amid this complete devastation, in identi
fying the places to which humanity would fain come
to kiss the imprints of his feet.
The lake, the horizon, the shrubs, the flowers, these
are all that remain of the little region of eight or ten
miles in which Jesus founded his divine work. The
trees have totally disappeared. In this country, where
the vegetation was formerly so brilliant that Josephus
saw in it a sort of miracle, — nature, according to him,
being pleased to collect here, side by side, the plants
of the cold latitudes, the productions of the torrid
zones, and the trees of the temperate climes, burdened
all the year with flowers and fruit ;^ — in this country, I
say, the traveler now calculates a day in advance the
spot in which he may find on the morrow a little shade
for his repast. The lake has become deserted. A sin
gle bark, in the most miserable condition, plows to-day
these waves once so rich in life and joy. But the waters
are still light and transparent. | The beach, composed
* At the place named Korazi or Birkerazch, above Tell-Hum.
f The ancient hypothesis which identified Tell -H um with Capernaum , although
strongly attacked for several years past, has yet numerous defenders. The best
argument which can be made in its favor is the name itself of Tell-Hum, Hell en
tering into the name of many villages, and possibly replacing Caphar. It is im
possible, on the other hand, to find near Tell-Hum a fountain corresponding to
what Josephus says (B. J. , III, x, 8) . This fountain of Capernaum seems likely
to be Ain-Medawara; but Ain-Medawara is two miles from the lake, while Ca
pernaum was a village of fishermen upon the border of the sea (Matt., iv, 13;
John, vi, 17). The difficulties in regard to Bethsaida are still greater; for the
hypothesis so generally admitted of two Bethsaidas, one upon the western and
the other upon the eastern shore of the lake, six or eight miles apart, is a strange
one. t B. J., Ill, x, 8.
| B. J., Ill, x, 7; James de Vitri, in the Qtsta Dei per Francos, I, VKli.

LIFE OF JESUS. 151
of rocks or of pebbles, is almost that of a little sea, not
that of a pond, like the shore of Lake Huleh. It is
clean, neat, without mud, always beaten at the same
level by the slight movement of the waves. Little
promontories, covered with oleanders, tamarind trees,
and the prickly caper, complete the outline. At two
places especially, at the egress of the Jordan, near Ta-
richoea and at the border of the plain of Genesaret,
there are intoxicating parterres, where the waves die
away amid clumps of grass and flowers. The brook of
Ain-Tabiga forms a little estuary full of pretty shell
fish. Clouds of swimming birds cover the lake. The
norizon is sparkling with light. The water, of a celes
tial azure, deeply encased between frowning rocks,
seems, when viewed from the summit of the mountains
of Safed, to be in the bottom of a cup of gold. To the
north, the snowy ravines of Hermon stand out in white
lines against the sky ; on the east, the high undulating
plains of the Gaulonitis and of Perasa, completely arid,
and clothed by the sun in a species of velvety atmo
sphere, form a continuous mountain-range, or rather a
long, elevated terrace, which, from Csesarea Philippi,
trends indefinitely towards the south.
The heat upon the borders is now very oppressive.
The lake occupies a depression of six hundred feet be
low the leyel of the Mediterranean,* and thus shares
the torrid conditions of the Dead Sea.f An abundant
vegetation formerly tempered these excessive heats; it
is difficult to comprehend that such an oven as the
whole basin of the lake now is, from the mouth of May,
« This is the estimate of Capt. Lynch (in Hitter, Erd-kunde, XV., 1st part, p
xx) . It accords nearly with that of M. de Bertou (Bulletin de la Soc. de Geogr-
2nd series, XII.. p. 146)
t The depression of the Dead Sea is twice as great.

152 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
was ever the scene of such extraordinary activity.
Josephus, moreover, considers the country very tem
perate.* Doubtless there has been here, as in the
Roman campagna, some change of climate, brought
about by historical causes. It is Islamism, especially
the Moslem reaction against the crusades, which has
blasted, like a sirocco of death, the region favored of
Jesus. The beautiful land of Genesaret did not sus
pect that beneath the brow of this peaceful wayfarer,
her destinies were swaying. A dangerous compatriot,
Jesus was fatal to the country which had the peril
ous honor of producing him. Become to all an object
of love or of hate, envied by two rival fanaticisms,
Galilee, as the price of its glory, was to be changed
into a desert. But who would say that Jesus had been
happier had he lived to the,fnll age of man, obscure
in his native village ? And who would think of these
ingrate Nazarenes, if, at the risk of compromising the
future of their little town, one of them had not recog
nized his Father, and proclaimed himself son of God.
Four or five large _ villages, situated two or three
miles apart, this then, was the little world of Jesus, at
the period at which we have arrived. It does not ap
pear that he was ever at Tiberias, a city altogether
profane, inhabited in great part by pagaus and the ha
bitual residence of Antipater.f Sometimes, however,
he left his favorite region. He went in a boat to the
eastern shore, to Gergesa for example.^ Toward the
• B. J., Ill, x, 7 and 8. t Jos., Ant., XVIII, n, 3; Vila, U 13, 64.
X I adopt the opinion of Mr. Thomson (the Land and the Book, II, 34 seqq ),
according to whom the Gergesa of Matthew (vm, 28) , identical with the Ca-
uaanite village of Girgasch (Gen., x, 16, xv, 21 ; Deut., vn, 1 ; Josh., xxiv, 11), is
the place now called Kersa or Qerda on the eastern shore, nearly opposite Mag-
daia. Mark (v, 1) and Luke (vm, 26) say Gadara or Gerasa in lieu of Gergesa.
Gerasa is an impossible reading, the evangelists apprising us that the village in
question was near the lake and opposite Galilee. As to Gadara, now Om-Keis

LIFE OF JESUS. 153
north, we behold him at Paneas, Ctesarea Philippi,*
at the foot of Hermon. Once, indeed, he made a
journey towards Tyre and Sidon,f a country which
must then have been marvelously flourishing. In all
these regions he was in the full sweep of paganism.:}*
At Csesarea, he saw the celebrated grotto of the Pan-
turn, in which the source of the Jordan was placed,
and which the popular belief surrounded with strange le
gends;] he could behold the marble temple which
Herod had built near this in honor of Augustus ;§ he
probably stopped before the many votive statues to
Pan, to the Nymphs, to the Echo of the grotto, which
piety had already accumulated in this beautiful place. T
An Evhemerist Jew, accustomed to regard strange gods
as divinized men or as demons, must have considered
all these figured representations as idols. To the se
ductions of the naturalistic worships, which intoxicated
the more sensitive races, he was insensible. He had
not probably any knowledge that the old sanctuary of
MelkarthatTyre, still contained something of a primitive
worship more or less analogous to that of the Jews.**
Paganism, which, in Phoenicia, had reared on every
hill a temple and a sacred grove, all this appearance of
great industry and of worldly riches,ff could have had
little charm for him. Monotheism takes away all abil-
six miles from the lake and the Jordan, the local circumstances given by Mark
and Luke hardly admit of it. It must be understood besides, that Gergesa may
have become Gerasa, a name much more known, and that the topographical
impossibilities presented by this last reading may have caused the adoptiou of
Galara. Cf. Orig., Comment, in Joann., VI, 24; X, 10; Eusebius and St. Jerome
Desituetnomin. loc. h ebr., at the words Vspystfci, YspyoLtfei.
* Matt., xvi, 13 ; Mark, vm, 27.
t Matt, xv, 21; Mark tii, 24, 31. J J03.. Vita, 13.
i Jos., Ant., XV, x, 3; B. J. I, xxi, 3; III, x 7; Benjamin de Tudela.p. 46, Edit
Ashcr. Is Jos., Ant., XV, X, 3. <j G/rpusinscr. gr., Nos. 4537, 4538, 4538, b, 4539.
** Lucianus (ut fertur) , Derfea syria, 3.
+f Traces of the rich pagan civilization of this time yet cover all the Beled-Be.
» char rah. especially the mountains which form the g oupof Cape Blanc and of
Cape Nakoura.

154 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
ity to comprehend the pagan religions ; the Mussulman
thrown into polytheistic countries, seems to have no
eyes. Jesus, without doubt, learned nothing in these
voyages. He returned again to his well-loved shore
of Genesaret. The centre of his thoughts was there;
there he found faith and love.

LIFE OF JESUS. 155

CHAPTER IX.

THE DISCIPLBS OF JEST/8.

In this terrestial paradise, which the great revolu
tions had thus far but little affected, dwelt a population
in perfect harmony with the country itself, active,
honest, living a life of cheerfulness and affection. The
Lake of Tiberias is one of the most plentifully supplied
with fish.* Very successful fisheries were established,
especially at Bethsaida and Capernaum, which had
produced a certain competency. The families of the
fishermen formed a pleasant and peaceful society,
stretching by numerous bonds of relationship through
all the lake region which we have described. Their
leisurely life gave large liberty to their imagination.
Ideas in relation to the kingdom of God found, in these
little companies of simple people, more credence than
anywhere else. Nothing of what is called civilization,
in the Greek and worldly sense, had penetrated among
them. They had not our German or Celtic serious
ness ; but, although among them perhaps goodness was
often superficial, and without depth, their manners
were peaceful, and they had something of intelligence
and refinement. They seem somewhat analogous to
• Matt., it, 18; Luke, t, 44 seqq.; John, i, 44; xxi, 1 seqq.; Jos. ,B. J., Ill, x,
I; James de Vitri, in the Gesta Deiper Frances, I, p. 1075.

156 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the better populations of the Lebanon, but with the
capability which these have not, of producing great
men. Jesus there found his real family. He installed
himself among them as one of themselves ; Capernaum
became his own city,* and in the midst of the little
circle which adored him, he forgot his skeptical bro
thers, ungrateful Nazareth and its mocking incredulity.
One house especially, at Capernaum, offered him
a pleasant asylum and devoted disciples. It was that
of two brothers, both sons of a certain Jonas, who was
probably dead at the period when Jesus came to reside
upon the shore of the lake. These two brothers were
Simon, surnamed Cephas or Peter, and Andrew. Born
at Bethsaida, f they were established at Capernaum
when Jesus commenced his public life. Peter was
married, and had children ; his mother-in-law lived
with him.:}: Jesus loved this house, and made it his
home. |[ Andrew appears to have been a disciple of
John the Baptist, and Jesus had perhaps known him
on the banks of the Jordan. § The two brothers con
tinued still, even at the time when it seems that they
must have been most occupied with their master, to
exercise the calling of fishermen. ^f Jesus, who was
fond of playing upon words, said, occasionally, that
he would make them fishers of men.** In fact, among
all his disciples, he had no moro faithful adherents.
' Another family, that of Zabdia or Zebedee, a fisher
man in comfortable circumstances, and owner of seve
ral boats,ff offered to Jesus an ardent welcome. Zeb-
* Matt., ix, 1; Mark, n, 1-2. f John, i, 44.
JMattj in,14; Mark, I, SO; Luke, it, 38; ICor., ix,5; I Pet., v, 13. Olem
Alex., Strom., Ill, 6; VII, 11; Pseudo-Clem., Recogn., VII, 25; Eusebius, if. B.
III.i'0 1 Matt., Tin, 14; xvii, 24; Mark, i, -.9-31; Luke, it, '18
S John I, 40 seqq. *[ Matt., it, 18; Mark, i, 16; Luke, v, 3; John, xxi 3
** Matt, it, 19; Mark, 1, 17; Luke, v, 10. '
ft Mark, i, 20; Luke, t, 10; Tin, 3; John, xix, 27.

LIFE OF JESUS. 157
edee had two sons, James, who was the elder, and a
younger son, John, who at a later period was called
to play so important a part in the history of early
Christianity. Both were zealous disciples. Salome,
Zebedee's wife, was also strongly attached to Jesus, and
accompanied him until his death.*
Women, indeed, welcomed him with ardor. He had
with them those reserved manners which render
possible a very sweet, union of ideas between the sexes.
The separation of men and women, which has prevented
among Semitic nations, all delicate development, was
doubtless, then as in our day, much less rigorous in
the country and in villages, than in the great towns.
Three or four devoted Galilean women always accom
panied the young master, and disputed among them
selves the pleasure of listening to him and caring for
him in turn.f They brought to the new sect an ele
ment of enthusiasm and of the marvelous, the impor
tance of which was already perceived. One "of these,
Mary of Magdala, who has rendered the name of her
poor little village so famous in the wqrld, appears to
have been a very exalted person. According to the
language of the time, she had been possessed of seven
devils ;% that is to say, she had been affected by ner
vous diseases apparently inexplicable. Jesus, by his
pure and gentle beauty, calmed this troubled organi
zation. The Magdalene was faithful to him even to
Golgotha, and on the second day after his death, takes
the most prominent part ; for she was the principal
witness by which faith in the resurrection was estab
lished, as we shall see hereafter. Joanna, wife of
• Matt. , xxtii, 56; Mark, xt, 40; xti, 1.
+ Matt., xxvn, 55-66; Mark, xv, 40-41; Luke, vm, 2-3; xxm, 49.
% Mark, xti, 9; Luke, Tin, 2; Cf. JbWi,m, 8; ti, 14.

158 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Chuza, one of Antipater's stewards, Susannah, and
others who remained unknown, followed him constant
ly, and ministered unto him.* Some were rich, and,
by means of their fortune, placed the young prophet
n a position to live without working at the trade
which he had hitherto followed.f
Many more followed him habitually, and recognized
him ae their master : a certain Philip of Bethsaida,
Nathaniel, son of Tolmai or Ptolemy of Cana, perhaps
one of the twelve,:]: Matthew, probably the same who
was the Xenophon of nascent Christianity, fie had
been a publican, and as such he doubtless handled the
kalam with greater facility than the rest. Perhaps he
thought even then of writing these Logia, \ which are
the basis of all that we know of the teachings of Jesus.
There are also named among the disciples Thomas, or
Didymus,§ who doubted sometimes, but who appears
to have been a man °f heart and of generous at
tractions ;T a Lebbeus, or Thaddeus ; a Simon the
Zealot,** perhaps a disciple of Juda the Gaulo
nite, belonging to this party of the Kenaim, then ex
isting, and which was soon to play so great a part in
the movements of the Jewish people ; finally, Judas,
son of Simon, of the town of Kerioth, who was the ex
ception in the faithful band, and drew upon himself
such appalling renown. He was the only one who was
not a Galilean ; Kerioth was a town at the extreme south
of the tribe of Judah,f f a day's journey beyond Hebron.
* Luke, Tin, 3; xxit, 10. -J- Luke, Tin, a.
X John, i, 44 seqq. ; xxi, 2. I admit the identity of Nathaniel and the aposUa
who figures in the lists under the name of Bar Tholoman.
I Papias, in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., m, 39.
(j This second name is the Greek translation of the first.
1 John, XI, 16; xx, 24 seqq.
*• Matt., x, 4; Mark, m, 18;Luke, ti, 15; Acts, i, 13; Gospel of the Eblonim ta
E^iph. , Adv. her. , xxx, 13 f f Now Kuryetein or Kereitein. '

LIFE OF JESUS. 159
We have seen that his family was, in genera., little
attracted to him.* Yet James and Jude, his cousins
by Mary Cleophas, were henceforth numbered among
his disciples, and Mary Cleophas herself was one of the
company which followed him to Calvary. f At this
time, we do not see his mother near him. It is only
after the death of Jesus that Mary acquires great con
sideration^: and that the disciples seek to attach her to
themselves.| Then also the members of the family of
the founder, under the title of " brothers of the Lord,"
form an influential group, which was long at the head
of the church of Jerusalem,§ and which, after the sack
of that city, took refuge in Batanea.^f The mere fact
of having been related to him became a positive advan
tage just as, after the death of Mahomet, the wives
and daughters of the prophet, who had had no impor
tance during his life, became great authorities.
In this friendly company, Jesus evidently had pre
ferences, and, to some extent, a more select circle.
The two sons of Zebedee, James and John, appear to
have occupied the first rank in this. They were full
of fire and passion. Jesus had aptly surnamed them
" Sons of Thunder," because of their excessive zeal,
which, if it had wielded the thunderbolt, would have
made too frequent use of it.** John, especially, appears
to have enjoyed a certain familiarity with Jesus. Per
haps this disciple, who afterwards was to write out his
remembrances in a manner in which his personal inte
rest is too apparent, exaggerated the affection which
* The circumstance reported in John, xix, 25-27, seems to suppose that at no
period of his public life did the brothers of Jesus attach themselves to him.
+ Matt., xxvn, 56; Mark, xv, 4n; John, xix, 25.
t Acts, i, 14. Comp. Luke, i, 23; n, 35, implying already great respect for Mary
| John, xix, 25 seqq.
^Seeabove,p. 68, note f. f Julius Africanus in Eusebius, H. E., i, 7
•* Mark, in, 17; ix, 37 seqq.; x, 35 seqq ; Luke, ix, 49 seqq. ; 54 seqq.

160 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
his master bore him.* It is still more significant that
in the synoptic gospels, Simon Barjona or Peter, James,
son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, form a sort of
private circle, which Jesus calls to him at certain mo
ments whenhe distrusts the faith or the intelligence of the
rest.f It seems, moreover, that they were all three
associated in their fisheries.:}: The affection of Jesus
for Peter was deep. Peter's character, straight-for
ward, sincere, and impetuous, pleased Jesus, who
sometimes indulged in a smile at his downright ways;
Peter, little given to mysticism, communicated to the
master his simple doubts, his dislikes, and his very
human weaknesses,! with a frank honesty which reminds
us of that of Joinville towards St. Louis. Jesus chided
him in a friendly way, full of confidence and esteem.
As to John, his youth,§ his exquisite tenderness of
heart,^" and his vivid imagination,** must have had
great charm. The personality of this extraordinary
man, who gave such a decided deflection to nascent
Christianity, was not developed until later. In old
age, he wrote concerning his master, this strange
gospel,ff which contains such precious teachings, but
in which, to our conception, the character of Jesus is
falsified in many points. John's nature was too
powerful and too deep to be able to stoop to the im-
* John, xm, 23; xvm, 15 seqq.; xix, 26-27; XX, 2, 4; XXI, 7, 20 seqq.
f Matt., xvn, 1: xxvi, 37; Mark, v, 37; IX, 1; xm, 3; xiv, 33; Luke, IX, 28. The
idea that Jesus had communicated to these three disciples a gnosis or secret doc
trine was broached at a very early day. It is singular that John, in his Gospel,
does not once mention bis brother James.
* Matt, iv, 18-2; Luke, v, 10; John, xxi, 2 seqq.
H Matt., xiv, 28; xvi, 2:; Mark. vm,32 seqq.
\ He appears to have lived until nearly the year 100. See his Gospel, xxi, 16—23
aud the ancient authorities collected by Eusebius, H. E. , in, 20, 23.
J ,^ee the Epistles which are attributed to him, and which are surely by the
same author as the fourth Gospel.
** We do not ai tempt to decide, however, whether the Apocalyr^e is by him.
|f The common tradition seems to me sufficiently justified upon this point. It
Is evident, however, that the school of John retouched his Gospel after him, (se«
the whole of Chap. xxi).

LIFE OF JESUS. 161
personal tone of the first evangelists. He was the
biographer of Jesus as Plato was of Socrates. Habit
uated to revolve his souvenirs with the feverish rest
lessness of an exalted soul, he transformed his master
while endeavoring to delineate him, and at times leads
us to suspect (unless other hands have changed his
work) that perfect good faith was not always his rule
and his law in the composition of that singular produc
tion. No hierarchy, properly so-called, existed in the rising
sect. All were to call each other " brethren," and
Jesus absolutely proscribed titles of superiority, such
as rabbi, " master," " father," himself alone being mas
ter, and God alone being father. The greatest should
be the servant of the others.* Yet Simon Barjona is
distinguished among his equals by a quite peculiar
degree of importance. Jesus lived with him and taught
in his boat ;f his house was the center of the preaching
of the gospels. He was generally considered the head
of the flock, and it is to him that the collectors of taxes
apply for the sums due from the community.:]: Simon
was the first who had recognized Jesus as the Messiah. |
In a moment of unpopularity, Jesus asked his disci
ples: "Will ye also go away?" Simon answered:
"Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of
eternal life."§ Jesus repeatedly accorded to him a
certain pre-eminence in his church,^ and gave to him
the Syriac surname of Cephas (Stone), meaning thereby
that he made him. the corner-stone of the edifice.** At
one time, even, he seems to promise him "the keys of
* Matt., xviii, 4; xx, 25-26; xxm, 8-12; Mark, ix, 34; x, 42-48.
+ Luke,T,3. t Matt, xvii, 23.
j Matt, xvt, 16-17. <) John, ti, 68-70.
1 Matt., x, 2; Luke, xxn, 32; John, xxi, 16 seqq.;.4c(t, i, ii, t, etc.; Col., i,
18,11,7-8. » Matt., xti, 18; John, i, 42.

162 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the kingdom of heaven," and accords to him the right
to pronounce upon earth decisions which shall always
be ratified in heaven.*
Undoubtedly, this pre-eminence of Peter excited
some jealousy. This jealousy was kindled especially
in view of the future, in view of this kingdom of God,
where all the disciples would be seated upon thrones,
on the right and on the left of the master, to judge the
twelve tribes of Israel. f They questioned who should
then be nearest to the Son of man, acting in some sort
as his prime minister and his assistant judge. The
two sons of Zebedee aspired to this rank. Filled with
this idea, they put forward their mother, Salome, who
one day took Jesus aside, and asked of him the two
places of honor for her sons.f Jesus averted the re
quest by his habitual principle, that whoso exalts him
self shall be abused, and that the kingdom of heaven
shall belong to the little ones. This caused some out
cry in the community ; there was great discontent
against James and John.| The same rivalry seems to
appear in the gospel of John, in which we behold the
writer incessantly declaring that he was the " beloved
disciple " to whom the master at death confided his
mother, and systematically seeking to place himself
near Simon Peter, at times to put himself before him,
in important junctures where the older evangelists
had omitted him.§
Among the persons mentioned above, all of whom
anything is known had commenced as fishermen. At
? Matt., xvi, 19. Elsewhere, it Is true (Matt., xvm, 18), the 6ame power ii
accorded to all the apostles.
+ Matt, xvm, 1 seqq.; Mark, ix, S3; Luke, ix, 46; xxn, 30.
1 Matt, xx, 20 seqq.; Mark, x, 35 seqq. |Mark,x,41.
t) John, xvm, 16 seqq.; xix, 26-27; xx, 2 seqq. ; xxi, 7, 21.

LIFE OF JESUS. 163
all events none of them belonged to an elevated socia.
class. Matthew or Levi, son of Alpheus,* had been a
publican. But those to whom that name was given
in Judea were not the farmer generals, men of an el
evated rank (always Roman knights) who were called
publicani\ at Rome. They were the agents of those
farmer- generals, employees of a low grade, simple
land-waiters. The great road from Acre to Damascus,
one of the most ancient roads in the world, which
crossed Galilee passing by the lake,f greatly multiplied
there this species of employees. Capernaum, which
was perhaps upon the route, possessed a numerous body
of them. J That profession has never been popular ; but
among the Jews it passed for an absolute crime. The
tax, new to them, was the sign of their vassalage ; one
school, that of Juda the Gaulonite, held that to pay
it was an act of paganism. Thus the tax-collectors
were abhorred by the zealots of the Law. They were
named only in company with assassins, high- way rob
bers, and men of infamous life.§ Jews who accepted
such functions were excommunicated and became in
capacitated from making a will ; their money-chests
* Matt, ix, 9; x, 3; Mark, n.14; m,18; Luke, v, 27; vi, 15; Acts., i, 13, Gos
pel of the Ebionim, in Epiph., Adv. hcer., xxx, 13. We must suppose, strange as
it may seem, that these two names were borne by the same personage. The story,
Matt. , ix, 9, formed after the ordinary model of the legends of apostolic voca
tions, is, it is true, somewhat vague, and certainly was not written by the apostla
in question. But we must remember that, in the present gospel of Matthew, the
only portion which is by the apostle, is the Discourses of Jesus. See Papias, in
Eusebius , Hist. eccl. , in, 39.
f Cicero, Deprovinc. consular, 5; Pro Plancio, 9; Tac, Ann., iv, 6. Pliny, Hist.
not., xn, 32; Appian, Belt. Civ., n, 13.
X It remained celebrated down to the time ol the crusades, under the name of
Via maris. Cf. Isaiah, ix,.l ; Matt., iv, 13-15; Tobit, i, 1. I think that the road
cut in the r ck, near Ain-et-Tin, was part of it, and that the route turned thence
towards the Bridge of Jacob's Daughters , just as it now does. Aportionof th^road
from Ain-et-Tin to this bridge is of ancient construction.
| Matt., ix, 9 seqq.
§ Matt, v, 46-47; ix, 10, 11; xi, 19; xvin, 17; xxi, 31-32, Mark, n, 15-16, Luke,
t, 30; tii, 34; xv, 1; xtiii, 11; xix, 7; Lucien, Neeyoman, n; Dio Chrysost,
orat. IT, p 85; oral xiv, p. 269 (edit. Emperlus) ; Mischna, Neia im, in, 4.

164 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
were accursed and the casuists prohibited the faithful
from changing money with them*. These poor men,
outcasts from society, looked to each other. Jesus ac
cepted a dinner which Levi offered him, and at which
there were, according to the language of the times,
"many publicans and sinners." This caused great
Bcandal.f In these ill-famed houses, one ran the risk of
meeting disreputable society. We shall often see him
thus, careless of shocking the prejudices of right-think
ing people, seeking to elevate the classes humiliated
by the orthodox, and exposing himself in this manner
to the most vehement reproaches of devotees.
Jesus owed these numerous conquests to the infinite
charm of his person and his speech. A penetrating
remark, a look falling upon a simple conscience,
which needed only to be awakened, made for him an
ardent disciple. Sometimes Jesus made use of an in
nocent artifice, which Joan of Arc also employed. He
would aver that he knew something intimately con
cerning him whom he wished to win, or he would re
call to him some circumstance dear to his heart. It is
thus that he touched Nathaniel,^ Peter,] and the Sam
aritan woman. § Dissembling the true cause of his
power, I mean his superiority over those around him,
he suffered them to believe, in order to satisfy the
ideas of the times, ideas which were moreover entirely
his own, that a revelation from on high discovered to
him their secrets and opened their hearts. All thought
that he lived in a sphere superior to that of humanity,
* Mischna, Baba Kama, x, 7; Talm. of Jerus., Demai, n, 3; Talm. of Bab.,&>*
ludrin, 25 b. * Luke, t, 29 seqq.
t John, i, 48 seqq. J John, i. 43.
t, John, it, 17 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 1 6f)
It was said that he conversed upon the mountains with
Moses and Elias;* it was believed that, in his mo
ments of solitude angels came to pay their homage to
him, and established a supernatural intercourse be
tween him and heaven. f
* Matt. , xvn, 3; Mark, ix, 3; Luke, IX, 30-81
t Matt., it, 11; Mark, i, 13.

166 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER X.
THE SERMONS BT THE 811.
Such was the group which, upon the banks of the
Lake of Tiberias, pressed around Jesus. The aristocracy
was represented by a tax-gatherer and by the wife of
a steward. The rest consisted of fishermen and sim
ple people. Their ignorance was extreme ; their un
derstanding was weak; they believed in specters and
in spirits.* No element of Hellenic culture had pen
etrated this first coenaculum ; their Jewish instruction
was also very incomplete ; but heart and good-will over
flowed among them. The beautiful climate of Galilee
made the existence of these honest fishermen a perpet
ual enchantment. They prefigured truly the kingdom
of God, simple, good, happy, rocked gently upon their
delightful little sea, or sleeping at night upon its
shores. We cannot conceive the intoxication of a life
which thus glides away in the presence of the heavens,
the glow, mild yet strong, which this perpetual con
tact with nature gives, the dreams of these nights
passed amid the brilliancy of the stars, beneath the
azure dome of the illimitable depths. It was during
such a night that Jacob, his head pillowed upon a'
stone, saw in the stars the promise of an innumerable
• Matt., xit, 26; Mark, ti, 49; Luke, xxit, 39; John, ti, 19.

LIFE OF JESUS. 167
posterity, and the mysterious ladder by which theElo-
him came and went from heaven to earth. In the
time of Jesus, the heavens were not yet closed, nor
had the earth grown cold. The cloud still opened
over the Son of man ; angels ascended and descended
upon his head,* visions of the kingdom of God were
everywhere ; for man carried them in his heart. The
clear, mM eye of these simple souls contemplated the
universe in its ideal source ; perhaps the world dis
closed its secret to the divinely lucid conscience of
these fortunate children, whose purity of heart made
them worthy one day to see God.
Jesus lived with his disciples almost always in the
open air. Often he went into a boat and taught his
hearers crowded upon the shore .f Sometimes, he sat
down upon the hills which border the lake, where the
air is so pure and the horizon so luminous. The faith
ful flock went also, cheerful wayfarers, receiving the
inspirations of the master in their first flower. An in
nocent doubt sometimes arose, a gently skeptical ques
tion; Jesus, with a smile or a look, silenced the objec
tion. At every step, in the passing cloud, the grow
ing grain, the yellowing ear, they saw the sign of the
kingdom at hand; they believed that they were soon
to see God, and be the masters of the world ; their
tears turned into joy, it was the advent upon earth of
the universal consolation.
" Blessed, said the master, are the poor in spirit ; for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
" Blessed are they that mourn ; for they shall bo
comforted • John, 1, 61. f Matt., xm, 1-2; Mark, in, 9; it, 1; Luke, v1, 3

l68 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
" Blessed are the meek ; for they shall inherit the
earth. " Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after
righteousness ; for they shall be filled.
" Blessed are the merciful ; for they shall obtain
mercy. " Blessed are the pure in heart ; for they shall see
God. " Blessed are the peace-makers ; for they shall be
called the children of God.
" Blessed are they which are persecuted for right
eousness' sake ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."*
His preaching was sweet and gentle, full of nature
and of the perfume of the fields. He loved flowers,
and he took from them his most charming lessons. The
birds of heaven, the sea, the mountains, the plays of
children, were used by turns in his teachings. His
style had nothing of the Greek period, but approached
much nearer to that of the Hebrew parabolists, and
especially to the sayings of the Jewish doctoi-8, his co-
temporarie^, such as we find them in the Pirhe Aboih.
His development of his theme was slight, and formed
species of surats like those of the Koran7 which, strung
together, afterwards composed these long discourses
which were written by Matthew.f No transition con
nected these diverse pieces ; yet ordinarily the same
inspiration penetrated them and gave them unity. It
was especially in parable that the master excelled.
Nothing in Judaism had given him the model of this
delightful style.:]: He himself created it. It is true
* Matt. , t, 3-10; Luke, ti, 20-:CS.
f These are what are called the Ao'yictxupiaxa.Papias, in Eusebius, H.E.,\u, 39,
X The apologue, such as we find it in Judges, ix, 8 seqq.; II Sam., xn, 1 seqq.,
has only a resemblance in form to the evangelical parable. The profound orig
inality of this latter is in the sentiment which pervades it .

LIFE OF JESUS. 169
that we find in the Buddhist books parables of exactly
tiie same tone and the same composition as the Gospel
parables. But it is difficult to admit that a Buddhist
influence could have been felt in these. The spirit of
meekness and the depth of feeling which equally an
imated Buddhism and nascent Christianity, suffice per
haps to explain these analogies.
A total indifference to external modes of life and to
the vain appurtenances of "comfort," which in our se
vere climate are a necessity, was the consequence of
the simple and pleasant life which was led in Galilee.
Cold climates, by obliging man to struggle perpetually
against external nature, cause too much value to be
attached to the pursuit of comfort and luxury. On
the contrary, the countries which awakens fewest wants
are the lands of idealism and poesy. The accessories
of life are there insignificant compared with the plea
sure of living. The embellishment of the house is su
perfluous; men remain indoors as little as possible.
The hearty and regular alimentation of less generous
climates would be considered burdensome and disa
greeable. And as for luxury of dress, how can they
vie with what God has given to the earth and to the
birds of the sky? Labor, in such climates appears
superfluous ; what it yields is not worth that which it
costs. The beasts of the fields are clad better than
the richest man, and they do nothing. This contempt,
which, when it has not sloth for its cause, contributes
greatly to the elevation of the soul, inspired in Jesus
charming apologues : " Lay not up for yourselves
treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth cor
rupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but
* See especially the Lotus de la bonne Ui, ch. in and It.
8

170 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where nei
ther moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieve*
do not b:-eak through nor steal: for where your treas
ure is, there will your heart be also.* No man can
serve two masters : for either lie will hate the one,
and love the the other ; or else he will hold to the one,
and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and Mam
mon. f Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for
your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor
yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life
more than meat, and the body than raiment ? Be
hold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do
they reap, nor gather into barns ; yet your heavenly
Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than
they? Which of you by taking thought can add one
cubit unto his stature ? And why take ye thought
for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field how they
grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin ; And yet I
say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not ar
rayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe
the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow
is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe
you, 0 ye of little faith ? Therefore take no thought,
say hi g, what shall we eat? or what shall we drink ? or,
wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these
things do the Gentiles seek,) for your heavenly Father
knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first righteousness and the kingdom of
God,f and all these things shall be added unto you :
Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the
* Compare Talm. of Bab. , Baba Baihra, 11 , a.
1 The god of riches and of hidden treasures, a sort of Plutus in the mythology
of Phoenicia and Syria.
1 1 adopt here the reading of Lacbmann and Tischendorf

LIFE OF JESUS. 171
morrow shall take thought for the thing3 of itself.
Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."*
This sentiment, essentially Galilean, had a decisive
influence upon the destiny of the nascent sect. The
first rule of the happy flock, relying upon their heav
enly Father to satisfy their wants, was to regard the
cares of life, as evils which stifle in man the germ oi
all good.:]: Every day they asked God for the mor
row's bread.:}: Wherefore lay up treasure ? The king
dom of God is at hand. " Sell that ye have and give
alms," said the master. " Provide for yourselves bags
which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens thatfaileth
not."| What is more senseless than heaping stores for
heirs whom yon shall never see?§ As an example of
human folly, Jesus was fond of citing the case of a
man who, after having enlarged his barns and laid up
goods for many years, died before he had enjoyed
them.^T Brigandage, which was veryT common in Gal
ilee,** gave much force to this view of things. The
poor, who did not suffer by it, came to regard them
selves as the favored of God; while .the rich, having
no sure possession, were the truly disinherited. In
our society, established upon a very rigorous idea of
property, the position of the poor man is horrible ; he
has literally no place under the sun. There are no
flowers, no grass, no shade, but for him who possesses
the earth. In the East these are the gifts of God,
which belong to no man. The proprietor has but a
slender privilege; nature is the patrimony of all.
*Matt, vi, 19-21,24-34. Luke, xn, 22-31, 33-34; xti, 13. Compare the pre
cepts, Luke, x, 7-8, full of the same simple feeling, and Talm. of Bab., Seta, 'Mb
f Matt, xni, 22; Mark, iv, 19, Luke, vm, 14.
X Matt, vi, 11 ; Luke, xi, 3. This is the sense of the word sVibjo'io£.
| Luke, xn, 33-34. <) Luke, xn, 20. U Luke, xn, 16 seqq.
¦— Jos., Ant., XVII, x, 4 seqq.; Vita, 11, etc

172 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Dawning Christianity, moreover, in this did bnl
follow the track of the Esssenes or Therapeutes, and
the Jewish sects founded upon life in communi
ties. A communistic element entered into all of these
sects, despised equally by the Pharisees and the Sad-
ducees. Messianism, entirely political with the orthodox
Jews, became with them entirely social. By a temper
ate contemplative existence, leaving individual liberty
in full play, these little churches thought to inaugur
ate npon earth the kingdom of heaven. Utopias of
blissful life, founded upon the fraternity of man and
the pure worship of the true God, preoccupied lofty
60uls. and produced on all sides essays bold and sin
cere, but of small results.
Jesus whose relations with the Essenes it is very
difficult to determine with precision (resemblance, in
history, not always implying intercommunication),
was in this respect certainly their brother. Commu
nity of goods was for some time the rule in the new
society.* Avarice was the capital sin;f now it must be
understo >d that the sin of " avarice," against which
Christian rule was so severe, was then simple attachment
property. The first condition necessary for a disciple
of Jesus, was to realize his fortune and to give the
proceeds to the poor. Those who recoiled before this
extremity did not enter the community.:]: Jesus re
peated often that he who found the kingdom of God
must purchase it at the price of all his goods, and
that in so doing he yet made an advantageous bargain,
" The man who hath found a treasure in a field," said
he, "without losing an instant goeth and selleth that
• Acts, iv, 32, 34-37; v, 1 seqq. + Matt. , xm, 22; Luke, xn 16 seoo
t Matt, xix; 21; Mark, x, 21 seqq.; 29-30; Luke, xvm, 22-23, 28. '• ¦"""=H4

LIFE OF JESUS. *173
he hath and buyeth that field. The merchantman
who hath found one pearl of great price selleth all, and
buyeth it."* Alas I the inconveniences of this regime
Boon became manifest. A treasurer was necessary,
Judas of Kerioth was chosen for that office. Right
fully or wrongfully, he was accused of stealing the com
mon fund ;f so much is certain, that he made a bad
end. Sometimes the master, more versed in the things of
heaven than in those of earth, taught a political econ
omy still more singular. In a strange parable, a stew
ard is praised for having made friends among the poor
at the expense of his master, that the poor in their
turn might receive him in the kingdom of heaven. The
poor, indeed, as they are to be the dispensers of this
kingdom, will receive only those who have given to
them. A prudent man, looking to the future, should
therefore seek to win them. " The Pharisees, who
were covetous," says the Evangelist, "heard these
things and they derided him. "^ Heard they also this
terrible parable ? " There was a certain rich man,
which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared
sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beg
gar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of
sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which
fell from the rich man's table: moreover, the dogs
came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that
the beggar died, and was carried away by the angels
into Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and
was buried :J And in hell he lifted up his eyes, being
in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
• Matt., xm, 44^6. t John, xn, 6.
Luke; xvi, 1-14. I See the Greek text

174* ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
in his bosom. And he cried, and said, Father Abra
ham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he
may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my
tongue: for I am tormented in this flame. But Abra
ham said, Son, remember that thou in thy" life-time re
ceivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evi.
things: but now he is comforted and thou art tor
mented."* What more just? Afterwards this was
called the parable of the " wicked rich man." But it is
purely and simply the parable of the " rich man." He
is in hell because he is rich, because he does not give
his goods to the poor, because he dines well, while
others at his gate fare poorly. Finally at a time when,
with less exaggeration, Jesus presents the obligation
of selling one's goods and giving them to the poor,
only as a condition of perfection, he still makes this
terrible declaration : " It is easier for a camel to go
through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to
enter into the kingdom of God."f
A feeling of wonderful depth controled Jesus in all
this, as well as the band of joyous children who ac
companied him, and made him for all eternity the true
creator of the soul's peace, the great comforter of life.
In releasing man from what he calls " the cares of this
world,'' Jesus went to excess and attacked the essen
tial conditions of human society ; but he founded this
lofty spirituality which during centuries has filled souls
with joy in this vale of tears. He saw with perfect
* Luke, xvi, 19-25. Luke, I know, has a Tery decided communistic tendency
(compare ti, 20-21, 25-26), and I think he has exaggerated this feature of the
teaching of Jesus. But the characteristics of the ACjia. of Matthew are sig
nificant. ¦f Matt, xix, 24; Mark, x, 25; Luke, xvm, 25. This proverbial saying Is found
In the Talmud (Bab., Berakoth, 6"; b, Baba metsia, 38 b) , and in the Koran (Sur.
vn, 38). Origen and the Greek interpreters, ignorant of the Semitic proTerb,
thought that it related to a cable (xajAiXoj).

LIFE OF JESUS. 175
clearness that the heedlessness of man, his want of
philosophy and morality^, come generally from the
distractions into which he allows himself to be drawn,
from the cares which beset him and which civilization
multiplies beyond measure.* The Gospel has thus
been the supreme remedy for the sorrows of common
life, a perpetual sursum corda, a mighty distraction
trom the wretched cares of earth, a sweet appeal like
that of Jesus to the ear of Martha : "Martha, Martha,
thou art careful anil troubled ab >ut many things; but
one thing is needful." Thanks to Jesus, the most spiritless
existence, that most absorbed in sad or humiliating du
ties, has had its glimpse of heaven. In our bustling
civilization, the memory of the free life of Galilee has
been like the perfume of another world, like a " dew
of Hermon,"f which has prevented sterility and vul
garity from completely usurping the field of God.
• Matt, xm, 32. t P*- oxxxiu, *.

176 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XI.
THE KINGDOM OP GOD CONCEIVED AS THE ADT1II
OP THE POOB.
These maxims, good for a country in which the con
ditions of life are free sunshine and the open air, this
delicate communism of a flock of God's children, liv
ing in confidence upon the bosom of their father, were
very well for a simple sect, persuaded continually that
its utopia was at the point of realization. But it is
evident that they could not rally the mass of society.
Jesus, indeed, soon comprehended that the official
world of his time would give no countenance to his
kingdom. He resolved upon his course with extreme
boldness. Leaving all this world to its hardness
of heart and its narrow prejudices, he turned to
wards the simple. A vast substitution of race is to
take place. The kingdom of God is : first, for children
and for those who are like them ; second, for the out
casts of this world, victims of social arrogance, which
repulses the good but humble man; third, for heretics
and schismatics, publicans, Samaritans and pagans of
Tyre and Sidon. An energetic parable illustrated thi
appeal to the people and justified it :* A king
has made a wedding feast and sends forth his servants
* Matt. xxn, 2 seqq.; Luke, xiv, 16 seqq. Compare Matt., Tin, 1112; xxi, 33
seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 177
to call them that were bidden. All excuse them-

¦ >

takes a decided stand. The proper persons would not
come at his invitation ; very well ! it shall be the peo
ple found in the streets and lanes, the poor, the blind
and the halt, anybody ; the house must be filled, and
I swear to you, said the king, that none of those which
were bidden shall taste of my supper."
Pure Ebionism, that is to say the doctrine that the
poor (ebionim) only shall be saved, that the reign of
the poor is at hand, was therefore the doctrine of
Jesus. "Woe unto yon that are rich! said he, for ye
have received your consolation. Woe unto yon that
are full! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto yon that
laugh ! for ye shall mourn and weep."* " When thou
makest a dinner or a supper, said he again, call not
thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor
thy neigbors ; lest they also bid thee again, and re
compense be made thee. But when thou makest a
feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind :
and thou shalt be blessed ; for they cannot recompense
thee : for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrec
tion of the just."f It is perhaps in an analogous
sense that he often repeated : " Be ye good bankers,"^
that is to say : Make good investments for the kingdom
of God, by giving your goods to the poor, according to
the ancient proverb : " He that hath pity upon the
poor, lendeth to the Lord."|
This was not, moreover, a new thing. The most ex
alted democratic movement of which humanity has
« Luke vi, 24-25. t Luke, xiv, 12-14.
I A word preservod by a very ancient and wide-spread tradition. Clement of
Alex., Strom., I, 28. It is found in Origen, in St. Jerome, and in a great number
of the Fathers of the Church. | Pro i . , xix , 17 .

178 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
preserved the remembrance (the only one also which
has been successful, for it alone has confined itself to
the realm of pure idea), had long been agitating the
Jewish race. The thought that God is the avenger of
the poor and feeble against the rich and powerful, is
found on every page of the Old Testament. The his
tory of Israel is of all histories that in which the pop- .
ular spirit has most constantly ruled. The prophets,
true tribunes of the people, and in one sense the bold
est of tribunes, had thundered without ceasing against
the great and established a strict relation, on the one
hand, between the words "rich, impious, violent and
wicked," and, on the other, between the words, "poor,
gentle, humble and pious."* Under the Seleucidse,
nearly all the aristocrats having apostatized and
passed over to Hellenism, these associations of ideas
grew all the stronger. The Book of Enoch contains
maledictions still more forcible than those of the Gos
pel against the world, the rich and the powerful.f
Luxury it presents as a crime. The ' Son of man ' in
this strange Apocalypse, dethrones kings, snatches
them away from their voluptuous life and hurls them
headlong into hell.:]: The initiation of Judea into mun
dane life, the recent introduction of an element of
luxury and ease altogether worldly, provoked a furious
reaction in favor of patriarchal simplicity. " Woe to
you who despise the dwelling and the inheritance of
your father ! Woe to you who build you palaces with
the sweat of others ! Each one of the stones, each
*..fue,inPartiC.?,ar> Amos, n, 6; Is.,i.xiii,9; Ps., XXV, 9;XXXVII, 11; 1XIX, 33:
and the Hebrew dictionaries in general at the words:
T~w 'D'&W ,TW ,TDn ,1J» /J]? ,h ,-iv3K
t Ch. ixn, ixni, xotii, o, oit. J Enoch, ch. xlvi, 4-8.

LIFE OF JESUS. 17U
one of the bricks thereof is a sin."* The name of
" poor " (ebion) had become synonymous with "saint,"
and "friend of God." It was the name which the
Galilean disciples of Jesus loved to give themselves;
it was long the name of the Judaizing Christians of
the Batanea and of Haouran (Nazarenes, Hebrews)
who remained faithful to the language as well as to
the primitive teachings of Jesus, and who boasted of
possessing among them the descendants of his family .f
At the close of the second century these good sectaries,
who had dwelt without the great current which
bore away the other churches, are classed as heretics
(Ebionites), and in order to explain their name a pre
tended heresiarch Ebion\ was invented.
We readily discover, indeed, that this exaggerated
taste for poverty could not be very durable. It was
one of those Utopian elements which always existed
in great foundations, and which time tempers to just
proportions. Transported into the broad medium of
human society, Christianity was one day very readliy
to consent to take the rich to its bosom, just as Budd
hism, exclusively monastic in its origin, when conver
sions began to multiply, soon came to admit lay mem
bers. But everything preserves the mark of its origins.
Although quickly laid aside and forgotten, Ebionism
left in all the whole history of Christian institutions a
• Enoch, xcix, 13, 14.
t Julius Africanus in Eusebius, H. E.,l, 7; Eus., DeSituetnom. toe. liebr., at the
wordyw/3ct. Origen, ContraCetsum, II, l;Uej>rinctpiis,IV,61;Epiph, jldu-ftur.,
XXIX, 7, 9; XXX, 2, 18.
X See especially Origen, ContraCetsum, II, 1; De principiis, IV, 22. Compare
Epiph. , Ado. hcer. , XXX, 17 . Irenajus, Origen, Eusebius, and the apostolic Con
stitutions are ignorant of the existence of such a personage. The author of the
Philosophumena seems to hesitate (VII, 34 and 35; X, 22 and 23. Itis through
Tertullian and especially through Epiphanius that the fable of an Elnon was
bruited abroad. Otherwise aU the Fathers agree upon the etymology
'E/3 i'ojv— wru-yrjig .

180 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
leaven which was not lost The collection of the Logia
or discourses of Jesus was made in the Ebionite medi
um of the Batanea.* "Poverty" remained an ideal
which the true lineage of Jesus never abandoned. To
possess nothing was the true evangelical condition ;
mendicity became a virtue, a sacred state. The great
[Tmbrian movement of the thirteenth century, which
is, among all attempts at religious foundation, that
which most resembles the Galilean movement, was
made entirely in the name of poverty. Francis d'As-
sisi, that man of all the world who, by his exquisite
goodness and his sympathy, delicate, refined, and ten
der, with universal life, has most resembled Jesus, was
poor. The mendicant orders, the innumerable com
munist sects of the middle ages (Pauvres de Lyon,
Begards, Bons-Hommes, Fratricelli, Humiliati, Gospel
Poor, etc.), grouped under the banner of the " Eternal
Gospel," professed to be, and were in fact, the true
disciples of Jesus. But here again the most impossible
dreams of the new religion were fruitful. The pious
mendicity, of which our industrial and administrative
societies are so impatient, was, in its day and beneath
the sky which comported with it, full of charm. Il
offered to a multitude of contemplative and gentle
souls the only condition which befitted them. To have
made poverty an object of love and desire, to have lifted
the beggar upon the altar and sanctified the dress of
the man of the people, is a master-stroke at which polit
ical economy may not be deeply touched, but before
which the true moralist cannot remain indifferent.
Humanity, to bear its burden, has need to believe that
it is not fully paid by its wages. The greatest service
• Epiph. , Adv. luer., xix, xxix and xxx, especially, xxix, 9

LIFE OF JESUS. 181
which can be rendered it is to repeat to it often that it
does not live by bread alone.
Like all great men, Jesus had sympathy with the
people, and felt himself at home with them. The
Gospel was made, in his idea, for the poor ; it is to
them that he brings the good news of salvation.* All
the outcasts of orthodox Judaism were his favorites.
Love of the people, pity for their weakness, the senti
ment of the democratic chief, who feels living in him
the spirit of the multitude, and recognizes himself as
its natural interpreter, constantly bursts forth in his
acts and his discourses. f
The chosen band presented, indeed, a very motley
character, at which the orthodox must have been great
ly astonished. It numbered in its bosom people with
whom a Jew of self-respect would not associate.:}: Per
haps Jesus found in this unconventional society more
distinction and more heart than in a pedantic, formal
respectability, proud of its seeming morality. The
Pharisees, exaggerating the Mosaic rules, came to
think themselves polluted by contact with people less
rigid than they ; they reached in their meals almost
the puerile distinctions of caste in India. Despising
these miserable aberrations of religious sentiment, Jesus
loved todine with those who were its victims ;| they saw
beside him persons who were said to lead an evil life,
perhaps, it is true, for this cause only, that they did
not share in the follies of the pretended devotees. The
Pharisees and doctors cried out at the scandal. " Be
hold," said they, " with what manner of men he eats!'
Jesus made, then, keen responses, which exasperated

• Matt., xi, 5; Luke, ti, 20-"21
VMatt, ix, 36; Mark, ti, 34.
| Matt, ix, 11; Mark, n, 16; Luke, v, 30.

+ Matt.,' ix ,36; Mark, vi, 34. X Matt., ix, 10 seqq. ; Luke, xv, entire

182 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the hypocrites : "The whole need not a physician ;"*
or again : " The shepherd who hath lost one sheep out
of an hundred, leaves the ninety and nine to go after
that which is lost, and, when he hath found it, he
bringcth it home upon his shoulders rejoicing ;"f or
again: "The son of man is come to save that which
was lost ;":}: or again: "I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners ;"|| finally, that delightful para
ble of the prodigal son, in which he who has fallen is
presented as having a sort of privilege of love over the
one who has always been righteous. Women, weak or
guilty, surprised by so much charm, and tasting for the
first time the alluring contact of virtue, freely ap
proached him. They were astonished that he did not
repulse them. " Oh," said the puritans, " this man is
no prophet; for if he were, he would perceive that the
woman who is touching him is a sinner." Jesus an
swered by the parable of a creditor who forgave his
debtors unequal debts, and he feared not to prefer the
lot of him to whom the largest debt was forgiven. §
He measured souls only by their love. Women, with
hearts full of tears and disposed by their fanlts to feel
ings of humility, were nearer his kingdom than com
mon-place natures, in whom it ib often little merit not
to have fallen. It is easy to conceive, on the other
hand, that these tender souls, finding in their conver
sion to the sect, a ready means of re-instatement, be
came passionately attached to him.
• Matt., ix, 12. f Luke, XT, 4 seqq.
| Matt, xvm, 11; Luke, xix, 10. J Matt, ix, 13.
^ Luke, vn, 36 seqq, Luke, who loves to dwell upon all that relates to the
pardon of sinners (compare x. 80 seqq.; xv, entire; xvn, 15 seqq.; xix 2 seqq.J
xxm, 39-43), has combined this story with the incidents of another, that of the
anointment of the feet, which took place at Bethany some days before th* death
of Jesus. But the pardon of the woman taken in adultery was undoubtedly one
of the essential features of the anecdotal life of Jesus. Cf. John,vn, i, 8 seqq;
Papias, in Eusebius, Hist, ecel., Ill, 39.

LIFE OF JESUS. 183
Far from seeking to check the murmurs which hia
contempt for the social susceptibilities of the times
aroused, he seemed to take pleasure in exciting them.
Never did anyone avow more haughtily that disdain
of the " world," which is the condition of great achieve
ments and of great originality. He pardoned the rich
man only when, by reason of some prejudice, the rich
man was hated by society.* He loftily preferred people
of equivocal life and of little consideration to the or
thodox magnates. " The publicans and the harlots,"
said he to them, '' go into the kingdom of God before
you. John came ; the publicans and the harlots be
lieved him ; and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not
afterward, that ye might believe him."f We can un
derstand how cutting must have been the reproach of
not having followed the example of women of pleasure,
to people making a profession of gravity and rigid
morality. He had no external affectation nor show of austerity.
He did not shun pleasure ; he went gladly to marriage
festivals. One of his miracles was performed to en
liven a village wedding. These marriage parties in
the East are held in the evening. Each one carries a
lamp ; the lights dancing to and fro produce a very
pleasing effect. Jesus loved this gay and animated
spectacle, and drew from it some of his parables.:}:
When such conduct was compared to that of John the
Baptist, it seemed scandalous.] One day, when the
disciples of John and the Pharisees were observing a
fast : " Why," he was a-ked, " do the disciples of Johu
and the Pharisees fast and pray, but thine eat and
• Luke, xix, 2 seqq. t Matt, xxi, 31-33.
t Mark, n, 18; Lnke, v, 33. 1 Matt. , xxv, 1 seqq

184 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
drink?" "Suffer them," said Jesus; "can ye make
the groomsmen fast, while the bridegroom is with
thfm? The days will come when the bridegroom shall
be taken away from them ; then shall they fast."* His
gentle gaiety was constantly expressing itself by lively
reflections and kindly pleasantries. "Whereunto,"
Baid he, " shall I liken this generation ? and to what are
they like? They are like unto children sitting in the
market-place, and calling one to another, and saying:
We have piped unto you,
And ye have not danced ;
We haTe mourned unto you,
And ye haTe not wept.t
John came, neither eating nor drinking; and ye say:
He is a mad man. The son of man is come eating and
drinking; and ye say : Behold a gluttonous man and
a wine bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But
wisdom is justified of all her works. "^
Thus he traversed Galilee in the midst of a perpet
ual holiday. He rode upon a mule, an animal in the
East so sure and good, whose large black eye, shaded
with long lashes, is full of gentleness. His disciples
sometimes displayed a rustic pomp about him at the
expense of their garments, which took the place of
carpets. They put these upon the mule which bore
him, or spread them upon the ground in his path.j
When he alighted at a house, it was a rejoicing and a
benediction. He stopped in the market-towns and at
* Matt, ix, 14 seqq.; Mark, n, 18 seqq.; Luke, t, 33 seqq.
+ In allusion to some children's play.
| Matt, xi, IS seqq- Luke, vn, 34 seqq. A proverb which means :" The
opinion of men is blmd. The wisdom of the works of God is proclaimed only
by his works themselves." I read s'^ycdv , with the manuscript B of the Vati
can, and not <rs'xvojv .

LIFE OF JESUS. 185
the great farmhouses, where he received an assiduous
hospitality. In the East,* the house at which a stran
ger stops, becomes at once a public place. The whole
village assembles there; the children invade it; the
servants drive them away; they return continually.
Jesus could not permit any to treat these artlecs audi-
<>rs harshly; he called them to him and embraced
them.f Mothers, encouraged by such a reception,
brought him their nurselings that he might touch them.^
Women came to pour oil upon his head and perfumes
upon his feet. His disciples repulsed them at times as
importunate ; but Jesus, who loved old customs and all
that indicates simplicity of heart, repaired the evil
done by his too zealous friends. He protected those
who desired to honor him.] So the children and the
women adored him, The reproach of alienating from
their families these delicate beings, always easily
charmed away, was one of those oftenest made by his
enemies. §
The infant religion was thus in many respects a
movement of women and children. These last formed
about Jesus, as it were, a young guard in the inaugu
ration of his innocent royalty, and bet-towed little ova
tions upon him with which he was much pleased, call-
il g him '' son of David," crying Uosanna,^ and bearing
p;ilms around hiin. Jesus, like Savonarola, used them
perhaps, as instruments for pious missions ; he was
* Matt., xxi, 7-8.
+ Matt, xix, 1 i seqq. ; Mark, ix, 35; x, 13 seqq.; Luke, xvm, 16-16.
1 1 bid.
[ Matt, xxvi, 7 seqq. ; Mark, xiv. 3 seqq. ; Luke, vn, 37 seqq.
t) Gospel of Marcion, addition to v, 2 of ch. xxm of Luke (Epiph., Adv. har ,
xlii,11). If the abridgements of Marcion have no critical value, it is not the
same with his additions when they may proceed not from a prejudgment, but
from the condition of the manuscripts which he used.
% The cry uttered in the procession of the feast of Tabernacles, while shaking
palms. Mischna, Sukka, in, 8. This usage still exists among the Israelites.

186 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
pleased to see these young apostles, who did not com
promise him, rushing in advance, and bestowing titles
upon him which he dared not take himself. He did
not check them, and when asked if he heard, he re
sponded evasively that the praise which falls from
young lips is the most pleasing to God.*
Ho lost no occasion to repeat that the little ones are
sacred beings, f that the kingdom of God belongs to
the little children,:}: that it is necessary to become a lit
tle child in order to enter it,[ that it must be received
as a little child,§ that the heavenly Father hides his
secrets fnun the wise and reveals them unto babes. 1
To him, the idea of his disciples is confounded with
that of little children.** One day, when they had
among themselves one of those disputes concerning
precedence, which were not rare, Jesus took a little
child and set him in the midst of them, and said: "Be-
lioid the greatest; whosoever shall humble himself as
this little child, the same is the greatest in the king
dom of heaven. "ff
It was childhood, indeed, in its divine spontaneity,
in its innocent sparkles of joy, which was taking pos
session of the earth. All believed at every moment
that the kingdom so intensely longed for was on the
point of appearing. Each saw himself already seated
upon a throne Jf beside the master. They distributed
the places;] | they sought to compute the day. It was
called the " Good News ;" the doctrine had no other
name. An old word, "paradise," which the Hebrew,
• Matt, xxi, 15-16. f Matt, xvm, 6, 10,14; Luke, xni, 2.
X Matt. , xix. 14; Mark, x, 1-1; Luke, xvm,lfi.
| Matt , xvm, 1 seqq.; Mark, ix, 33 seqq.; Luke, ix, 46.
§Mark, x. ]!¦ fl Matt., xi, 25; Luke, x, 2L
** Matt., x, 45; xvm, 5, 14; Mark, ix, ;i6; Luke, xvu, 2.
ft Matt., xvm, 4; Mark, ix, 33-36; Luke, ix, 46-'8.
f; Luke, xxn, 30. ]I Mark, x, 37, 40 41.

LIFE OF JESUS. 187
like all the tongues of the East, had borrowed from tho
Persian, and which originally designated the parks of
the Achsemenides, summed up the dreams of all : a
delightful garden, in which they should continue for
ever the enchanting life that they were leading here
below.* How long did this intoxication endure? Wo
know not. None, during the course of this wonderful
advent, measured time any more than we measure a
dream. Duration was suspended; a week was as a
century. But whether it filled years or months, the
dream was so beautiful that humanity has since lived
by it, and it is our consolation yet to welcome its dimin
ished perfume. Never did so much joy swell the
breast of man. For a moment, in this effort, the most
vigorous which it has ever made to raise itself above
its planet, humanity forgot the leaden weight which
fastens it to earth, and the woes of life here below.
Blessed was he who could see with his eyes this divine
outburst, and share, were it only for a day, this peer
less illusion! But more blessed still would Jesus tell
us, he who, disenthralled from all illusions, shall re
produce in himself the heavenly advent, and, with no
millennial dream, with no chimerical paradise, with
no signs in the heavens, by the righteousness of his
will and the poesy of his soul, shall create anew in his
heart the true kingdom of God !
• Luke, xxm. 43; u, Cor., xn, 4. Comp. Carm. SQtyU., prooam., 86: Talm. ol
Bab , Chigiga, 14 t>.

188 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTEE XII.
EMBASSY OF JOHN FROM PBISOH TO JESUS. — 1)1111
OF JOHN. — RELATIONS OF HIS SCHOOL WITH
THAT OF JESUS.
While joyous Galilee was celebrating in festivals
the coming of the well-beloved, the sorrowful John, in
his prison of Machero, whs wasting away with waiting
and with longings. The success of the young master
whom he had seen some months before at his school,
reached him. It was said that the Messiah predicted
by the prophets, he who was to re-establish the king
dom of Israel, had come and demonstrated his presence
in Galilee by his wonderful works. John wished to
inquire concerning the truth of this report, and as he
communicated freely with his disciples, he chose two
of them to go to Jesus in Galilee.
The two disciples found Jesus at the height of his
reputation. The festal air which reigned around him
astonished them. Accustomed to fasts, to pertinacious
prayer, to a life all aspiration, they were astounded to
find themselves suddenly transported into the midst of
the rejoicings of welcome.f They gave Jesus their
message: "Art thou he who should come, or do we
• Matt. . xi. 2 seqq.; Luke, tii, 18 seqq. f Matt ,rx. 14 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 189
look for another?" Jesus, who thenceforth had little
hesitation concerning his peculiar character as the
Messiah, enumerated to them the works which were
to characterize the coming of the kingdom of God, the
healing of the sick, the good news of speedy salvation
preached to the poor. All these works he performed.
" And blessed is he," he added, " whosoever shall not
be offended in me." We know not whether this an
swer found John alive, or in what frame of mind it put
the austere ascetic. Did he die comforted and certain
that he whom he had announced, was already living,
or had he still doubts concerning the mission of Jesus ?
We learn nothing in regard to this. Seeing his school
continue, however, for a considerable time by the side
of the Christian churches, we are led to believe that,
in spite of his consideration for Jesus, John did not
consider that he was to realize the divine promises.
But death came to cut short his perplexities. The un
tamable freedom of the recluse was to crown its rest
less and persecuted career by the only end which was
worthy of it.
The indulgent disposition which Antipater had at
first shown towards John could not be of long duration.
In the conversations which, according to Christian tra
ditions, John had with the tetrarch, he constantly re
peated to him that his marriage was unlawful, and
that he ought to put Herodias away." It is easy to
imagine the hatred which the granddaughter of Herod
the Great must have conceived for this importunate
adviser. She was waiting only for an opportnnitv to
destroy him. • Matt. , xiv, 4 seqq.; Mark, ti, 18 seqq.; Luke, in, 18.

190 JRIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Her daughter, Salome, born of her first marriage,
and like herself ambitions and dissolute, entered into
her designs. This year (probably the year 30), Anti
pater happened to be on his birth-day at Machero.
Herod the Great had constructed in the interior of the
brtress a magnificent palace,* in which the tetrarch
frequently resided. He gave a grand banquet there,
during which Salome executed one of those character
istic dances which in Syria are not considered unbe
coming aperson of distinction. Antipater was charmed,
and asked the dancer what she wished ; she answered,
at the instigation of her mother: "The head of John
upon this charger."f Antipater was chagrined ; but
he would not refuse. A guard took the charger, went
and cut off the head of the prisoner and brought it to
her4 The disciples of the Baptist obtained his body, and
put it in a tomb. The people were very much discon
tented. Six years afterwards, Hareth having attacked
Antipater, to retake Machero and avenge the dishonor
of his daughter, Antipater was completely beaten, and
his defeat was generally regarded as a punishment for
the murder of John. j|
The news of this deed was borne to Jesus by the
disciples of the Baptist themselves. § The last step
which John had taken in regard to Jesus, had resulted
m establishing strict lines between the two schools.
Jesus, fearing an increase of ill-will on the part of An
tipater, took the precaution to retire into the desert.^
* Jos., De Belle Jud., VII, ti, 2.
+ Large dishes, upon which, m the East, they serve, liquors and meats.
t Matt, xiv, 3 seqq. ; Mark, vi, 14-29, Jos., Ant., XVIII, v, 2.
I Josephus, Ant., XVI1I, x, 1 and 2. (, Matt., xjt la
\ Matt, xiv, 13. - * ' '

LIFE OF JESUS. 191
Many people followed him thither. Thanks to their
extreme frugality, the sacred flock lived there ; they
naturally believed that they saw in that a miracle.*
From this moment, Jesus never spoke of John, but
with redoubled admiration. He unhesitatingly de-
claredf that he was more than a prophet, that the Law
and the ancient prophets had been in force only up to
his time,:}: that he had abrogated them, but that the
kingdom of heaven would abrogate him in his turn.
In short, he gave him, in the economy of the Christian
mystery, a peculiar place, which made him the bond
of union between the Old Testament and the advent of
the new reign.
The prophet Malachi, whose opinion on this enjoyed
high consideration,]! had announced with much force
a precursor of the Messiah, who should prepare men
for the final renewal, a messenger who should come
to srnootn the way before the chosen of God. This
messenger was none other than the prophet Elijah,
who, according to a wide-spread belief, was soon to
descend from heaven, whither he had been translated,
to make men ready by repentance for the great advent
and reconcile God with his people.g Sometimes with
Elijah was associated either the patriarch Enoch, to
whom, for one or two centuries, a lofty sanctity had
been attributed,^ or Jeremiah,** who was considered
a soit of protecting genius of the people, continually
praying for them before the throne of God.ff This
idea of two ancient prophets who were to be re-ani-
* Matt, xiv, 15 seqq. ; Mark, vi, 35 seqq.; Luke, ix, 11 se-iq.; John, vi, 2 seqq-
t Matt, xi, 7 seqq.; Luke, vn, 24 seqq. J Matt. , xi 12-13; Luke, xvi, 16
4 MaiaGhi, in and iv; Eeclesiast., xlviii, 10. See above, oh. vi.
j Mart., xi, 14; xvn, 10; Mark, vi, 15; vm, 28; ix, 10 seqq.; Luke, ix, 8,10.
1 Beclesiastes, xiiv, 16. ** Matt., xvi, 14. ff II Mace, xv. 13 seqq

192 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
mated in order to serve as precursors of the Messiah,
is found so strikingly in the doctrine of the Parsees,
that we are strongly inclined to believe it came from
that quarter.* However this may be, it was, at the
time of Jesus, an integral portion of the Jewish theories
of the Messiah. It was admitted that the appearance
of " two faithful witnesses," clad in garments of peni
tence, would be the prelude to the great drama which
was to be unfolded to the terror-stricken Universe. f
We can understand how, with these ideas, Jesus and
his disciples could not hesitate concerning the mission
of John the Baptist. When the Scribes made this
objection to them, that there could be no question of
the Messiah, since Elias had not yet comef, they an
swered that Elias had come, that John was Elias again
alive. | By his method of life, by his opposition to
established political powers, John recalled, indeed,
that wonderful form of the ancient history of Israel. §
Jesus was inexhaustible upon the merits and excellence
of his precursor. He said tliat among the children of
men there was none born greater than he. He blamed the
Pharisees and the doctors severely, that they had not
accepted his baptism, and been converted by his voice. ^[
The disciples of Jesus were faithful to these princi
ples of their master. Respect for John was a constant
tradition in the first Christian generation.** They sup
posed him to be a relative of Jesus.ff To found the
mission of Jesus upon a testimony admitted by all, f
« Texts cited by Anquetil-Duperron, 2en<J-^Des(a, 1,2nd part, p. 46, corrected b
Spiegel, in the Z.'itschriftder aeutsehen morgenlamdischen QcseUschaft I, 2S1 seqq.
Extracts from the Jamasp-lfameh, in the Avesta of Spiegel, I, p. 34. None of th
Farsee texts which really implies the idea of re-auimated prophets and precur
sors Is ancient; but the ideas contained in these texts appear much anterior to
the time of their compilation. f Rev., xi, 3 seqq. t Mark, ix 10
J Matt, xi, 14; xvn, 10-13; Mark, vi, 15; ix, 10-12; Luke, ix, 8- John i, 21-2*.
, Luke, i, n. 1fi|l"a.ttMxxi,32;Luke, Vn, 29-30. **-4c&,xrx,4. ++ Luke i«

LIFE OF JESUS. 193
was related that John, when lie first saw Jesus, pro
claimed him the Messiah, that he recognized himself
his inferior, unworthy to loose the latchets of his
shoes ; that he refused at first to baptize him and in
sisted that it was he who should be baptized by
Jesus.* These were however exaggerations, wliich the
questioning form of the last message of John suffici
ently refute.f But, in a more general sense John re
mained in Christian legend what he was in reality, the
austere preparer, the solemn preacher of penitence
before the joys of the bridegroom's coming, the pro
phet who announces the kingdom of God and dies be
fore seeing it. Giant of Christian origins, this eater
of locusts and of wild honey, this stern redresser of
wrongs, was the absinth which prepared the lips for
the sweetness of the kingdom of God. The victim
of Herodias opened the era of Christian martyrs ; he
was the first witness of the new conscience. Worldlings,
who recognized in him their real enemy, could not
permit him to live ; his mutilated corpse, stretched
across the threshold of Christianity, traced the bloody
way which so many others should pass after him.
The school of John did not die with its founder. It
lived for some time, distinct from that of Jesus, and at
first on good terms with it. Many years after the
death of the two masters, men were still baptized af
ter the baptism of John. Some persons were at the
same time members of both schools ; for example, the
famous Apollos, the rival of Saint Paul (about the
year 50), and a considerable number of Christians of
Ephesus4 Josephus attended (in the year 53) the
• Matt., m, 14 seqq.; Luke, m, 16; John, i, 15 seqq.; T, 32-33.
1 Matt. , xi, 2 seqq. ; Luke, vn, 18 seqq.
AcU, xvm, 26; xix, 1-6. Cf. Epiph. , Adv. har., xxx, 10.
»

194 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
school of an ascetic named Banou,* who presents the
greatest resemblance to John the Baptist, and who
may have been of his school. This Banouf lived in
the desert, clad in the leaves of the trees ; he ate only
plants or wild fruits, and baptized himself in cold wa
ter freque.tly during the day and night to purify him
self. James, he who was called the "brother of the
Lord" (there is perhaps some confusion of similar
names here), observed an analogous ascetism.J After
wards, towards the year 80, Baptism became engaged
in a struggle with Christianism, especially in AsiaMinor.
John the Evangelist appears to combat it in an indi
rect manner.] One of the Sybil line poems seems to
proceed from this school. As to the sects of Hemer-
obaptists, Baptists, Elchasaites, {Sabians, Mogtasila of
the Arabic writers), % who in the second century swarm
ed in Syria, Palestine, and Babylonia, and the rem
nants of whom yet remain among the Mendaites, call
ed " Christians of St. John," they are of the same
origin as the movement of John the Baptist, rather
than the authentic succession of John. The true
school of the latter, half blended with Christianity,
passed into a small Christian heresy and became ex
tinct in obscurity. John had plainly seeu the direc
tion of the future. If he had yielded to a paltry riv
alry, he would now be forgotten among the mnltitude
of the sectaries of his time. By abnegation, he achieved
glory and a unique position in the religious pantheon
of humanity.
* Vita, 2.
f Can this be the Bounai who is numbered by the Talmud (Bab. , Sanhedrin , 41
«), among the disciples of Jesus. 1 Hegesippus, in Eusebius, H. E II, 23.
I John, I, 26, 33; IV, 2; I John, v, 6, Cf. Acts, x, 47.
C Book IV. See especially v, 157 seqq.
\ I recall that Sabians is the Aramaean equivalent of the word '• Baptist*. "
Mogtasila has the same meaning in Arabic.

LIFE OF JESUS. 195

CHAPTER XHI.
FIE6T ATTEMPTS UPOH JEECSA'-EM.
Je<us, nearly every year, went to Jerusalem to cel
ebrate the feast of the Passover. The details of each
of these journeys are little known ; for the synoptics
do not speak of them,* and the notes of the fourth
gospel are here very confused. f It was, as it seems,
in the year 31, and certainly, after the death of John,
that the most important visit of Jesus to the capital
took place. Many. of the disciples followed him. Al
though Jesus attached even then little importance to
the pilgrimage, he conformed in order not to wound
Jewish opinions, with which he had not yet brok
en. These journeys, moreover, were essential to
his design ; for he felt already that, in order to per-
* They suppose them, however, obscurely (Matt., xxm, 37; Luke, xm, 34).
They know as well as John the relations of Jesus with Joseph of Arimathca.
Luke even (x, 38 4i) knows the family of Bethany. Luke (ix, 5'-5t), has a vague
porception of the system of the fourth Evangelist concerning the journeys of.
Jesus. Many discourses against the Pharisees and the Sadducees, placed by the
synoptics in Galilee, have hardly any meaning except at Jerusalem. Finally,
the lapse of eight days is much too short to explain all that must have happened
between the arrival of Jesus in that city and his death,
f Two pilgrimages are clearly indicated (John, n, 13, and v, 1 ), without speak
ing, of the last journey (vn, 10), after which Jesus did not return into Galilee.
The first had taken place while John was still baptizing. It appertained, conse
quently, to the passover of the year ;!9. But the circumstances given as of this
Joarne'y are of a more advanced period. (Comp. especially John, n, 14 seqq.,
and Matt . xxi, ri-13; Mark, 15-17; Luke, xix, 45-16). There are evidently
transpositions of dates in these chapters of John, or more likely he has confounded
the circumstances of different journeys.

196 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
form a part of the first order, he must leave Galilee
and attack Judaism in its stronghold, which was Jeru
salem. The little Galilean community was here very much
out of its element. Jerusalem was then nearly the
same as to-day, a city of pedantry^ of acrimony, of
lisputes, of hates, of pettiness of spirit. Fanaticism
was extreme and religions seditions very frequent. The
Pharisees had the mastery; the study of the Law,
carried into the most insignificant minutiae and re
duced to questions of casuistry, was the only study.
This culture, exclusively theological and canonical,
did not contribute in any degree to polish the mind.
It was somewhat analogous, to the sterile doctrine of
the Moslem faquih, to that empty science which pre
vails about the Mosque, a great expenditure of time
and dialectics utterly wasted, and with no profit to the
discipline of the intellect. The theological education of
the modern clergy, although very dry, can give no
idea of that ; for the Renaissance has introduced into
all our modes of education, even the most refractory,
some portion of belles-lettres and of good method,
which has given scholasticism to a greater or less ex
tent, a touch of the humanities. The science of the
Jewish doctor, of the safer or scribe, was purely barbar
ous, absurd without compensation, and stripped of
every moral element* As a crown of calamity, it
filled him who had wearied himself in acquiring it,
with a ludicrous arrogance. Proud of the pretended
knowledge which had cost him so much labor, the
Jewish scribe had the same contempt for the Greek
« We may judge It by the Talmud, the echo of the Jewish scholasticism of the
time.

LIFE OF JESUS. 197
culture which the Mussulman savant has in our day
for European civilization, and which the old Catholic
theologian had for the science of the world's people.
The characteristic of this scholastic culture is to close
the understanding against all that is delicate, to give
value only to the difficult puerilities in which life haa
een wasted and which are upheld as the natural oc
cupation of persons making a profession of depth.*
This odious world could not fail to weigh very heav
ily upon the tender and delicate souls of the north.
The contempt of the Hierosolymites for the Gali
leans rendered the separation still wider. In this beau
tiful temple, the object of their desires, they often
found nothing but insult. One verse of the psalm
of the pilgrims,f "I had rather be a doorkeeper in
the house of my God," seemed written expressly for
them. A disdainful priesthood smiled at their artless
devotion, as formerly the clergy in Italy, familiarized
with the sanctuaries, witnessed coldly and almost jest
ingly the fervor of the pilgrim come from afar The
Galileans spoke a somewhat corrupt dialect ; their
pronunciation was vicious ; they confounded the differ
ent aspirates, which led to mistakes that occasioned
great laughter.;]: In religious matters, they were con
sidered ignorant and unorthodox;] the expression
" Galilean block-head," had become proverbial.§ It
was believed (and not without cause) that the Jewish
blood was very much mixed among them, and it was
considered to be an axiom that Galilee could not pro-
• Jos., Ant, XX, xi, 2. t x*s. lxxxiv ,'Vulg., ixxxm) , 10.
X Matt., xxti, 73; Mark, xiv 70; Acts, n, 7; Talm. of Bab., Erubin, 53 a seqq.
Bereschith rabba, 25 c.
| Passage of the treatise Erubin, previously cited. \ Erubin, loo. cit , 53 a

198 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
duce a prophet.* Placed thus on the confines of Ju-
daism and almost outside, the poor Galileans had only
a passage of Isaiah badly interpretedf to sustain theii
hopes: "The hind of Zabulon, and the land of Neph
talim. by the way of the sea,f Galilee of the gentiles
the people which sat in darkness 6aw great light; antf
to them which sat in the region and shadow of death
light is sprung up." The reputation of the native city
of Jesus was particularly bad. It was a popular prov
erb : " Can there any good thing come out of Nazar
eth?"] The utter barrenness of nature in the environs of
Jerusalem must have added to the distaste of Jesus.
The valleys have no water ; the soil is parched and
stony. Looking down into the depression of the Dead
Sea, the view is somewhat striking, otherwise it is
monotonous. The hill of Mizpah alone, with its
memories of the most ancient history of Israel, invites
the eye. The city presented, in the time of Jesus,
very nearly the same aspect that it does to-day. It
had scarcely any ancient monuments, for up to the
time of the Asmoneans, the Jews were slill strangers
to all the arts ; John Hyrrcanus began to embellish it,
and Herod the Great had madejt one of the most su
perb cities of the East. The Herod ian constructions
vied with the most finished of antiquity by their
grand character, the perfection of their execution, and
the beauty of the materials.§ A multitude of superb
tombs, of an original taste, were built about the samo
time in the environs of Jerusalem.^ The style of these
• Jotin, tii, 82. * IXi !_2; Matt, it, 13 seqq.
t See above, p. 163, note J. 0 John, i, 46.
k Jos., AW.., XV, vm-xi; B.J. V, v, 6; Mark, xn, 1-2.
% Tombs called Tombs of the Judges, of the Kings, ot Absalom, of Zccharia,

LIFE OF JESUS. l'^9
nidmiments was Greek, but adapted to the usages of
the Jews. and considerably modified according to their
principles. Ornaments of living sculpture, which the
Herods permitted, to the great displeasure of the
rigorists, were banished and replaced by vegetablo
decorations. The taste of the ancient inhabitants of
Phoenicia and Palestine for monolithic monumenta
carved out of the solid rock, seemed to be revived in
these singular tombs excavated in the rock, in which
the Greek orders are so grotesquely applied to a trog
lodyte architecture. Jesus, who considered these
woiks of art a pompous display of vanity, looked upon
all these monuments with a reproachful eye.* His
absolute spiritualism and his fixed opinion that the
form of the old world was about to pass away, left him
no ta^te save for the things of the heart.
The temple in the time of Jesus, was entirely new,
and the exterior works were not yet finished. Herod
had commenced its reconstruction in the year 20 or 21
before the Christian era, to make it harmonize with
his other edifices. The body of the temple was fin
ished in eigftteen months, the porticoes in eight
years ;f but the accessory portions were continued
slowly and were finished but a short time before the
taking of Jerusalem.^ Jesus probably saw men
working there, not without some secret displeasure.
These expectations of a long future seemed, as it were,
an insult to his speedy advent. More clairvoyant than
the unbelievers and the fanatics he divined that these

of Jehosaphat, of St. James. Compare the description of the tomb of the Mao.
cabees at Modiu (Mace. , xm, 27 seqq.
* Matt., xxm, 27,29; xxiv,lseqq.; Mark, xm, 1 seqq. ; Luke, xix, 44, xxi,
seqq. Compare Book of Enoch, xcvn, 13-14; Talm. of Bab., Schabbath, 33 6.
t Jos., 4ni., XV, XI, 5, 6. tfbtd.,XX, ix, 7; John, 11, 20,

200 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
superb constructions were destined for a short dura
tion .*
The temple, however, formed a wonderfully impos
ing whole, of which the present haram,\ notwith
standing its beauty, can hardly give an idea. The
courts and the surrounding porticoes served daily as
the rendezvous of a considerable throng, so much so
that this large space was by times the temple, the
forum, the tribunal and the university. All the reli
gious discussions of the Jewish scholars, all the can
onical teachings, the trials even and civil causes, in a
word, all the activity of the nation, was concentrated
here.f It was a perpetual din of argument, an arena
of disputes, resounding with sophisms and subtleties.
The temple had thus much similarity to a Moslem
mosque. Full of respect, at this period, for strange re
ligions, when they remained upon their own ground, |
the Romans forbade themselves the entrance of the
sanctuary ; Greek and Latin inscriptions marked the
point to which it wr s lawful for non-Jews to go.§ But
the Antonia tower the head- quarters of the Roman
force, commanded die whole enclosure and permitted
whatever took place within to be seen.T The police reg
ulations of the temple appertained to the Jews; a cap
tain of the temple was entrusted with its superinten-
dance, caused the gates to be opened and shut, pre
vented any one from crossing the enclosure with a
•Matt, xxiv, 2; xxvi, 61; xxvn, 40; Mark, xm, 2; xrv, 68; XT, 29; Luke
XXI, 0; John, 11,19-20.
f There i< no doubt that the temple and its enclosure occupied the site of fht
Mosque of Omar and of the haram. or Sacred Court, which surrounded th<
Mosque. The terreplein of the haram is, in some parts, especially at the placs
in which the Jews meet to weep, the base of the temple of Herod.
X Luke, n, 46 seqq ; Mischna, Sanhedrin, x, 2. || Suet., Aug , 03
fc Philo, Legatio ad Caium, t) 31; Jos., B. J , V, T, 2; VI, n, 4; Acts, xxi, 28.
f Considerable traces of the tower of Antonia are yet seen in the northern pari
Of the haram.

LIFE OF JESUS. 201
stick in his hand, with dusty shoes, while carrying
packages, or to shorten the road.* Above all
there was scrupulous watch that none should enter
the inner porches while in a state of impurity accord
ing to the law. Women had an apartment entirely
separate. It was here that Jesus passed his days, while he re
mained at Jerusalem. The period of the feasts brought
to this city an extraordinary influx. Gathered into
messes of ten or twenty persons, the pilgrims invaded
all places, and lived in that disorderly aggregation in
which the East delights.f Jesus was lost in the mul
titude, and his poor Galileans grouped about him made
but a sorry appearance. He probably felt that here he
was in a hostile world which would receive him only
with disdain. All that he saw repulsed him. The
temple, much thronged, like places of devotion in
general, presented an appearance far from edifying.
The performance of the rites involved a multitude
of repulsive details, especially the mercantile opera
tions, for which actual shops were established in the
sacred enclosure. Animals were sold for the sacrifices ;
there were also tables for the exchange of money ; at
times it seemed a bazaar. The lower officers of the tem
ple doubtless performed their functions with the irreli
gious vulgarity which has marked sacristans in all
time. This profane and careless manner in the con
duct of holy things wounded the religious sentiment
of Jesus, which was sometimes carried even to sever
ity.^: He said that they had made of the house of
prayer a den of thieves. One day even, it is said,
• Misohna, Berakoth, ix, 6 ; Talm. of Bab. , Jeba.rn.oih, 6 b; Mark, xi, 16.
f Jos., A j;,II,xit, 3; VI, ix, 3. Comp. Ps.,oxxxm (Vulg., cxxxn).
J Mark, xi, 16. 9*

202 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
overcome with indignation, he scourged these base
venders and overturned their tables.* Upon the whole,
he had little love for the temple. The worship which
he had conceived for his Father, had nothing to do
with scenes of butchery. All these old Jewish insti
tutions displeased him, and he suffered from being
jbliged to conform to them. So, likewise, neither the
temple nor its site inspired pious sentiments in the
bosom of Christianity, save among Judaizing Chris
tians. The real new men held in aversion this ancient
sacred place. Constantine and the first Christian em
perors permitted the pagan constructions of Hadrianf
to remain. It was the enemies of Christianity, like
Julian, who held this place in esteem.^ When Omar
entered Jerusalem the site of the temple had been
purposely profaned out of hate to the Jews.] Islam,
that is to say, a sort of resurrection of Judaism in its
exclusively Semitic form, restored its honors. This
place has always been anti-Christian.
The arrogance of the Jews completed the discontent
of Jesus, and rendered life in Jerusalem painful to
him. In proportion as the grand ideas of Israel ma
tured, the priesthood declined. The institution of
synagogues had given to the interpreter of the Law,
the doctor, great superiority over the priest. There
were priests only in Jerusalem, and there even, re
duced to functions entirely ritual, much like our par
ish priests who are excluded from preaching, they
were over-awed by the orator of the synagogue, tho
Matt., xxi, 12 seqq; Mark, xi, 15 seqq.; Luke, xix, 45' seqq.; John, 11, Hseqq.
f Ilin. a Burdig. Hierus., p. 162 (edit Schott) ; St. Jerome, in Is., ii, 8, and in
Matt., xxiv, 15.
iAmmianus Maroellinus, XXIII, 4.
Eutyohius, Ann., n, 286 seqq. (Oxford, 1659).

LIFE OF JESUS. 203
casuist, the sofer or scribe, layman as he was. The
celebrated men of the Talmud are not priests ; they
are learned men, according to the ideas of the time.
The high priest of Jerusalem held, it is true, a rank
very elevated in the nation, but he was by no means
at the head of the religious movement. The sovereign
pontiff, whose dignity had already been degraded by
Herod,* became more and more a Roman function
ary ,f who was recalled frequently in order to render
the charge profitable to many. Opposed to the Phar
isees, highly exalted lay zealots, the priests were
nearly all Saddueees, that is to say, members of this
incredulous aristocracy which had formed around the
temple and lived hy the altar, but saw its vanity.f The
sacerdotal caste was separated so widely from the na
tional sentiment and the great religious tide which
swayed the people, that the name of Saddncee {8a-
doki), which at first designated simply a member of
the sacerdotal family of Sadok, had become synony
mous with "materialist" and " Epicurean."
A still worse element had begun, since the reign of
Herod the Great, to corrnpt the high-priesthood.
Herod having become enamoured of Mariamne, daugh
ter of Simon, himself the son of Bocthus of Alexan
dria, and desiring to marry her (towards the year 28
B. C), saw no other way to ennoble his father-in-law
and raise him to his own level, but by making him
high-priest. This intriguing family continued master,
almost without interruption, of the sovereign pontifi
cate for thirty-five years.] Closely allied to the reign
ing family, it lost it only after the deposition of Arche
• Jos., An'.-, XV, m, 1, 3. f Jos., Ant., xtih, 11;
XActs, iT,lseqq ; v, 17; Jos., Ant.. XX, ix, 1; PirkeAboth, i,10.
] Jos., Ant., XV, ix, 3; XVII, vi, 4; xm, 1; XVIII, 1, 1; n,l; XIX, vi, 2;tiii, I

204 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
laus, and recovered it (A. D. 42) after Herod Agrippa
had for some time been restoring the work of Herod
the Great. Under the name of Boethusim,* was thus
formed a new sacerdotal nobility, very worldly and
little devout, which almost coalesced with the Sadc-
kites. The Boethusim, in the Talmud and the rabbin
ical writings, are set forth as a species of infidels and
always in company with the Sadducees.f From all
this resulted about the temple a species of Court of
Rome, living by politics, little sympathetic with ex
cesses of zeal, dreading them even, indisposed to hear
of huly personages or of innovators, for its profit lay
in the established routine. These epicurean priests
had not the violence of the Pharisees; they cared only
for repose ; it was their moral carelessness, their chill
ing irreligion at which Jesus revolted. Although
very different, the priests and the Pharisees were thus
nnited in his antipathies. But, a stranger and without
influence, he was long compelled to lock his discontent
within himself, and to communicate his sentiments
only to the intimate society which accompanied him.
Before the last visit, which was by far the longest
of all that he made to Jerusalem, and which terminated
in his death, Jesus endeavored, however, to make him
self heard. He preached ; he was talked of; people
spoke about certain acts which were considered mirac-
* This name is found only in the Jewish documents. I think that the " Hero-
dians " of the Gospel are the Boethusim.
+ Treatise AbothNatiian, 5; Soferim, in, hal., 5; Mischna, Menachoth, x, 3; Talm.
of Bab., SchObbath, 118 a. The name of the Bce'hvsim is often exchanged in the
Talmudic books wi*h that of the Sadducees, or with the word Minim (heretics).
Compare Thosiphta Joma i, with Talm. of Jerus.. same treatise, i, -, and Talm.
of Bab., same treatise, 19 b; Thos. Sulcka, m. with Talm. of Bab., same treatise
43 b; Thos. ibvl., farther on, with Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 4-6; Thos. Ro ch-
hasscltana, i, with Mischna, same treatise, n, 1, Talm. of Jerus., same treatise, n,
1, and Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 2 '.b; Thos. Meniehth, x.withMisohna, same

LIFE OF JESUS. 205
ulous. But from all this resulted no established church
at Jerusalem, no group of Hierosolyinite disciples. The
charming teacher, who pardoned all if they only loved
him, found feeble echo in this sanctuary of vain dis
putes anrj. obsolete sacrifices. Its result to him was
only certain advantageous relations, the fruits of which
he afterwards reaped. It does not appear that he then
made the acquaintance of the family of Bethany which
gave him, in the midst of the trials of his last months,
so much consolation. But at an early period he at
tracted the attention of a certain Nicodemus, a rich
Pharisee, member of the Sanhedrin, and much thought
of at Jerusalem.* This man, who appears to have
been honorable and earnest, felt an attraction towards
the young Galilean. Not wishing to compromise him
self, he came to see him by night, and had a long con
versation. f He received, doubtless, a favorable im
pression from it, for at a later period he defended Jesus
against the accusations of his fellow Pharisees,:]: and,
after the death of Jesus, we find him surrounding with
his pious cares the dead body of the master.] JN'icodc
mus did not become a Christian ; he thought it due to
his position not to enter into a revolutionary move
ment, which as yet numbered no notable adherents.
But he bore evidently much friendship for Jesus, and
rendered him some services, though unable to snatch
him from a death the fiat of which, at the period which
we have now reached, was already written.
* It seems that there is some question concerning him in the Talmud. Talm.
:1 Bab , Taani li. 20 a; Gitlin, 56 a; Ketubcth, f6 b; treatise Aloth Nathan, vn; Mid-
rasch rabba, E a C4 a. The passage Taanith identifies him with Bounai. who. ac
cording to Sanhedrin (see above, p. 194. note f), was a dipciplc of Jesus. But if
Bounai is the Banou of Josephus, this conjunction is without force.
f John m, 1 seqq ; vn, 50. We are certainly at liberty to believe that the
Uxt even of the conversation is only a creation of John.
% John, vn, 50 seqq. g John, xix, 39.

206 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
As to the famous doctors of the time, Jesus appears
not to have had any communication with them. Hillel
and Schammai were dead ; the greatest authority of
the time was Gamaliel, grandson of Hillel. He was
liberal in mind, and a man of the world, open to pro
fane studies, and inclined to tolerance by his intercourse
with the best society.* Contrary to the strict Phari
sees, who walked veiled or with closed eyes, he looked
at women, even pagans. f Tradition pardoned this to
him, as well as his knowledge of Greek, because he
had access to the court. J After the death of Jesus, he ex
pressed very moderate views concerning the new sect.]
St. Paul came from his school. § But it is highly pro
bable that Jesus never entered it.
One idea at least Jesus carried away from Jerusa
lem, an idea which from this time forth appears rooted
in him, that there is no compromise possible with the
ancient Jewish religion. The abolition of the sacrifices
which had caused him so much disgust, the suppression
of an impious and haughty priesthood, and in a gene
ral sense the abrogation of the Law appeared to him
an absolute necessity. From this moment, he takes
the position no longer of the Jewish reformer, but of a
destroyer of Judaism. Some of the partisans of Mebsi-
anic ideas had already supposed that the Messiah
would bring a new law, which would be common to
the whole earth. ^f The Essenes, who were hardly
Jews, appear also to have been indifferent to the tem
ple and to the Mosaic observances. But this hardi-
• Mischna; Baba Mdsia, v, 8; Talm. of Bab., Sota, 49 b
f Talm. of Jerus., Beiakoth,i\. 2.
i Passage Sota, previously cited, and Baba Kama. 83 a.
I Acts, T, 34 seqq. § Acts, xxn, 3.
"j Orac. sib., b. Ill, 573 seqq.; 715 seqq.; 766-68. Compare Hie Targumof Jona
than, Is. XII, 3.

LIFE OF JESUS.' 207
hood was only isolated or not avowed. Jesus first
dared to say that from his time, or rather from that of
John,* the Law existed no more. If he sometimes
used terms more discreet,f it was that he might not
shock received prejudices too violently. When he
was pushed to an issue, he put aside all veils, and de
clared that the Law was no longer in force. He made
use on this subject of strong comparisons: "Men do
not mend," he said, " old with new. They do not put
new wine into old bottles.":}: See now in practice his
acts as a master and a creator. This temple excluded non-
Jews from its pale by contemptuous placards. Jesus
cares not for it. Jesus declares that all men of good
will, all men who welcome and love him, are children
of Abraham.] Pride of blood seems to him the chief
enemy to be fought. Jesus, in other words, is no
longer a Jew. He is a revolutionist of the highest
grade; he calls all men to a religion founded solely
upon their childhood to God. He proclaims the rights
of man, not the rights of the Jew ; the religion of man,
not the religion of the Jew ; the deliverance of man,
not the deliverance of the Jew.§ Ah ! we are far from
a Juda, the Gaulonite, a Mathias Margaloth, preach
ing revolution in the name of the Law !" The religion
of humanity, established not upon race, but upon the
heart, is founded. Moses is obsolete the temple has no
longer any reason to be and is irrevocably doomed.
* Luke, xvi, 16. The passage in Matthew, xi, 12-13, is less clear, but can have
no other meaning.
f Matt., v, 17-18 (Cf. Talm. of Bab., SchaVbath, 116 b). Tuis passage is not in
contradiction with those in which the abolition of the Law is implied. It signi
fies only that in Jesus all the types of the Old Testament are accomplished. Cf
Luke, xvi, 17.
1 Matt, ix, 16-17; Luke, v, 36 seqq. Q Luke, xix, 9-
S Matt, xxiv, i4; xxvm 19; Mark, xm, 10; xvi, 15; Luke, xxiv, 47.

/:¦

208 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XIV".

EBLATIOHS OF JESUS WITH THE P A O A 5 8 AND TBI
SAM AEITAHS.

In accordance with these principles, he disdained
everything which was not the religion of the heart.
The vain practices of devotees.* external rigorism,
which relies upon grimaces for salvation, found iu
him a mortal enemy. He concerned himself little
about the fasts. f He preferred the forgiveness of an
injury to a sacrifice.:}: The love of God, charity, mu
tual forgiveness, this is all his law.] Nothing less
priestly. The priest, by reason of his profession, urges
always to public sacrifice, of which he is the necessary
minister; he diverts from private prayer, which is a
means of dispensing with him. We should search the
Gospel in vain for a religious rite commanded by Je
sus. Baptism has to him but a secondary import
ance ;§ and as to prayer, it avails nothing unless it
comes from the heart. Many, as it always happens
thought to replace by the willingness of weak souls
the true love of the right, and imagined that they
» Matt., xv, 9. f Matt, ix, 14; xi, 19.
1 Matt, v, 23 seqq. ; ix, 13; xn, 7.
( Matt, xxn, "7 seqq. ; Mark, xn, 28 seqq. ; Luke; x, 25 seqq.
(Matt , hi, 16 I Cor., i, 17.

LIFE OF JESUS. 209
could conquer the kingdom of heaven by saying to
him, " Rabbi, Rabbi f he repelled them, and pro
claimed that his religion was to do well.* He often
cited this passage from Isaiah : "This people honoreth
rifle with their lips, but their heart is far from me."f
The Sabbath was the cardinal point upon which was
reared the edifice of pharisaical scruples and snbtilties.
This ancient and transcendant institution had become
a pretext for miserable disputes to the casuists, and a
source of superstitious beliefs.:}: It was believed that
nature observed it; all intermittent springs weie con
sidered " sabbatical."]
It was this point also upon which Jesus was most
pleased to defy his adversaries. § He openly violated
the Sabbath, and responded to the reproaches which
it brought upon him with cutting raillery. With
stronger reason he contemned a multitude of modern
observances, which tradition had added to the Law,
and which, from this very fact, were most dear to the
bigoted. Ablutions, fine-drawn distinctions between
things pure and impure, he could not abide ; " Can
you also, said he to them, wash your souls? Not
that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man, but
that which cometh out of his lieart."^f The Pharisees,
the propagators of these mummeries, were the mark
of all his blows. He accused them of overdoing the
Law, of inventing impossible precepts in order to cre
ate among men occasions of sin ; "Blind leaders of the
« Matt, vn, 27; Luke, vi, 46.
f Matt, xv, S; Mark, vn, 6. Cf. Isaiah, xxix, 13.
X See especially the treatise Schabbaih of the Mischna, and the Book of the Ju
bilee (translated from the Ethiopian in the Jahrbueher of Ewald, 2 and 3) , ch. t.
| Joa.,B.J., VII, v,l; Pliny, J?. iV., XXXI, 18. Cf. Thomson, The Land and
the Book, 1. 406 seqq.
i Matt. , xn, 1-14; Mark, 11,23-28; Luke, ti, 1-5; xm,14seqq.; xiT,lseqq.
\ Matt., xn, 34; xt, 1 seqq. ; 12 seqq. ; xxm, entire; Marc, tu, 1 seqq.; 15 seqq.
Luke, ti, 45; xi, 39 seqq.

210 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
blind, said he, take heed lest ye fall into the ditch."-—
" Generation of vipers," adde 1 he in private, " they
speak none but good things, but within they are bad ;
they belie the proverb: 'Of the abundance of the
heart the month speaketh.' "
He did not know enough of the Gentiles to think
of founding upon their conversion anything substan
tial. Galilee contained a great number of pagans, but
not, it would seem, any public and organized worship
of false gods.* Jesus might have seen this worship
flaunting in all its splendor in the country of Tyre and
Sidon, at Cesarea-Philippi, and in Decapolis.f He
paid little attention to it. We never see in him that
wearisome pedantry of the Jews of his day, these de
clamations against idolatry, so familiar to his co-relig
ionists since Alexander, and which fill, for example,
the book of " Wisdom. "f What strikes him in the
pagans, is not their idolatry, but their servility.] . The
young Jewish democrat, in this a brother of Juda the
Gaulonite, admitting no master but God, was deeply
wounded at the honors with which the persons of sov
ereigns were surrounded, and the titles, often menda
cious, which were given them. Aside from this, in
most cases, where he meets pagans, he shows great in
dulgence toward them ; at times he declares that he
has greater hopes of them than of the Jews.§ The
kingdom of God will be transferred to them. "When
* I believe that the pagans of Galilee were found mostly on the frontiers, at
Kadis, for example, but that the very heart of the country, the city of Tiberias
excepted, was wholly Jewish. The line where the ruins of temples end and the
ruins of synagogues begin, is now clearly marked as high as lake Iluleh (Sama-
chonitis). 1 he traces of pagan sculpture which it is believed have been found
at Tell-Hum, are doubtful. The coast, and especially the town of Acre do not
form part of Galilee.
1 See above, p. 153. t Chap, xm seqq.
j| Matt., xx, 25; Mark, x, 42; Luke, xxn, -5.
$ Matt, vm, 5 seqq.; xv, 22 seqq ; Mark, vn. 25 seqq ; Luke, iv, 25 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 211
the lord of a vineyard is dissatisfied with those to
whom he has let it, what does he do ? Ho lets it to
others, who bring him good fruits."* Jesus would
cleave so much the more strongly to this idea, as the
conversion of the Gentiles was, according to Jewish
ideas, one of the most certain signs of the coining of
the Messiah.f In his kingdom of God, men sit at the
feast, by the side of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who
have come from the four winds of heaven, while the
legitimate heirs of the kingdom are excluded, f Often,
it is true, we apparently find in the commands which
he gives his disciples a directly contrary tendency ; he
6eems to charge them to preach salvation only to the
orthodox Jews ;|| he speaks of pagans in a manner
conformable to the prejudices of the Jews.§ But we
must remember that the disciples, whose narrow un
derstanding did not comprehend this lofty indifference
to the condition of the sons of Abraham, may well
have caused the instructions of their master to bend
considerably in the direction of their own ideas. Be
sides, it is very possible that Jesus varied upon this
point, even as Mahomet speaks of the Jews, in the
Koran, sometimes in the most honorable way, some
times with extreme harshness, accordingly as he hopes
to attract them or not to him. Tradition indeed attri
butes to Jesus two rules of proselytism in direct con
tradiction, which he may have practised by turns ;
" He that is not against us is for us :" — " He that is

« Matt., xxi, 41; Mark,xii,9; Luke, xx, 16.
y Is., ie, 2 seqq.; ix; Amos ix, 11 seqq,; Jerem., in, 17; Malach., I, 11; Xabit,
xm, 13 seqq.; Orac. Sibyl., in, 715 seqq. Comp. Matt., xxiv, 14; Acts, XT. 15 seqq.
1 Matt., vm, 11-12; xxi, 33 seqq.; xxn, 1 seqq.
j Matt., VII, 6; x, 5-6; XV, 24; XXI, 43.
5 Matt. , t, 46 seqq. ; ti, 7, 31; xtiu,17; Luke, ti, 32 seqq.; xn, iO.

212 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
not with me is against me."* An impassioned strug
gle almost necessarily leads to such contradictions.
It is certain that he numbered anions his cKiciples
many whom the Jews called " Hellenes, "-(v This word
had, in Palestine, very different meanings. 'It desig
nated sometimes pagans, sometimes Jews speaking
Greek and living among pagans, sometimes people of
pagan origin converted to Judaism.] Probably it is
in this last category of Hellenes that Jesus found
sympathy. § Affiliation to Judaism had many degrees ;
but proselytes were always inferior to Jews by birth.
Those of whom we now speak were called " proselytes
of the gate," or " people fearing God," and were in
subjection to the precepts of Noah, not to the Mosaic
precepts.Tf This very inferiority was doubtless the
cause which brought them nearer to Jesus and secured
them his favor.
He dealt in the same way with the Samaritans.
Hemmed in like an islet, between the two great pro
vinces of Judaism (Judea and Galilee), Samaria formed
in Palestine a kind of independent territory, which
preserved the old worship of Garizim, the brother and
rival of that of Jerusalem. This poor sect, which had
neither the genius nor the wise organization of Juda
ism proper, was treated by the Hierosolymites with
extreme severity.** They were placed upon the same
level with the pagans, with one degree more of hatred.ff
• Matt. , XII, 40. ; Mark, IX, 30; Luke.IX, 50; XI, 23.
+ Josephus says so expressly (Ant., XVIII, m.S). Comp. John tii 35- -xu
20;2i- , -¦ , t , , „ t Talm. of Jerus., &tov";l
J See in particular, John, vii,3-;xii, 20;^lcte, xiv, Ijxth, 4; xtih 4- xxi 28
5 John, xn, 20; Acts, vn, 27. ' ' '
\ Mischna, Bote meteia, ix, 12; Talm. of Bab., Sanh. 56 6- Acts vm 27- x 2 22
85; xm, 16, 26, 43,50; xvi, 14; xvn,4,17; xvm, 7; Galat, II, 3; Jos.J Ant.,'x'lV',
** EccUsiastes, l, 27-28; John, vm, 48; Jos., Ant., IX, xiv, 3: XI vm « TT1
T,5; Talm.of Jerus., Abodasara,v,4; Pesachim,l,l. i"",H au,
ft Matt, x, 6; Luke, xtii, 18. Comp. Talm. of Bab., Cholin, 6 a.

LIFE OF JESUS. 213
Jesus, by a sort of opposition, was kindly disposed to
wards them. Often he prefers Samaritans to orthodox
Jews. If, in other cases, he seems to forbid his disci
ples to go and preach to them, reserving his Gospel
for the pure Israelites,* this also is undoubtedly a pre
cept dictated by circumstances, to which the apostles
may have given too absolute a meaning. Sometimes,
indeed, the Samaritans gave him an ill-reception, be
cause they supposed him imbued with the prejudices
of his co-religionists ;f just as in our days the European
free-thinker is viewed as an enemy by the Mussulman,
who always believes him a fanatical Christian. Jesus
rose above these misconceptions. J He had many dis
ciples at Sichem, and he spent there at least two days.]
In one instance, he finds gratitude and true piety only
in a Samaritan. § One of his most beautiful parables
is that of the man wounded upon the road to Jericho.
A priest passes him, sees him and continues his way.
A Levite passes and does not stop. A Samaritan has
pity on him, goes to him, pours oil into his wounds,
and binds them up.T" Jesus concludes from this that
true fraternity is established among men by charity,
not by religious faith. The " neighbor," who in Juda
ism was only the co-religionist, is to him that man who
has pity on his kind without distinction of sect. Hu
man brotherhood in the broadest sense overflows from
all his teachings.
These thoughts, which beset Jesus on his departure
from Jerusalem, found living expression in an anecdote
which has been preserved on his return. The road
from Jerusalem to Galilee passes within half an hour's
journey of Sichem,** before the opening of the valley
* Matt., x, 5-A f Luke ix, 63. X Luke, ix, 66. I John, it. 39-48.
& Luke, xrn 16 seqq. Y Luke, x, 30 seqq. •» Now Naploui

214 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
overlooked by Mounts Ebal and Garizim. This route
was in general avoided by the pilgrim Jews, who made
the long circuit of Persea in their journeys rather than
to expose themselves to the affronts of the Samaritans
or to ask anything of them. It was unlawful to eat or
drink with them ;* it was an axiom of certain casuists
that " a bit of the Samaritans' bread is swine's flesh. "f
When they took that route, they supplied themselves
with provisions in advance; yet they rarely avoided
quarrels and ill-treatment.^: Jesus partook neither of
these scruples nor these fears. Reaching on his jour
ney the point where the valley of Sichem opens upon
the left, he felt weary, and stopped near a well. The
Samaritans had, then as now, the custom of giving to
all the places in their valley, names drawn from pa
triarchal remembrances ; they regarded this well as
having been given by Jacob to Joseph ; it was proba
bly the very same which is even yet called Bir-Lakoub.
The disciples entered the valley and went to the town
to buy provisions ; Jesus seated himself upon the brink
of the well, looking towards Garizim.
It was about noon. A woman of Sichem came to
draw water. Jesus asked to drink, which excited great
astonishment in the woman, the Jews ordinarily inter
dicting themselves from all dealing with the Samari
tans. Won over by the conversation of Jesus, the
woman recognized in him a prophet, and, expecting
reproaches upon her worship, she took the lead :
" Lord," said she, " our fathers worshipped in this
mountain; and ye say that Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship." " Woman, believe me,"
Jesus responded to her, " the hour cometh when ye
« Luke, ix, 53; John, iv, 9. f Mischna, SehebiU, vm, 10.
X Jos.,4ni„XX,v, 1; B. j:,II,xn,3; Vita,62.

LIFE OF JESUS. 215
shall worship neither in this mountain nor yet at Jeru
salein, but when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth."*
On the day when he pronounced these words, he
was indeed the son of God. He for the first time gave
utterance to the idea upon which shall rest the edifice
of the everlasting religion. He founded the pure wor
ship, of no age, of no clime, which shall be that of all
lofty souls to the end of time. Not only was his relig
ion, that day, the benign religion of humanity, but it
was the absolute religion ; and if other planets have
inhabitants endowed with reason and morality, their
religion cannot be different from that which Jesus
proclaimed at Jacob"s well. Man has not been able
to abide by this worship ; we attain the ideal only for
a moment. Tiie words of Jesus were a gleam in thick
night ; it has taken eighteen hundred years for the
eyes of humanity (what do I say ! of an infinitely small
portion of humanity) to learn to abide it. But the
gleam shall become the full day, and, after passing
through all the circles of error, humanity will return
' to these words, as to the immortal expression of its
faith and its hope's.
* John, it, 21-23 . Verse 22, at least the last clause, which expresses a thought
opposed to that of verses 21-23, appears to have been interpolated. We cannot
insist very strongly upon the historic value of such a conversation, since Jesus
alone, or the woman could have related it. But the anecdote of chapter iv of
John certainly represents one of the most characteristic ideas of Jesus, and the
greater part of the circumstances of the recital have a striking stamp of truth.

216 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XV.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE LEGEND OF JESUS — HIS Oil
IDEA OF HIS SOPEESAIUBil MISSION.
Je8tjs returned to Galilee having completely lost
his Jewish faith, and in full revolutionary ardor. His
ideas are now expressed with perfect clearness. The
innocent aphorisms of his first prophetic age, borrowed
in part from preceding masters, the beautiful moral
teachings of his second period, result in a decided
policy. The law is to be abolished ; he himself is to
abolish it.* The Messiah has come ; he himself is the
Messiah. The kingdom of God is soon to reveal it
self ; by him it is to be revealed. He knows well that
he will be the victim of his hardihood ; but the king
dom of God cannot be conquered without violence ; it
is by crises and anguish that it must be established. f
The Son of man, after his death, will come in glory,
accompanied by legions of angels, and those who have
denied him shall be confounded.
The boldness of such a conception must not surprise
as. Jesus had long considered the relation between

* The hesitation of the Immediate disciples of Jesus, a considerable portion of
whom remained attached to Judaism, might here give rise to some objections.
But the trial of Jesus leaves no room for any doubt. We shall see that he was
there treated as a " seducer " The Talmud gives the method followed against
him as an example of that which ought to be followed against " seducers," who
seek to overturn the Law of Moses (Talm. of Jerus. , Sanhedrin, xiv, 16; Talm
of Bab., Sanhedrin, 43 a, 67 a).
-r Matt, xi, 12; Luke, xn, 16

LIFE OF JESUS. 217
himself and God, that oetween a son and a father.
What in others would have been insupportable arro
gance, in him cannot be treated as unlawful.
The title of " son of David," was the first that he ac
cepted, probably without being concerned in the inno
cent frauds by which it was sought to secure it to him.
The family of David had become, it would seem, long
since extinct;* the Asmoneans had never sought to
attribute to themselves such a descent ; neither Herod
nor the Romans dreamed for a moment that there was
among them any representative whatever of the rights
of the ancient dynasty. But since the end of the As
moneans, the dream of an unknown descendant of the
old kings, who should avenge the nation of its
enemies, agitated all minds. The universal belief
was that the Messiah would be a son of David, born,
like him, at Bethlehem. f The first idea of Jesus
was not precisely that. The memory of David, which
preoccupied the mass of the Jews, had nothing in com
mon with his kingdom of heaven. He believed himself
the son of God, and not the son of David. His king
dom, and the deliverance which he meditated were of
an entirely different order. But popular opinion on this
point, did him a species of violence. The immediate con
sequence of this proposition : " Jesus is the Messiah,"
was this other proposition: "Jesus is the son of David !"
He submitted to receive a title without which he could
hope for no success. He finally, it seems, took pleas
ure in it, for he performed most graciously those mir-
• It is true that certain doctors, such as Hillel and Gamaliel, are given as be
ing of the race of David- But these are very doubtful allegations. If the fami
ly of David still formed a distinct and well-known group, how happens it
that we never see it figuring by the side oi the Sadokites. the Boethuses, the As
moneans, or the Herods in the great struggles of the times?
t Matt, ii, 5-6; xxn, 42; Luke, i, 32; John, vn, 41-42; Act/, n, 30.
10

218 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
acles which were sought of him in this name.* Here,
as in many other circumstances of his life, Jesus con
formed to the ideas which were current in his time,
although they were not precisely his own. He associ
ated with his dogma of the " kingdom of God," all that
warmed the heart and the imagination. Thus have we
seen him adopt the baptism of John, which, however,
could have been of no great importance to him.
A grave difficulty presented itself; his birth at Naz
areth, which was a matter of public notoriety. We do
not know whether Jesus attempted to answer this
objection. Perhaps it was not made in Galilee,
where the idea that the son of David must be a Beth-
leheinite, was less common. To the idealistic Galilean,
moreover, the title of " son of David," was sufficiently
justified, if he to whom it was given, renewed the
glory of his race, and brought back again the great
days of Israel. Did he, by his silence, authorize the
fictitious genealogies which his partisans imagined, in
order to prove his royal descent.f Did he know any
thing of the legends invented to fix his birth at Beth
lehem, and in particular of the feat by which lm Beth-
lehemite origin was connected with the assessment
made by the imperial legate, Quirinius?:}: We do not
know. The inexactitude and the contradictions of
the genealogies,] induce the belief that they were the
result of a popular labor, working at different points,
* Matt., IX, 27; XII, 23; XV, 22: xx, 30-31; Mark, X, 47, 52; Luke, xvm, 38.
f Matt, I, i seqq.; Luke, m, 23 seqq. J Matt., n, 1 seqq.; Luke, n,l seqq.
U The two genealogies are altogether discordant, and conform little to the lists
of the Old Testament. The recital of Luke as to the assessment of Quirinius
impiies an anachronism. See above, p. 6\ note |. It is natural, however, that
the tradition should have seized upon this circumstance. The assessments im
pressed the Jews very strongly, overturned their narrow ideas, and were long
remembered. Cf. Acts, v, 37.

LIFE OF JESUS. 219
and that none of them were sanctioned by Jesus.* Ne
ver did he designate himself with his own lips as the
son of David. His disciples, much less enlightened
than he, heightened at times what he said of himself;
oftenest he had no knowledge of these exaggerations.
We must add that during the three first centuries,
large portions of Cbristianityf obstinately denied the
royal descent of Jesus, and the authenticity of the gen
eulogies. His legend was thus the fruit of a great, altogether
spontaneous conspiracy, and was worked out about
him while he was yet alive. No great event of history
has passed without giving rise to a cycle of fables, and
Jesus could not, had he wished, have silenced these
popular creations. Perhaps a sagacious eye could
have recognized, even then, the germ of the stories
which were to attribute to him a supernatural birth,
either in consequence of the notion generally received
in antiquity, that the extraordinary man cannot be
born of the ordinaiy relations between the sexes; or
to fulfil a misunderstood chapter of Isaiah,:}; in which
a prophecy was seen, that the Messiah should be born
of a virgin ; or finally to carry out the idea that the
" Breath of God," already set up in the divine hy
postasis, is a principle of fecundity.] Even then,
perhaps, there circulated concerning his childhood,
more than one anecdote intended to show in his biog
raphy the accomplishment of the Messianic ideal,§ or,
» Julius Africanus (in Eusebius. H. E.. i, 7) supposes that it was the relatives
of Jesus, refugees in Batanea, who essayed to recompose the genealogies.
1 The Ebiouim, the '¦ Hebrews," the '• Nazarenes," Tatian, Marcion. Cf
Epiph., Ada. hter., xxix, 9; xxx, 3, 14; xlvi, 1; Theodoret, Ha.reL.foh., I, -0; la-
idorus of Pelusium, Epist. , I , S71 ; ad Pansophium. X Malt. , i, 22.3,
1 Genesis, l, 2. For an analogous idea among the Egyptians, see Herodotus
III, 28; Pomp. Mela, I, 9; Plutarch, Quasi, symp., VIII, I, 3; Delsid., et Osir.,43.
^ Matt., i, 15, 23; Is., vn, 14 seoo.

220 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
to speak more correctly, of the prophecies which the
allegorical exegesis of the time applied to the Messiah.
At other times, there were created for him relations
from the cradle with celebrated men, John the Baptist,
Herod the Great, Chaldean astrologers, who, it was
said, about that time made a journey to Jerusalem,*
two aged persons, Simeon and Anna, who had left
memories of lofty sanctity.f A rather loose chronology
presided over these combinations, which were for the
most part founded upon real occurrences distorted.;]
But a singular spirit of sweetness and of goodness, a
profoundly popular sentiment, penetrated all these fa
bles, and made them a supplement to the teachings.]
After the death of Jesus especially, such stories were
largely developed ; we may believe, however, that
they were already in circulation while he was living,
without encountering anything more than a pious cre
dulity and an artless wonder.
That Jesus had never thought of passing for an in
carnation of God, we cannot doubt. Such an idea
was extremely foreign to the Jewish mind ; there is no
trace of it in the synoptic gospels ;§ we find it indi
cated only in portions of the gospel of John which
cannot be accepted as an echo of the thought of Jesus.
Sometimes even Jesus seems to take precautions to re
pel such a doctrine. Tf The accusation that he made
himself God or the equal of God is presented, even in
tiie Gospel of John, as a calumny of the Jews.** In
* Matt. , n , 1 seqq. f Luke, n, 25 seqq.
X Thus the legend of tne Massacre of the Innocents probably relates to some
cruelty of Herod with regard to Bethlehem. Comp. Jos., Ant., XIV, ix, 4.
|| Matt. , i and n; Luke, i and n; St. Justin, Dial. cum. Tryph., 78, 106; Protevang,
of James (apocr.), 18 seqq.
(. Certain passages, like Acts, n, 22, exclude it expressly.
11 Matt, xix, 17; Mark, x, 18; Luke, xvm, 19.
** John, v, 18 seqq. ; x, 33 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 221
this last gospel, he declares that he is less than his
Father.* Besides, he avows that the Father has not
revealed all things to him.f He believes himself
more than an ordinary man, but separated from God
by an infinite distance. He is the son of God ; but all
men are so or may become so in diverse degrees.:]: All
men, every day, ought to call God their father ; all the
resurrected will be sons of God. | The divine filiation
was attributed in the Old Testament to beings for
whom was made no pretention of equality with God.§
The word ''son" has, in the Semitic tongues, and in
the language of the New Testament, the largest range
of meaning. T Besides, the idea which Jesus forms of
man is not this humble idea which a cold deism has
introduced. In his poetic conception of nature, one
breath only penetrates the universe ; the breath of
man is that of God ; God dwells in man and lives by
man, even as man dwells in God and lives by God.**
The transcendant idealism of Jesus never permitted
him to have a very clear idea of his own personality.
He is his Father; his Father is he, He lives in his dis
ciples ; he is everywhere with them ;ff his disciples are
one, as he and his Father are one.^ The idea to him
* John, xiv, 28. f Mark, xm, 35.
X Matt., v, 9, 4^; Luke, III, 38; ti, 35; xx, 36; John, I, 1M3; x, 34-35, Comp.
Ads, xvii, 28-29; Rom., vm, 14, 19, 21; ix, 16; II Cor., vi, 18; Galat , in, 26, and
in the Old Testament, Deut., xiv, l, and especially Wisdom, n, 13, IS.
& Luke, xx, 3G.
| Gen., vi, 2; Job, I, 6; n, 1; xxvm, 7; Ps., II, 7; LXXxn, 6; II Sam. , VII, 14
% The son of the devil (Matt., xni, rt; Ads, xni, 10)- the sons of this world
(Mark, m, 17; Lake, xvi, 8; xx, 34)- the sons of light (Luke, xvi, 8; John, xu,
36) ; the sons of the resurrection (Luke , xx, 36; the sons of the kingdom (Matt.
vm, 1l'. xm, 38); the sons of the bridegroom (Matt., ix, l.c, Mark, n, It
Luke, v, 34) ; the sons of Gehenna (Matt. , xxm, 15); the sons of peace (Luke, x
6), etc. Bear in mind that the Jupiter of paganism is rfOLrrjPavdpCiv rs vS&\i r£.
** Comp. Acts, xvn, 28. ft Matt, xvm, 2m. xxvm, 20.
XX John.*,30;xvn,21. See in general the last discourses of John, especially ch-
xvn, which very well express one phase of the psychological state of Jesus, al
though we cannot regard these as genuine historical documents.

222 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
is everything ; the body, which makes the distinction
of persons, is nothing.
The title of " Son of God " or simply of " Son,"* thua
became to Jesus a title analogous to " Son of man,"
and, like it, a synonym of " Messiah," with this differ
ence only, that he called himself '• Son of man," and
that he does not seem to have made the same use of
the expression "Son of God. "f The title Son of man
expressed his character as judge ; that of Son of t^od
his participation in the supreme designs and his pow
er. This power has no limits. His Father has given
him all power. He has a right to change even the
Sabbath.:}: None knows the Father except through
him. | The Father has transmitted to him the exclu
sive right to judge. § Nature obeys him ; but she
also obeys whoever believes and prays ; faith can ac
complish all things. ^T We must remember that no
idea of the laws of Nature existed in his mind, or in
the minds of his auditors, to mark the limits of the
possible. The witnesses of his miracles thanked God
" for having given such power to men."** He forgives
sins ;f f he is superior to David, to Abraham, to Solo
mon, and to the prophets.^ We know neither under
what form nor to what extent these affirmations were
produced. Jesus cannot be judged by the rule of our
petty propriety. The admiration of his disciples over
whelmed him and carried him away. It is evident
that the title of R.ibH, with which he was at first con
tent, did not longer suffice; the title of prophet even
* The passages iu support of this are too numerous to be given nere.
f It is only in the Gospel of John that Jesus makes use of the expression " Son
of God" or " Son" in speaking of himself. J Matt., xn, 8; Luke, vi, 5.
J Matt., xi, 27. 5 John, v, 22. J Matt, xvn, 18-19; Luke, xvn, 6.
** Matt., ix, 8. tfMatt, ix, 2sftqq.; Mark, n, 5 seqq.; Luke, v, 20; vn,47 48
XX Matt. , xn, 41-42; xxn, 43 seqq. ; John, vm, 52 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 223
or of messenger of God did not now respond to his
idea. The position which he attributed to himself
was that of a superhuman being, and he wished to be
regarded as having a more elevated communion with
God than other men. But we must remark that -theso
words "superhuman " and "supernatural" borrowed
from our narrow theology, had no meaning in the high
religions consciousness of Jesus. To him, nature and
the development of humanity were not limited king
doms outside of God, pitiful realities, subjected to the
laws of a hopeless empiricism. Nothing was super
natural to him, for there was no nature. Intoxicated
with infinite love, he forgot the heavy chain which
holds the spirit captive ; he overleaped at one bound
the abyss, insurmountable to the multitude, which the
mediocrity of the human faculties traces between man
and God.
We do not deny that there was in these affirmations of
Jesus the germ of the doctrine which was afterwards
to make him a divine hypostasis,* identifying him
with the Word, or " second God,"f or eldest son of
God,;]: or Metathronic Angel,\ which the Jewish the
ology created on another hand. A species of neces
sity led this theology, in order to correct the extreme
* See especially John, xiv seqq. But it is doubtful whether we have here the
authentic teaching of Jesus.
t Philo cited in Eusebius, Prop. Evang. , VII, 13.
X Philo Demigr. Abraham, § 1- Quod deus immut. , § 6; Deconfus.ling ,^14 and 28;
De vrofiujis, § 20; DeSovmiU, I, ^ 37; De agric. Noe, ^ 12- Quis rerum divin hares, ^ 25
seqq. ; 48 seqq , etc.
U M£T"a$£ovog, that is to say, sharing the throne of God; a species of
divine recorder, keeping the register of merits and of demerits; BerescUUh Rabba,
v, 6 c; Talm. of Bab. , Sanhedr. , 38 b; Chagiga, 15 a; Targum of Jonathan, Gen. , v, 24.
§ This theory of the Aiyof contains no Greek elements. The comparisons
which some have made between it and the Hnnoi-er of the Parsees are also with
out foundation The Minokhiredor u Divine Intelligence" has much analogy with
the A 070^ of the Jews. (See the fragments of the book entitled MinokXirod
in Spiegel. Parsi-Grammalik, p. 161-162.) But the development which the doc
trine ol the Mimkhirecl has received among the Parsees is modern, and may im>

224 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
rigor of the ancient monotheism, to place near God an
assistant judge, to whom the Eternal Father was re
puted to delegate the government of the universe.
The belief that certain men are incarnations of divine
faculties or "powers," was wide-spread; the Samarit
ans had about this time a wonder-worker named Si
mon, who was identified with "the great power of
God."* For nearly two centuries, the speculative
minds of Judaism had yielded to the propensity to
make distinct personalities of the divine attributes or
of certain expressions which related to the divinity
Thus the " Breath of God," which is often mentioned
in the Old Testament, is considered as a separate be
ing, the "Holy Spirit." In the same way, the "Wis
dom of God," the "Word of God," become persons
existing by themselves. This was the germ of the
process which has engendered the SepJiiroth of the
Cabbala, the AHons of Gnosticism, the Christian hy
postases, all this dry mythology, consisting of personi
fied abstractions, to which monotheism is obliged to
have recourse, when it would introduce multiplicity
into the idea of God.
Jesus appears to have remained a stranger to these
refinements of theology, which were very soon to fill
the world with sterile rliseuss'ons. The metaphysical
theory of the Word, as we find it in the writings of
his cotemporary Philo, in the Chaldean Targums, and
previously in the book of " Wisdom, "f is not percep-
ply a foreign influence. The ¦' Divine lutelligent-e" (Mainyu Khratu) figures il
the Zend books; but it does not serve there as the basis of a theory; it euters only
into certain invocations. The comparisons which have been attempted between
the Alexandrian theory of the Word and certain points of the Egyptian theolo
gy are not without value. But nothing indicates that in the centuries which
preceded the Christian era, Palestinian Judaism had borrowed anything from
Egypt. * Ads, vm, 10.
t ix l-2;xvi,12. Comp. vn, 12; vm. 5 seqq.; ix, and in general ix-xi. These
prosopopoeia of personified Wisdom arc fouud in books far more ancient Prov.
/ill, ix;Vob, xxvm.

LIFE OF JESUS. 225
tible either in the Logia of Matthew, or in general in
the synoptics, interpreters so authentic of the words
of Jesus. The doctrine of the Word, indeed, had no
thing in common with Messianism. The Word of
Philo and of the Targums is in no wise the Messiah. It
is John the Evangelist or his school, who afterwards
sought to prove that Jesus is the Word, and who ere
ated from this stand-point an entirely new theology,
very different from that of the kingdom of God.* The
essential character of the Word is that of creator and
of providence ; now Jesus never claimed to have cre
ated the world, nor to govern it. His portion will be
to judge it, to renew it. The character of judge of the
final assizes of humanity, such is the essential attribute
which Jesus attributes to himself, the character which
all the first Christians gave him.f Till that great day
he sits at the right of God as his Metathrone, his prime
minister and his future avenger.:]: The superhuman
Christ of the Byzantine apsides, seated as judge of the
world, in the midst of the apostles, who are analogous
to himself and superior to the angels who only stand
and wait, is the exact representation of that conception
of the " Son of man," the first traits of which we find
so strongly indicated already in the Book of Daniel.
At any rate, the rigor of a premeditated scholastic
ism belonged in no wise to such a world. The whole
mass of ideas which we have set forth formed in the
minds of the disciples a theological system so far from
fixed, that they make the Son of God, this species of
* John, i, 1-14; I John, v, 7; Rev., xix, 13. It will be remembered, moreover,
that, in the Gospel of John, the expression of " Word " does not recur out oy
the prologue, and that the narrator never places it in the mouth of Jesus
t AcU, X, 42.
X Matt., xxvi, 64; Mark, xvi, 19, Luke, xxn, 6Q; Acts, vn, 55; Rom. , vni,34,
Ephes., i, 20; Coloss., in, l;Ueb. i, 3, It; vn, l;x, 12; xn. 2. T Pet. tii, 22. See
the passages previously cited in regard to the position of the Jewish Metathronos.
10*

226 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
divine reduplication, act merely as man. He -is tempt
ed ; he is ignorant of many things ; he corrects him
self ;* he is dejected, discouraged, he asks his Father
to spare him trials; he submits to God like a son. f
lie who is to be the judge of the world, knows not the
day of judgment.:}: He takes precautions for his safe
ty.j| Shortly after his birth, it is necessary to secrete
him to avoid mighty men who desired to kill him.§ In
exorcisms, the devil wrangles with him and does not
go at first.Tf In his miracles, a painful effort is per
ceivcd, a weariness as if something had gone out of
him.** All this is simply the work of a messenger of
God, a man protected and favored of God.f f We musl
ask here neither logic nor consistency. The need that
Jesus had to yield himself to the faith and enthusiasm
of his disciples, piled up contradictory notions. To
the Messianists of the millenarian school, to the exci
ted readers of the books of Daniel and Enoch, he was
the Son of man ; to the Jews of the common faith, to
the readers of Isaiah and Mieah, he was the Son of Da
vid; to the affiliated he was the Son of God, or sim
ply the Son. Others, without being blamed for it by
the disciples, believed him John the Baptist alive
again, Elias, or Jeremiah, according to the popular
belief that the ancient prophets should awaken to pre
pare the way of the Messiah. JJ
An absolute conviction, or to speak more correctly,
enthusiasm, which deprived him even of the possibili
ty of doubt, covered all this hardihood. We can but
* Matt., x, v, compare with xxvm, 19.
+ Matt, xxvi, 39; John, xn, 27. t Mark, xm 3'
| Matt, xn, 14-lU; xiv, 13; Mark, in, 6-7; ix, 29-30; John, vii, T'seqq.
5 Matt, n 20 II Matt, xvn, 20; Mark, ix, 25.
*» Luke, 45-46; John, xi, 33, 88. f\ Acts, II, 22.
XX Matt, xiv, 2; xvi, 14; xvn, 3 seqq.; Mark, vi, 14 15; vm, 28; Luke, ix.1
ieqq.;19.

LIFE OF JESUS. 227
feebly comprehend, with our cold and timorous na
tures, such a manner of being possessed by the idea
of which he makes himself the apostle. To us, races
profoundly serious, conviction means sincerity with
ourselves. But sincerity with ourselves has not much
meaning among the Eastern nations, who are little
accustomed to the delicacy of the critical mind. Good
faith and imposture are words which, in our rigid
conscience, are opposed like two irreconcilable terms.
In the East, between the two there are a thousand
6ubterfnges, a thousand evasions. The authors of the
apocryphal boobs, (of " Daniel " and of "Enoch," for
example,) exalted as they were, committed for their
cause, and most certainly without the shadow of a
scruple, an act which we slumid call a forgery. Mate
rial truth has very little value to the Oriental; he sees
everything through his ideas, his interests and his pas
sions. History is impossible, unless we resolutely admit
that there are many degrees of sincerity. All great
things are achieved byT the people ; now the people are
led only by yielding to their ideas. The philosopher
who, knowing this, isolates and intrenches himself in
his nobility, is greatly to be praised. But he who
takes humanity with its illusions, and seeks to act up
on it and with it, cannot be blamed. Ca>ar knew
very well that he was not the son of Venus ; France
would not be what she is, had she not believed for a
thousand years in the sacred ampulla of Rheims. It is
easy for us, impotent as we are, to call this falsehood,
and, proud of our timid honesty, to treat with con
tempt the heroes who accepted under other conditions
the battle of life. When we shall have done with our

228 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
scruples what they did with their falsehoods, we shall
have the right to be severe upon them. At least we
must make a broad distinction between societies like
our own, in which everything takes place in the matu
rity of reflection, and the simple and credulous socie
ties in which the faiths were born which have master
sd the centuries. There is no great foundation which
does not repose upon a legend. The only guilt in such
a case, ia that of humanity which will be deceived.

LIFE OF JESUS. 229

CHAPTER XVI.

MIRACLES .

Two means of proof only, miracles and the fulfil
ment of the prophecies, could, in the opinion of the
cotemporaries of Jesus, establish a supernatural mis
sion. Jesus, and especially his disciples, employed
these two methods of demonstration with perfect good
faith. For a long time Jesus had been convinced that
the prophets had written only in view of him. He
found himself in their sacred oracles ; he looked upon
himself as the mirror in which all the prophetic spirit
of Israel had read the future. The Christian school,
perhaps even during the life of its founder, sought to
prove that Jesus corresponded perfectly to all that the
prophets had predicted of the Messiah.* In many
cases the correspondences were altogether exterior,
and are hardly cognizable to us. It was usually fortu
itous or insignificant circumstances in the life of the
Master that reminded the disciples of certain passages
of the Psalms and prophets, in which, by reason of
their constant pre-occupation, they saw references to
him.f The exegesis of the times thus consisted almost
* For example, Matt, i, 22; n, 5-6, 15, 18; rv, 15.
t Matt., i,23; iv, 6, 14; xxvi, 31, 5t, 56; xxvn, 9,35; Mark, xiv, 27; XT, 28;
John, XII, 14-15; xvm, 9; xix, 19, 24, 28, 36.

230 LIFE OF JESUS.
entirely in plays upon words, and in citations made in
an artificial and arbitrary manner. The synagogue
had no list officially fixed of the passages which relat
ed to the future reign. The Messianic applications
were free, and constituted much rather artifices of
style than a serious mode of argument.
As to miracles, they were considered, at that time,
the indispensible mark of the divine and the sign of
the prophetic calling. The legends of Elijah and
Elisha were full of them. It was the received opin
ion that the Messiah would perform many.* A few
miles from the place where Jesus dwelt, in Samaria,
a magician named Simon created for himself by his
illusions a character almost divine. f Afterwards,
when it was desired to found the fame of Apolloniua
of Tyana and to prove that his life-had been the visit
of a God to the earth, it was thought that in order to
succeed in this, a vast round of miracles must be in
vented as his work 4 The Alexandrian philosophers
themselve, Plotinus and the rest, are reputed to have
performed them.] Jesus had therefore to choose be
tween these two alternatives, either to renounce his
mission, or to become a wonder-worker. We must re
member that all antiquity, with the exception of the
great scientific schools of Greece and their Roman
adepts, accepted miracles ; that Jesus, not only be
lieved in them, but had not the least idea of a natural
order governed by laws. His knowledge on this point
was in no wise superior to that of his cotemporaries.
Moreover, one of his most deeply rooted opinions was
» John, vn, 34; IV Esdras, xm, 50. f Acts Tin, 9 seqq.
J See his biography by Phlostratus.
See the Lives of the Sophists, by Eunapius; the Life of Plotinus, by For
phyry; that of Proclus, by M&rinus; that of Isidorus. attributed to Damasciu*

LIFE OF JESUS. 231
that with faith and prayer man has all power over na- i-
ture.* The faculty of performing miracles was con
sidered a licence regularly imparted by God to men,f
and was not at all surprising.
Time has changed into something very grievous to
us that which was the power of the great founder, and
if ever the worship of Jesus grows feeble in the heart
of humanity, it will be because of those very acts
which made men believe on him. Criticism experi
ences before these historical phenomena no embarrass
ment. A thaumaturgist of our days, unless of extreme
simplicity, as has been the case among certain outcasts
of Germany, is detestable ; for he perforins miracles
without believing in them ; he is a charlatan. But if
we take a Francis d'Assisi, the question is altogether
changed ; the miraculous cycle of the binh of the or
der of St. Francis, far from shocking us, causes us
real pleasure. The founders of Christianity lived in a
state of poetic ignorance at least as complete as St.
Clare and the ires socii. They thought it very natural
that their master should have interviews with Moses
and Elias, that he should command the elements, and
that he should heal the sick. We must remember
besides, that every idea loses something of its purity
when it aspires to realization. We never succeed but
that the delicacy of the soul experiences some shocks.
Such is the feebleness of the human mind, that the
best causes are ordinarily gained only for bad reasons.
The demonstrations of the primitive expounders of
Christianity repose upon the poorest arguments. Mo
ecs, Columbus and Mahomet, triumphed over obsta
cles onJj_by_ taking into consideration^ each day the
• Matt , xtii, 18; xxi, 21-22; Mark, xi, 23-24. f Matt. , ix, 8.

232 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
weakness of men and by not always giving the true
reasons of the truth. It, is probable that the assem
blage about Jesus was more struck by his miracles than
by his teachings so deeply divine. We must add tha.
undoubtedly popular fame, before and after the death
of Jesus, enormously exaggerated the number of acts
of this kind. The types of the evangelical miracles,
indeed, do not present much variety ; they repeat each
other and seem traced over a very small number of
patterns, fitted to the taste of the country.
It is impossible, among the miraculous stories, the
wearisome enumeration of which the Gospels contain,
to distinguish the miracles which have been attributed
to Jesus by popular opinion from those in which he
consented to take an active part. It is impossible
above all to know whether the ungracious circum
stances of exertion, groans, and other traits character
istic of jugglery,* are really historic or are the fruit
of the belief of the compilers, muck inclined to magic,
and living, in this respect, in a world analogous to
that of the "spirits " of our days.f Almo-t all the
miracles which Jesus thought he performed appear to
have been miracles of healing. Medicine was at that
time in Judea what it still is in the East, that is to say
in no respect scientific, but absolutely abandoned to
individual inspiration. Scientific medicine, founded
five centuries before by Greece, was, in the time of
Jesus, unknown to the Jews of Palestine. In such a
condition of knowledge, the presence of a superior
man, treating the sick with gentleness, and giving him
« Luke, Tin, 45-46; John, XI, 33, 38.
t Acts, n, --' seqq. ; iv, 31; vm, 15 seqq; x, 44 seqq. . For nearly a century, the
apostles and their disciples thought only of miracles. (See th i Acts, the writings ol
St. Paul, the extracts of Papias, in Eusebius, Hist. Eecl.,111, 39, etc Comn-
Mark, HI, 15; XVI- 17-18, 20. > i i K

LIFE OF JESUS. 233
by some sensible signs the assurance of his recovery,
is often a decisive remedy. Who dare say that in
many cases, and apart from injuries of a decided char
acter, the contract of an exquisite person is not worth
all the resources of pharmacy ? The pleasure of see
ing him heals.* He gives what he can, a smile, a
hope, and that is not unavailing. ^J
Jesus had no idea of a rational medical science any~\
more than his cotemporaries ; he believed with all the
world that cures were to be effected by religious rites,
and such a faith was perfectly logical. From the mo
ment that disease is regarded as the punishment of a
sin,f or the work of a demon, :£ not the result of physical
causes, the best physician was the holy man, who pos
sessed power in the supernatural realm. Healing wad
considered a moral act ; Jesus, who felt his moral
force, must have believed himself specially endowed
for healing. Persuaded that the touch of his garment,]
the imposition of his hands,§ did good to the sick, he
would have been unfeeling had he refused to the suf
fering an alleviation which it was in his power to ac
cord. The cure of the sick was considered one of the
signs of the kingdom of God, and always associated
with the emancipation of the poor.^f Both were signs
of the great revolution which was to end in the re
dress of all infirmities'. -;
One of the cures which Jesus oftenest performs, is
exorcism, or the casting out of devils. A singular
readiness to believe in demons reigned in all minds.
It was a universal opinion, not only in Judea, but in
• John, v, 14; ix, 1 seqq, 34.
t Matt, ix, 32-33; xn, 22; Luke, xm, 11, 16
i Luke, vm, 4 -46. ! Luke, iv, 40.
\ Matt., xi, 5; xv, EO-31; Luke, ix, 1-2, 6.

234 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the whole world, that demons take possession of cer
tain persons and make them act contrary to their own
will. A persian div, named many times in the
Avesta,* Aeschma, daeva, " the div of concupiscence,"
adopted by the Jews under the name of Asmodeus,|-
became the cause of all hysterical troubles among wo
men.:]: EpilePsy> the mental and nervous diseases] in
which the patient seems to have lost all self-control,
infirmities the cause of which is not apparent, like
deafness and dumbness,§ were explained in the same
manner. The admirable treatise of Hippocrates, " On.
the Sacred Disease," which founded, four centuries and
a half before Jesus, the true principles of medicine up
on that subject, had not banished from the world so
great an error. It was supposed that there were pro
cesses more or less efficacious for driving away demons ;
the vocation of exorcist was a regular profession like
that of the physician.^]" There is no doubt that Jesus
had, during his lifetime, the reputation of possessing
the deepest secrets of that art.** There were then
many lunatics in Judea, doubtless because of the
great spiritual exaltation. These lunatics, who were
permitted to wander about, as is still the case in the
same regions, lived in the abandoned sepulchral caves,
the common retreat of vagrants. Jesus had great
effect upon these unfortunates ff There were told on
* Vendidad, xi, 26; Tacna, x., 18.
t ToUt, m. 8; VI, 14; Talm. of Bab., Giltin, 68 a.
X Comp. Mark, xvi, 9; Luke, vm, 2; Gospel of the Infancy, 16, S3; Syrian
Code, published in the Anecdota Syriaca of M. Land, i, p. i 2
|| Jos., a. J., VII, vi, 3; Lucian Philcpseud., 16; Philostratus, Life of Apoll.,
Ill, 38; 1 V, 20; Aretaeus, De causis morb. chron., I, 4.
? Matt, ix, o3; xn. 22; Mark, ix, 16, 21. Luke, xi, 14.
2W.it, vm, 2-3; Matt, xn, 27; Mark, ix, 38; Acts, xrx, 18; Josephus, Ant.,
II, n, 6; Justin, Dial, cum Tryphone, 86; Lucian, Epigr.,xxm (xvn Dindorf).
•* Matt, xvn, 20; Mark, ix, 24 seqq. «• = > i
ft Matt , vm, 28 ; ix, 34 ; xu, 43 seqq. ; xtii, 14 seqq. , 20; Mark, T, 1 seqq. ; Luke,
Tin, 27 seqq. ¦»•»>> > mii -i

LIFE OF JESUS. 235
the subject of his cures a multitude of strange stories,
in which all the, credulity of the time gave itself full
scope. But here again we must not exaggerate the
difficulties. The disorders which they explained aa
possessions were often very slight. At the present
day in Syria, those are regarded as lunatics or pos
sessed of a demon, (these two ideas are but one, med-
jnonn*), who are only somewhat singular. A gentle
word often sufficed in this case to drive away the de
mon. Such were doubtless the means employed by Je
sus. Who knows whether his celebrity as an exorcist
did not spread about without his knowing it? Persons
who reside in the East are sometimes surprised to find
themselves, after a little time, in possession of great
renown as physician, sorcerer, or discoverer of treas
ures, without being able to get any satisfactory account
of the facts which have given rise to these strange im- i
aginings. Many circumstances moreover seem to indicate that
Jesus was a thaumaturgist only at a late period and
against his will. Oftentimes he performed his miracles
not until after solicitation, with a manifest disinclina
tion, and while reproaching those who ask them for
the grossness of their understanding. f A singularity
apparently inexplicable, is the care he takes to do his
miracles privately, and the injunction which he gives
to those whom he heals to tell it to no man.| When
the demons desire to proclaim him son of God, he for
bids them to open their mouths; it is in spite of him-
* This phrase, Dcemonium Iwbes (Matt, xi, 18; Luke, Til, 33; John, Til", 20; vm,
4sseqq.; x, 20 seqq.), should be translated by " Thou art mad," as they say in
Arabic, Medjnoun ente. The verb 5a»(jtovdtv has also, in all classic antiquity, the
sense of" to be a lunatic."
i Matt., xn, 3-<; xvi, 4; xvn, 16; Mark, Tin, 17 seqq. ; ix, 18; Luko, ix, 41
Matt, vm,4, ix, 30-31; xn, 16 seqq.; Mark, i, 44; tii, 24 seqq.; vm, 26

236 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
self that they confess him.* These traits are especially
prominent in Mark, who is above all the Evangelist of
miracles and exoicisins. It seems that the disciple
who furnished the principal materials for that Gospel
importuned Jesus by his admiration for prodigies, and
that the master, annoyed by a reputation which he
felt to be a burden, often said to him : " Speak
not of them " Once, this discord culminated in a
singular explosion,f an outburst of impatience, in which
we perceive the weariness which these perpetual de
mands of feeble minds caused him. One would say,
at times, that the part of the thaumaturgist is dis
agreeable to him, and that he seeks to give as little
publicity as possible to the marvels which grow, as it
were, under his feet. When his enemies ask of him a
miracle, especially a celestial miracle, a meteor, he
obstinately refuses. J We are then permitted to be
lieve that his reputation as a miracle-worker was im
posed upon him, that he did not resist it very much,
but that he did nothing to aid it, and that at all events
he felt the emptiness of public opinion in this regard.
It would be departing from right historic methods
to listen too much in this to our repugnances, and in
order to evade the objections which might be raised
against the character of Jesus, to suppress facts which,
in the eyes of hiscotemporaries, were of the first order.
It would be agreeable to say that these are additions of
disciples far inferior to their master, who, unable to
conceive his true grandeur, have sought to elevate
him by illusions unworthy of him. But the four nar-
• Mark, i, 24-25, 34; in, u, Luke, iv, 41.
i Matt., xvn, 16; Mark, ix, 18; Luke, ix. 41.
Matt. , XII, 38 seqq. : xvi, 1 seqq. ; Mark,' Till, II.
Josephus, Ant. , X VII I , in, 3.

LIFE OF JESUS. 237
rators of the life of Jesus are unanimous in vaunting
his miracles; one of them, Mark, the interpreter of the
apostle Peter,* insists so strongly upon this point that,
if the character of Christ were traced exclusively ac
cording to his Gospel, he would be represented as an
exorcist in possession of charms of rare efficacy, as a
very powerful sorcerer, who inspires terror, and of
whom men are glad to be rid.f We will admit, there
fore, unhesitatingly that acts which would now be
considered traits of illusion or of hallucination, figured
largely in the life of Jesus. Must we sacrifice to this
unpleasant aspect of such a life its sublime aspect?
Let us beware of it. A mere sorcerer after the man
ner of Simon the Magician, could not have brought
about a moral revolution like that which Jesus accom
plished. If the miracle-worker had effaced in Jesus
the moral and religious reformer, there would have
sprung from him a school of magic, and not Chris
tianity. The problem, moreover, is presented in the same
manner as to all saints and religious founders. Things
cj o
which are to-day diseases, such as epilepsy and visions,
were once an element of force and greatness. Medi
cal science can tell the name of the malady which
made the fortune of Mahomet.;}: Almost down to our
day, the men who have done most for the good of their
kind (the excellent Vincent de Paul himself!) have
been, whether they wished it or not, thanmaturgists.
If we start with this principle, that every historic per-
• Papias, in Eusebius, Hist, eccl., Ill, 39.
t Mark, IT, 40; v, 15. 17, 33, 36; VI, 50; x, 32. Cf. Matt", vm, 27, 34; IX, 8; xrv,
27; xvn, 6-7; xxvm, 5, 10; Luke, IV, 36; v, 17; vm, 25, 35, 37; ix, 34. The Apocry
phal Gospel called that of Thomas the Israelite carries this character to the
most shocking absurdity. Compare the Miracles of Infancy, in Thilo, Cod. Apocr,
ff. T.,p. ox, note. X Hysteria muscutaris, of Schcenlein.

238 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
sonage to whom acts have been attributed, which we in
the nineteenth century hold to be senseless or charla-
tanic, has been a lunatic or a charlatan, the canons of
criticism are violated. The school of Alexandria was
a noble school, and yet it abandoned itself to the prac
tice of an extravagant thaumaturgy. Socrates ana
Pascal were not exempt from hallucinations. Facta
are to be explained by causes which are proportioned
to them. The weaknesses of the human mind engen
der only weakness; great things have always great
causes in the nature of man, although often they are
produced with a cortege of littlenesses which, to super
ficial understandings, obscure their grandeur.
In a general sense, it is therefore true to say chat
Jesus was a miracle-worker and an exorcist ^nly in
spite of himself. Miracles are ordinarily the work of
the public even more than of him to whom they are
attributed. Jesus obstinately refused to perform pro
digies which the multitude had created for him; and
it would have been the greatest miracle had he not
performed any ; never would the laws of history and
of popular psychology have suffered more downright
abrogation. The miracles of Jesus were a violence
done him by his time, a concession which the necessity
of the hour wrung from him. So the exorcist and the
miracle-worker have fallen ; but the religious reformer
Bhall live forever.
Even those who did not believe on him were struck
by these acts, and sought to witness them.* The pa
gans and the rude common people experienced a feel
ing of fear, and besought him to depart from their re-
• Matt.,xiT,] seqq.jMark, ti, 14;Luke, ix, 7; xim, ».

LIFE OF JESUS. 239
gion.* Many thought perhaps to use his name for se
ditious movements. f But the altogether moral and
not at all political direction of the character of Jesus
saved hiin from these entanglements. His peculiar
kingdom was in the circle of children wliich a similar
childlikeness of imagination and a like foretaste of
heaven had gathered and held about him.
• Matt, vm, 34; Mark, v, 17; vm, 3:. f John, ti, 14-16.

240 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANIT1

CHAPTER XVII.
DEFINITIVE FOBH OF THE IDEAS OF JESUS OK T a I
KIKOD OH OF GOD .
We suppose that this last phase of the activity of
Jesus endured about eighteen months, from his return
from the pilgrimage to the passover of the year 31, to
his journey for the feast of the Tabernacles in the year
32.* During this period, the ideas of Jesus do not
appear to have been enriched by any new element;
but all that was in him was developed and produced
with an ever increasing degree of force and of bold
ness. The fundamental idea of Jesus was, from the first
day, the establishment of the kingdom of God. But
this kingdom of God, as we have already said, Jesus
seems to have understood in very different senses. At
times, he would be taken for a democratic chief, de
siring simply the reign of the poor and the disinherited.
At other times, the kingdom of God is the literal ac
complishment of the apocalyptic visions of Daniel and
Enoch. Often, finally, the kingdom of God is the
kingdom of souls; and the approaching deliverance is
• John, T, 1;tii,2. We follow the system of John, according to whom the
public life of Jesus lasted three years. The synoptics, on the contrary group all
the facts within the compass of a year.

LIFE OF JESUS. 241
the deliverance by the spirit. The revolution desired
by Jesus is then that which really occurred, the estab
lishment of a new worship, purer than that of Moses.
— All these thoughts appear to have existed at some
time in the mind of Jesus. The first, however, that
of a temporal revolution, does not appear long to have
fixed his attention. Jesus never regarded the earth,
nor the riches of the earth, nor material power as wor
thy of his regard. He had no worldly ambition.
Sometimes, by a natural consequence, his great relig
ious importance was on the point of changing into so
cial importance. People came to him to ask that he
would constitute himself a judge and arbiter in mate
rial questions. Jesus repelled these propositions
haughtily, almost as insults.* Full of his celestial ideal,
he never emerges from his disdainful poverty. As to
the two other conceptions of the kingdom of God, Jesus
appears always to have preserved them both. If he
had been only an enthusiast, led astray by the apoca
lypses upon which the popular imagination fed, he
would have remained an obscure sectary, inferior to
those whose ideas he followed. If he had been only a
puritan, a sort of Channing or " Savoyard Vicar," he
would not, beyond contradiction, have obtained any
success. The two parts of his system, or, to speak
more properly, his two conceptions of the kingdom of
God, sustained each other, and this reciprocal support
produced his incomparable success. The first Chris
tians were visionaries, living in a circle of ideas which
we should call dreams ; but at the same time they
were the heroes of the social war which has ended in
the enfranchisement of the conscience and the estab-
• Luke, xn, 13-14.
It

242 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
lishment of a religion whence the pure worship, an
nounced by the founder, will at length come forth.
The apocalyptic ideas of Jesus, in their most com
plete form, may be epitomized thus : The end of the
present order of humanity is at hand. This end will
be an immense revolution, " an anguish," like to the
pains of child-birth ; a palingenesis or " regeneration"
according to the word of Jesus himself),* preceded
by sombre calamities and announced by strange phe-
nomena.f On that great day, the sign of the Son of
Man will burst forth in the heavens; it will be a vision
terrible and luminous as that of Sinai, a great tempest
rending the sky, a bolt of fire flashing in the twinkling
of an eye from the East to the West. The Messiah
will appear in the clouds, clothed in glory and majesty,
with the sound of trumpets, surrounded by angels.
His disciples will sit by his tide upon thrones. The
dead will then arise, and the Messiah will proceed to
the judgment.f
Tn this judgment, men will be separated into two
categories, according to their works. | The angels
will execute the sentence. § The chosen will enter in
to a delightful dwelling-place wliich has been prepared
for them from the beginning of the world ;\ there they
* Matt, xix, 28.
t Matt. , xxiv, 3 seqq. ; Mark, xm, 4 seqq. ; Luke, xvn, 22 seqq. ; xxi, 7 seqq.
It should be remarked that the picture of the end of time here attributed to Je
sus by the synoptics contains many touches which correspond with the siege of
Jerusalem. Luke wrote some time alter the siege (xxi, 9, '.0, 24). The compila
tion of Matthew, on the contrary, carries us back to the time of the siege, or
very little afterwards. Unquestionably, however, Jesus announced great ter
rors as necessarily preceding his second advent. These terrors were an integral
portion of all the Jewish apocalypses. Enoch, xcix-c, en, cm (division of Dill-
man); Carm. Sibyll., Ill, - 34 seqq ; 633 seqq.; IV, 16& seqq.; V, 511 seqq. In Dan
iel also, the reign of the Saints will come only after the desolation shall have
been complete (vn, 25 seqq.; vm, -3 seqq.; ix, 2t>-27, xn, 1).
X Matt., xvi, 27; xix. 2 ¦> ; xx , 21 ; xxiv, 30 seqq.; xxv, 31 seqq.; xxvi,64; Mark,
xiv, 02; Luke, xxn, ^,0; I Cor. , xv, 52; I Thess., iv, 15 seqq.
I Matt , XIII, 38 seqq.; XXV, 33. I, Matt, xni, 39, 41, 49.
\ Matt. , xxv, 34. Comp. John, xiv 2.

LIFE OF JESUS. 243
will sit, clothed in light, at a feast presided over by
Abraham,* the patriarchs and the prophets. This will
be the smaller iiumber.f The others will go into
Gehenna. Gehenna was the valley west of Jerusa
lem. At various periods the worship of fire had been
practiced in it, and the place had become a sort of
cloaca. Gehenna is therefore in the mind of Jesus a
dismal valley, foul and full of fire. Those excluded
from the kingdom will be burned and gnawed by
worms in company with Satan and his rebel angels.:}:
There, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. |
The kingdom of God will be like a closed hall, lighted
up within, in the midst of this world of darkness and
of torment.§
This. new order of things will be eternal. Paradise
and Gehenna shall have no end. An impassable abyss
separates them one from the other. ^[ The Son of man,
seated at the right hand of God, will preside over this
final condition of the world and of humanity.**
That all this was understood literally by the disci
ples and the Master himself at certain moments, stands
forth, absolutely evidenced in the writings of the
time. If the first Christian generation has any deep and
constant faith, it is, that the world is on the point of
coming to an end,f f and that the grand " revelation"^
* Matt., vm, 11; xm, 43; xxvi, 29; Luke, xxm, 28; xvi, 22; xxn, SO.
i Luke, xm, 2J seqq.
X Matt., xxv, -U. The idea of the fall of the angels, so largely developed in
the Book of Enoch, was universally admitted in the circle of Jesus. Jude, 6
Beqq. ; II Ep. attributed to Saint Peter, n, 4, 11; Rev. xn, 9; John, vm, 44.
1 Matt, V, 22; vm, 12; x, 28; xm, 40, 42, 50; xvm, 8; XXIV. 51; xxv, 30; Mark,
ix, 43, etc. 4 Matt, vm, 1J;xxii, 13; xxv, 30. Comp. Jos ,B. J., III,vm,5
f Luke, xvi, 28. ** Mark, in, 29; Luke, xxn, 69; Ads, vn, 65.
ft Acts, 11, 17; ill, 19 seqq. ; I Cor. xv, 23-24, 52; I Thess., Ill, 13; IT, 14 seqq. ; T,
23; II Thess., n, 8; I Tim., ti, 14; II Tim., iv.l; Tit, n, 13; James, v, 3, 8; Jude,
18; II Pet, m entire; Revelations entire, aud especially 1, 1; n, 5,16, m, 11; xi,
14; xxn, 6, 7, 12, 20. Comp. IV Esdras, it, 26.
XX Luke, xvn, 30; I Cor., J 7-8; II Thess.; i,T;I Pet, i, 7, 13;BeT.,i,l.

244 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
of Christ is soon to take place. This startling procla
mation : "The time is at hand!"* which opens and
closes the Apocalypse, this appeal incessantly repeated,
" Ha that hath ears to hear, let him hear,"f are the
cries of hope and of rallying throughout the apostolic
age. A Syriac expression, Maran atha, " Our Lord
is coming."f became a sort of password which the be
lievers exchanged to fortify themselves in their faith
and their hopes. The Apocalypse, written in the year
68 of our era,] fixes the term at three years and a
half.§ The " Ascension of Isaiah "T adopts a calcula
tion very nearly approaching this.
Jesus never undertook such precision. When inter
rogated as to the time of his coming, he always re
fused to respond ; once even he declared that the date
of this great day is known only to the Father, who
has revealed it neither to the angels nor to the Son.**
He said that the time when the kingdom of God was
watched for with anxious curiosity was precisely that
in which it would not come.ff He repeated inces
santly that it would be a surprise as in the time of
Noah and of Lot ; that they must be upon their guard
always ready to go ; that each should watch and have
his lamp burning as for a marriage procession, which
comes unexpectedly ;^f that the Son of man would
come as a thief, in an hour when they looked not for
him: || || that he would appear as the lightning, that
• Eev.,i, i; xxn, 10.
+ Matt, xi, 16; xm, 9, 43; Mark, it, 9, 23; tii, 16; Luke, Tin, 8; xit, 35; KeT. u,
7, 11, 27, 29; in, 6, 13. 22; xm, 9. 1 I Cor., XVI, 22.
|| ReT. ,xtii, 9seqq. The sixth Emperor, whom the author gives as reigning,
Is Galba. The dead Emperor, who should return is Nero, whose name is given
In figures (xm, 18). § Rev., xi, 2, 3;xu, 14. Comp. Daniel, tii, 26; xii, 7.
U Chap, iv, v, 2 and 14. Comp. Cedrenus, p. 68 (Paris, 1647).
•* Matt, xxiv, 36; Mark, xm, 32.
+t Luke, xvn, 20. Comp. Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrin, 97 «.
ft Matt,xxiv,36seqq.;Mark,xm,32seqq.Luke,xn,35seqq.; xvn,20seqa
|J Luke, xn, 40; II Pet., in, 10. '

LIFE OF JESUS. 245
lighteneth from one part of heaven to the other.* But
his declarations as to the proximity of the catastrophe
are unmistakable. f " This generation shall not pass
away," said he, "till all these things be fulfilled.
There be some standing here, which shall not taste of
death till they see the Son of Man coining in his
kingdom.":}: He blames those who do not believe in
him because they are not able to read the signs of the
coming reign : '' When it is evening, ye say, It will be
fair weather : for the sky is red. And in the morning,
It will be foul weather to-day : for the sky is red and
lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face
of the sky ; but can ye not discern the signs of the
times?"|| By an illusion common to all great Refor
mers, Jesus imagined the end much nearer than it
really was ; he did not take into account the slowness
of the movements of humanity ; he imagined he was
to realize in one day that which eighteen hundred
years later was not yet to be achieved.
These declarations, formal as they were, preoccupied
the Christian family for almost sixteen hundred years.
It was accepted that some of the disciples should see
the day of final revelation before death. John in par
ticular was considered as being of this number ;§ ma
ny believed that he would never die. Perhaps this
was a later opinion produced towards the close of the
first century by the advanced a»e to which John seems
to have arrived, this age having given occasion for
the belief that God intended to preserve him indefin
itely until the great day, in order to realize the dec-
« Luke, xvn, 24.
t Matt., x, 23; xxit-xxt entire, and especially xxiv, 29, 34; Mark, xm, 30
Luke, xm, 35; xxi, 28 seqq
1 Matt,xvi,28;xxiii,36,39;xxiT,34;Mark,Tiii,38;Luke,ix,27;xxi, 33.
I Matt, xti, 2-4; Luke, xn, 64-53. k John, xxi, 22-23.

246 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
laration of Jesus. Be this as it may, at his death the
faith of many was unsettled, and his disciples gave to
the prediction of Christ a modified meaning.*
At the same time that Jesus fully accepted the apo
calyptical beliefs, as they are found in the Jewish
apocryphal books, he accepted the dogma which is
their complement or rather their condition, the resur
rection of the dead. That doctrine, as we have alrea
dy said,f was yet somewhat new in Israel; a multi
tude of people did not believe it or did not know it.+
It was the faith of the Pharisees and of the fervent fol
lowers of the Messianic beliefs.] Jesus accepted it
without reserve, but still in the most idealistic sense.
Many imagined that in the resurrected world there
would be eating, drinking, and giving in marriage.
Jesus admits indeed in his kingdom a new feast, a ta
ble and wine,§ but he formally excludes marriage.
The Sadducees had upon the subject an argument
gross in appearance, but at bottom sufficiently accord
ant with the old theology. It will be remembered that
according to the ancient sages, man survived death
only in his children. The Mosaic code had consecrat
ed this patriarchal theory by a singular institution,
the succession of the Levites. The Saddncees drew
from this subtle inferences against the resurrection.
Jesus escaped them by formally declaring, that in the
hfe eternal, difference of sex would exist no more, and
thai man should be like the angels.^" At times he
* John, xxi, 22-23. Chapter xxi of the fourth Gospel is an addition, as it
proved by the final clause of the primitive compilation, which is at verse 31 of
chapter xx. But the addition is almost cotemporaneous with the publication Oj
this Gospel. f See above, p. f-9-80. f Mark, ix, 9; Luke, xx, 27 seqq.
|| Dan., xn, 2 seqq.; II Mace, Chap, vn entire: xn, 45-46; xiv. 46; Acts, xxm
G, 8;.Jos.,.4nl , XVIII, I, 3; B.J., II, Till, 14; III, Till, '>.
h Matt., xxvi, 2'.»; Luke, xxn, 30.
\ Matt, xxn, 24 seqq.; Luke, xx, 34-38; Ebionite Gospel, called" of the Egyp
tians," in Clem, of Alex., Strom., n, 9, 13; Clem. Eom.. Epist, n, 12.

LIFE OF JESUS. 247
seems to promise resurrection only to the righteous,*
the punishment of the wicked consisting in complete
death and annihilation. f Ofteiiest, however, Jesus
will have the resurrection applied to the wicked for
their eternal confusion. $
Nothing, we see, in all these theories, was absolute
ly new. The gospels and the writings of the apostles
contain but little of apocalyptic doctrine which is not
found already in " Daniel,"] " Enoch,"§ and the " Sy-
billine Oracles"^" of Jewish origin. Jesus accepted
these ideas, generally known among his coteinpora-
ries. He made them the basic point of his action, or to
speak more correctly, one of his basic points ; for he
had too deep an idea of his true work to establish it
solely upon principles so frail, — so liable to receive
from events a withering refutation.
It is evident, indeed, that such a doctrine, taken by
itself in a literal manner, had no future. The world,
being obstinately enduring, would destroy it. One
generation at most was reserved to it. The faith of
the first Christian generation is explained ; but the
faith of the second generation is explained no longer.
After the death of John, or of the last survivor, who
ever he may have been, of the group that- had seen the
Master, the declaration of the latter was proven an illu
sion.** If the doctrine of Jesus had been only a be
lief in the speedy destruction of the world, it would
certainly to-day he sleeping in oblivion. What then
* Luke, xiv, 14; xx, 35-36. This is also the opinion of St. Paul; I Cor., xv, 23
ieqq ; i Thess., iv, 12 seqq. See above, p. 90.
f Comp. IV Esdras, ix, 22. X Matt., xxv, 32 seqq.
| See especially chapters n, vi-vm, x-xm.
S Ch. i, xlv-lii, ixn, xcm, 9 seqq.
1 Book III, 57 seqq. ; 652 seqq. ; 766 seqq. ; 795 seqq.
** These pangs of the Christian conscience are artlessly set forth in the second
Epistle attributed to St. Peter, in, 8 seqq.

248 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
has saved it? The grand breadth of the evaigelical
conceptions which has permitted under the same sym
bol doctrines appropriate to very different intellectual
conditions. The world has not come to an end, as
Jesus announced, as his disciples believed. But it has
been renewed, and in one sense as Jesus desired. It is
because it looked in two directions that his thought haa
been fruitful. His chimera has not had the fate of so
many others which have crossed the human mind, be
cause it concealed a germ of life which, introduced,
thanks to an envelope of fable, into the womb of hu
manity, has borne eternal fruits.
Say not that this is a kindly interpretation imagined
to free the honor of our great Master from the cruel
contradiction given by reality to his dreams. No, no.
This true kingdom of God, this kingdom of the Spirit |
which makes each one a king and priest ; this king
dom, which like the grain of mustard seed is become
a tree wliich gives shade to the world, and in the
branches of which the birds have their nests, Jesus
comprehended, desired and founded. By the side of
the false, cold, impossible idea of a pompous advent,
he conceived the real city of God, the true " palin
genesis," the Sermon upon the Mount, the apotheosis
of the weak, the love of the people, the taste for pov
erty, the renovation of all that is humble, true and
simple. This renovation he has sketched like an in
comparable artist, by touches wliich will endure for
ever. Each of us owes him the best that is in him- '¦
eelf. Pardon him his expectation of an empty apoca
lypse, of a coming in great triumph upon the clouds
of heaven. Perhaps this was the error of others rather
than his own, and if it is true that he shared in the

LIFE OF JESUS. 249
illusion of all, what matters it, since his dream ren
dered him strong against death, and sustained him in
a struggle to which without this perhaps he had been
unequal ?
We must therefore give more than one sense to the
divine city conceived by Jesus. If his whole thought
had been that the end of time was at hand, and pre
paration must be made therefor, he would not have
surpassed John the Baptist. To renounce a world
near its end, to detach self little by little from the
present life, to aspire to the reign which was at hand ;
such would have been the last word of his preaching.
The teaching of Jesus had always a much wider scope.
He undertook to create a new condition of humanity,
and not merely to prepare for the end of that
wliich existed. Elias or Jeremiah reappearing to
make men ready for the supreme crises, would not
have preached as he did. This is so true, that the
morality claimed for the last days, is found to be the
eternal morality, that which has saved humanity. Je
bus himself, in many cases, adopts methods of speak
ing which do not enter into the apocalyptic theory
He often declares that the kingdom of God has alrea
dy commenced, that every man carries it in himself.
and may, if he be worthy, enjoy it ; that each creates
this kingdom quietly by the true conversion of the
heart.* The kingdom of God is then only the,good,f
an order of things better than that which exists, the
reign of justice, which the faithful, each according to
his ability, should aid to found ; or again the liberty
of the soul, something analogous to the Buddhist " de-
* Matt, ti, 10, 33; Mark, xn, 34; Luke, xi, 2; xu, 31; xvn, 20, 21 seqq.
t See especially Mark, xn, 34.

250 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
liverance," the fruit of freedom. These truths, which
to us are purely abstract, were to Jesus living reali
ties. All things in his mind are concrete and substan
five. Jesus is the man who has had strongest faith
in the reality of the ideal.
In accepting the Utopias of his time and of his
race, Jesus thus made them lofty truths, thanks to
fruitful misunderstandings. His kingdom of God was
doubtless the approaching apocalypse, which was to
be unfolded in the heavens. But still it was, and pro
bably above all, the kingdom of the soul created by
the liberty and the filial feeling which the virtuous
man experiences upon the bosom of his Father. It
was pure religion, with no rites, no temple, no priests;
it was the moral judgment of the world, awarded to
the conscience of the righteous and to the arms of the
people. This is what was made to live, this is what
has lived. When, at the end of a century of vain
expectation, the materialistic hope of a speedy
destruction of the world was exhausted, the real king
dom of God was made clear. Convenient explanations
cast a veil upon the material kingdom, which will not
come. The Revelations of John, the first canonical
book of the New Testament,* being too explicitly in
fected with the idea of an immediate catastrophe, is
degraded to a secondary position, considered unintel
ligible, tortured in a thousand ways, and almost re
jected. At least, its fulfilment is adjourned to an
indefinite future. A few poor belated ones who still
preserved, in the midst of the reactionary epoch, the
expectations of the first disciples, became heretics
(Ebionites, Millenarians,) lost in the lower depths of
• Justin, Dial, cwm Tryph., 81.

LIFE OF JESUS. 251
Christianity. Humanity had passed to another king
dom of God. The portion of truth contained in the
idea of Jesus had triumphed over the chimera which
obscured it.
Let us not, however, scorn this chimera, which was
the rough rind of the sacred bulb on which we live.
This fantastic kingdom of heaven, this endless pursuit
of a city of God, which has always preoccupied
Christianity in its long career, has been the origin
of that grand instinct of the future which has ani
mated all reformers, obstinate disciples of the Apoca
lypse, from Joachim of Floras to the Protestant sec
taries of our day. This powerless effort to found a
perfect society has been the source of that extraordin
ary intensity which has always made the true Chris
tian an athlete in struggling against the present. The
idea of the "kingdom of God" and the Apocalypse,
which is the complete image of it, are thus, in one
sense, the most elevated and poetic expressions of hu
man progress. Certainly there were also great errors
to grow out of it. Hanging, a continual menace over
humanity, the end of the world, by the periodical ter
rors which it caused for centuries, retarded to a groat
extent all profane development. Society being no
longer sure of its existence, contracted from this un
certainty a sort of tremor, and those habits of base hu
mility, which render the middle ages so inferior to an
tiquity and to modern times.* A deep change was,
moreover, wrought in the manner of picturing the
coming of Christ. The first time that the announce
ment of the destruction of the planet was- made to hu-
• See, for examples, the prologue of Gregory of Tours to his Histoire ecclesias.
tique des Francs , an d the numerous acts of the first half of the middle ages , com
mencing with the formula, " At the approach of the night of the world."

252 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
manity, like the infant who welcomes death with a
smile, it experienced a paroxysm of joy such as it had
never felt before. As it grew older, the world became
attached to life. The day of grace, so long awaited by
the pure souls of Galilee, became to these iron ages a
day of wrath : Pies iro3, dies ilia ! But, m the heart
if barbarism even, the idea of the kingdom of God
was still fruitful. In spite of the feudal church, of
sects, and of religious orders, holy personages contin
ued to protest, in the name of the Gospel, against the
iniquity of the world. In our days even, troubled
days, in which Jesus has no more authentic followers i
than those who seem to repudiate him, the dreams of
the ideal organization of society, which have so close
analogy with the aspirations of the primitive Christian
sects, are in one sense only the expansion of the same
idea, one of the branches of that immense tree in which
germinates every thought of the future, and of which
the " kingdom of God" will be the trunk and root for
ever. All the social revolutions of humanity will he
engrafted upon this stock. But infected with a gross
materialism, aspiring to the impossible — to found uni-
versal happiness upon political and economic measures,
the " socialistic" attempts of our time will yet he un-l-
fruitful, until they take for their rule the true spirit of
Jesus, absolute idealism, this principle that in order to
possess the earth it is necessary to renounce it.
The phrase " kingdom of God" expresses, on ano
ther hand, with rare felicity, the need which the soul
experiences of a supplementary destiny, a compensa
tion for the present life. Those who do not bring
themselves to conceive man as composed of two sub
stances, and who believe the deistical dogma of the

LIFE OF JESUS. 253
immortality of the soul in contradiction with physiolo
gy, love to rest upon the hope of a final reparation,
which under some unknown form shall satisfy the crav
ings of the human heart. Who knows whether the']
final term of progress, in the millions'of ages, will not
bring back the absolute consciousness of the universe,
and in that consciousness the awakening of all who
have lived. A sleep of a million of years is no longer
than a sleep of an hour. St. Paul, on this hypothesis,
would still be right in saying : In ietu oouli /*
It is certain that moral and virtuous humanity will
have its reward, that one day the opinion of the noble
poor man will judge the world, and that on that day
the ideal form of Jesus will be the confusion of the
frivolous man who has not believed in virtue, and of
the selfish man who has not learned to attain to it.
The favorite expression of Jesus remains, therefore,
full of eternal beauty. A sort of grand divination
seems to have held him in a sublime vagueness, sim
ultaneously embracing many orders of truths.
• I Cor., xr, 62.

254 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XVIII.
THE IK8IITCIIOBB OF JESUS.
What strongly proves, however, that Jesus waB
never entirely absorbed in his apocalyptic ideas, is
that at the very time that he was most preoccupied
with them, he is laying with wonderful certainty of
view the foundations of a church destined to endure.
It is hardly possible to doubt that he himself had cho
sen among his disciples those who were called by pre
eminence the "apostles " or the "twelve," since on
the morning following his death, we find them forming
a body, and filling by election the vacancies which
had been produced among them.* They were the two
6ons of Jonas, the two sons of Zebedee, James, son of
Cleophas, Philip, Nathaniel bar-Tolmai, Thomas, Levi,
son of Alpheus or Matthew, Simon the Canaanite,
Thaddeus or Lebbeus, and Judas of Kerioth. f It is
piobable that the idea of the twelve tribes of Israel
had some relation to the choice of this iiumber.f The
"twelve," at all events, formed a group of privileged
« .4<*,i,15seqq.;I Cor. , xt, 6; vial. 1,10.
¦f Matt.,x,2seqq.;Mark,m,16«eqq.;Lnke,Ti,14«eqq.;Aci»,. IS; Papias, in
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. , III, 39.
X Matt, xix, 28; Luke, xxn, 30.

LIFE OF JESUS. 255
disciples, in which Peter preserved his entirely frater
nal pre-eminence,* and to whom Jesus confided the
charge of propagating his work. Nothing indicates
the sacerdotal college regularly organized ; the lists of
the " twelve " which have been preserved to us present
many uncertainties and contradictions; two or three
of those who figure in them are not otherwise heara
of. Two at least, Peter and Philip, f were married,
and had children.
Jesus evidently imparted secrets to the twelve
wliich he prohibited them from communicating to all.:};
It seems at times that hi? plan was to envelope his
person in some mystery, to postpone the great evi
dences until after his death, to reveal himself com
pletely only to his disciples, confiding to them the
charge of demonstrating him afterwards to the world.!
"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light ;
find what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the
housetops." This spared him too precise declarations,
and created a speeies of medium between public opin
ion and himself. There is no doubt that he reserved
certain teachings for the apostles, and that he explained
to them many parables, the meaning of which he left
indefinite to the multitude. § An enigmatical style
and a little oddity in the connection of ideas were in
vogue in the teaching of the doctors, as is seen by the
sayings of the Pirke Aboth. Jesus explained to his
intimates what was strange in his apothegms or his
apologues, and to them disengaged his teachings from
• Acts, 1, 15; n, 14; T 2-3; 29; Tin, 19; XT, 7; Gal., I, 18.
f For Peter, see above, p. 156; for Philip, see Papias, Polycrates, and Clemen
of Alexandria, cited by Eusebius. Hist, eccl., Ill, 30, 31, 39; V, 24,
X Matt, xvi, 20; XVII, 9; Mark, vm, 30; ix, 8.
| Matt, x, 26, 27; Mark, iv, 21 seqq.; Luke, vm, 17; xn, 2 seqq. ; John, xiv, 22.
§ Matt., xm, 10 seqq.; 34 seqq.; Mark, iv, 10 seqq.; 33 seqq.; Luke, vin, 8
seqq.; xn,41.

256 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
the superfluity of comparisons which at times obscured
them.* Many of these explanations appear to have
been carefully preserved. f
During the lifetime of Jesus, the apostles preached, f
but without ever separating very much' from him.
Their preaching, moreover, was limited to the an
nouncement of the coming of the kingdom of God.]
They went from city to city, receiving hospitality, or
rather taking it of themselves according to the custom.
The guest in the East has great authority ; he is supe
rior to the master of the house ; the latter has in him
the fullest confidence. This preaching of the fire-side
is excellent for the propagation of new doctrines. The
hidden treasure is communicated ; thus one pays for
what he receives; politeness and good relations aiding,
the household is touched and converted. Take awayjl
oriental hospitality, and the propagation of Christiani-\
ty would be impossible to explain. Jesus, who held
strongly to the good old customs, commanded his dis
ciples to have no scruple about taking advantage of
this ancient public right, even then probably abolished
in the great towns where there were inns.§ "The la
borer," said he, " is worthy of his hire." Once in
stalled in any man's house, they were to remain there,
eating and drinking what was offered them, so long as
their mission lasted.
Jesus desired that, according to his example, the
messengers, of the good tidings should render their
preaching lovely by polite and kindly manners. H
* Matt, xvi, 6 seqq.; Mark, vn, 17-23.
+ Matt, xm, 18 seqq.; Mark, vn, 14 seqq.
X Luke, ix, 6. 1 Luke, x, 11.
(j The Greek word iravSoxs Tov has passed into all the Semitio languages ol
the East to designate an inn.

LIFE OF JESUS. 257
wished that on entering a house they should give the
selam or wish of joy. Some hesitated, the selam being
then as now in the East, a sign of religious communion,
which is not risked with persons of doubtful faith.
"Fear nothing," said Jesus; "if nobody in the house
is worthy of your selam, it will turn to you again."*
Sometimes, indeed, the apostles of the kingdom of
God were badly received, and came to complain to
Jesus, who ordinarily sought to calm them. Some,
persuaded of the omnipotence of the master, were dis
pleased at this forbearance. The sons of Zebedee
wished that he should call fire from heaven upon the
inhospitable cities.f Jesus received their importuni
ties with his delicate irony, and stopped them with
this: "lam not come to destroy souls, but to save
them." He sought in every way to establish the principle
that his apostles were himselff It was believed that
he had communicated to them his marvellous virtues.
They cast out devils, prophesied, and. formed a school
of renowned exorcists,] although certain cases were
beyond their power.§ They performed cures also,
sometimes by the imposition of hands, sometimes by
anointing with oil,^[ one of the fundamental processes
of oriental medicine. In short, like the psylli, they
could handle serpents and drink deadly beverages with
impunity.** As we depart from Jesus, this theurgy
becomes more and more offensive. But there is no
doubt that it was a common practice in the primitive
« Matt., x, 11 seqq. ; Mark, ti, 10 seqq. ; Luke, x, 5 seqq. Comp. II John, 10-11
¦*¦ Luke, ix, 52 seqq.

i

lukl-, ix, 02 seqq.
Matt, x, 40-42; xxt, 35 seqq.; Mark, ix, 40; Luke, x, 16; John, xm, 20.
Matt., tii, 21; x, 1; Mark, in, 16; ti,13; Luke, x, 17.
Mat* wr. 1B-1Q ff V«r> vl la. YVi.lfi- .Tampa v 14

y i'litlL. , Yll, ^S, A., A, ilidii, .11, 'U, »', i", ."HI..-. A, At.
t) Matt., xvn, 18-19. IT Mark, vi, 13; xvi, 18; James, v, 14.
•» Mark, xvi, 18; Luke, * 19.

258 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
church, and that it figured as of highest importance in
the attention of cotemporaries.* Charlatans, as ordi
narily happens, took advantage of this movement of
popular credulity. During the lifetime of Jesus, many
who were not his disciples, cast out devils in his name.
The true disciples were very much displeased at this,
and sought to prevent them. Jesus, who saw in it an
acknowledgement of his renown, was not very severe
towards tliem.f We must observe, however, that these
powers had to a certain extent become a profession.
Carrying to tlje extreme the logic of the absurd, cer
tain persons cast out devils by Beelzebub, f the prince
of devils. It was imagined that this sovereign of in-
fernal legions must have full power over his subordi
nates, and that by working through him, they were
sure of expelling the intruding spirit.] Some sought
even to buy of the disciples of Jesus the secret of the
miraculous powers which had been conferred upon
thein.§ The germ of a "church thenceforth began to appear.
This fruitful idea of the power of men united {ecclesia)
seems really an idea of Jesus. Full of his purely
idealistic doctrine, that what produces the presence
of souls, is communion through love, he declared that
whenever a few should assemble in his name, he
would be there in the midst of them. He confides to
the church the right to bind or to loose (that is to say
to render certain things lawful or unlawful), to remit
sins, to reprimand, to warn with authority, to pray
with the certainty of being heard.^" It is possible that
• Mark.xvi.JO t Mark, it, 37-38; Luke, ix, 49-50.
1 Ancient god ol the Philistines, transformed by the Jews into a demon.
| Matt., xn, 24 seqq. k Acts, vm, 18 seqq.
t Matt, xvm, 17 seqq.; John, xx, 23.

LIFE OF JESUS. 259
many of these sayings have been attributed to the
master, in order to give a basis to the collective au
thority by which it was afterwards sought to replace
his own. At any rate, it was not until after his death
that individual churches were constituted by them,
and yet this first constitution was made exactly upon
the model of the synagogues. Many persons who had
loved Jesus very much and founded great hopes upon
him, like Joseph of Arimathea, Lazarus, Mary Magda
lene and Nicodemus, did not, it seems, enter these
churches, and remained content with the tender or res
pectful remembrance wliich they had preserved of him.
Moreover, there is no trace, in the teaching of Je
sus, of an applied morality or a canonical law, be it
ever so ill-defined. Only once, in regard to marriage,
he defines his position with clearness and defends di
vorce.* No more theology, no symbolism. Nothing
hut a few ideas upon the Father, the Son, and the
Spirit,f whence will afterwards be drawn the Trinity
and the Incarnation, but which were still in the state
of indeterminate images. The last books of the Jew
ish canon already recognized the Holy Spirit, a spe
cies of divine hypostasis, sometimes identified with
Wisdom or the Word.f Jesus insisted upon this
point,] and announced to his disciples a baptism by
fire and the Holy Ghost,§ far preferable to that of
John, a baptism which they believed that they re
ceived upon a certain day, after the death of Jesus, un
der the form of a mighty wind and of tongues of fire.^f
* Matt., xix, 3 seqq.
t Matt, xvm. 19. Comp. Matt., m, 16-17; John, xt, 26.
t Sap., 1,7; tii, 7; IX, 17; xn,l; Eccl., I, 9; xv, 5; xxiv, 27; xxxix; 8; Judith
«I,17. || Matt., x, 20; Luke, xn, 42; xxrv, 49; John, xiv, 26; xv, 26.
8 Matt., m, 11; Mark, i, 8; Luke,m,16; John, i, 26; m, 6; Acts, 1,5,8; X 47.
\ Acts, ii, 1-1; xi, 15; xix. 6. Cf. John, vn, 39.

260 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
The Holy Spirit thus sent by the Father will teach
them every truth, and bear witness to those which Je
sus himself has promulgated.* Jesus, to designate
this Spirit, made use of the word Perahlit wliich the
Syro-Chaldaic had borro wed from the Greek {<mgax\-/iroc;),
and which appears to have had in his mind the mean-
ng of advocate,f comforter,^ and sometimes that of
interpreter of celestial truths, of a teacher charged
with revealing to men mysteries yet concealed.] . He
himself is regarded by his disciples as a peraklitS
and the Spirit which was to come after his death was
purely to replace him. This was an application of the
process which Jewish theology and Christian theology
were to pursue for centuries, and which was to pro
duce a whole series of divine intercessors, the Meta-
throne, the Synadelphos or Sandalphon, and all the
personifications of the Cabbala. In Judaism, how
ever, these creations were to rest upon individual and
free speculations, while in Christianity, from the fourth
century, they were to form the essence of the univer
sal orthodoxy and dogma.
It is useless to remark how entirely foreign was the
idea of a religions book, containing a code and arti
cles of faith, to the thought of Jesus. He not only
did not write, but it was contrary to the spirit of the
rising sect to produce sacred books. They believed
themselves upon the eve of the grand final catastro
phe. The Messiah came to pnt the seal upon the Law
and the prophets, not to promulgate new texts. Thus,,
» John, xv, 26; xti, '3.
f To peraklit they oppose Katigor (xaTrj'yoPQg) " the accuser."
+ John, xit. 16; I John, n, 1.
John, xit, 26; xt, 26; xvi, 7 seqq. Comp. Philo, De Mwndi opiftcio,: 6.
John, xrv, 16. Comp. the epistle preTiously cited, I. c.

LIFE OF JESUS. 261
with the exception of the Apocalypse, which may
be called the only revealed book of infant Christian
ity, all the other writings of the apostolic age are inci
dental productions, having no pretension whatever to
furnish a complete system of doctrine. The Gospels
had at first an altogether private character, and an
authority far inferior to that of tradition.*
Nevertheless, had not the sect some sacrament, some
rite, some rallying sign ? It had one, which all tradi
tions carry back to Jesus. One of the favorite ideas
of the master is that he was the new bread, a bread
superior to manna and upon which humanity was to
live. This idea, the germ of the Eucharist, sometimes
assumed singularly concrete forms in his teachings.
Once especially he allowed himself, in the synagogue
of Capernaum, to take a bold step, which cost him
many of his disciples. "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, not Moses but my Father has given you the bread
of heaven, "f And he added: "I am the bread of
life ; he that, cometh to me shall never hunger, and he
that believeth on me shall never thirst.":}; This speech
excited loud murmurs. " What means he, said they,
by these words : I am the bre'ad of life ? Is not this
Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we
know? how is it then that he saith, I come down from
heaven?" But Jesus continued still more forcibly:
"I am the bread of life. Tour fathers did eat manna
in the wilderness and are dead ; this is the bread
which cometh down from heaven, that a man may
eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread ; if any
* Papias, in Eusebius, Hist, eccl., Ill, 39.
+ John, ti, 32 seqq.
X We find an analogous expression, producing a like misunderstanaing, ta
John, it, 10 seqq.

202 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
man eat of this bread, he shall live forever ; and the
bread which I will give is my flesh, which I will give
for the life of the world."* The scandal was now at
its hight : " How can this man give us his flesh to
eat?" Jesus rising still higher replies: " Verily, verily
I say unto yon, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
man, and drink his blood, yre have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day.
For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink
indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living
Fathei hath sent me, and I live by the Father : so he
that eateth me, even he shall live by me. This is that
bread which came down from heaven : not as your fa
thers did eat manna, and are dead : he that eateth of
this bread shall live forever." Such persistency in
paradox shocked many disciples who ceased to follow
him. Jesus did not retract ; he merely added: "It is
the spirit that quickeneth ; the flesh profiteth no
thing; the words ihat I speak unto you are spirit and
life." The twelve remained faithful, despite this
strange preaching. It was to Cephas in particular an
occasion for showing absolute devotion and proclaim
ing again : " Thou art the Christ, the son of God."
It is probable that thenceforward, in the ordinary
meals of the sect, some usage was established in con
sonance with the discourse so ill-received- by the peo
ple of Capernaum. But the apostolic traditions on
this subject are very inconsistent and probably de
signedly incomplete. The synoptic gospels indicate
• All these discourses bear too strongly the mark of John's peculiar style, for
as to suppose them exact. The anecdote related hi the sixth chapter of the fourth
Gospel cannot, neTertheless, be deToid of historical reality.

LIFE OF JESUS. 263
an exclusively sacramental act serving as the basis of
a mysterious rite, and they place its occurrence at the
last Supper. John, who has particularly preserved to
us the incident of the synagogue of Capernaum,
speaks of no such act, although he recounts the last
Supper very much at length. Moreover, we see Je
sus recognized at the breaking of bread,* as if this act
were to those who followed him, that most character
istic of his person. When he was dead, he appeared
to the pions recollections of his disciples as presiding
over a mystic banquet, holding the bread, blessing it,
and breaking it and presenting it to the guests.f ft
is probable that this was one of his habits, and that at
such moments he was peculiarly tender and lovely. A
material-circumstance, the presence of fish upon the ta
ble (a striking indication which proves that the rite took
its origin upon the shore of Lake Tiberiasf), was itself
almost sacramental, and became a necessary part of
the images which were formed of the sacred festival.]
Meals had become in the infant community the
most charming occasions. At such times they met
one another ; the master spoke to each, and entered in
to a conversation full of cheer and charm. Jesus
loved these hours and took pleasure in seeing his spir
itual family thus grouped around him. § Participation
in the same bread was considered a sort of commuu-
* Luke, xxit, 30, 35. t Luke, I. c. John, xxi, 13.
X Comp. Matt, vn, 10; xit, 17 seqq.; xv, s-l seqq.: Mark, vi, 31 seqq., Luke,
ix. 13 seqq.; xi,ll; xxiv, 42; John, vi, 9 seqq ; x\i,9seqq. The basin of Lake
Tiberias is the only place in Palestine v. here fish form any considerable part of
the food of the inhabitants.
|| John. xxi, 13; Luke, xxiv, 42-43. Compare the oldestrepresentations of the
Supper copied or restored by M. de Rossi in his dissertation upon the IX 0T2
{Spiiilegium Solesmense de dom Pitra, t III, p. 5G8 seqq.) The meaning of the an.
agram which constitutes the word IX0T2 was probably combined wilh a
. more ancient tradition in regard to the part acted by fish in the evangelical re
pasts. *> Luke, xxn, 15.

264 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
ion, a reciprocal bond. The master used extremely
energetic terms in this respect, which were at_a later
day understood with unbridled literalness. Tesus is
at once very idealistic in his conceptions, and very
materialistic in his expressions. Wishing to convey
this thought that the believer lives only through him
that altogether (body, blood and soul) he was the life
of the true believer, he said to his disciples : " I am
your sustenance," a phrase which, turned into the fig
urative style, became : " My flesh is your bread, my
blood is your drink." Then his habitual modes of
speech, always strongly material, carried him still far
ther. At table, pointing to the provisions, he said :
" Behold me ;" holding the bread : " This is my body,"
holding the wine : " This is my blood ;" all methods of
speech which were equivalent to : "I am your sus
tenance." This mysterious rite obtained great importance
during the lifetime of Jesus. It was probably estab
lished some time before the last journey to Jerusalem,
and was the result of general teaching, rather than of
any determinate act. After the death of Jesus it be-
came the grand symbol of the Christian communion,*
and it was to the most solemn moment of the life of the
Savior that its establishment was referred. They
wished to see in the consecration of the bread and
wine a farewell memorial which Jesus, at the moment
of departing this life, had left to his disciples.f Jesus
himself was found again in this sacrament. The alto
gether spiritual idea of the presence of souls, one oi
those most familiar to the Master, which caused him
to say, for example, that he was in person in the midst
• .*<*•, n,«,4«. +/Cbr.,xi,20seqq

LIFE OF JESUS. 265
of his disciples* when they were assembled in his name,
rendered this easily admissible. Jesus, as we have al
ready observed,f never had any well defined idea of
what constitutes individuality. At the height of ex
altation to which he had arrived, the idea dominated
all else to such a degree, that the body went for no
thing. People are one when they love each other,
when they live one for another ; had not he and his
disciples been one \\ His disciples adopted the same
language. Those who, for years, had lived by him,
saw him always holding the bread, then the cup, " in
his sacred and venerable hands,"] and offering himself
to them. It was he whom they ate and whom they
drank ; he became the true Passover, the ancient one
having been abrogated by his blood. It is impossible
to translate into our essentially determinate idiom, in
which the rigorous distinction of the literal from the
metaphorical sense must always be preserved, manners
of style, the essential characteristic of which is to give
to metaphor, or rather to the idea, complete reality.
• Matt, xvm, 20. t See above, p. 221. % John, xn, entire.
| Canons of the Greek Masses and of the Latin Mass (very old).
It

266 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XIX.
IJCBEISIJU PK0OKESSI0N OF ENTHUSIASM AID
EXALTATION.
It is clear that such a religious society, founded
solely upon the expectation of the kingdom of God,
must be in itself very incomplete. The first Christian
generation lived entirely upon expectations and
dreams. On the eve of seeing the world come to an
end, they thought useless all things which serve only
to continue the world. Property was forbidden.*
Everything which attaches man to earth, everything
which turns him aside from heaven was to be shunned.
Although many disciples were married, there was no
marrying, it seems, after entrance into the sect.f
Celibacy was decidedly preferred ; even in marriage,
continence was commended.;}: At one time, the mas
ter seems to approve those who should mutilate them
selves for the sake of the kingdom of God.|| He wa3
in this consistent with his principle : " If thy hand or
thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from
thee : it is better for thee to enter into life halt or
maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to
be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend
* Luke, xrv, 33; Acts, iv, 32 seqq. ; v, 1-11.
iMatt , xix , 10 seqq. ; Luke , xvm , 29 seqq .
This is the constant doctrine of Paul. Comp. Rev. , xit, 4.
Matt., xix, 12.

LIFE OF JESUS. 267
thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee : it is better
for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than
having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire."* The cessa
tion of generation was often considered the sign and
the condition of the kingdom of God.f
Never, we see, had this primitive church formed a
durable society, without the great variety of germs
implanted by Jesus in his teaching. It will require
more than a century for the true Christian church,
that which has converted the world, to disengage it
self from this little sect of " latter day saints " and to
become a frame applicable to all human society. The
same thing, moreover, took place in Buddhism, which
was at first founded only for monks. The same thing
would have happened in the order of St. Francis, if
that order had succeeded in its claim to become the
rule of all human society. Born as Utopias, succeed
ing through their very exaggeration, the great founda
tions of which we speak shall fill the world only upon
condition of being profoundly modified, and of laying
aside their excesses. Jesus did not survive this first
period "altogether monastic, in which men believe that
they can with impunity attempt the impossible. He
made no concession to necessity. He preached boldly
war against nature, total rupture with kin. " Verily
I say unto you, said he, whosoever shall leave house,
or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the
kingdom of God's sake, shall receive an hundred fold
more in this world, and in the world to come life ever
lasting.":}; • Matt, xvm, 8-9. Cf. Tal. of Bab., Niddah, 13 b.
+ Matt, xxn, 30; Mark, xii,26; Luke, xx, 36; Ebionite Gospel, called " of
the Egyptians" in Clem, of Alex., Sirran., Ill, 9, 13 and Clem. Bom., Epist.U .12,
X Luke, xvm, 29-30.

268 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
The instructions which Jesus is said to have given
to his disciples breathe the same exaltation.* He, so
yielding to those who were without, he who is content
at times with partial conversions,f shows towards his
own disciples extreme rigor. He would have no com
promise. It might be called an " Order " constituted
by the most austere rules. Faithful to his idea that
the cares of life trouble and debase man, Jesus de
mands of his associates an entire detachment from the
world, an absolute devotion to his work. They were
to carry with them neither money, nor provisions foi
the journey, not even a scrip, nor a change of raiment.
They were to practice absolute poverty, to live upon
alms and hospitality. " Freely, ye have received,
freely give,":}: said he in his beantiful language. Ar
rested, dragged before the judges, let them prepare no
defense ; the celestial advocate, the Peraklit, will in
spire what they should say. The Father will send
them from on high his Spirit, which shall become the
prime mover of all their actions, the director of their
thoughts, their guide through the world.] Driven
out of a city, let them shake off upon it the dust from
their feet, warning the inhabitants at the same time,
in order that they may not plead ignorance, of the
proximity of the kingdom of God. " Before you shall
have gone over the cities of Israel, added he, the Son
of man shall appear."
A strange ardor animates all these discourses, which
may be in part the creation of the enthusiasm of the
» Matt, x, entire; xxiv, 9; Mark, ti, 8 seqq.; ix, 40; xm, 9-13; Luke, ix, I
eqq.; x.lseqq.; xn,4seqq.; xxi, 17; John, xt, 18 seqq., xtii, 14.
t Mark, ix, 88 seqq.
I Matt, x, 8. Comp Mldrash Ialkout, Deuteron. , sect. 824.
I Matt, x, 20; John, xit, 16 seqq., 26; xr, 26; xti, 7, 13.

LIFE OF JESUS. 269
disciples,* but which even in this case comes indirect
ly from Jesus, since the enthusiasm itself was his
work. Jesus announces to those who choose to follow
him great persecutions and the hatred of all men. He
sends them as lambs into the midst of wolves. They
will be beaten in the synagogues and dragged to pris-
n. The brother shall be delivered up by his brother
and the son by his father. When they are persecuted
in one country let them flee to another. " The disci
ple, said he, is not above his master, nor the servant
above his lord. Fear not them which kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul. Are not two spar
rows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall
to the ground without your Father. But the very hairs
of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore,
ye are of more value than many sparrows. "f " Who
soever, said he again, shall confess me before men,
him will I confess also before my Father; but whoso
ever shall be ashamed of me before men, him will I
deny before the angels, when I come in the glory of
my Father, wliich is in heaven.":]:
In these crises of rigor he went to the extent of sup
pressing the flesh. His demands lost all bounds. De
spising the wholesome limits of human nature, he asks
that men should exist only for him, that they should love
him alone. "If any man come to me, and hate not
his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he
caunot be my disciple."] " Whosoever forsaketh not
* The idea expressed in Matt. ,x, 38; xti, 24; Mark, tiii, 34; Luke, xit, 27,
ould have been conceived only after the death of Jesus.
i Matt, X, 24-31; Luke, XII, 4-7-
Matt, x, 32-33; Mark, vm, 38; Luke, ix, 26; xn, 8-9.
Luke, xit, 26. Luke's exaggerated style must be taken into account here.

270 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple."* Some
thing more than human, something strange wau then
mingled with his words ; it was like a fire devouring
life at its root, and reducing everything to a frightful
desert. The sad and bitter sentiment of disgust f v
the world, of utter abnegation, which characterizes
Christian perfection, had for its founder, not the deli
cate and joyous moralist of the earlier days, but the
sombre giant whom a sublime presentiment, as it
were, was casting farther and farther forth from hu
manity. One would say that, in these moments of
hostility to the most natural necessities of the heart,
he had forgotten the pleasures of living, of loving, of
seeing, and of feeling. Overpassing all bounds, he
dared to say : " If any man will be my disciple, let
him deny himself and follow me ! He that loveth fa
ther or mother more than me is not worthy7 of me; and
he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not
worthy of me. Whosoever will save his life shall lose
it ; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall
gain it. For what is a man profited if he shall gain
the whole world, and lose his owa soul?"f Two anec
dotes, of the style wliich need not be accepted as histo
ric, but which attempt to give a trait of character by
exaggerating it, paint clearly this defiance thrown
down to nature. He says to a man : " Follow me !"
" Lord," replies the man, " suffer me first to go and
bury my father." Jesus responds : " Let the dead
bury their dead : but go thou and preach the king
dom of God." Another says to him: "Lord, I will
follow thee ; but let me first go and put in order the
• Luke, xiv, 33.
f Matt., x, 37-39; xti, 24-26; Luke, ix, 23-25; xit, 26 27; xtii, 33; John, xn, 25,

LIFE OF JESUS. 271
affairs of my house." Jesus replies : "No man having
put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit foi
the kingdom of God."* An extraordinary confidence,
and at times accents of wonderful sweetness, overturn
ing all our ideas, make these exaggerations accepta
ble. " Come unto me, cried he, all ye that are wea
ry and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take
my yoke upon you ; learn of me that I am weak and
lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls '
for my yoke is easy and my burden is. light. "f
Great danger resulted to the future from this exalted
morality, expressed in a language of hyperbole and
with a terrible energy. By virtue of detaching man
from earth, life was shattered. The Christian will be
praised for being a bad son and a bad patriot, if it is
for Christ that he resists his father and combats his coun
try. The antique city, the republic, mother of all, the
State, the common law of all, are arrayed in hostility
to the kingdom of God. A fatal germ of theocracy is
introduced into the world.
Another consequence is dimly seen henceforth
Transported into a calm condition and into the midst
of a society confident of its own duration, this moral
ity, made for a critical moment, would seem impossi
ble. The Gospel was thus destined to become to Chris
tians a Utopia, which very few would trouble them
selves to realize. These awful maxims were, for the
mass, to sleep in a deep oblivion, aided by the clergy
themselves; the gospel man will be a dangerous man
Of all human beings, the most selfish, the most arro
gant, the most severe, the most attached to earth, a
Louis XIV, for example, was to find priests to persuade
• Matt vm, 21-22; Luke, ix, 69-62. t Matt, xi, 28-30.

272 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
him, in spite of the Gospel, that he was a Christian.
But always a.feo Saints should be found who should ap
prehend literally the sublime paradoxes of Jesus.
Perfection being placed beyond the ordinary condi
tions of society, the complete evangelical life being
possible only outside of the world, the foundation of
asceticism and of the monastic state was laid. Chris
tian societies have two codes of morality, one half-he
roic for the common man, the other exalted to excess
for the perfect man ; and the perfect man will be the
monk subjected to rules which claim to realize the
Gospel ideal. It is certain that this ideal, were it only
for the obligation of celibacy and poverty, could not
be a common law. The monk is thus, in one sense, the
only true Christian. Common sense revolts at such
excesses; according to it, the impossible is the sign of
weakness and of error. But common sense is a bad
judge when great things are to be dealt with. To ob
tain anything of humanity, we must ask more. The
immense moral progress due to the Gospel comes of
these exaggerations. It is by reason of this that it has
been, like stoicism, but with infinitely broader scope,
a living argument of the divine forces which are in
man, a monument erected to the power of the will.
We can easily imagine that for Jesus, at the pe
riod to which we have now arrived, everything other
than the kingdom of God had absolutely disappeared.
He was, if we may so speak, titally beyond nature;
family, friendship, country, had no longer any
meaning to him. Doubtless, he had thenceforth of
fered his life a sacrifice. At times, we are tempted tc
believe that, seeing in his own death the means of
founding his kingdom, he conceived the deliberate

LIFE OF JESUS. 273
purpose of causing himself to be killed.* At other
times (although this idea was not established as a dog
ma until somewhat later), death presents itself to him
as a sacrifice, which will appease his Father and save
men.f A singular relish for persecution and torment:};
seized him. His blood appeared to him like the water
of a second baptism, in which he must be bathed and
he seemed possessed by a singular haste to go forward
to this baptism which alone could quench his thirst.]
The grandeur of his views of the future was at times
surprising. He did not conceal from himself the ter
rible storm which he was exciting in the world. " Sup
pose ye," said he, with boldness and beauty, that " I
am come to bring peace on earth ; I tell you, Nay ; I
am come to send the sword. In a house of five three
shall be against two and two against three. I am come
to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in law. Henceforth a man's foes
6hall be they of his own household. "§ "I am come to
send fire on the earth ; the better if it be already
kindled ?"^f "They shall put you out of the syna
gogues," said he also ; " yea, the time cometh that
whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God
service."** "If the world hate you, ye know that it
hated me before you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If
they have persecuted me, they will also persecute
you»ff Carried away by this terrible tide of enthusiasm,
* Matt., xn, 21-23; xvn, 12, 21-22. t Mark, x, 45.
1 Luke, vi 22 seqq- 1 Luke, xn, 50.
I Matt., x, 34-36; Luke, xn, 51-53. Compare Micah, tii, 6-6.
\ Luke, xn, 49. See the Greek text. ** Jean, xn, 2. ft John, xr, 18-20
13*

274 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
commanded by the necessities of a preaching more
and more exalted, Jesus was no longer free; he be
longed to his mission and in one sense to humanity.
At times one would have said that his reason was dis
turbed. He had sufferings and agitations within.*
The grand vision of the kingdom of God, flashing
ceaselessly before his eyes, dizzied him. His disciples ;
at certain moments believed him mad.f His enemies
declared him possessed. f His temperament, which
was excessively' ardent, bore him every instant beyond
the limits of human nature. His work not being a
work of reason, and mocking all the classifications of
the human mind, what he demanded most imperiously,
was " faith.".] This word was that which was often-
est repeated in the little ccenaculum. It is the word
of all popular movements. It is clear that none' of
these movements would take place, if it were neces
sary that he who sets them on foot should gain over
his disciples successively by good proofs logically de«
duced. Reflection leads only to doubt, and if the au
thors of the French Revolution, for example, had felt
bound to be previously convinced by meditation for a
sufficient length of time, all would have arrived at old
age without doing anything. Jesus, in like manner,
aimed less at logical conviction than at enthusiasm.
Pressing, imperative, he endured no opposition ; you
must be converted ; he is waiting. His natural gen
tleness seemed to have abandoned him ; he was some
times rude and uncouth. § His disciples at times
ceased to comprehend him, and experienced before
• John, xn, 27. f Mark, m, 21 seqq.
? Mark, m, 22; John, vn, 20; Tin, 48 seqq. ; x, 20 seqq.

!

Matt., Tin, 10; ix, 2, 22, 28-29; xth, 19; John, ti, 29 etc.
Matt,XTii,16; Mark,ui,5; ix,18; Luke, Tin, 45; ix,41.

LIFE OF JESUS. 275
him a feeling of fear.* Sometimes his intolerance of
all opposition, led him to acts inexplicable and appa
rently absurd. f
Not that his virtue gave way ; but his struggle
against the material in the name of the ideal became in
supportable. He was wounded by and shrank from
contact with the earth. Obstacles irritated him. His
notion of the Son of God troubled him and grew ex
aggerated. The fatal law which condemns the idea to
sink as soon as it seeks to convert men, began to ap
ply to him. Contact with men reduced him towards
their level. The tone which he had assumed could not
be sustained longer than a few months ; it was time
that death should come to release him from a condition
6trained to excess, to deliver him from the impossibil
ities of a way without exit, and, while rescuing him
from an ordeal too much prolonged, to introduce him
straightway sinless into his heavenly serenity.
• It is especially in Mark that this trait is perceptible; rv, 40; t, 15; rx, 81, x, 84
t Mark, xi. 12-14, 20 seqq.

276 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XX

OPPOSITION TO JEStfl

DauiNG the first period of his career, it does not
seem that Jesus had met with any serious opposition.
His preaching, owing to the extreme liberty which
was enjoyed in Galilee and to the number of teachers
who arose on all sides, had no renown beyond a rather
limited circle of persons. But after Jesus had entered
upon a brilliant career of prodigies and public successes,
the mutterings of the storm began to be heard. More
than once he was forced to hide or to flee.* Antipater,
however, never interfered with him, although Jesus
expressed himself sometimes very severely in his reg-
ard.f At Tiberias, his usual residence, the Tetrarch
was only four or five miles from the region chosen for
the centre of his activity ; he heard of his miracbs,
which he doubtless supposed were cunning tricks, and
he desired to see some of them.f The faithless were
at that time very curious in such wonders. f With
his ordinary tact, Jesus refused. He took good care
not to wander forth into an irreligious world, which
desired of him nothing but a vain amusement; he
aspired only to gain the people ; he reserved for the
simple means good for them alone.
* Matt., xn, 14-16; Mark, in, 7; ix, 29-30. f Mark, Tin, 15; Luke, xm, 32.
1 Luke, ix, 9; xxm, 8, | Lucius, attributed to Lucian, 4

LIFE OF JESUS. 2>77
For a moment, the rumor spread that Jesus was
none other than John the Baptist resuscitated from the
dead. Antipater was anxious and troubled ;* he em
ployed a ruse to rid his dominions of the new prophet.
Some Pharisees, apparently from friendship towards
Jesus, came and told him that Antipater designed
to put him to death. Jesus notwithstanding his great
simplicity, detected the snare and did not depart.f
His altogether peaceful ways, his repugnance to popu
lar agitation finally reassured the Tetrarch and dissi
pated the danger.
The new doctrine was far from meeting with an
equally favorable reception in all the towns of Galilee.
Not only did unbelieving Nazareth continue to reject
him who was to be her glory ; not only did his broth
ers persist in not believing on him ;f but the cities of
the lake even, generally favorable, were not all con-
veiled. Jesus frequently bemoans the incredulity and
hardness of heart which he encounters, and, although
it is natural to manifest in such reproaches something
of the exaggeration of the preacher, although we feel
in them that species of convicium seculi in which Jesus
delighted in imitation of John the Baptist,] it is clear
that the country was far from flocking altogether to
the kingdom of God. "Woe unto thee, Chorazin!
woe unto thee, Bethsaida! he exclaimed, for if the
mighty works which were done in you had been done
in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago
in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall
be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of
judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum,
* Matt, xit, 1 seqq. ; Mark, ti, 14 seqq. ; Luke, ix, 7 seqq.
+ Luke, xm, 31 seqq.
X John, tii, 5. 1 Matt., xn, 39, 45- xm, 15; xti, 4; Luke, xi, 29

278 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
which art exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down
unto hell: for if the mighty works which have been
done in thee,' had been done in Sodom, it would have
remained until this day. But I say unto yon, That it
Bhall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom, in the
day of judgment, than for thee."* "The queen of
Sheba, added he, shall rise up in the judgment with
the men of this generation, and condemn them : for
she came from the utmost parts of the earth, to hear
the wisdom of Solomon ; and behold, a greater than
Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh shall rise up in
the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn
it : for they repented at the preaching of Jonas ; and
behold, a greater than Jonas is here."f His wander
ing and precarious life, at first full of charm to him,
began also to weigh upon him. " The foxes " said he
" have holes and the birds of the air have nests ; but
the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.":]:
Bitterness and reproach become more and more mani
feet in his heart. He accused the unbelieving of re
fusing to yield to the evidence, and said that, even at
the moment when the Son of man should appear in
his celestial glory, there would still be those who
would doubt him.]
Jesus indeed could not accept opposition with the
coolness of the philosopher, who, understanding the
reason of the diverse opinions which divide the world,
takes it as a matter of course that others should not be
of his way of thinking. One of the principal faults
of the Jewish race is its bitterness in controversy, and
the abusive tone which it almost always assumes in it
• Matt , xi, 21-24; Luke, ix, 12-15. t Matt, xn, 41-42; Luke, xi, 31 32.
X Matt , Tin, 20; Luke, ix, 58. J Luke, xtiii, 8.

LIFE OF JESUS. 279
There were never in the world such passionate quar
rels as those which the Jews had among themselves.
It is the sentiment of delicate discrimination wliich
renders man polished and moderate. Now the lack
of delicate discriminations is one of the most constant
traits of the Semitic mind. Fine productions, the dia
logues of Plato, for example, are entirely foreign to
the genius of these nations. Jesus, who was exempt
from nearly all the defects of his race, and whose
dominant quality was precisely an infinite delicacy,
was led in spite of himself, to make use in polemics
of the prevalent style.* Like John the Baptist, f he
employed against his adversaries very harsh terms.
Of an exquisite gentleness with the simple, he became
severe in the presence of incredulity, even that which
was least aggressive.f He was no longer the mild
teacher of the "Sermon on the Mount," who had as
yet met neither resistance nor difficulty. Passion,
which lay at the bottom of his character, now drew
him into the most ardent invective. This singular ad
mixture ought not to surprise us. A man of our own
time has presented the same contrast with extraordi
nary distinctness, M. de Lamennais. In his beautiful
book, '•'¦Paroles d?un croyant," the most unbridled
anger and the gentlest reflections alternate as in a mi
rage. This man, who had great kindness in the con
versation of life, became harsh even to madness to
wards those who failed to think as he did. Jesus, in
the same manner, applied to himself not unjustly the
passage of the book of Isaiah :] " He shall not cry,
nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
* Matt xn, 34; xr, 14; xxm, Sit t Matt., in, 7.
t Matt, xn, 30; Luke, xxi, 2-3. j xm, 2 3.

280 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking
flax shall he not quench."* Nevertheless many of the
commands which he gives to his disciples contain the
germs of true fanaticism,f germs which the middle
ages were to develope in a cruel way. Should he be
blamed for this ? No revolution is ever accomplished
without some rudeness. If Luther, if the actors of the
French Revolution had been compelled to observe the
rules of politeness, the Reformation and the Revolu
tion would not have been. Let us congratulate our
selves also that Jesus met with no law to punish out
rage on any class of citizens. The Pharisees would
have been inviolable. All the great things of human
ity have been accomplished in the name of absolute
principles. A critical philosopher would have said to
his disciples : Respect the opinion of others, and be
lieve that no one is so completely in the right that his
adversary is completely in the wrong. But the action
of Jesus has nothing in common with the disinterested
speculation of the philosopher. To confess that one
has for a moment attained the ideal, and has been
checked by the malignity of others, is a thought insup
portable to an ardent soul. What must it have been
to the founder of a new world ?
The invincible obstacle to the ideas of Jesus came
above all from orthodox Judaism, represented by the
Pharisees. Jesus was departing more and more from
the ancient Law. Now, the Pharisees were the genu
ine Jews, the nerve and strength of Judaism. Al
though this party had its centre at Jerusalem, it had
nevertheless its adepts either living in Galilee, or couv
• Matt., xn, 19-20. t Matt., i, 14-15, 21 seqq.; 34 seqq.; Luke, xix, 27.

LIFE OF JESUS. 281
ing thither frequently.* They were in general people
of narrow mind, much given to outward appearances,
of a scornful devotion, formal, self satisfied, and self-
confident.f Their manners were ridiculous, and caused
a smile even in those who respected them. The nick
names which the people bestowed upon them, and
which partake of caricature, evidence this. There was
the " bandy-legged Pharisee" {Ifikji), who walked in
the streets dragging his feet and hitting them against
the stones ; " the raw - headed Pharisee," {Kizai),
who went with his eyes closed in order not to see the
women, and knocked his forehead against the walls so
that it was always bloody : " the drumstick Pharisee"
{Medoukid) who stood folded up like the leg of a fowl ;
the "heavy-shouldered Pharisee," {Schikmi) who
walked with his back bent as if he bore upon his
shoulders the entire weight of the Law; the " What is
there to be done ? I will do it Pharisee," always on the
6cent for a precept to be obeyed, and finally the
" painted Pharisee," to whom all the externals of de
votion were only a varnish of hypocrisy 4 This rigor-
ousness was, indeed, frequently only apparent, and
concealed in reality great moral laxity.] The people
nevertheless were its dupes. The people, whose in
stincts are always right, even when they blunder most
fearfully upon the question of persons, are very easily
• Mark, vn, 1; Luke, v, 17 seqq. ; vn, ' 6.
+ Matt, VI, 2, s, 16; ix;ll,14; XII, 2; xxm, 5, 15, 23; Luke, T, 30; TI, 2, 7; XI,
89 seqq ; xvm, 12; John, IX, 16; Pirke Abmh, I, 16; Jos., Ant., XVII, II, 4
XVIII. I, 3; Vita, 38; Talm. of Bab., Sota, 22 b.
X Talm. of Jerus., Berakoth, ix. sub fin.; Sota, v, 7; 1 aim. of Bab., Sota, 22b.
'lae two versions of this curious passage present sensible differences. We have
in general followed the Talmud of Babylon, which seems more natural. Cf.
Epiph Adv tar., xvi, 1. The statements of Epiphanius and many of those of
the Talmud may, however, relate to an epoch posterior to Jesus, an epoch in
which "Pharisee" had become the spnonyme of' devotee: '
1 Matt, v, 20; xv, 4; xxm, 3, 16 seqq.; John, Tin, 7; Jos., Ant., XII, ix,l
XIII, x, 6.

282 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
deceived by pretended devotees. What the people
love in them is good and Worthy of being loved ; but
they have not sufficient penetration to discriminate
between the appearance and the reality.
The antipathy which, in so passionate a world, must
from the first have burst forth between Jesus and per
sons of this character, is easy to comprehend. Jesua
desired nothing but the religion of the heart ; that of
the Pharisees consisted almost exclusively in observ
ances. Jesus sought out the humble and the down
trodden of every sort ; the Pharisees saw in that an
insult to their religion of respectability. A Pharisee
was an infallible and impeccable man, a pedant, sure
that he was right, taking the first place in the syna
gogue, praying in the streets, giving alms at the
sound of the trumpet, and looking about to see if he
were saluted. Jesus maintained that all men should
await the judgment of God with fear and humility.
But the false religious direction represented by the
Pharisees was far from reigning without control. Ma
ny men before Jesus, or of his time, such as Jesus the
son of Sirach, one of the real ancestors of Jesus of Na
zareth, Gamaliel, Antigontis of Soco, and especially
the mild and noble Hillel, had taught religious doc
trines far more elevated, and already almost evangeli
cal. But these good seeds had been stifled, the beau
tiful maxims of Hillel, condensing all the Law into
equity,* those of Jesus the son of Sirach, making wor
ship consist in the practice of good,f were forgotten or
anathematized.;]: Schammai, with his narrow and ex
clusive spirit, had gained the victory ; an enormous

• Talm. of Bab. , Scliabbath, 31 a;Joma, 35 b f Eccl. xvn, 21 seqq.; x
X Talm of Jerus., Sanhedrin, xi, 1; Talm. of Bab. , Sanhedrin, 100 b.

xxxt, 1 seqq

LIFE OF JESUS. 283
mass of ' traditions" had stifled the Law,* under pre
text of caring for it and interpreting it. Undoubted
ly these conservative measures had had their portion
of utility ; it was well that the Jewish people should
love their Law to madness, since it was this fanatical
love wliich, by saving the religion of Moses, under
Antiochus Epiphanes and under Herod, preserved the
leaven whence Christianity was to arise. But taken
in themselves, all these old precautions were merely
puerile. The synagogue wliich was their depository,
was now nothing more than a mother of errors. Its
reign was ended, and y&t to ask it to abdicate, was to
ask the impossible, what no established power has ever
done or can do.
The struggles of Jesus with official hypocrisy were
continuous. The ordinary tactics of reformers who
arise in the religious state which we have just describ
ed, and which may be called " religions formalism,"
is to oppose the " text " of the sacred books to the
" traditions." Religious zeal is always innovating,
even when it claims to be conservative in the highest
degree. Just as the Neo- Catholics of our day are
continually departing from the Gospel, so the Phari
sees departed at every step from the Bible. This is
why the Puritan reformer usually is particularly " bi
blical," starting from the immutable text to criticise
the current theology which has been progressing from
generation to generation. Thus did the Karaites, and
the Protestants at a later day. Jesus laid the axe at
the root of the tree far more energetically. We seo
him sometimes, it is true, invoke the text against the
pretended Masores or traditions of the Pharisees.f
• Matt, XT, 2. 1 Matt , xv, 2 set q. ; Mark, vn , 2 seqq.

284 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
But, in general, he makes little of exegesis ; it is the
conscience to which he appeals. At the same blow he
hews down text and commentaries. He shows clearly
to the Pharisees, that with their traditions they are
seriously innovating upon the religion of Moses ; but
he by no means claims himself to return to Moses.
His aim was forward, not backward. Jesus was more
than the reformer of a superannuated religion ; lie was
the creator of the eternal religion of humanity.
Disputes arose, especially in regard to a multitude
of external rites introduced by tradition, and which
neither Jesus nor his disciples observed.* The Phar
isees reproached them for it severely. When he dined
with them, he scandalized them greatly by not con
forming to the prescribed ablutions. " Give ye alms,
said he, and all things shall become clean unto you."f
What offended in the highest degree his delicate sen
sitiveness was the air of assurance which the Phari
sees carried into religious affairs, their contemptible
devotion, which resulted in an empty search for pre
rogatives and titles, and in no wise in the amelioration
of the heart. An admirable parable interpreted this
idea with infinite charm and exactness. " One day,
said he, two men went up into the temple to pray ; the
one a Pharisee, and the other a publican. The Phari
see stood up and prayed thus with himself, God, I
thank thee that I am not as other men are, extortion
ers, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I
fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I pos
sess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not
»ift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote up-
• Matt , XT, 2 seqq. ; Mark, tii, 4, 8; Luke, T, sub fln. ; and TI, init ; xi, 38 seqq
t Luke, xi, 41.

LIFE OF JESUS. 285
on hia breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
I tell you, this man went down to his house justified
rather than the other."*
A hatred which could be appeased only by death
was the consequence of these struggles. John the
Baptist had already provoked hostilities of the same
kind.f But the aristocrats of Jerusalem, who dis
dained him, had allowed the simple people to consider
him a prophet.:}: Now, the war was to the death. It
was a new spirit which appeared in the world and
which struck with decay all that had preceded it.
John the Baptist was thoroughly a Jew ; Jesus was
hardly so at all. Jesus addresses himself always to
the delicacy of the moral sentiment. He is a disputer
only when he argues against the Pharisees, the adver
sary forcing him, as happens almost always, to take
his own tone.] His exquisite irony, his arch provo
cations, always struck to the heart. Eternal darts,
they remained fixed in the wound. The Nessus shirt
of ridicule, which the Jew, son of the Pharisees, has
dragged after him in tatters for these eighteen centu
ries, was woven by Jesus with divine art. Master
pieces of lofty raillery, his traits are written in lines
of fire upon the flesh of the hypocrite and the pre
tended devotee. Incomparable traits, traits worthy
of a Son of God ! Thus, a God alone can kill. Socra
tes and Moliere but graze the skin. He carries fire
and madness into the marrow of the bones.
But it was just also that this great master of irony
should pay for his triumph with his life. Even in
Galilee, the Pharisees employed against him the
« Luke, xvm, 9-14; Comp. ibid., xrv. 7-11.
iMatt. , m, 7 seqq. ; xvn, 12-13. X Matt, xrv, 5- xxi, 26 ; Mark, xi, 32 ; Luke, xxi, e
Matt., xu, 3-8; xxm, 16 seqq.

286 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

«

device, which was afterwards to be successful at Jeru
salem. They undertook to interest in their quarrel
the partizans of the new political order which had
been established.* The facilities for escape which Je
sus found in Galilee, and the feebleness of the govern
ment of Antipater defeated these endeavors. He went
of himself to meet the danger. He saw well that his
action, if it were confined to Galilee, was necessarily
limited. Judea drew him as by a, charm ; he would
make a last attempt to gain over the rebellious city
and seemed to assume the task of justifying the pro
verb that a prophet might not perish out of Jerusa-
iem.f • Mark, in, 6. t Luke, xm, 33,

LIFE OF JESUS. 287

CHAPTER XXI.
LAST JOUENKT OF JESUS TO JERUSALEM.
Longtime had Jesus divined the dangers which
surrounded him.* For a period which we may
estimate at eighteen months, he avoided the pilgrim
age to Jerusalem. f At the feast of Tabernacles of the
year 32 (according to the hypothesis which we have
adopted), his relatives, still indisposed and incredulous.f
induced him to go thither. The evangelist John seems
to intimate that there was in this invitation some con
cealed project to destroy him. " Show thyself to the
world," said they ; " these things are not done in secret.
Go into Judea, that men may see the works that thou
doest." Jesus, suspecting some treachery, at first re
fused ; afterwards, when the caravan of pilgrims was
gone, he began the journey unknown to all, and almost
alone.] This was his last farewell to Galilee. The
feast of Tabernacles fell upon the autumnal equinox.
Six months were yet to roll away before the fatal end.
But during this interval Jesus did not see again his
dear provinces of the North. The grateful days are
passed ; he must now tread step by step the painfuJ
path which shall end in the agonies of death.
• Matt , xvi, 20-21; Mark, vm, 80-31. f John, vn, 1.
t John, tii, 6. I John, tii, 10

288 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
His disciples and the pious women who waited on
him met him in Judea.* But to him how changed
were all things here ! Jesus was a stranger in Jerusa
lem. He felt that there was here a wall of resistance
which he could not penetrate. Surrounded by snares
and objections, he was incessantly pursued by the ill-
will of the Pharisees.f Instead of this unlimited fa
cility of faith, the happy gift of young natures, which
he found in Galilee, instead of these mild and gentle
people to whom objection (which is always the
fruit of some little malevolence and indocility) found
no access, he encountered here at every step an obsti
nate incredulity, upon which the means of action which
had succeeded so well in the North produced little ef
fect. His disciples, being Galileans, were despised.
Nicodemus, who had on one of bis previous journeys
had an interview with him by night, almost compro
mised himself with the Sanhedrin for attempting to
defend him. " What ! art thou also a Galilean ?" said
they ; " search the Scriptures ; can a prophet come out
of Galilee ?'4
The city, as we have already said, was unpleasant
unto Jesus. Thus far, he had always avoided the great
centers, preferring for his field of action the country
and towns of small importance. Many of the precepts
which he gave the apostles were absolutely inapplica
ble outside of a simple society of humble people.]
Having no idea of the world, accustomed to his friend
ly Galilean communism, naivetes were constantly es
caping him, which at Jerusalem might appear singu
• Matt., xxtii, 65; Mark,xr, 41. Luke, xxm, 49, 65.
I John, TII, 20, 26, 30, 32.
John, TU, 60 seqq. | Matt., x, 11-13; Mark, ti, 10; Luke, i, »-»

LIFE OF JESUS. 289
lar.* His imagination, his taste for nature found itself
constrained within these walls. The true religion was
not to spring from the tumult of cities, but from the
tranquil serenity of the fields.
The arrogance of the priests rendered the porches of
the temple distasteful to him. One day, some of his
disciples, who knew Jerusalem better than he, wished
to attract his attention to the beauty of the buildings
of the temple, the admirable selection of materials,
and the votive offerings which covered the walls : " See
ye all these things," said he ; " verily I say unto you,
there shall not be left here one stone upon another."f
He refused to admire anything except a poor widow
who was passing at that moment, and threw into the
treasury a small coin : " She has given more than they
all," said he ; " the others have given out of their
abundance; she, of her want.";}; This manner of crit
ically regarding all that was done at Jerusalem, of ex
alting the poor who gave little, and abasing the rich
who gave much,] of blaming the opulent clergy who
did nothing for the good of the people, naturally exas
perated the priestly caste. The seat of a conservative
aristocracy, the temple, like the Moslem haram which
has supplanted it, was the last place in the world
in which the revolution could succeed. Imagine an
innovator of our day going to preach the overthrow
of Islamism about the Mosque of Omar. Here was,
however, the center of Jewish life, the point at which
ho must conquer or die. Upon this Calvary, where
certainly Jesus suffered more than at Golgotha, his

• Matt., xxi, 3; xxti, 18; Mark, xi, 3; xit, 13-14; Luke, xix, 31; xxn, 10-12.
\ Matt.,xxiT, 1-2; Mark, xm, 1-2; Luke, xix, 44; xxi, 5-6. Cf. Mark, xi,
J Mark, xu, 41 seqq. ; Luke, xxi, 1 seqq. | Mark, xn, 41.

13

290 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
¦J days rolled by in dispute and in acrimony, in weari
some controversies concerning canonical law and
exegesis, ia which his great moral elevation secured
him little advantage, nay, rather gave him a species
of inferiority.
In the midst of this troubled life, the kindly and
ensitive heart of Jesus succeeded in creating for it
self an asylum in which he had much sweet enjoy
ment. After passing the day in the disputes of the
temple, Jesus descended at evening into the valley of
Cedron, took a little repose in the orchard of a farm
ing establishment (probably for the manufacture of
oil) named Gethsemane,* which served as a pleasure-
garden for the inhabitants, and went to pass the night
upon the Mount of Olives, which bounds the horizon
of the city on the east.f This side is the only one
which, in the environs of Jerusalem, presents an as
pect in any degree verdant and cheerful. Plantations
of olive, fig and palm trees were numerous and gave
their names to the villages, farms or enclosures of
Bethphage, Gethsemane, and Bethany.;}; There were
upon the Mount of Olives two great cedars, the mem
ory of wliich was long preserved among the exiled
Jews ; their branches served as an asylum for clouds
of doves, and under their shade little bazaars were es
tablished.] This whole suburb was to a certain extent
the quarter of Jesus and his disciples ; they seem to
have known it field by field and house by house.
• Mark, xi, 19; Luke, xxn, 39, John, xtiii, 1-2. This orchard could not haw
been far from the place where the piety of the Catholics has surrounded some
old olive trees with a wall. The word Gethsemane seems to signify " an oil-press."
+ Luke, xxi, 87; xxn, 39- John, vm, 12.
1 Talia. of linb.,Paachim,bia. J Talm. of Jerus., Ibanith, it, 8.

LIFE OF JESUS. 291
The village of Bethany, in particular,* situated at
the summit of the hill, upon the slope towards the
Dead Sea and the Jordan, six miles from Jerusalem,
was the favorite resting-place of Jesus. f He there
made the acquaintance of a family composed of three
persons, two sisters and a brother, whose friendship
was very dear to him4 Of the two sisters, one,
named Martha, was an obliging, kind and eager per
son ;| the other, on the contrary, named Mary, pleased
Jesus by a species of languor,§ and by her largely de
veloped speculative instincts. Often seated at the feet
of Jesus, she forgot to attend to the duties of material
life. Her sister, at such times, upon whom fell all the
labor, complained gently : " Martha, Martha, said Je
sus ui.to her, thou art careful and troubled about
many things : but one thing is needful ; and Mary
hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken
away from her."T The brother, Eleazer, or Lazarus,
was also much beloved by Jesus.** Finally, a certain
Simon the Leper, who was the owner of the house,
constituted, it appears, a part of the family. ff It was
there, in the embrace of a pious friendship, that
Jesus iorgot the disgusts of public life. In this tran
quil household, lie found consolation for the annoy
ances wliich the Pharisees and the Scribes never
ceased to excite against him. He often seated him
self upon the Mount of Olives, opposite Mount Mo-
riah4^ and fixed his eyes upon the splendid perspec
tive of the terraces of the temple and its roofs covered
* Now ElrAzirie (from El-Azir, the Arabian name of Lazarus) ; in the Christian
texts of the middle ages, Lazarium.
t Malt, xxi, 17-18; Mark, xi, 11-12. J John, xi, 5.
i Luke, x, 38-42; John, xn, 2. § John, x:, 20. \ Luke, x, 38 seflq.
•* John, xi, 35-36.
++ Matt., xxti, 6; Mark, xit, S; Luke, tu, 40, 43; John, xn, 1 seqq.
it Mark, xm 8.

292 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
with sparkling metallic plates. This prospect inspired
strangers with admiration ; at sunrise especially, the
sacred mountain dazzled the eyes and appeared like a
mass of snow and gold.* But a deep feeling of sad
ness embittered to Jesus the spectacle which filled all
other Israelites with joy and pride. " Jerusalem, Je-
usalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest
Jiem wliich are sent unto thee, exclaimed he at such
bitter moments, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chick
ens under her wings, and ye would not !"f
Not that many good souls, here as well as in Gali
lee, were not touched. But such was the weight of
the dominant orthodoxy that very few dared confess
it. Men feared to discredit themselves in the eyes of
the Hierosolymites by joining the school of a Galilean.
They would have risked being driven out of the syna
gogue, which in a mean and bigoted society was the
gieatest possible affront.f Excommunication, more
over, entailed the confiscation of property.] By ceas
ing to be a Jew a man did not become a Roman ; ho
was left without defense against the power of a theo
cratic legislation of the most atrocious severity. One
day, the under officers of the temple, who had attended
one of the discourses of Jesus and had been enchanted
with it, came to confide their doubts to the priest :
•' Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed
on nim," was the reply : " this people who knoweth
not the Law, are cursed. "§ Jesus remained thus at
Jerusalem a countryman admired by countrymen like
'- Josephus, B. J., V,t, 6. f Matt, xxm, 37; Luke, xm, 34.
I John, Til, 13; XII, 42-43; xix, 38.
I Esdr.,x, 8; Heb.,x,34; Talm. of Jerus , Moedkaton, in, 1.
John, tii, 45 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 293
himself, but repelled by all the aristocracy of the na
tion. The leaders of schools and sects were too nu
merous for the appearance of another to create much
excitement. His voice gained little fame at Jerusa
lem. Prejudices of race and sect, the direct enemies I
of the spirit of the gospel, were too deeply rooted'
there. His teaching, in this new world, necessarily became
greatly modified. His beautiful sermons, which were
always calculated to affect the young imagination and
the moral purity of the conscience of his auditors,
here fell upon stone. He himself, so at ease on the
shore of his charming little lake, was constrained and
thrown out of his proper element in the presence of
pedants. His perpetual affirmations concerning him
self began to be somewhat wearisome.* He was
obliged to make himself a controversialist, a jurist, an
expounder, and a theologian. His conversations, or
dinarily full of grace, become a running fire of dis-
putes,f an interminable succession of scholastic bat
tles. His harmonious genius is extenuated in insipid
argumentations upon the Law and the prophets,;]: in
which we would sometimes prefer not to see him act
the part of the aggressor.] He lends himself, with a
condescension that wounds us, to the captious inqui
ries which quibblers without tact force upon him.§ In
general, he extricated himself from embarrassment
with great address. His reasonings, it is true, were
often subtle (simplicity of mind and subtlety touch
each other; when the simple man would reason, he
is always a little sophistical) ; we can see that some-
• John, Tin, 13 seqq, f Matt xxi, 23-37. J Matt., xxn, 23 seqq,
| Matt , xxn, 42 seqq. ^ Matt., xxn, 36 seqq., 46.

294 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
times he seeks misunderstandings, and purposely pro
longs them ;* his ratiocination, judge 1 by the rules of
Aristotelean logic, is very weak. But when the peerless
charm of his spirit could manifest itself, he was trium
phant. One day some one thought to embarrass him.
by presenting an adulterous woman and asking him
how she should be treated. We know the admirable
reply of Jesus.f The acute raillery of the man of the
world, tempered by a divine goodness, could find ex
pression in no more exquisite manner. But the wit
which is allied to moral grandeur is that wliich fools
can least pardon. When he pronounced these words
of a discernment so just and so pure, " He that is with
out sin among you, let hiin cast the first stone," Jesus
pierced hypocrisy to the heart, and at the same mo
ment signed his own death warrant.
It is probable, indeed, that without the exaspera
tion caused by so many bitter retorts, Jesus might
long have remained unknown, and have been lost in
the terrible tempest which was soon to overwhelm the
whole Jewish nation. The high priests and the Sad-
ducees felt for him contempt rather than hatred. The .
great priestly families, the Boethusim, the family of Ila-
nan, were fanatical in nothing but repose. The Saddu-
cees, like Jesus, repelled the " traditions " of the Phari
sees.:]: By a very strange singularity, it was these unbe*
lievers, denying the resurrection, the oral law, and th
* See especially the discussions reported by John, chap, vn , for example; it l_
true that the authenticity of such fragments is only relative.
f John, vm. 3 seqq. Tbispassage did not constitute, at first, apart of the Gospel
of John; it is wanting in the most ancient manuscripts, and the text of it is un
certain. Nevertheless, it is a primitive evangelical tradition, as is proved by the
striking particularity of verses 6 and 8, which are not in the style of Luke, and
of the second-hand compilers, who state uothing wliich does not explain itself.
Tlda history was continued, it would seem, in the Gospel according to the He
brews (Papias, cited by Eusebius, Hist, eccl., Ill, 39).
t Jos., Int., XIII, x, 6; XVIII, 1,4.

LIFE OF JESUS. 295
existence of angels, who were the genuine Jews, or, to
speak more properly, the ancient law in its simplicity no
longer satisfied the religions needs of the time, those
who held strictly to it and rejected the modern inven
tions seemed to the devotees impious, much as an evan
gclical Protestant now appears an infidel in orthodox
countries. At all events, it was not from such a party
that a very severe reaction against Jesus could come.
The official priesthood, looking towards the politica-
power and ultimately allied with it, comprehended no
thing of these enthusiastic movements. It was the
Pharisaic bourgeoisie, the innumerable soferim or
scribes, living by the knowledge of the " traditions,"
who took alarm, and who were in reality menaced in
their prejudices and their interests by the teaching of
the new master.
One of the most constant efforts of the Pharisees was
to draw Jesus into the arena of political questions and
to compromise him with the party of Juda the Gaulo
nite. The tactics were skillful ; for it required the
profound ingenuity of Jesus never to have become im-
broiled with the Roman authority, notwithstanding
his proclamation of the kingdom of God. They wished
to tear away this ambiguity, and to compel him to ex
plain. One day, a group of Pharisees of the political
order called " Herodians," (probably Boethusim) ap
proached him, and under the appearance of pious zeal
" Master, said they, we know that thou art true, and
teachest the way of God in truth, neither carest thou
for any man ; for thou regardest not the person of
men. Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it
lawful to give tribute unto Caesar, or not?" They
hoped for an answer which would give a pretext foi

296 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
delivering him to Pilate. That of Je8us was admira>
hie. He caused the image upon the current coin to
be shown him. " Render, said he, unto Caesar the
things which are Caesar's, and unto God the things that
are God's."* Deep words which decided the future
of Christianity ! Words of perfect spirituality and a
marvellous justness, which founded the separation of
the spiritual from the temporal, and established the
foundation of true liberalism and of true civilization !
His gentle and penetrating genius inspired him,
when he was alone among his disciples, with accents
full of charm: " Verily, verily, I say unto you, He
that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold is a
robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the
shepherd of the sheep. The sheep hear his voice ; and
he calleth them out: he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him ; for they know his voice. The thief
cometh not but to steal and to kill and to destroy.
The hireling, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the
wolf coming, and leave th the sheep, and fleetli. But
I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am
known of mine; and I lay down my life for my
sheep."f The idea of a speedy solution of the crisis
of humanity comes before him: "When the branch
of the fig-tree, said he, is yet teuder, and putteth
forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. Lift up
your eyes and look upon the world ; it is white for
the harvest.":]:
His vigorous eloquence was always exhibited when
he was called to combat hypocrisy. " The scribes and
Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever

• Matt., xn, 15 seqq.; Mark, xn, 13 seqq.; Luke. xx,2i seqq. Comp. Talm. o,
erus . , Sanhedrin ,11,3. f John , x , 1 -16 .
X Matt., xxiv, 32; Mark, xm, 28; Luke, xxi, 30; John, iv, 35.

LIFE OF JESUS. 297
they bid you observe, that observe and do : but do not
ye after their works ; for they say and do not. For
they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne,
and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves
will not move them with one of tlieir fingers."
" But all their works they do for to be seen of men :
they make broad their phylacteries,* and enlarge the
borders of their garments,f and love the uppermost
rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
and greetings in the markets, and to be called of men,
' Master ! ' Woe unto them 1
" Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites !
who have taken the key of knowledge and use it only
to shut up the kingdom of heaven against men \\ Ye
neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that
are entering to go in. Woe unto you, for ye compass
sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is
made, ye make hirn two-fold more the child of hell
than yourselves. Woe unto you, for you are as graves
which appear not, and over which men walk una
wares !]
" Ye fools and blind I who pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters of the law, judgment, mercy and faith ; these
ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other un-
• Tota-foth or tefdlin, plates of metal or bands of parchment, containing passages
of the Law, which the Jewish devotees wore on the forehead and the left arm,
literally carrying out the passages Ex.. xm, 9; Dent.,vi,8; xi, 18.
\ Ziztih, red borders or fringes, which the Jews wore on the corner of their
mantles to distinguish them from pagans (Numbers, xv, 38-39; Deut., xxn, 12).
t The Pharisees exclude men from the kingdom of God by their fastidious
casuistry, which renders the entrance too difficult, and discourages the simple.
| Contact with graves rendered impure. So they took heed to mark carefully
their outline upon the ground. Talm. of Bab,, Baba Bathra 53 a; Baba Miisia, 45
6. The reproach that Jesus addresses here to the Pharisees is that they have in
vented a multitude of petty precepts which are violated thoughtlessly, and whicb
serve only to multiply transgressions of the Law.
19*

298 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
done. Blind guides, who strain your wine for a gnat,
and swallow a camel, woe unto you !
" Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the
platter,* but within they are full of extortion and of
excess. Blind Pharisee, f cleanse first that which is
within; then mayst thou look to the cleanliness of that J
which is without.":]:
" Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites !
for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,] which indeed
appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead
men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also
outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye
are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
" Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites !
because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and gar
nish the sepulchres of the righteous, and say, If we
had been in the days of our fathers, we would not
have been partakers with them in the blood of the
prophets. Wherefore, ye be witnesses unto yourselves,
that ye are the children of them that killed the pro
phets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
Therefore also said the Wisdom of God,§ "I will send
unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes ; and
some of them ye shall kill and crucify, and some of
* The purification of dishes was subject among the Pharisees to the most com
jdex rules (Mark, vn, 4).
f This epithet, often repeated (Matt. , xxm, 17, 19, 24, 26) , contains perhaps an
allusion to the habit which certain Pharisees had of walking with closed eyes in
affectation of sanctity. See above, p. 281.
X Luke (xi, 37 seqq.) supposes, not without reason, perhaps, that this verse
was spoken at a meal, in response to the empty scruples of the Pharisees.
|j Tombs being impure, it was customary to whitewash them, as a warning not
to approach any. See preceding page, note || , and Mischna, Maasar scheni, v, 1
Talm. of Jerus., Schekalim,i,l; Maasar scheni, v,l; Moed katon, i, 2; Sota, ix, 1;
Talm. of Bab. , Moed katon, 5 a. Perhaps there is in the comparison of which Jesuf
makesuse an allusion tothe" painted Pharisee." Seeabove,p. 281)
t) From what book this Is quoted is unknown.

LIFE OF JESUS. 299
them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and perse
cute them from city to city : that upon you may come
all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the
blood of righteous Abel, unto the blood of Zacharias,
son of Barachias,* whom ye slew between the temple
and the altar. Verily I say unto you, It shall be re
quired of this generation. "f
His terrible dogma of the substitution of the Gen
tiles, this idea that the kingdom of God was to be
transferred to others, those for whom it was destin
ed not having desired it,J came like a bloody menace
before the aristocracy, and his title of Son of God,
wliich he openly avowed in vivid parables,] in which
his enemies played the part of murderers of the heav
enly messengers, was a defiance to legal Judaism. The
bold appeal which he addressed to the poor was yet
more seditious. He declared that he had come to
open the eyes of the blind, and to make blind those
who thought they saw.§ One day, his harshness to
wards the temple drew from him imprudent words:
"This temple, made with hands, said he, I can, if I
will, destroy it, and in three days I will rebuild of it
another, not made with hands."T We know not well
what sense Jesus attached to these words, in which his
disciples endeavored to discover far-fetched allegories.
But as a pretext only was desired, this expression was
* There is here a slight confusion, which is found in the Targum of Jonathan
(Lament., n, 20) between .Zacharias, the son of Jehoiada, and Zacharias, the
son of Barachias the prophet It is of the first that mention is made (II Chron.,
xxiv, 21 ) . The book of Chronicles, in which the assassination of Zacharias, the
son of Jehoiada, is related, closes the Hebrew canon. This murder is the last
in the list 01 murders of just men, arranged according to the order in which they
are presented in the Bible. That of Abel is, on the other hand, the first
* Matt, xxm, 2-36; Mark, xn, 38-40; Luke, xi, 39-52; xx, 46-47.
X Matt.'vm, 11-12; xx, 1 seqq.; xxi, 28 seqq. ; 33 seqq., 43; xxn, 1 seqq. ; Mark,
xn, 1 seqq.; Luke, xx, 9 seqq.
I Matt., xxi, 37 seqq. ; John, x, 30 seqq. t, John, ix, 39.
t The most authentic form of this appears to be in Mark, xit, 68; xt, 29
Cf. John, ii, 19; Matt, xxti, 61; xxtii, 40.

300 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
eagerly caught up. It will figure among the reasons
for the sentence of Jesus to death, and will fall again
upon his ear in the last agonies of Golgotha. These
irritating discussions always ended in storms. The
Pharisees cast stones at him,* in which they only ex
ecuted an article of the Law, ordering them to stone
without a hearing every prophet, even a miracle-work
er, who should turn away the people from their an
cient worship. f At other times, they called him mad,
possessed, a Samaritan,:]: or sought even to kill him. I
They took note of his words to invoke against him the
laws of an intolerant theocracy, wliich the Roman do
mination had not yet abrogated. §
• John, Tin, 39; x, 31: xi, 8.
t Deut., xm, 1 seqq. Comp Luke, xx, 6; John, x, 33; II Cor., xi, 25.
t John, x, 20 I John, v, 18; tii, 1, 20, 25, 30; Tin, 37-40
\ Lake, xi, 63-54.

LIFE OF JESUS. 301

CHAPTER XXII.
MACHINATIONS OF TBI ENEMIES OF II1H8.
Jesus passed the autumn and a part of the winter at
Jerusalem. This season is rather cold there. Solo
mon's porch, with its covered galleries, was the place
where he walked habitually.* This porch was com
posed of two galleries, formed by three rows of col
umns, and covered with a ceiling of carved wood.f It
overlooked the valley of Cedron, which was undoubt
edly less encumbered with ruins than it is at the pres
ent day. The eye, from the hight of the porch, could
not reach the bottom of the ravine, and it seemed, from
the steepness of the slope, that an abyss opened per
pendicularly beneath the wall.f The other side of the
valley already possessed its ornamentation of sumptu
ous tombs. Some of the monuments wliich are seen
there at this day, are perhaps those cenotaphs in hon
or of the ancient prophets || which Jesus pointed at
with his finger, when, seated under the porch, he
hurled his anathemas at the official classes, who shel-

• John, x, 23.
' Jos.,S J.,Y,r,2. Comp. ^nt, XV,xi,5; XX, ix, 7.
Jos. , places cited.
See aboTe, p. 298. I am led to believe that the tombs said to be those of
Zacharias and of Absalom were monuments of this kind. Cf. Itin. a Burdig
Hierut., p. 153 (edit Schott).

- .

302 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
tered behind those colossal masses their hypocrisy oi
tlieir vanity.*
At the end of the month of December, he celebrated
at Jerusalem the festival established by Judas Macca
beus in memory of the purification of the temple after
the sacrileges of Antiochus Epiphaues.f They called
it also the " Feast of the Lights," because during the
eight days of the feast they kept lamps burning in
their houses.:}; Soon afterwards Jesus undertook a
journey into Perea and upon the banks of the Jordan,
that is to say, in the same countries which he had
visited some years before, when he was following the
school of John,] and where he had himself adminis
tered baptism. He there found, it seems, some solace,
especially at Jericho. This city, whether as the com
mencement of a very important route, or on account
of its gardens of perfumes, and its rich plautations,§
had a considerable receipt of custom. The chief col
lector, Zaccheus, a rich man, desired to see Jesus.^f As
he was of low stature, he climbed upon a sycamore
tree near the road which the cortege must pass. Jesus
was touched by this simplicity on the part of a person
of consideration. He went to the house of Zaccheus,
at the risk of producing scandal. There was mnch
murmuring, indeed, at seeing him honor with a visit
the house of a sinner. On taking leave Jesus declared
his host a good son of Abraham. And as if to spite
the orthodox, Zaccheus became a Saint : he gave, it is
« Matt, xxm, 29; Luke, xi, 47.
+ John, x, ^2. Comp. I Mace, it, 52 seqq.; II»Macc, x, 6 seqq.
t Jos., .ant, XII, vn, 7.
| John, x, 40. Cf. Matt, xix. 2; Mark, x, 1. This journey is known to the
synoptics. But they seem to believe that Jesus made it coming from Galilee to
Jerusalem by way of Perea.
k Bed;, xxiv, 8; Strabo, XVI, 11,41; Justin, xxxti, S; Jos., Ant., IV, ti, 1
XIV, iv, 1; XV, iv, 2.
\ Luke, XIX, 1 seqq

LIFE OF JESUS. 303
said, the half of his goods to the poor, and repaired
twofold the wrongs which he had committed. This
was not, however, the only good fortune of Jesus. On
going out of the city, the beggar Bartimeus* gave him
great pleasure by persisting in calling him the " son
of David," although he was bidden to be silent. The
cycle of the Galilean miracles seemed for a moment to
open again in this country, which many analogies as
sociate with the provinces of the North. The delight
ful oasis of Jericho, then well watered, must have been
one of the most beautiful places in Syria. Josephus
speaks of it with the same admiration as of Galilee,
and calls it as he does this last province, a " divine
country."f Jesus, after having fulfilled this species of pilgrim
age to the localities of his first prophetic activity7, re
turned to his cherished abode at Bethany, where oc
curred a singular event which seems to have had de
cisive conseqnences upon the end of his life.J Wearied
out by the ill reception with which the kingdom of
God met in the capital, the friends of Jesus desired a
great miracle wdiich should have a powerful effect up
on Hierosolyinite incredulity. The resurrection of a
man well known at Jerusalem would be more con
vincing than anything else. We must recollect here
that the essential condition of true criticism is to com
prehend the diversity of periods, and to lay aside those
instinctive repugnances which are the fruits of a purely
national education. We must also recollect that in
this impure and oppressive city of Jerusalem Jesus
Was no longer himself. His conscience by the fault
* Matt., xx, 29; Mark, x,46 seqq.; Luke, xvm, 35.
t B. J. , IV, vm, 3. Comp. ibid., I, ti, 6; I, xtiii, 6 and Ant., XV, IT, 3.
J John, xi, 1 seqq.

304 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
of men, and not by his own, had lost something of its
primitive clearness. Desperate, pushed to extrem
ities, he no longer retained possession of himself. His
mission imposed itself upon him, and he obeyed the
torrent. As always happens in great and divine ca-
eers, he suffered the miracles which public opinion
demanded of him, rather than performed them. At
the distance at which we are, and in the presence of a
.single text, presenting evident traces of artifices of
composition, it is impossible to decide whether, in the
present case, the whole is a fiction or wiiether a real
event occurring at Bethany served as a basis for the
rumors which were bruited abroad. We must recog
nize, however, that the character of the narrative of
John is, in some respects, entirely different from that
of the stories of miracles, the offspring of popular im
agination, which fill the synoptic gospels. Let us add
that John is the only Evangelist who has any precise
knowledge of the relations of Jesus with the family of
Bethany, and that it is hard to understand how a popu
lar creation should have come to take its place in a
framework of recollections so entirely personal. It
seems, therefore, probable, that the prodigy in question
was not one of those purely legendary miracles for
which no one is responsible. In other words, we think
that something took place at Bethany which was re
garded as a resurrection.
Fame already attributed to Jesus two or three events
of this kind.* The family of Bethany may have beei
.ed, almost without suspecting it, to the important ac
which was desired. Jesus was there adored. It seem
that Lazarus was sick, and that it was indeed in con-
t Matt., ix, 18 seqq.; Mark, T, 22 seqq ; Lulu , tii, 11 seqq. ; Tin, 41 seqq

LIFE OF JESUS. 305
sequence of a message from his alarmed sisters, that
Jesus left Perea.* The joy of his coming might recall
Lazarus to life. Perhaps also the ardent desire to
close the mouth of those who furiously denied the di
vine mission of their friend, may have carried these
enthusiastic persons beyond all bounds. Perhaps
Lazarus, still pale from his sickness, caused himself to
be swathed in grave clothes, as one dead, and shut up
in his family tomb. These tombs were large cham
bers cut in the rock, into which they entered through
a square opening which was closed by an enormous
flat stone. Martha and Mary came out to meet Je
sus, and, without permitting him to enter Bethany,
conducted him to the sepulchre. The emotion which
Jesus experienced at the tomb of his friend, whom he
thought dead,f may have been mistaken by the wit
nesses for that groaning, that tremblingf which accom
panies miracles ; popular opinion holding that the di
vine virtue is in man an element, as it were, epilep
tic and convulsive. Jesus, (still following the hypoth
esis above enunciated,) desired to see once more him
whom he had loved, and, the stone having been re
moved, Lazarus came forth with his grave clothes and
his head bound about with a napkin. This apparition
must naturally have been regarded by all as a resur
rection. Faith knows no other law than the interest
of what it believes to be the truth. The end which it
pursues being ir its view absolutely holy, it makes no
scruple about invoking bad arguments in behalf of its
proposition when good ones do not succeed. If this
evidence is not real, so many others are ! . . . If this
prodigy is not genuine, so many others have been ! . . .
• John, xi, 3 seqq. t John, xi, 35 seqq. X John, xi, 33, 88-

306 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Thoroughly persuaded that Jesus was a worker of mira
cles, Lazarus and his two sisters may have aided the
performance of one, as so many pious men, convinced
of the truth of their religion, have sought to triumph
over human obstinacy by means of the weakness of
which they were well aware. The state of their con-
cience was that of the Stigmatists, the Convulsionists,
the Obsessed nuns, led on by the influence of the world
in which they live and by their own belief in the pre
tended acts. As to Jesus, he had no more power than
St. Bernard, or St. Francis d'Assisi to moderate the
avidity of the multitude and of his own disciples for
the marvellous. Death, moreover, was in a few days
to restore to him his divine liberty and to snatch him
from the fatal necessities of a character which became
each day more exacting, more difficult to sustain.
Everything seems to lead to the belief, indeed, that the
miracle of Bethany contributed directly to hasten the
death of Jesus.* Those who had witnessed it went
through the city, and spoke much of it. The disciples
related the act with scenic details arranged with a
view to augment its effect. The other miracles of
Jesus were incidental acts accepted spontaneously by
faith, magnified by popular fame, and which, when
passed, were not reexamined. This was really an
event for which public notoriety was claimed, and by
wliich they hoped to close the mouths of the Phari-
eees.f The enemies of Jesus were greatly irritated at
all this fame. They tried, it is said, to kill Lazarus.:}
It is certain that immediately a council was assembled
by the chief priests,] and that in this council the ques
• John, xi, 46 seqq. ; xn, 2, 9 seqq.; 17 seqq.
t John, xn, 9-10, 17-18. X John, xn 16 | John, xi, 47 seqq

LIFE OF JESUS. 307
tion was distinctly put : " Whether Jesus and Ju
daism could both live?" To put the question was
to answer it, and without being a prophet, as the
Evangelist has it, the high priest might very well pro
nounce his bloody axiom : " It is expedient that one
man should die for the whole people."
" The high priest for that year," to borrow an expres
ion of the fourth evangelist, which well exhibits the
degraded condition to which the sovereign pontificate
had then fallen, was Joseph Caiaphas, appointed by
Valerius Gratus, and wholly devoted to the Romans.
Since Jerusalem had been governed by the procu
rators, the office of high priest had become subject
to removal ; dismissal from it happened almost every
year.* Caiaphas, nevertheless, maintained himself
longer than the rest. He was installed in his charge
in the year 25, and did not lose it until the year 36.
We know nothing of his character. Many7 circum
stances lead to the belief that his power was merely
nominal. Beside and above him, indeed, we always
see another personage, wlio appears to have exercised,
at the decisive moment which we are considering, a
preponderating power.
This personage was the father-in-law of Caiaphas,
Hanan or Annas.f son of Seth, the old deposed high
priest, who in the midst of this instability of the pon
tificate, really retained all its authority. Hanan had
received the high priesthood from the legate Quirinius
in the year 7 of our era. He lost his functions in the
year 14 on the advent of Tiberius ; but he was still
very highly respected. He continued to be called
* Jos., .int., XV, m, l; XVIII, n, 2; t,3; XX,ix,1,4
f The Ananas of Josephus. It is thus that the Hebrew name Johanan became
in Greek Joannes or Joannas

308 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
" high priest," although he was out of office,* and to
be consulted upon all important questions. For fifty
years, the pontificate remained almost without inter
ruption in his family : five of his sons successively as-
umed that dignity, f without counting Caiaphas, who
was his son in-law. It was what was called the " priest
y Family," as if in it the priesthood had become he
reditary4 The higher duties of the temple also, al
most wholly devolved on them.| Anothe/ family, it
is true, alternated with that of Hanan in the pontifi
cate ; the family of Boethas.§ But the Boethusim,
who owed the origin of their fortune to a cause in no
wise honorable, were far less esteemed by the pious
citizens. Hanan was, therefore, really the head of the
sacerdotal party. Caiaphas did nothing except through
him; it had become a custom to associate tlieir names,
and that of Hanan indeed always had the first place. *[
It is easy to comprehend that under this regime of a
pontificate, annual and changed according to the ca
price of the pro-consuls, an old pontiff, who had kept
the secret of the traditions, had witnessed the succes
sion of many fortunes younger than his own, and pre
served credit enough to have the power delegated to
persons who were subordinate to him in the family
relation, must have been a very important personage.
Like the aristocracy of the temple,** he was a Saddu
cee, a " sect," says Josephus, "particularly severe in
their judgments." All his sons were also ardent per-
secutors.ff One of them, named, like his father
• John, xnii, 15-23; Acts, iv, 6. + Jos.,^nt.,XX,ni,l
IJos.,4ni., XV,in, 1; .B J.,lV,v; 6 mi.7; AcU,rr,6.
Jos ,-4n<.,XX,ix, 3.
Joa., Ant., XV, ix, 3; XIX, ti, 2; Tin, I.
Luke, m, 2. » Acts, Y.,17.
Jo».,^n«.,XX,ix,l.

LIFE OF JESUS. 309
Hanan, caused James, a brother of the Lord, to be
stoned, under circumstances which are not without
analogy to the death of Jesus. The spirit of the fam
ily was haughty, bold, and cruel ;* it had that peculiar
sort of disdainful and suspicious malignity which char
acterizes Jewish politics. Thus it is upon Hanan and
his relatives that should rest the responsibility of all
the acts which are to follow. It was Hanan (or the
party which he represented) who killed Jesus. Hanan
was the principal actor in this terrible drama, and far
more than Caiaphas, more even than Pilate, he should
have borne the weight of the maledictions of humanity.
In the mouth of Caiaphas it is that the Evangelist
places the decisive declaration which led to the sen
tence of death upon Jesus. f It was supposed that the
high priest possessed a certain gift of prophecy ; the
declaration became thus to the Christian community
an oracle full of deep meaning. But this declaration,
whoever may have pronounced it, was the thought of
the whole sacerdotal party. This party was very
strongly opposed to popular seditions. It sought to
check religious enthusiasts, logically foreseeing that bj'
their exalted preaching, they would lead to the total
ruin of the nation, Although the agitation excited by
Jesus was in no wise temporal, the priests saw as the
final consequence of that agitation, an aggravation of
the Roman yoke, and the fall of the temple, the source
of tlieir riches and tlieir honors.f Certainly the causes
which were to lead, thirty-seven years later, to the de
struction of Jerusalem, did not lie in infant Christianity
They existed in Jerusalem itself, and not in Galilee
We cannot say, however, that the motive alleged, in
•Jo*., .int., XX, ix, L t John, xi, 49-50. Cf.iWd.,XTiu,14. tJohn,xi,48.

310 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
this instance, by the priests was so utterly improbable
that it must be accused of bad faith. In a general
sense, Jesus, if he succeeded, was bringing on, very
certainly, the ruin of the Jewish nation. Starting from
principles accepted at the outset by all ancient polity,
Hanan and Caiaphas were right in saying: "Better
the death of one man than the ruin of a people." This
reasoning seems to us detestable. But this reasoning
has been that of all conservative parties from the ori
gin of human societies. "The party of order" (I use
this expression in the mean and narrow sense) has al
ways been the same. Thinking that the final word of
government is to check popular emotions, it believes
that it is doing an act of patriotism when it prevents
by juridical murder the tumultuous effusion of blood.
Little thoughtful of the future, it dreams not that by
declaring war against all progress, it runs the risk of
wounding the idea which is destined, some day, to tri
umph. The death of Jesus was one of the thousand
applications of this polity. The movement which he
directed, was altogether spiritual ; but it was a move
ment; and for that alone the men of order, convinced
that the one thing needful for humanity is not to be
agitated, must prevent the new spirit from sjireadiiig.
Never has been seen by a more striking example how
such conduct defeats its end. Left free, Jesus would
have exhausted himself in a hopeless struggle against
the impossible. The unintelligent hatred of his ene
mies, determined the success of his work, and put the
seal upon his divinity.
The death of Jesus was thus resolved upon in the
month of February or the beginning of March.* But
' John, xi, 63.

LIFE OF JESUS. 311
Jesus escape * for some time longer. He withdrew to
a city but litt.e known, called Ephraim or Ephron, in
the direction of Bethel, a short day's journey from Je
rusalem.* He remained there for some days with his
disciples, allowing the storm to pass over. But orders
for his arrest so soon as he should be found in Jerusa
lem, had been given. The solemnity of the passover
was approaching, and it was thought that Jesus, ac
cording to his custom, would come to celebrate this
festival at Jerusalem.f
» John, xi, 54. Cf.LXChron., xm, 19; Jos., B. J., TV, rx, 9; Eusebius and St
Jerome, Desiiu etnom. lac. hebr., atthe words 'E(p£wv and 'Etpfrxl'u,.
t John, xi, 55-56. For the order of occurrences, in all this portion, we follow
the narrative of J ohn. The synoptics do not seem well informed concerning
that period of the life of Jesus which preceded the passion.

312 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XXin.
THE LAST WEEK OF JESUS.
He set out, in fact, with his disciples, to visit for the
last time the unbelieving city. The hopes of his fol
lowers became more and more exalted. All believed,
in going up to Jerusalem, that the kingdom of God
was there to be manifested.* The impiety of men be
ing at its acme, was a mighty sign that the consumma
tion was-near. Tlieir conviction of this was such, that
theyr already disputed with each other the precedence
in the kingdom. f This was, it is said, the moment
which Salome chose to ask for her sons the seats on
the right and on the left of the Son of man.f The
master, on the contrary, was occupied with grave
thoughts. Sometimes he suffered to escape a gloomy
feeling of resentment towards his enemies ; he related
the parable of a nobleman, who goes into a far coun
try to receive a kingdom and to return ; but hardly
has he departed when his citizens will have him no
more. The king returns, orders before him those who
have desired that he should not reign over them, and
• Luke, xix, 11. f Luke, xxn, 24 seqq.
X Matt., xx, 20 seqq. ; Mark, x, 35 seqq.

IJFE OF JESUS. 313
commanded them all to be put to doath.* At other
times he rudely destroyed the illusions of his disciples.
As they were traveling over the rocky roads north of
Jerusalem, Jesus walked thoughtfully at the head of
the group of his companions. All looked upon him
in silence, with a sentiment of awe, not daring to ques
tion him. Already, on various occasions, he had spo
ken to them of his future sufferings, and they had
listened unwillingly.f Jesus finally broke the si
lence, and, no longer concealing his presentiments,
he spoke to them openly of his approaching end4
There was great sadness in all the company. The dis
ciples were expecting soon to see the sign appear in
the clouds. The inaugural cry of the "kingdom of
God ;" " Blessed be he who cometh in the name of the
Lord," already rang thr-ough the throng in joyous ac
cents. This bloody perspective disturbed them. At
each step of the fatal journey, the kingdom of God
drew near or fled away in She mirage of their dreams.
As for him, he became cenfumed in the thought that
he was about to die, but that this death would save
the world,§ the misunderstanding between him and
his disciples widened every moment.
It was the custom to come up to Jerusalem some
days before the Passover, in order to prepare for it. Je
sus arrived after the rest, and for a moment his ene
mies thought themselves frustrated in their hope of
oeizing him.T On the sixth day before the feast (Sat
urday the 8th of Nisan, March 28th),** he finally ar-
• Luke, xix, 12-27. t Matt- > xrl< 21 8e<11- ! Mark, Tin, 31 seqq.
t Matt. , xx, 17 seqq. ; Mark, x, 31 seqq. ; Luke, xvm, 31 seqq.
| Matt., xxm, 39; Luke, xm, 35.
i Matt, xx, 28. IT John, xi, 56.
*« The passover was celebrated on the fourteenth of Misan. Now, in tne yea*
IS, the first of Nisan corresponded to Saturday, March 21st.
14

314 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
rived at Bethany. He stopped, as was his custom, at
the house of Lazarus, Martha and Mary, or that of Si
mon the Leper. Tliey gave him a grand reception.
There was at the house of Simon the Leper* a dinner
at wliich a large number of persons were assembled,
attracted by the desire to see him, and also to see Laz
arus, of whom so many things had been related for
some days past. Lazarus was seated at a table, and at
tracted the attention of all. Martha served accord
ing to her custom. f It seems as though they sought
by an increase of the external manifestations of res
pect to overcome the coldness of the public and to
signalize decidedly the high dignity of the guest whom
they were entertaining. Mary, in order to give the
repast a more festal appearance, entered during the
dinner, bearing a vase of perfume, which she poured
upon the feet of Jesus. Then she broke the vase, ac
cording to an ancient usage which was to destroy the
vessels used in serving a stranger of distinction.:]: Fi
nally, carrying the manifestations of her worship to
extremes hitherto unknown, she prostrated herself and
wiped the feet of her master with her long hair.]
The whole house was filled with the pleasant odor of
the perfume, to the great joy of all, except the avari
cious Judas of Kerioth. Considering the economical
habits of the community, it really was prodigality.
The greedy treasurer calculated at once for how much
the perfume might have been sold, and what it would
• Matt, xxvi, 6; Mark, xiv, 3. Cf. Luke, vn, 40, 43-44.
f It is very common in the East that a person who is attached to you by a
bond of affection or of domesticity should go to serve you when you go out to
dine. X I have seen this custom still practiced at Seur.
| We must remember that the feet of the guests were not, as among us, con
cealed under the table, but extended '.evel with the body upon the divan or
triclinium.

LIFE OF JESUS. 315
have produced for the poor. This sentiment devoid
of affection, which seemed to place something else above
himself, was displeasing to Jesus. He was fond of
honors ; for honors served his purpose and established
his title as the Son of David. So when they spoke to
him of the poor, he replied rather sharply: "the poor
ye have always with you, but me ye have not al
ways." And rising to exaltation, he promised immor
tality to the woman who at this critical moment .gave
him a pledge of love.*
The next day (Sunday, the 9th of Nisan), Jesus went
down from Bethany to Jerusalem. f When, at a turn
of the road, upon the summit of the Mount of Olives,
he saw the city spread out before him, it is said that
he wept over it, and addressed to it a last appeal.f At
the foot of the mountain, not far from the gate, enter
ing upon the belt of land near the eastern wall of the
city, which was called Bethphage, doubtless from the
fig trees with which it was planted,] he had yet another
moment of human satisfaction.! The news of his ar
rival had spread abroad. The Galileans who had come
to the feast were rejoiced, and prepared him a modest
triumph. They brought him a she ass, followed, as
usual, by her colt. The Galileans spread tlieir finest
garments in the way of housings upon this poor beast,
and made him sit thereon. Others, moreover, spread
tlieir vestments along the road, and strewed it with
* Matt, xxvi, 6 seqq.; Mark, xiv, 3 seqq.; John, xi, 2; xn, 2 seqq - Comp
Luke, vn, 36 seqq.
+ John, xn. 12. X Luke, xix, 41 seqq.
j! Mischna, Menachoth, xi, 2; Talm. of Bab. , Sanhedrin, 14 b: Pesachim, 63 b. 91 a;
Sota, 45 a; Baba metsia, 85 a. It results from these passages that Bethphage was
a sort of pomcerium, which extended to the foot of the eastern foundation of the
temple, and which also had its own wall of enclosure. The passages Matt., xxi,
1, Luke, xix, 29, do not exactly imply that Bethphage wau a village, as Eusebius
and St. Jerome have supposed.
,Matt, xxi, 1 seqq.; Mark, xi, 1 seqq. ; Luke xix, 29 seqq.; John, xn, 12 seqq,

316 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
green boughs. The multitude that went before and
that followed bearing palms, cried : "Hosanna to the
eon of David. Blessed is he that cometh in the name
of the Lord !" Some persons even went so far as to
give him the title of "king of Israel."* "Rabbi, make
them hold their peace," said the Pharisees to him.
" If they should hold their peace, the stores would cry
out," replied Jesus, and he entered the city. The
Hierosolymites, who scarcely knew him, asked who he
was : " This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth and Gal
ilee," was the reply. Jerusalem was a city of about
fifty thousand souls.f A little event, like the entrance
of a stranger of celebrity, or the arrival of a band of
provincials, or a movement of the people in the aven
ues of the town, could not fail, under ordinary circum
stances, to be soon noised about. But at the time of
the feasts, the confusion was extreme.^ Jerusalem,
on those days, belonged to strangers. It is, therefore,
among them that the commotion appears to have been
greatest. Some proselytes who spoke Greek and who
had come to the feast, became curious, and desired to
see Jesus. They applied to his disciples;] it is not
known what resulted from this interview. As for Je
sus, he went, according to his custom, to pass the night
in his dear village of Bethany. § The three following
days (Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday), he went
down in the same manner to Jerusalem ; after sunset
• l.uke, xix, 38; John, xn, 13.
\ The figure 120,000, given by Hecateus (in Josephus, Contra Apionem,I,22),
appears exaggerated. Cicero speaks of Jerusalem as a paltry town (Ad AtUcum,
II, ix). The ancient enclosures, whatever system we adopt, could not contain a
population quadruple the present, which is less than 15,000. See Robinson, BUI.
Res., 1,421-4.2 (2nd edition) ; Fergusson, Tbpogr. of Jerus., p. 51; Forster,5j/riooiKl
Palestine, p. 82.
t Jos., B. J.. II, xrv, 3. I John, xn, 20 seqq.
\ Matt., xxi, 17; Mark, xi, U. ^™

LIFE OF JESUS. 317
he returned either to Bethany or to the farms on the
western slope of the Mount of Olives, where he had
many friends.*
A deep sadness appears, during these last days, to
have filled the soul of Jesus, ordinarily so cheerful and
so serene. All the recitals agree, in attributing to
hiin, before his arrest, a moment of hesitation and of
trouble, a kind of anticipated death-agony. According
to some, he cried out suddenly : " Father, save me
from this hour."f It was believed that at that mo
ment, a voice was heard from heaven ; others said that
an angel came to console him4 According to a wide
spread version, this took place in the garden of Geth
semane. Jesus, it is said, withdrew a stone's throw
from his sleeping disciples, taking with him only Ce
phas and the two sons of Zebedee. Then he prayed
with his face to the ground. His soul was sad unto
death; a terrible anguish weighed upon him; but re
signation to the divine will triumphed.] This scene,
by virtue of that instinctive art which presided over
the compilations of the synoptics, and which often
makes them obedient to considerations of propriety or
effect in the arrangements of events, has been assigned
to the last night of Jesus, and to the moment of his
arrest. Were this the true version, we could hardly
understand how John, who must have been the inti
mate witness of so moving an episode, should not have
spoken of it in his very circumstantial account of th
evening of Thursday.§ All that can be said is, that
« Matt., xxi, 17-18; Mark, xi, 11-12,19; Luke, xxi, 37-38.
t John, xn, 27 seqq. We can comprehend how the exaltation of John and his
exclusive prepossession with the divine character of Jesus may have effaced from
the recital the circumstances of natural weakness related by the synoptics.
X Luke; xxn, 43; John, xn, 28-29.
} Matt, xvm, 36 seqq. , Mark, xiv, 32 seqq. ; Luke, xxn, 39 seqq
i This would be the more incomprehensible since John delights in bringing

818 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
during his last days, the immense burden of the mis
sion he had accepted, weighed cruelly upon Jesus.
Human nature awoke for a moment. He began per
haps to doubt of his work. Terror, hesitation seized
upon him and threw him into a dejection worse than
death. The man who has sacrificed repose and the
natural compensations of life to a great idea, experi
ences a moment of sad reflection, when the image of
death presents itself to him for the first time, and seeks
to persuade him that all is vanity. Perhaps some one
of those touching recollections which even the strong
est souls preserve, and which at times pierce them like
the sword, came totiiim at this moment. Did he recall
the clear fountains of Galilee where he might have re
freshed himself; the vineyard and fig-tree under which
he might have been seated ; the young maidens who
might perhaps have consented to love him? Did he
curse his bitter destiny, which had forbidden to him
the joys conceded to all others? Did he regret his too
lofty nature, and, the victim of his own grandeur, did
he weep because he had not remained a simple artizan
of Nazareth ? We know not. For all these interim
agitations were evidently a sealed book to his disciples
They comprehended nothing, and supplied by artless
conjectures whatever was obscure to them in the great
soul of their master. It is certain, at least, that his
divine nature soon resumed the ascendancy. He might
still have avoided death ; he would not. The love of
his work gained the victory. He accepted the draught
of the cup even unto the lees. From this time, indeed,
Jesus is again complete and without a cloud. The
out those oircumstances which are personal to him, or of which he was the sole
witness (xm, 23 seqq. ; xvm, 15 seqq.; xix, 26 seqq., 35; xx, 2 seqq.; xxi, 20
•eqq.).

LIFE OF JESUS. 319
subtleties of the polemic, the credulity of the thau
maturgist and the exorcist are forgotten. Nothing re
mains but the incomparable hero of the Passion, the
founder of the rights of free conscience, the perfect
model upon wliich all suffering souls shall meditate for
strength and consolation.
The triumph of Bethphage, this audacity of provin
cials celebrating the advent of tlieir King-Messiah at
the gates of Jerusalem, completed the exasperation of
the Pharisees and the aristocracy of the temple. A
new council was held on Wednesday, (the 12th of Ni-
san,) at the house of Joseph Caiapha-;.* The immedi
ate arrest of Jesus was resolved upon. A great re
gard for order and for a conservative policy controlled
all their measures. The difficulty was to avoid scan
dal. As the feast of the Passover, which began that
year on Friday, was a time of confusion and excite
ment, it was resolved to anticipate those days. Jesus
was popular ;f a mob was apprehended. The arrest
was therefore fixed for Thursday', the next day. It
was determined also not to seize him in the temple,
where he came every day 4 but to spy out his habits,
hi order to seize him in some secret place. The officers
of the priests sounded the disciples, hoping to obtain
the needful information through their weakness or
through their simplicity. They found what they
sought in Judas of Kerioth. This wretch, from mo-
tires impossible to explain, betrayed his Master, gave
all the necessary indications, and even took upon him
self (although such an excess of perfidy is hardly cre
dible) to conduct the squad which was to make the
• Matt., xxvi, 1-5; Mark, xrv, 1-2; Luke, xxu, 1-2.
t Matt. , xxi, 46. t Matt. , xxvi, 56.

320 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
arrest. The memory of horror which the folly or the
wickedness of this man left to the Christian tradition,
must have led to some exaggeration in this. Judas
hitherto had been a disciple with the rest ; he had
even the title of apostle ; he had performed miracles,
and cast out demons. Legend, which loves strong
colors, could only admit into the cenaculum eleven
saints and one reprobate. Reality does not proceed
with such absolute discriminations. Avarice, which
the synoptic gospels give as the motive for the crime
in question, is not sufficient to explain it. It would be
strange that the man who kept the purse, and who
knew what he would lose by the death of the chief,
should exchange the profits of his occupation* for a
very trifling sum of money. f Might not Judas have
been wounded in his self-love by the reproof which he
received at the dinner at Bethany ? Yet this is not-
enough. John would make him a thief and an un-
believer from the beginning,^ a view which is entirely
improbable. We prefer to believe in some feeling
of jealousy, some intestine dissension. The peculiar
hatred which John exhibits towards Judas,] confirms
this hypothesis. Of a heart less pure than the rest,
Judas may have assumed unconsciously the narrow
sentiments of his office. By a mutation not uncommon
in active life, he may have come to set the interests
of the treasury above the very work it was intended to
ferve. The administrator may have killed the apos
tle. The murmur which escaped him at Bethany"
seems to indicate that at times he thought the mas
ter cost his spiritual family too dear. Undoubtedly
* John, xn, 6. \ John does not even speak of a payment Of money.
X John, ti, 65; xn, 6. | John, ti, 65, 71-72; xn, 6; xui, 2, 27 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 321
this mean economy had caused other collisions in the
little society.
Without denying that Judas of Kerioth may have
contributed to the arrest of his master, we think,
therefore, that the maledictions with which he is load
ed are in some degree unjust. His act was perhaps
more a blunder than a crime. The conscience of the
practical man is lively and just, but unstable and illog
ical. It cannot resist a sudden impulse. The secret
societies of the republican party contained much ear
nestness and sincerity, and yret informers were very
numerous among them. A slight offence was enough
to make a member a traitor. But if the foolish de
sire for a few pieces of silver turned the head of poor
Judas, it does not seem that he lost his moral sense en
tirely, since seeing the consequences of his fault, he
repented,* and, it is said, killed himself.
Each moment, at this period, becomes awful, and
has counted more than whole centuries in the history
of humanity. . We have reached Thursday, the 13th
of Nisan, (April 2d.) On the evening of the next day
the feast of the Passover commenced by the eating of
the Paschal lamb. The feast continued through the
seven following days, during which the unleavened
bread was eaten. The first and the last of these seven
days had a peculiar sanctity. The disciples were al
ready occupied with preparations for the feast.f As to
Jesus, we are led to believe that he knew the treache
ry of Judas, and that he suspected the fate which
awaited him. In the evening he took his last supper
with his disciples. It was not the ritual feast of the
? Matt., xxtii, 3 seqq.
t Matt, xxti, 1 seqq. ; Mark, xrv, 12; Luke, xxn, 7; John, xm, 29.

/

322 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Passover, as was afterwards supposed hy a mistake of
one day;* but to the primitive Church the supper of
Thursday was the tr-ne Passover, the seal of the new
covenant. All the disciples referred to it tlieir dear
est memories, and a multitude of touching incidents
which each retained of the master, were accumulated
upon this repast, which became the corner-stone of
Christian piety, and the starting-point of the most
fruitful institutions.
There is no doubt, indeed, that the tender love
with wliich the heart of Jesus was filled for the little
church that surrounded him, overflowed at this
hour.f His serene and mighty soul was yet light be
neath the weight of the gloomy thoughts which beset
him. He had a word fir each one of his friends. Two
among them, John and Peter, were the special objects
of tender marks of attachment . John (at least he
affirms so) layr upon the divan by the side of Jesus,
and his head reposed upon the breast of the master.
Towards the end of the meal the secret which weighed
upon Jesus' heart almost escaped him : " Verily, said
he, I say unto you that one of you shall betray me."f
This was to those simple men a moment of anguish ;
they looked at one another, and each questioned him
self. Judas was present ; perhaps Jesus, who for
some time had had reason to distrust him, sought by
this saying to draw from his looks, or his embarrass
nient, a confession of his fault. But the unfaithful
• This Is the arrangement of the synoptics (Matt., xxti, 17 seqq.; Mark, xrv, 12
seqq.; Luke, xxn, 7 seqq., 15. But John, whose narrative has for this portion a
preponderating authority, expressly supposes that Jesus died the same day on
which the lamb was eaten (xm, 1-2, 2»; xvm, 28; xix, 4, 31). The Talmud also
makes Jesus die on the "eve of the Passover." (Talm. of Bab. , Sanhedrin, 43 o, 67 a)
+ John, xm, 1 seqq.
X Matt, xxn, 21 seqq.; Mark, xiv, 18 seqq.; Luke, xx 21 seqq.; John, xni, 21
•eqq. ; xxi, 20.

LIFE OF JESUS. 32o
disciple did not lose his presence of mind ; he dared
even, it is said to ask like the rest : " Is it I, Rabbi ?"
Meantime, the upright and virtuous soul of Peter
was upon the rack. He made a sign to John to en
deavor to learn of whom the master spoke. John,
who could converse with Jesus without being heard,
asked him the solution of this enigma. Jesus having
nothing more than suspicions, would pronounce no
name ; he told John merely to notice to whom he
should give the bread he was dipping. At the same
time, he dipped the bread and offered it to Judas.
John and Peter alone understood this. Jesus address
ed to Judas a few words which contained a bitter re
proach, but were not comprehended by the rest. It
was supposed that Jesus was giving him orders for
the feast of the morrow, and he went out.*
At the time, this supper seemed remarkable to no
one, and apart from the apprehensions which the mas
ter imparted to his disciples, who but half understood
him, nothing extraordinary occurred. , But after the
death of Jesu§, a signification singularly solemn was
attached to this evening, and the imagination of be
lievers spread over it a hue of soft mysticism. What
we remember best of a dear friend, is his last days.
By an inevitable illusion, we lend to the conversa
tions that we then had with him a meaning which
they have received only from death ; we gather into
a few hours the memories of many years. Most of
the disciples never saw their master after the supper
of which we have spoken. It was the farewell ban
quet. At this repast, as well as at many others, Je-
« John, xni, 21 seqq. , which removes the improbablUty of the narrative of the
¦ynoptics.

324 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
6iis practised his mysterious rite of the breaking of
bread. As it was believed at an early period that this
6upper took place on the day of the Passover, and
wais the Paschal feast, the idea naturally resulted that
the Eucharist was instituted at this supreme hour.
Starting from the hypothesis that Jesus know before-
V-and the precise moment of his death, the disciplea
must have been led to suppose that he reserved for
his last hours a multitude of important acts. Moreo
ver, as one of the fundamental ideas of the first Chris
tians was that the death of Jesus was a sacrifice, re
placing all those of the ancient Law, the " Last Sup
per," which they supposed to have taken place once
for all on the evening before the Crucifixion, became
the great sacrifice, the act of foundation of the new
covenant, the sign of the blood shed for the salva
tion of all.* The bread and the wine, taken in con
nection with the death itself, were thus the image of
the new Testament which Jesus had sealed with his
Bufferings, the commemoration of the sacrifice of the
Christ until his coming. f
At a very early day this mystery was fixed in a
brief story of the sacrament, which we possess under
four quite similar forms.f John, so prepossessed with
eucharistic ideas,] who narrates the last supper with
so much prolixity, who attaches to it so many circum
stances and so much discourse ;§ John, who alone
among the evangelical narrators, has here the credi
bility of an eye witness, knows nothing of this story.
This is proof that he did not regard the institution of
• Lnke, xxn, 20. f 1 Cor., xi, 26.
1 Matt, xxti, 26-28; Hark, xtt. 22-24; Luke, xxn, 19-21; I Cor.,xi 23-24.
I Ch. vs. ^ Ch. xm-xrii.

LIFE OF JESUS. 325
the Eucharist as a peculiarity of the Last Supper. To
him, the rite of the Last Supper is the washing of feet.
It is probable that in certain primitive Christian fami
lies, this latter rite obtained an importance wliich it
subsequently lost.* Undoubtedly Jesus, under cer
tain circumstances, had practised it in order to give
his disciples a lesson of humility. It was referred to
the eve of his death, in consequence of the tendency
to group around the Last Supper all the grand moral
and ritual commands of Jesus.
A lofty sentiment of love, concord, charity and mu
tual deference animated, moreover, the memories
which they thought to preserve of the last hours of
Jesus. f The unity of his Church it is, constituted by
himself or by his spirit, which is always the soul of the
symbols and the discourses that Christian tradition
refers to this sacred hour : " A new commandment I
give unto you, said he, that ye love one another as I
have loved you. By this shall all men know that ye
are my disciples, if ye have love one to another. I
call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth: but I call you my friends ; for all
things that I have heard of my Father, I have made
known unto you. This I command you that ye love
one another.";}: At this last hour, there were still some
rivalries, some struggles for precedence.] Jesus re
marked that if he, the master, had been among his
disciples as their servant, how much the more ought
* John, xm, 14-15 Cf. Matt,xx, 26 seqq.; Luke, xxn, 26 seqq.
f John, xm, 1 seqq. The discourses placed by John in connection with the
narrative of the Supper cannot be taken as historical. They are lull of phrases
and expressions which are not in the style of the discourses of Jesus, and which.
on the contrary, enter largely iuto the habitual language of John. Thus the
expression " little children" in the vocative (John, xm, 33) is very frequent in
the first Epistle of John. It does not appear to have been familiar to Jesus.
t John, xn, 33-35; xv, 12-17. 1 Luke, xxn, 24-27. Cf. John, xni, 4 seqq

326 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
they to submit themselves one to another. According
to some, while drinking the wine, he said : "I will not
drink henceforth of the fruit-of the vine until I drink
it new with you in my Father's- kingdom."* Accord
ing to others, he promised them very soon a heavenly
feast at which they should be seated upon thrones by
his side.f
It seems that towards the end of the evening the
presentiments of Jesus took possession of his disciples.
All felt that a serious danger menaced the master and
that a crisis was at hand. For a moment Jesus
thought of taking precautions and spoke of swords.
There were two in the company. "It is enough,"
said he4 He did not follow up that idea; he saw
plainly that timid provincials would not hold out be
fore the armed force of the great powers of Jerusalem.
Cephas, full of courage and feeling sure of himself,
Bwore that he would go with him to prison or to death.
Jesus, with his usual penetration, expressed some
doubts. According to one tradition, which came
probably from Peter himself, Jesus referred him to the
crowing of the cock.] All, like Cephas, swore that
they would not deny him.
* Matt., xxvi, 29; Mark, xrv, 25; Luke, xxn, 18.
f Luke, xxn, 29-30. X Luke, xxn, 36-38.
| Matt, xxvi, 31 seqq.; Mark, xiv, 29 seqq.; Luke, xxn, 33 seqq.- John, xm
10 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 327

CHAPTER XXIV.
AEEE8T AND TKIAL OF JEHUS.
Night had completely fallen* when they left the
room.f Jesus, according to his habit, crossed the val
ley of the Cedron, and repaired accompanied by his
disciples, to the garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of
the mount of Olives.f Predominating over his friends
by his immense superiority, he watched and prayed. *
They were sleeping beside him, when suddenly a band
of men presented themselves by the light of their
torches. They were sergeants of the temple, armed
with clubs, a species of police which had been left to
the priests ; they were supported by a detachment of
Roman soldiers with their swords ; the order of arrest
emanated from the high-priest and the Sanhedrin.]
Judas, knowing the habits of Jesus, had indicated this
place as that in which they might most easily surprise
him. Judas, according to the unanimous tradition of
the primitive times, himself accompanied the squad§,
* John, xm, 30.
i The circumstance of ahymn related by Matt., xxvi, 30, and Mark, xiv, 26
comes from the opinion held by these two Evangelists that the last Supper of Je
bus was the paschal feast. Before and after the paschal feast, psalms are sung
Talm. of Bab., Pesachim, cap. ix, 5 hal. 3 et fol. 118 a, etc.
t Matt, xxvi, 36; Mark, xiv, 3-2; Luke, xxn, 39; John xvm, 1-2.
I Matt, xxvi, 47; Mark, xrv, 43; John, xtiii, 3, 12.
§ Matt, xxvi, 47; Mark, xiv, 43; Luke, xxn, 47; John, xvm, 3; Acts, i, 16.

528 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
and even, according to some,* was so detestable as to
make a kiss the sign of his treachery. However this
may be, it is certain that the disciples made a begin
ning of resistance.^: One of them (Peter, according to
the eye witnesses^) drew his sword and wounded one
of the servants of the high-priest named Malek in the
ear. Jesus checked this first impulse. He gave him
self up to the soldiers. Weak and incapable of acting
with success, especially against authorities which had
so great prestige, the disciples took to flight and dis
persed. Peter and John kept within sight of their
master. Another unknown young man followed him,
dressed in a thin garment. An attempt was made to
arrest him ; but the young man fled, leaving his tunic
in the hands of the officers.]
The course which the priests had resolved to follow
against Jesus, was strictly conformable to the estab
lished law. The procedure against the " seducer "
{mesith), who seeks to sully the purity of the faith, is
laid down in the Talmud with details the shameless
simplicity of which causes a smile. In it judicial
ambuscade is constituted an essential portion of the
criminal process. When a man is accused of " seduc
tion," two witnesses are concealed behind a partition;
and it is arranged to bring the accused into an adjoin
ing room, in which he can be heard by the two wit
nesses without himself perceiving them. Two candles
are lighted near him, that it may be fully established
that the witnesses " see him."§ Then he is made to
repeat his blasphemy. He is urged to retract. —
* This is the tradition of the synoptics. In the narrative of John, Jesus an
nounces himself. f The two traditions accord upon this point.
1 John, xvm 10. || Mark, xiv, 51-52.
& In criminal matters, only eye-witnesses were admitted. Mischna Sanhe-
*n», iv, 8.

LIFE OF JESUS. 329
If he persists, the witnesses who have heard him, bring
him to the tribunal, and he is stoned. The Talmud
adds that this course was adopted in the proceeding
against Jesus, that he was condemned upon the testi
mony of two witnesses who had been concealed, that
" seduction " is, moreover, the only crime for which
witnesses are thus prepared.*
The disciples of Jesus apprise us, indeed, that the
crime charged against their master was " seduction,"f
and, with the exception of certain minutiae, the fruit
of the rabbinical imagination, the narrative of the
evangelists corresponds word for word to the proceed
ing described by the Talmud. The plan of the ene
mies of Jesus was to convict him, by examination of
witnesses and by his own confessions, of blasphemy
and of an outrage upon the Mosaic religion, to condemn
him to death according to the law, and then to make
Pilate approve the sentence. The sacerdotal author
ity, as we have already seen, resided in fact entirely
in the hands of Hanan. The order of arrest came
probably from him. To the house of this powerful
personage Jesus was first taken.f Hanan questioned
him as to his doctrines and his disciples. Jesus re
fused with a just pride to enter into long explanations.
He referred tbem to his teaching, which had been
public ; he declared that he had never had any secret
doctrine ; he invited the ex-high-priest to question
those who had heard him. This response was perfectly
natural ; but the exaggerated respect with wliich the
* Talm. of Jerus., Sanhedrin, xrv, 16; Talm. of Bab., same treatise, 43 a, 67 a.
Cf. Schabbatk, 104 6. t Matt., xxvm, 63; John, vn, 12, 47.
X John, xvm, 13 seqq. This circumstance, which is found only in John, Is the
strongest proof of the historic value of the fourth Gospel.

330 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
aged pontiff was surrounded made it seem audacious;
one of the bystanders replied, it is said with a cuff.
Peter and John had followed their master to Ha-
nan's house. John, who was known in the house, was
admitted without difficulty ; but Peter was stopped at
the entrance, and John was obliged to beg the por
tress to let him pass. The night was cold. Peter re
mained in the antechamber, and approached a brazier
about which the servants were warming themselves.
He was quickly recognized as a disciple of the accused.
The wretched man, betrayed by his Galilean ac
cent, pressed with questions by the servants, one of
whom was a relative of Malek and had seen him in
Gethsemane, denied three times that he had ever had
the least connection with Jesus. He thought that Je
sus could not hear him, and did not realize that this
cowardly dissimulation was utterly unscrupulous. But
his better nature quickly revealed to him the fault
which he had committed. A fortuitous circumstance,
the crowing of the cock, recalled to him the words
which Jesus had spoken. Pricked to the heart, he
went out and wept bitterly.*
Hanan, although the real author of the judicial
murder which was to be committed, had no power to
pronounce sentence on Jesus ; he sent him to his son-
in-law Caiaphas, who wore the official title. This man,
the blind instrument of his father-in-law, ratified all as
a matter of course. The Sanhedrin was assembled at
his house.f The examination commenced ; several
witnesses, prepared in advance according to the inqui
sitorial process set forth in the Talmud, appeared be-
* Matt, xxti, 69 seqq. ; Mark, xrv, 66 seqq. ; Luke, xxn, 54 seqq. ; John, xvm
15 seqq.; 25 seqq. t Matt , xti, 57; Mark, xiv, 53; Luke, xxn, 66.

LIFE OF JESUS. 331
fore the tribunal. The fatal words which Jesus had
really pronounced : "I am able to destroy the temple
of Gid, and to build it in three days," were cited by
two witnesses. To blaspheme the temple of God was,
according to the Jewish law, to blaspheme God him
self* Jesus preserved silence and refused to explain
the incriminated words. According to one narrative,
the high priest then adjured him to say whether he
was the Messiah. Jesus confessed it and proclaimed
before the assembly the speedy coming of his heavenly
kingdom.f The courage of Jesus determined upon
death, does not call for this. It is most probable that
here, as at Hanan's honse, he held his peace. This
was in general during these last hours his rule of con
duct. The sentence was drawn up. Pretexts only
were sought. Jesus knew it, and did not undertake a
useless defense. From the stand-point of orthodox
Judaism he was indeed a blasphemer, a destroyer of
the established worship ; now these crimes were pun
ished with death by the law 4 With one voice the as
sembly declared him guilty of capital crime. The
members of the council who were secretly favorable
to him were absent or did not vote.] The frivolity
common to long established aristocracies prevented
the judges from reflecting at length upon the conse
quences of the sentence which they gave. Human
life was then sacrificed very lightly ; undoubtedly
the members of the Sanhedrin did not dream that
their children were to render account to an angry pos
terity for the sentence pronounced with such careless
contempt. * Matt., xxm, 16 seqq.
+ Matt., xxti, 64; Mark, xrr, 62; Luke, xxn, 69. John knows nothing of this
scene. Jiei*, xxiv, 14 seqq. ; Deut., xm,lseqq. ( Luke, xxm, 60-61,

332 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
The Sanhedrin had no right to execute a sentence
of death.* But, in the confusion of powers then
reigning in Judea, Jesus was none the less, from that
hour, a condemned man. He remained during the
rest of the night exposed to the ill treatment of a
base varletry, who spared him no affront.f
In the morning, the chief priests and the elders as
sembled anew.f The question was, how to make Pi
late ratify the sentence pronounced by the Sanhe
drin, which, since the occupation of the Romans, was
insufficient. The procurator was not invested like the
imperial legate with the power of life and death. But
Jesus was not a Roman citizen ; the authorization of
the governor sufficed to allow the sentence pronounced
against him to take its course. As always happens
when a political people subject a nation in which the
civil aud religious law are one, the Romans had been
led to give a sort of official support to the Jewish
law. The Roman law did not apply to the Jews.
Th#y remained under the canonical law which we find
in the Talmud, in the same manner as the Algerian
Arabs are yet ruled by the code of Islam. Although
neutrals in religion, the Romans thus sanctioned very
often penalties for religious offenses. The situation
was almost that of the holy cities of India under the
English rule, or still more like what the condition of
Damascus would be on the morning after the con
quest of Syria by a European nation. Josephus
claimed, (but it is indeed doubtful,) that if a Roman
passed beyond the columns which bore inscriptions
* John, xvm, 81; Jos., Ant., XX, ix, 1.
f Matt., xxti, 67-68; Mark, xit, 65; Luke, xxn, 63-65,
J Matt, , xxtii, 1; Mark, xv, 1; Luke', xxn, 66; xxm, 1 ; John, xtiii, 28.

LIFE OF JESUS. 333
forbidding pagans to go farther, the Romans them
selves delivered him to the Jews to be put to death.*
The officers of the priests, therefore, bound Jesus and
led him to the prastorium, which was the former pal
ace of Herod,f adjoining the Antonia tower.f I
was the morning of the day when they were to ea
the paschal lamb, (Friday, the 14th of Nisau, April
3rd.) The Jews by entering the prsetorium would be
defiled, and rendered unable to participate in the sa
cred feast. They remained without.] Pilate, advised
of their presence, mounted the bima,% or tribunal situ
ated in the open air,T at the spot called Gabbatha,
or in Greek Lithostrotos, because of the tesselated
pavement wliich covered the ground. Hardly was he
informed of the accusation before he expressed his
displeasure at being concerned in the matter.** Then
he shut himself up in the praetonuni with Jesus.
There took place a conversation ""he precise details of
which have escaped us, no witness Hieing able to re
port it to the disciples, but the purport of which ap
pears to have been well divined by John. His narra
tive indeed is in perfect accord with what history in
forms us of the reciprocal situation of the two interlo
cutors. The procurator Pontius, surnamed Pilatus, doubt
less from the pilum or javelin of honor with which he
Himself or one of his ancestors had been decorated,f f
* Jos.;^n« ,XV, xi, 6; B. J., VI, n,4.
! Philo, Legatio ad Caium, h 38. Jos B. J., II, xrv. 8.
On the spot where now is the seraglio of the Pasha of Jerusalem.
John, xvm, 28.
§ The Greek word /35j(Jta had passed into Syro-Chaldaic.
ff Jos.,B. J ,11, ix, 3; xrv, 8; Matt., xxvn, 27; John, xvm, 33.
«* John, xvm, 29.
ft Virg., Mn.,Xll, 121; Martial, Epigr., 1, xxxiiijX, xr-vn; Plutaich, Life «/
Momulus, 29 Compare the hasta para, military decoration, Orelli and Heniea,

334 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
had not had hitherto any relation with the infant sect,
Indifferent to the internal quarrels of the Jews, he
saw in all these movements of sectaries nothing more
than the effects of intemperate imaginations or of dis
ordered wits. In general, he did not love the Jews.
But the Jews detested him still more ; they thought
him severe, contemptuous and passionate ; they ac
cused him of improbable crimes.* The center of a
great popular fermentation, Jerusalem was a very se
ditious city, and to a stranger an unendurable place of
residence. The zealots imputed to the new procura
tor a fixed design to abolish the Jewish law.f Their
narrow fanaticism, their religious hatreds were revolt
ing to this broad idea of justice and civil government,
wliich the humblest Roman citizen carried with him
everywhere. All the acts of Pilate which are known
to us show him as a good administrator. \ In the first
days of his rule he had had difficulties with those un
der his administration which he had settled in a very
brutal manner, but in wliich it seems that he was
substantially right. The Jews must have appeared to
him a very backward race; he judged them undouht
edly as a liberal prefect formerly judged the Bas-Bre-
tons, revolting for a new road, or for the establish
ment of a school. In his best projects for the good of
the country, notably in all that pertained to public
works, he had encountered the Law as an insuperable
obstacle. The Law restricted life to such an extent
that it opposed all change and all amelioration. Ro
man constructions, even those most useful, were to
Inscr. lot., Nos. 3,574, 6,852, etc. Pilatus is, in this hypothesis, a word of the same
form as Trgwtus.
* Philo, Leg. ad Caium, § 38.
X Jos. , Ant , XVIII, m, 1, init f Jos., Ant , XVIII, imt

LIFE OF JESUS. 335
the zealous Jews an object of great antipathy.* Two
votive shields, with inscriptions, which he had caused
to be placed opposite his residence, near the sacred
enclosure, provoked a yet more violent storm. f Pilate
at first paid little attention to these susceptibilities; he
became thus engaged in repressing bloody outbreaks,:}:
wliich led to his removal.] The experience of so ma
ny conflicts had rendered him very prudent in his
dealings with an intractable people, who avenged
themselves on their masters by compelling them to
use against them execrable severities. With extreme
displeasure the procurator saw himself led in this new
matter to- act a cruel part for a law which he hated. §
He knew that religious fanaticism, when it has ob
tained from civil governments some deed of violence,
is straightway the first to throw upon them the respon
sibility, and almost to accuse them of it. Supreme in
justice ; for the real criminal, in such a case, is the
instigator !
Pilate would, therefore, have preferred to save Je
sus. Perhaps the calm and dignified attitude of the
accused made some impression upon him. According
to one tradition,^" Jesus found a support in the wife oi
the procurator herself. She might have seen the gen
tle Galilean from some window of the palace, looking
upon the courts of the temple. Perhaps she saw him
again in a dream, and the blood of this beautiful
young man, which was about to be shed, gave her the
nightmare. So much is certain, that Jesus found Pi
late predisposed in his favor. The governor questioned
• Talm. of Bab. . SchalibaCh, 33 6. t Philo, Leg. ad Caium, t, s»
IJos.,^ln«.,XVlII,m,l and 2; Bell. Jud., II, ix, 2 seqq.; Luke, xm,l.
Jos., Ant., XVIII, rv, 1-2. <{ John, xthi, ak
Matt.,xxTU, 19. s>

336 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
him with kindness, and with the intention of seeking
all means to set him free.
The title of " King of the Jews," which Jesus had
never given himself, but which his enemies presented
as the sum of his acts and pretentions, was naturally
that by which they could excite the umbrage of the
Roman authority. It was on this charge, as seditious
and guilty of crime against the State, that they under
took to accuse him. Nothing was more unjust; for
Jesus had always recognized the Roman empire as the
established power. But conservative religious parties
are not accustomed to recoil at the utterance of calum
ny. They deduced in spite of him all the consequen
ces of his doctrine ; they transformed him into a disci
ple of Juda the Gaulonite ; they feigned that he op
posed the payment of tribute to Caesar.* Pilate
asked him if he weie really the king of the Jews.f Je
sus dissembled nothing of his thought. But the great
ambiguity which had created his power, and which
after his death was to constitute his royalty, did not
avail him now. An idealist, that is, making no dis
tinction between spirit and matter, his mouth armed
with his two-edged sword, according to the image of the
A pocalypse, Jesus never completely reassured the pow
ers of the earth. If we may believe John, he avowed
his royalty, but pronounced at the same time this pro
found sentence : " My kingdom is not of this world." \
Then he explained the nature of his royalty, all being
Gummed up in the possession and proclamation of the
truth. Pilate comprehended nothing of this superior
J/dealism.J Jesus appeared to him doubtless an inof
* Luke, xxm, 2, 5.
t Matt.,xxTii,ll; Mark, xr, 2i Luke, xxm, 3; John, xvni, 33.
t John, xthi, 38

LIFE OF JESUS. 337
fensive dreamer. The total lack of religious and phi
losophical proselytism among the Romans of tha
epoch made them look upon devotion to truth as a
chimera. These discussions wearied them, and ap
peared to them devoid of sense. Not seeing how
dangerous to the empire was the leaven concealed in
these new speculations, they had no reason to employ
violence against them. All their displeasure fell upon
those who came to ask them to administer punishments
for empty subtleties. Twenty years later Gallio still fol
lowed the same line of conduct with the Jews.* Until the
destruction of Jerusalem, the administrative rule of the
Romans was to remain completely indifferent to these
quarrels of sectaries.f
One expedient suggested itself to the mind of the
governor to reconcile his own feelings with the de
mands of the fanatical people whose pressure he had
already so many times experienced. It was the cus
tom at the feast of the Passover to deliver to the peo
ple a prisoner. Pilate, knowing that Jesus had been
arrested only in consequence of the jealousy of the
priests,:]: endeavored to give him the benefit of this
custom. He appeared anew upon the bima, and pro
posed to the multitude to release " the king of the
Jews." The proposition made in these terms had a
certain character of liberality, and, at the same time,
of irony. The priests saw its danger. They acted
promptly,] and to defeat the proposition of Pilate, they
* Ads, XVIII 14-15.
T Tacitus (Ann., xv, 44) presents the death of Jesus as a political execution by
Pontius Pilate. But, at the time when Tacitus wrote, the Roman policy to
wards the Christians had changed; they were considered guilty of conspiracy
against the State. It was natural that the Latin historian should believe that
Pilate, in executing Jesus, had acted from considerations of pablic security.
Josephus is much more exact (Ant., XVIII, in, 3).
X Mark, xv, 10.
j Matt., xxvn, 20; Mark, xr, 11. 16

338 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
suggested to the multitude the name of a prisoner who
enjoyed great popularity in Jerusalem. By a singular
chance, he also was called Jesus,* and bore the sur
name of Bar-Abba or Bar-Rabban.f This was a per
sonage well known ;f he had been arrested for a riot
accompaniedwithmurder.il A general clamor arose:
"Not this one; but Jesus Bar-Rabban." Pilate was
obliged to give up Jesus Bar-Rabban.
His embarrassment increased. He feared lest too
much indulgence for a prisoner to whom was given the
title of "king of the Jews," should compromise him.
Fanaticism, moreover, leads all powers to treat with it.
Pilate thought himself obliged to make some conces
sion ; but still hesitating at bloodshed tosatisf}' people
whom he detested, he endeavored to give the matter
a ridiculous turn. Professing to laugh at the pompous
title given to Jesus, he caused him to be whipped. §
Flaggellation was the ordinary preliminary of cruci
fixion.^" Perhaps Pilate wished to lead them to believe
that that sentence was already prononnced, while yet
hoping that the preliminary punishment would suffice.
Then followed, according to all the narratives, a revolting
6cene. Soldiers put upon his body a red gown, a crown
woven of thorn branches upon his head, and a reed in
his hand. Thus covered, he was led out upon the bima,
before the people. The soldiers defiled in front of him,
elappedhim in the face each in turn, and, kneeling, said:
"Hail, king of the Jews!"** Others, it is said, spit
« The name of Jesus has disappeared in most of the manuscripts. This read
ing has, nevertheless, very strong authority.
? Matt., xxvn, 16. X Of St. Jerome, in Matt, xxvn, 16.
| Mark, xv, 7; Luke, xxm, 19. John (xvm, 40), who makes him a robber,
appears here much less accurate tban Mark.
& Matt., xxvn, 20; Mark, xv, 16; John, xix, 1.
k Jos., B. J., II, xiv, 9; V,xi,l; VII, vi, 4; Livy. XXXIII,36; Qulntus Cu»
Hue, VII, xi, 28.
•» Matt. , xxtii, 27 seqq. ; Mark xv , 16 seqq. ; Lnke, xxm, 11 ; John, xix, 2 seqq

LIFE OF JESUS. 339
upon him and struck him upon the head with the reed.
It is difficult to understand how Roman gravity should
have lent itself to acts so shameful. It is true that
Pilate, in his capacity of procurator, had scarcely any
but auxiliary- troops under his orders.* Roman citi
zens, like the legionaries, would not have descended
to such indignities.
Did Pilate think by this parade to cover up his re
sponsibility ? Did he hope to turn aside the blow
wliich menaced Jesus by according something to the
hatred of the Jews,f and by substituting for the
tragic termination a grotesque ending, from which it
would seem to result that the matter merited no other
issue ? If such were his idea, he had no success. The
tumult increased, and became a real sedition. Cries
of " Let him be crucified ! let him be crucified !" re
sounded on all sides. The priests, assuming a more
and more exacting tone, declared the Law in peril, if
the seducer were not punished with death.f Pilate
saw clearly that, to save Jesus, it would be necessary
to quell a bloody riot. Nevertheless, he still endeav
ored to gain time. He entered the prsetorium again,
and informed himself of what country Jesus was, seek
ing some pretext for denying his jurisdiction.] Ac
cording to one tradition, he even sent Jesus to Anti
pater, who, it is said, was then at Jerusalem. § Jesus
* See Inscript. rom. de VAlgerie, No. 5, fragm. B.
!Luke, xxn, 16, 22 X John, xix, 7.
John, xix, 9. Cf. Luke, xxm, 6 seqq.
It is probable that this is a first attempt at a " Harmony of the Gospels."
Luke must have had before bis eyes a narrative in which the death of Jesus was
erroneously attributed to Herod. In order not to sacrifice that version entirely,
he put the two traditions one after the other, the more as he perhaps knew
vaguely, that Jesus (as John informs us) appeared before three authorities. In
many other cases, Luke seems to have some distant notion of the facts
which are peculiar to John's narration. Moreover, the third gospel contains in
regard to the history of the crucifixion, a series of additions which the autho.
appears to have borrowed from a more recent document, in which an arrange
ment, with a view to edification was perceptible.

340

ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

lent himself little to these kindly efforts ; he preserved^
as at the house of Caiaphas, a grave and dignifiel si
lence, which astonished Pilate. The cries without be
came more and more threatening. They already de-
louuced the lack of zeal of the functionary who fa
vored an enemy of Caesar. The greatest adversaries
©f the Roman domination were transformed into loyal
ubjects of Tiberius, in order to gain the right to ac
cuse the too tolerant procurator of high treason. "There
is no king here," said they, " but the emperor ; whoso
ever makes himself king, puts himself in opposition
with the emperor. If the governor acquits the man,
he is not the emperor's friend."* The feeble Pilate
faltered ; he read in advance the report that his ene
mies would send to Rome, in which they would accuse
him of having sustained a rival of Tiberius. Already,
in the affair of the votive shields,f the Jews had writ*
ten to the emperor, and had been sustained. He
feared for his position. By a condescension which was
to deliver his name to the scourges of history, he yielded,
casting, it is said, upon the Jews all responsibility for
what should follow. The latter, according to the Chris
tians, accepted it fully, crying : " His blood be on us
and on our children !"J
Were these words really pronounced? We may
doubt it. But they are the expression of a deep his->
torical truth. Considering the position wliich the Ro
mans had assumed in Judea, Pilate could hardly have
/ done other than he did. How many sentences of
' death, dictated by religious intolerance, have forced
I the hand of the civil power! The king of Spain who,
• John, xix, 12, 15. Cf. Luke, xxm, 2 To appreciate the exactitude of the
coloring of this scene in the Evangelists, see Philo. Leg. ad Caium, § S3.
t See above, p. 315. X Matt, xxvn, 24-2S.

LIFE OF JESUS. 341
to please a fanatical clergy, gave up to the stake hun-l
dreds of his subjects, was more blameable than Pilate;)
for he represented a more complete power than was
yet established at Jerusalem by the Romans. When
the civil power becomes a persecutor or an inter-
meddler, at the solicitation of the priest, it proves its
weakness. But let that government which in this re
gard is without sin, cast the first s^tone at Pilate. The
"secular arm," behind which clerical cruelty shelters
itself, is not the criminal. None can say that he has a
horror of blood, when he causes it to be shed by his
servants. It was, therefore, neither Tiberius nor Pilate who
condemned Jesus. It was the old Jewish party ; it
was the Mosaic law. According to our modern ideas,
there is no transmission of moral demerit from father
to son; each must account to human as well as to di
vine justice only for what he himself has done. Every
Jew, consequently, who in our day still suffers for the
murder of Jesus, has a right to complain ; for perhaps
he would have been a Simon the Cyrenean ; perhaps
at least he had not been with those who cried : " Cru
cify him !" But nations have their responsibility as
well as individuals. Now, if ever crime was the crime I
of a nation, it was the execution of Jesus. This exe
cution was "legal," in the sense that its first cause was
a law which was the very soul of the nation. The
Mosaic law, in its modern form, it is true, but yet its
accepted form, pronounced the sentence of death against
every attempt to change the established worship. Now
Jesus, without any doubt, attacked this worship, and
aspired to destroy it. The Jews said to Pilate, with
simple and true frankness : " We have a Law, and by

342 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
our Law he ought to die ; because he made himself
the Son of God."* The law was detestable ; but it
was the law of an ancient ferocity, and the hero who
offered himself to abrogate it must first of all suffer it.
Alas, that more th an eighteen hundred years must pass
away before the blood which he is now to shed shall
bear its fruits! In his name, for centuries, the tortures
of death shall be inflicted upon thinkers as noble as he.
To-day even, in countries which call themselves Chris
tian, penalties are imposed for religious delinquencies.
Jesus is not responsible for these mutations. He could
not foresee that any people, with disordered imagina
tion, would one day conceive him a frightful Moloch,
greedy for burning flesh. Christianity has been intol
erant ; but intolerance is not a trait essentially Chris
tian. It is a Jewish trait, in this sense that Judaism
built up for the first time the theory of the absolute
into a religion, and established the principle that every
innovator, even when he brings miracles to the sup
port of his doctrine, ought to be received with blows,
and be stoned by the whole world, without ahearing.f
Certainly, the pagan world had also its religious vio
lence. But if it had had that law, how would it have
become Christian ? The Pentateuch was thus the first
code of religious terror in the world. Judaism has
given the example of an immutable dogma, armed
with the sword. If, instead of pursuing the Jews with
a blind hatred, Christianity had abolished the regim
which slew its founder, how much more consistent
would it have been, how much better it would have
deserved of m ankind 1
• John, xix, 7. f Deut., xm, 1 seqq.

LIFE OF JESUS. 3-13

CHAPTER XXV.

THE DEATH OF JESUi

Although the real motive of the execution of Jesus
was wholly religious, his enemies had succeeded, at the
prsetorium, in presenting him as guilty of treason ;
they would not have obtained from the skeptical Pi
late a condemnation for cause of heterodoxy. Follow
ing out this idea, the priests, through the multitude,
demanded the execution of Jesus by the cross. Cru
cifixion was not of Jewish origin ; had the condemna
tion of Jesus been purely Mosaic, he would have been
stoned. The cross was a Roman punishment, reserved
for slaves and those cases in which it was desired to
add to death the aggravation of ignominy. In apply
ing it to Jesus, he was treated like highway-robbers
brigands, bandits, or those enemies of an inferior class
to whom the Romans did not accord the honor of
death by the sword.* It was the chimerical " king
of the Jews," not the heterodox dogmatist, who was
punished. In conseqnence of the same idea, the exe
cution was of necessity abandoned to the Romans. We
« Jos., Ant., XX, ix. 1. The Talmud, which represents the condemnation ol
Jesus as wholly religious, declares, indeed, that he was stoned, or at least that,
after having been suspended, he was stoned, as often happened (Mischna, San-
kt'irin, ti, 4). Talm, of Jerus., Sanhedrin, xrv, 16 Talm. of Bab., same treatise
48 a, 67 a.

344 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
know that, among the Romans, soldiers, slaughter be
ing tlieir occupation, performed the office of execu
tioners. Jesus was therefore delivered to a cohort of
auxiliary troops, and all the horror of the tortures in
troduced by the cruel customs of the new conquerora
was unfolded before him. It was about noon.* .He
was dressed in his clothes which theyr had taken off to
parade him before the people, and as the cohort had
already in reserve two thieves to be executed, they put
the three prisoners together, and the cortege took up
its march for the place of execution.
This place was a spot called Golgotha, situati/i out
side of Jerusalem, but near the walls of the city f The
name Golgotha signifies skull ; it corresponds, it seems,
to our word Chaumont [Baldmount] and probably
designates a smooth hill, having the form ->f a bald
skull. We know not with exactitude the vtuation of
this hill. It was surely to the north or w '-th-west of
the city, in the high rolling plain which i& bounded by
the walls and the two valleys of Cedron arid Hinnom4
a miserable region, made still more melancholy by
the disagreeable incidents of its proximity to a great
city. It is difficult to place Golgotha on the precise
spot where, since Constantine, all Christendom has re
vered it.] This spot is too near the interior of the city,
* John, xix, 14. According to Mark, xv, 25, it could hardly have been after
8 o'clock in the morning, since, according to that Evangelist, Jesus was crucified
pit nine o'clock.
f Matt., x\vn,3'l; Mark, xv, C2; John. xix. 20; Heb., xm, 12.
I Golgotha, indeed, seems to have some relation to the hill of Gareb and the
locality of Goaih, mentioned in Jeremiah, xxxi, 39. Now, these two places ap
pear to have been to the northwest of the city. I should incline to place the
spot where Jesus was crucified near to the extreme angle which the existing wall
makes towards the west, or, perhaps, on the mounds wliich overlook the valley o
Hinnom, above Birket-Mamilla.
|] The proofs by which it has been attempted to show that the Holy SepulchrV
aaa been displaced since Constantine, lack force.

LIFE OF J"ESUS. 345
and we are inclined to believe that in the time of Je
sus it was comprised within the circuit of the walls.*
He who was condemned to crucifixion had himself
to bear the instrument of his torture. f But Jesus,
weaker than his two companions, could not bear his.
The squad met a certain Simon of Cyrene, who was
returning from the country, and the soldiers, with the
rough procedure of a foreign garrison, forced him to
bear the fatal tree. Perhaps they exercised in this a
recognized right of impressment, Romans not being
able to cumber themselves with the infamous, wood.
It seems that afterwards Simon belonged to the Chris
tian community. His two sons, Alexander and Ru-
fus4 were well known in it. He related perhaps
more than one circumstance which he had witnessed.
No disciple was at this time near Jesus.]
* M. de Vogue has discovered, 84 yards east of the traditional site of Calvary,
a piece of Judaic wall analogous to that of Hebron, which, if it belongs to the
mclosure of the time of Jesus, would leave this traditional site outside of the
city. The existence of a sepulchral cave (that which is called the -' Tomb of Jo
seph of Arimathea") under the wall of the cupola of the Holy Sepulchre would
lead also to the supposition that this place was without the walls. Two histori
cal considerations, one of which is strong, can, moreover, be invoked in favor of
the tradition. The first is, that it would have been singular that those who, un
der Constantine, sought to fix the evangelical topography, should not have been
stopped by the objection which results from John, xix, vO, and Heb., xm, 12.
How, if free in their choice, could they have wantonly exposed themselves to so
grave a difficulity ? The second consideration is that they had, to guide them,
in the time of Constantine, the ruins of an edifice, the temple of Venus upon
Golgotha, built by Hadrian. We are therefore at times forced to believe that the
work of the topographical devotees of the time of Constantine was serious, that
they sought indications, and that, although they did not reject certain pious
frauds, they were guided by analogies. Had they followed a vain caprice only,
they would have placed Golgotha at a more commanding spot, at the summit of
some one of the mounds near Jerusalem, in order to satisfy the Christian imagi
nation, which at an early day insisted that the death of Christ took place upon a
mountain. But the difficulty of enclosures is grave. Add that the erection of
the temple of Venus upon Golgotha proves very little. Eusebius (Vita Const.,
Ill, 2-1), Socrates (H. E., 1, 17), Sozomen (H. E., II, 1), and St. Jerome (Epist.,
xlix , ad Paulin. ) , say indeed that there was a sanctuary of Venus upon the site
which they believed to be that of the holy sepulchre; but it is not certain : first,
that Hadrian built it; second , that he built it upon a spot which was called in his
time '• Golgotha;" third, that he had the intention of building it at the place
where Jesus suffered death.
t Plutarch, De sera num. uijid.,19; Artemidorus, Onirocrit, n, 56.
X Mark, xt, 21. .
[ The circumstance, Luke, xxm, 27-31, is one ol those in which we perceivs
the work of a pious and tender imagination. The words which are here attribu
ted to Jesus could haTe been written only after the siege of Jerusalem.
16*

346 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
They finally reached the place of execution. Accord
ing to Jewish usage, the victims were offered a highly
spiced wine, an intoxicating drink, which from a sen
timent of pity was given to the sufferer to stupify
him.* It seems that the women of Jerusalem them-
Belves often brought to the unfortunates who were led
out to torture this wine of the dying ; when none of .
them came it was bought at the expense of the public
treasury. f Jesus, after having touched the cup to his
lips, refused to drink. f This sad solace of common
criminals was uusuited to his lofty nature. lie pre
ferred to go out of life with his mind perfectly un
clouded, and to await with full consciousness the
death which he had wished and invoked. He was
then despoiled of his garments] and fastened to the
cross. The cross was composed of two beams attached
in the form of a T.§ It was quite low, so low that the
feet of the victim almost touched the ground. The
cross was first set up,^[ then the prisoner was fastened
to it by driving nails through his hands ; the feet were
often nailed, sometimes merely tied with cords.** A
billet of wood, a sort of arm, was fastened to the stem
of the cross, towards the middle, and passed between
the legs of the victim, who rested upon it.f f Without
this the hands would have been torn and the body
would have sunk down. At other times, a horizontal
* Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrin,' fol. 43 a. Comp. Prov., xxi, 6.
+ Talm. of Bab., Sanhedrin, 1. c.
X Mark, xv, 23. Matt. , xxvn, 34, falsifies this circumstance, in order to obtain
a messianic allusion to Ps. , lxix, 22.
H Matt, xxvn, 35; Mark, xv, 24; John, xix. 23. Cf. Artemid orus, Oniroer., n.53,
§ Lucian. Jud. voc. , 12. Compare the grotesque crucifix drawn at Home upor
a wall of Mount Palatine, CiviUa cattolica, fasc. clxi, p. 529 seqq.
U Jos.,B. J., VII, vi, 4; Cic.,/ij Verr., V, 66;Xenoph. Ephe. , Ephesiaca, it, 2.
** Luke, xsiv, 39; John, xx '25-27; Plantus, Moslellaria, II, i, 18; Lucan, Phars.
VI, 543 seqq., 547; Justin, Dial, cum Tryph.,m; Tertullian, Adv. Marcionem,Ui,19
ff Ireiueus, Adv. oar., II, 24, Justin, Dial, cum Tryph., 91

LIFE OF JESUS. 34?
tablet was fixed at the hight of the feet and sustained
them.* Jesus tasted these horrors in all their atrocity. A
burning thirst, one of the tortures of crucifixion,f de
voured him. He asked for drink. There was at hand
a cup of the ordinary drink of the Roman soldiers, a
mixture of vinegar and water, called posca. Soldiers
had to carry their posca with them in all their expe
ditions,:]: among which executions were counted. A
soldier dipped a sponge in this drink, put it on the end
of a reed, and bore it to the lips of Jesus, who 6ucked
it.] The thieves were crucified on either side. The
executioners, to whom were ordinarily abandoned the
minor spoils {pannicularia) of criminals,§ drew lots
for his garments, and, seated at the foot of the cross,
guarded hiin.Tf According to one tradition, Jesus pro
nounced the words, which were in his heart if not up
on his lips : " Father, forgive them ; for they know not
what they do."**
An inscription, in accordance with the Roman cus
tom, was attached to the top of the cross, bearing in
three languages, Hebrew, Greek and Latin : the king
of the jews. There was in this wording something
humiliating and opprobrious to the nation. The nu
merous passers who read it were shocked by it. The
priests sent word to Pilate that he ought to adopt a
• See the graffito previously cited.
+ See the Arabic text published by Kosegarten, Chrest. arab., p. 64.
X Spartianus, Life of Hadrian, 10; Vulcatius Gallicanus, Life of Avidius Cas-
ius, 5.
U Matt, xxvn, 48; Mark, xv, 36; Luke, xxm, 36; John, xix, 28-30.
tj Dig. , XLVII, xx, De bonis damnat. , 6. Hadrian limited this usage.
H Matt., xxvn, 36. Cf. Petronius, Satyr., cxi, oxn.
** Luke, xxm, 34. In general the last words attributed to Jesus, especially as
Luke reports them, are doubtful. The intention of edification, or of showing
the accomplishment of the prophecies, is there evident. In such cases, moreover,
each understands in his own way The last words of celebrated victims are al
ways understood in two or three completely different ways, by the nearesl
witnesses.

348 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
wording which would imply only that Jesus had said
that he was the king of the Jews. But Pilate, already
disgusted with the case, refused to make any change in
what was written.*
His disciples had fled. John nevertheless declares
that he was present and remained all the while stand
ing at the foot of the cross.f We can affirm with
more certainty that the faithful women of Galilee, who
had followed Jesus to Jerusalem, and continued to
serve him, did not abandon him. Mary Cleophas,
Mary Magdalene, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Salome,
and others besides, stood at a distance:]: and watched
him.] If we may believe John,§ Mary, the mother
of Jesus, was also at the foot of the cross, and Jesus,
seeing his mother and his beloved disciple together,
said to him : " Behold thy mother," and to her : " Be
hold thy son." But we cannot understand how the
synoptic evangelists, who mention the other women by
name, should have omitted her whose presence was so
striking a fact. Perhaps indeed the extreme elevation
of the character of Jesus does not render such a per
sonal tenderness probable, at the moment when, en-

• John, xix, 19-22. t John, xix, 25 seqq.
t The synoptics agree in placing the faithful group "far" from the cross.
John says; " by " controlled by his desire to be brought very near to the cross
of Jesus.
B Matt, xxvn, 55-56; Mark, xv, 40-41; Luke, xxm, 49, 55; xxiv, 10; John,
XIX, 25. Cf Luke, xxm, 27-31.
§ John, xix, 25 seqq. Luke, always occupying middle ground between the
two first synoptics and John, gives " all his acquaintance " as present, but at a
distance (xxm, 49). The expression yvwtrYoi may, it is true, refer to " rela
tives."Lukc, however, (n,44), distinguishes the yvcoo'TCJi from the <f\jyysvs7g.
We should add that the best manuscripts have oi vvwo'ro: ajf"'> and not
oi yvojoVoi au^ou. In the Acts (i, 14), Mary, the mother of Jesus, is also placed
In company with the Galilean women.. Luke, moreover in, 35), predicts that a
sword of grief shall pierce her soul. But we can the less explain why he oniiM
her at the cross.

LIFE OF JESUS. 349
tirely absorbed in his work, he no longer existed save
for humanity.*
Aside from this little group of women, who from
afar comforted his eyes, Jesus had before him only the
spectacle of human debasement or stupidity. The
passers insulted him. He heard about him vulgar
raillery, and his death-cries of anguish turned into
hateful mockeries. " Ah ! behold him, said they, he
who called himself Son of God ! Let his father come
now and deliver him, if he will have him." " He
saved others," it was muttered, "himself he cannot
6ave. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come
down from the cross, and we will believe hiin !"
"Ah, said a third, thou that destroyest the temple and
buildest it in three days, save thyself, and come
dowu."f Some, partially aware of his apocalyptic
ideas, thought they heard him call Elias, and said :
" Let us see whether Elias will come to take him
down." It appears that the two thieves crucified
beside him also reviled him.J The sky was dark ;|j
the earth, as in all the environs of Jerusalem, dry and
melancholy. For a moment, according to some ae
counts, his heart failed him ; a cloud concealed the
face of his Father ; he endured an agony of despair,
a thousand times more excruciating than all his tor
tures. He saw nothing but the ingratitude of man;
This is, in my judgment, one of those relations in which the personality of
John, and his desire to give himself importance, betrays itself John, after the
death of Jesus, appears in fact to have received the mother of Jesus, and to have
adopted her (John, xix, 27) The great consideration which Mary enjoyed in
the infant church, caused him doubtless to declare that Jesus, whose favorite
disciple he desired to be considered, had. at death , commended tohim that which
be held most dear, 'the presence of this precious charge assured him a sort of
precedence over the other apostles, and gave high authority to his teaching.
+ "Matt., xxvn, 40 seqq. i Mark, xv, 29 seqq.
X Matt., xxvn. 44; Mark, xv, 32. Luke, following his desire for the conversion
of sinners, has here modified the tradition.
[ Matt, xxvn, 45; Murk xv, 33; Luke, xxm, 44.

350 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
perhaps ue repented having suffered for a vile race,
and he cried out : " My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?" But his divine instinct resumed its
sway. In proportion as the life of his body was
extinguished, his soul became serene and gradu
ally returned to its celestial source. He regained
the consciousness of his mission ; he saw in his
death the salvation of the world ; he lost sight of the
hideous spectacle exhibited at his feet, and, thoroughly
made one with his Father, he commenced upon the
cross the divine life which he was to lead in the heart
of humanity fur infinite ages.
The peculiar atrocity of crucifixion was that a man
might live three or four days in this horrible condi
tion upon the seat of anguish.* The hemorrhage
of the hands very soon ceased and was not mor
tal The true cause of death was the unnatural po
sition of the body, which induced a hideous disturb
ance in the circulation, fearful pains in the head
and heart, and finally rigidity of the limbs. Men
of strong constitutions die;! oily of hunger.f The
principal idea of this cruel punishment was not to kill
the criminal directly bj' absolute 1- sions, btr to ex
pose the slave, nailed by the hands of wliich he had not
known how to make proper use, and let him rot upon the
tree. The delicate organization of Jesus preserved him
from this slow agony. Everything leads to the belief
that the rupture of a blood-vessel produced at the end
of three hours, immediate death. A few moments be
fore he rendered up his soul, his voice was still strong.:}

* Petronius,<Sa(., CXI seqq,; Origen , In Matt. Comment. Series, 140; the Arabic
xt published in Kosegerten, op. cit., p. 63 seqq.
tRusebiua, Hist. eccl.,Vlll,i. J Matt., xxvn, 46; Mark, XT, 34.

LIFE OF JESUS. 351
Suddenly he uttered a terrible cry,* in which some
heard : " O, Father, into thy hands I commend my
spirit!" and which others, more attentive to the pro
phecies, rendered by these words: "All things are ac
complished !" His head fell upon his breast, and he
expired. Repose now in thy glory, noble founder. Thy work
is finished; thy divinity is established. Fear no more
to see the edifice of thy labors fall by any fault.
Henceforth, beyond the reach of frailty, thou shalt
witness from the heights of divine peace, the infinite
results of thy acts. At the price of a few hours of suf
fering, which did not even reach thy grand soul, thou
hast bought the most complete immortality. For
thousands of years, the world will depend on thee !
Banner of our contests, thou shalt be the standard
about which the hottest battle will be given. A
thousand times more alive, a thousand times more be
loved, since thy death than during thy passage here
below, thou shalt become the corner-stone of humanity
so entirely, that to tear thy name from this world
would be to rend it to its foundations. Between thee
and God, there will no longer be any distinction. Com
plete conqueror of death, take possession of thy king
dom, whither shall follow thee, by the royal road which
thou hast traced, ages of worshippers.
» Matt., xxtii, 50; Mark, xv, 37; Luke, xxm, 46; John, xix, 80.

352 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XXVI.

JKSTe AT THE TOMB

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon, accord
ing to our method of reckoning,* when Jesus expired.
A Jewish lawf prohibited leaving a dead body sus
pended on the cross beyond the evening of the day
of execution. It is not probable that, in executions
conducted by the Romans, this command was ob
served. But as the next day was the Sabbath, and a
Sabbath of peculiar solemnity, the Jews expressed to
the Roman authority;]: the desire that this holy day
should not be polluted by such a spectacle.] Tlieir
request was acceded to ; orders were given to hasten
the death of the three prisoners, and to take them
down from the cross. The soldiers executed this
command by applying to the two thieves a second
punishment, much more speedy than that of the cross,
the crurifragium, the breaking of the legs,§ the ordin
ary punishment of slaves and prisoners of war. As ti
* Matt, xxvn, 43; Mark, xv, 37; Luke, xxm, 44. Comp. John, xix, 14.
J Deut., xxi, 22-23; Joshua, vm, 29; x, 26 seqq. Cf. Jos., B. J, IV, T, 2
Mischna, Sanhedrin, vi, 5.
1 John says" to Pilate", but this cannot be, for Mark (xv, 44-45) has it that
Pilate in the evening was yet ignorant of the death of Jesus.
i Compare Philo, In Ftaccum, & 10.
There is no other example of the crurifragium applied alter crucifixion. Bu

LIFE OF JESUS. 353
Jesus, they found hiin dead, and did not deem it ne
cessary to break his legs. One of them, however, iy
order to remove all uncertainty of the actual death
of the third victim, and to ascertain whether there
still remained any spark of life, pierced his side with
a lance. They thought that they saw blood and water
flow out, which was regarded as a sign of the cessation
of life.
John, who claims that he saw it,* dwells strongly
upon this circumstance. It is evident clearly that
doubts arose as to the reality of the death of Je
sus. A few hours of suspension upon the cross seemed
to persons accustomed to see executions altogether in
sufficient to produce such a result. Many cases were
cited of crucified persons who, taken down in time,
had been restored to life by energetic remedies.f Ori
gen afterwards believed himself compelled to invoke
the miraculous in order to explain so speedy an end.f
The same astonishment is found in the narrative of
Mark.] In reality, the best guarantee which the his
torian possesses upon a point of this nature, is the sus
picious hatred of the enemies of Jesus. It is doubtful
whether the Jews were tlmsearly affected by the fear lest
Jesus should be thought to be raised from the dead :
but at all events they must have made certain that he
was actually dead. Whatever may have been at cer
tain periods the negligence of the ancients in nA that
pertains to legal verification and the strict conduct of
affairs, we cannot believe that those who were in-
often, in order to abridge the tortures of the sufferer, they gave him a finishing
stroke. See the passage of Ibn-Hischam, translated in the Zeilscariftfur die Kunde
des Morgenlandes, I, p 99-100.
« John, xix, 31-35. t Herodotus, VII, 194; Jos., Vita, 75.
t In Maah. Comment, series, 140 | Mark, xv, 44-45.

354 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
terested did not take some precautions in this re
gard.* According to the Roman custom, the body of Jesua
should have remained suspended to become the prey
of the birds. f According to the Jewish law, taken
away at night, it should have been carried to the infa
mous spot set apart for the sepulture of criminals.^
Had Jesus numbered among his disciples only his
poor Galileans, timid and without credit, the latter
rule would have been followed. But we have seen
that in spite of his limited success at Jerusalem, Jesus
had gained the sympathy of some persons of consid
eration, who were awaiting the kingdom of God, and
who, without avowing themselves his disciples, felt
a very deep attachment towards hiin. One of these
persons, Joseph of the little village of Arimathea,
{L{a-ramathaim)l went at evening and asked the body
of the procurator.§ Joseph was a rich and honorable
man, a member of the Sanhedrin. The Roman law
at that time directed, moreover, that the dead body of
the sufferer should be given to whomsoever claimed
it.T Pilate, who was ignorant of the circumstance of
the crurifragium, was astonished that Jesus should be
dead so soon, and sent for the centurion who conduct
ed the execution, to know what it meant. After hav
ing received the assurances of the centurion, Pilate
accorded to Joseph the object of his request. The
body, probably, had already been taken down from
* The necessities of the Christian argument afterwards led to the exaggeration
of these precautions, especially when the Jews had adopted the theory that the
body of Jesus had been stolen. Matt., xxvn, 6: seqq.; xxvm. 11 15.
+ Horace, Epistles, I, xvi, 48; Juvenal, XIV, 77; Lucan. VI, 511; Plautus,
Miles gUrr., II, iv, 19; Artemidorus, Onir., II, 63; Pliny, XXXVI, 24; Plutarch,
Life of Clermenes, 39; Petronius, Sat. , cxi-cxn. X Mischna, Sanhedrin, vi, 5.
| Probably identical with the ancient Kama of Samuel, in the tribe of Ephraim.
§ Matt. , xxvn, 5" seqq.; Mark, xv, 42 seqq. ; Luke, xxm. 50 seqq.; John, xix,
88 seqq. 1f Digest, XL VIII, xxiv, De cadaveribus punitorum.

LIFE OF JESUS. 355
the cross. It was delivered to Joseph to be dealt with
as he chose.
Another secret friend, Nicodemus,* whom we have
already seen more than once using his influence in fa
vor of Jesus, is now met again. He came bringing an
ample store of the substances necessary for embalm
ing. Joseph and Nicodemus buried Jesus according
to the Jewish custom, that is, by enveloping him in a
shroud with myrrh and aloes. The Galilean women
were present,f and doubtless accompanied the scene
with tears and piercing cries.
It was late, and all this was done in great haste.
They had not yet chosen a final resting-place for the
body. The removal would, moreover, have occupied
them until a late hour, and necessitated a violation of
the Sabbath ; now the disciples still conscientiously
observed the commands of the Jewish law. They de
cided therefore in favor of a temporary burial.f There
was Dear by in a garden, a tomb recently cut in the
rock, which had never been used. It belonged proba
bly to some believer.] These sepulchres, when in
tended for a single body, were composed of a little
chamber, in the rear of which the place for the body
was indicated by a trough or couch scooped out in
the wall and surmounted by an arch.§ As these caves
* John, xix, 39 seqq. f Matt, xxvn, 61- Mark, xv, 47; Luke, xxm, 65.
X John, xix, 41-42.
| A tradition (Matt, xxvn, 60) designates Joseph of Arimathea as the owner
of the vault.
ij The vault which, in the time of Constantine, was considered the tomb of
Chri-t. has this form, as we may conclude from the description of Arculle (in
Mabillon, ^tctoSS. Ord. S. Bated., sect. Ill, pars II. p. 504) and vague traditions
which are still found at Jerusalem among the Greek clergy concerning the state oi
the rock now hidden by the edicule of the Holy Sepulchre. But the indices
wliich were relied on in Constantine's time for the identification of this tomb
with that of Christ were of little or no value (see especially Sozomen, H. E.,ll,
I).- Even should we admit the position of Golgotha as nearly exact, the Holy
Sepulchre would still have no serious mark of authenticity. At all events, the
aspect of the places has been totally changed.

356 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
were cut in the sides of inclined rocks, they were en
tered on a level with the ground ; the entrance was
closed by a stone very difficult to handle. Jesus was
laid in the vault ; the stone was rolled to the en
trance, and they promised themselves to return and
give him a more complete sepulture. But the morrow
being a solemn Sabbath, the work was remitted to the
.bird day.*
The women retired, after having carefully noticed
how the body was laid. They employed the hours of
the evening which remained in making additional pre
parations for embalming. On Saturday all rested.f
On Sunday morning, the women, Mary Magdalene
first of all, came very early to the tomb.J The stone
was rolled away from the opening, and the body was
no longer in the place where they had laid it. At the
same time, the strangest reports began to spread
through the Christian community. The cry, " He is
risen !" ran among the disciples like lightning. Love
gave it everywhere facile credence. What had taken
place ? In treating of the history of the apostles it is
that we shall have to examine this point, and seek the
origin of the legends relating to the resurrection.
The life of Jesus, to the historian, ends with his last
sigh. But so deep was the trace which he had left in
the hearts of his disciples and of a few devoted wo
men, that, for weeks to come, he was to them living
and consoling. Had his body been taken away,] or did
enthusiasm, always credulous, afterwards generate the
mass of accounts by which faith in the resurrection
was sought to be established ? This, for want of pe-
» Luke, xxm. 56. f Luke, xxm, 64-56.
1 Matt. , xxvm, 1; Mark, xvi, 1; Luke, xxiv, 1; John, xx, 1.
I See Matt. , xxvm , 15; John, xx, 2.

LIFE OF JESUS. 357
remptory evidence, we shall never know. We may
say, however, that the strong imagination of Mary
Magdalene* here enacted a principal part.f Divine
power of love ! sacred moments in which the passion
of a hallucinated woman gives to the world a resur
rected God I
« She had been possessed of seven devils (Mark, xvi, 9; Luke, Tin, 2).
f This is specially evident from Mark, xvi, 9 seqq. These verses form a con
clusion of the second Gospel, different from the conclusion xvi, 1-8, after which
many manuscripts stop. In the fourth Gospel (xx, 1-2, 11 seqq. ; 18) Mary Mag
dalene is also the sole primitive witness of the resurrection.

358 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER XXVII.

FATE OP THE ttlHIEB OF JESUS.
According to the calculation which we adopt, the
death of Jesus took place in the year 33 of our era.*
It cannot in any event have been either before the
year 29, the preaching of John and Jesus having com
menced in the year 28, f nor after the year 35, for in
the year 36, and, it seems, before the Passover, Pilate
and Caiaphas both lost their offices. f The death of
Jesus appears, moreover, to have had no connection
with tlieir dismissal.] In his retirement Pilate proba
bly never thought for a moment of the forgotten epi
sode which was to transmit his ghastly fame to the
most distant posterity. The successor of Caiaphas,
was Jonathan, his brother-in-law, a son of that same
Hanan who had taken the leading part in the prose
cution of Jesus. The Sadducee family of Hanan long
retained the pontificate, and, more powerful than
ever, unceasingly waged the cruel war against the dis
ciples and the family of Jesus, which it had com
* The year 33 responds to one of the requirements of the problem, namely,
that the 14th of Nisan was Friday. If we reject the year 33, in order to find a year
which fills this condition, we must at least go back to the year 29 or forward to
the year 36.
+ Luke, m. 1 t Jos., Ant, XVIII, rv, 2 and 3.
|1 The contrary assertion of Tertullian and Eusebius springs from a worthless
apocrypha, (see Thilo, Cod. apocr ,N. T.,-p. 813 seqq.). The suicide of Pilate
(Eusebius, H. F:,U, 7, Chron., ad arm. 1 Caii), appears also to come from legen
dary so-urces.

LIFE OF JESUS. 359
menced against its founder. Christianity, which owed
to him the crowning act of its foundation, owed to hiin
also its first martyrs. Hanan was held to be one of
he most fortunate men of his century.* The real
murderer of Jesus ended his life at the hight of honors
and consideration without having doubted for a mo
ment that he had rendered a great service to the na
tion. His sons continued to reign about the temple,
hardly restrained by the pro-consuls, f and many times
dispensing with their consent in the satisfaction of
their violent and haughty instincts.
Antipater and Herodias soon also disappeared from
the political scene. Herod Agrippa having been ele
vated to the dignity of king by Caligula, the jealous
Herodias swore that she also would be a queen. Con
tinually urged by this ambitious woman, who called
him a coward because be endured a superior in his
family, Antipater overcame his natural indolence, and
went to Rome to solicit the title which his nephew had
just obtained, (A. D. 39.) But the issue was most un
fortunate. Accused by Herod Agrippa to the emper
or, Antipater was dethroned and dragged out the rem
nant of his life in exile, at Lyons and in Spain. He
rodias followed him in his disgrace.f A hundred
years at least were yret to pass away before the name
of tlieir obscure subject, become a God, should reach
those distant countries to recall upon their tombs the
murder of John the Baptist.
As to the wretched Judas of Kerioth, there were
terrible traditions of his death. It is said that with
the price of his perfidy he had bought a field in the
* Jos.,an(.,XX,ix,l. tJos-,I.«.
J Jot., Ant., XVIII, vn, 1, 2; B. J., IT, ix, 6.

360 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
environs of Jerusalem. There was indeed to the south
of Mount Zion, a place called Hakeldama (the field of
blood.)* It was snpposed that this was the property
purchased by the traitor.f According to one tradition
he killed himself. According to another, he had a
fall in his field,:]: in consequence of which his bowels
gushed out] According to others he died of a species
of dropsy, accompanied by disgusting circumstances,
which were regarded as a chastisement of heaven.§
The desire to show in the case of Judas the accom
plishment of the threats which the Psalmist pronoun-
ces against the perfidious friend, *{ may have originated
these legends. It may be that Judas retired upon his
property at Hakeldama, led a peaceful and obscure
life, while his former friends were conquering the
world and spreading the report of his infamy. It
may also be that the terrible hatred which weighed
upon his head resulted in acts of violence, in which
was seen the finger of heaven.
The great Christian retributions were, however, in
the remote future. The new sect went for nothing in
the catastrophe which was soon to befal Judaism. The
synagogue came to understand only at a much later
day what it is to which men expose themselves by
applying the laws of intolerance. The empire was
certainly still farther from suspecting that its future
* St Jerome, De situ et nom. loc. hear., at the word Acheldama. Eusebius (ibid.)
says to the North. But the Itineraries confirm the reading of St. Jerome. The,
tradition which gives the name of Haceldama to the burial ground at the foot of
the valley of Hinnom, dates back at least to the time of Constantine.
t Acts, i, 18-19. Matthew, or rather his interpolator, has here given a less sat-
Is factory turn to the tradition, in order to attach to it the circumstance of a
cemetery for strangers near by.
X Matt., xxvn, 5.
| Acts, 1. c; Papias, in UScumneus, Enarr in Act. Apost., II, and in Fr Munltir,
Fragm.Patrum grate. (Hafniae, 1781), fasc, I, p. 17 seqq.; Theophylactus, In
Math, xxvn, 6.
k Papias, in Munter, I. c; Theophylactus, 1. c
{ Psalms, xxix and cix.

LIFE OF JESUS. 361
destroyer was born. For nearly three hundred years
it will continue its course without dreaming that prin
ciples are developing by its side which are destined
completely to transform the world. At once theocra '•
tic and democratic, the idea thrown out by Jesus into
the world was, with the invasion of the Germans, the
most active cause of dissolution of the work of the
Caesars. On the one hand, the right of all men to par
ticipate in the kingdom of God was proclaimed. On
the other, religion was thenceforth separated in prin
ciple from the State. The rights of conscience, with
drawn from the political law, come to constitute a
new power, " the spiritual power." This power has
more than once belied its origin ; for centuries hish
ops have been princes and the pope has been a king.
The professed empire of souls has shown itself repeat
edly a frightful tyranny, employing to maintain its
authority the rack and the stake. But the day will
come when the separation shall bear its fruits, when
the realm of the things of the spirit shall cease to be
called a " power," that it may be called a " liber
ty." Born out of the conscience of a man of the peo
ple, developed before the people, first loved and ad
mired by the people, Christianity was stamped with
an original character which shall never be effaced. It
was the first triumph of the Revolution, the victory of
public opinion, the advent of the simple of heart, the
inauguration of the beautiful as understood by the
people. Jesus thus opened in the aristocratic societies
of antiquity the breach through which all shall pass.
The civil power, indeed, although not guilty of the
murder of Jesus, (it only countersigned the sentence,
and that against its will,) had yet to bear a heavy bur-
16

362 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
den of its responsibility. In presiding over the scene
of Calvary, the state inflicted on itself the most serious
of blows. A tradition, full of irreverences of all kinds,
became prevalent, and made the circuit of the world,
a tradition in which the constituted authorities act a
hateful part, where it is the accused who is right,
where the judges and the officers of the law are
..eagued against the truth. Seditious in the highest
degree, the history of the Crucifixion, disseminated by
thousands of popular images, exhibited the Roman
eagles sanctioning the most iniquitous of punishments,
soldiers executing it, a prefect ordering it. What a
blow to all established authorities. They have never
fairly recovered from it. How is it possible to assume
with respect to the common people airs of infallibility,
when there lies upon the conscience the great mistake
of Gethsemane ?*
. * This popular sentiment was yet alive in Brittany, in the time of my child
hood. The gendarme was looked upon there, as the Jew is elsewhere, with a
'tort of pious repulsion: for it was he who arrested Jesus 1

LIFE OF JESUS. 363

CHAPTER XXVIII.
• 8SEJIIA1 CHARACTER OF THE WOKI OP lEHI,
Jestjs, it is seen, never in his action went out of
the Jewish circle. Although his sympathy for all the
despised of orthodoxy led him to admit the heathen
into the kingdom of God, although he had more than
once resided in a pagan country, and once or twice he
is found in kindly relations with unbelievers,* it may
be said that his life was spent entirely in the little
world, close and narrow as it was, in which he was
born. - The Greek and Roman countries heard nothing
of him; his name does not figure in profane authors
until a hundred years later, and then only indirectly,
in connection with seditious movements provoked by
his doctrine, or with persecutions of which his disci
ples were the object.f Within the heart even of Ju
daism, Jesus did not make any durable impression.
u-Philo, who died about the year 50, has no glimpse of
him. Josephus, born in the year 37, and writing in
the last years of the century, mentions his execution
in a few lines4 as an event of secondary importance ;
* Matt ,vm,6Beqq.; Luke, vn, 1 seqq.; John, xn, 20 seqq. Comp. Jos. ,Ant.
XVIII, m, 3.
t Tacitus, Ann., XV, 45; Suetonius, Claudius, 25.
1 Ant., XVIII, m, 3. This passage has been mutilated by a Christian hand.

364 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
in the enumeration of the sects of his time he omits
the Christians.* The Mischna, again, presents no
trace of the new school ; the passages of the two Ge-
maras in which the founder of Christianity is named,
do not carry us back beyond the fourth or fifth centu
ry. f The essential work of Jesus was the creation
ai jund him of a circle of disciples in whom he inspired
a boundless attachment, and in whose breast he im
planted the germ of his doctrine. To have-made him
self beloved, "so much that after his death they did
not cease to love him," this was the crowning work ol
Jesus, and that which most impressed his cotempora-
ries.f His doctrine was so little dogmatical, that he
never thought of writing it or having it written. A
man became his disciple, not by believing this or that,
but by following him and loving him. A few sen
tences treasured up in the memory, and above all, his
moral type, and the impression which he had pro
duced, were all that remained of him. Jesus is not a
founder of dogmas, a maker of symbols; he is the
world's initiator into a new spirit. The least Christian
of men were, on the one hand, the doctors of the
Greek Church, who from the fourth century involved
Christianity in a series of puerile metaphysical discus
sions, and, on the other hand, the scholastics of the
Latin middle ages, who attempted to draw from the
Gospel the thousands of articles of a colossal " Sum
mation." To adhere to Jesus in view of the kingdom
of God, was what it was originally to be a Christian,
* Ant., XVIII, i; B. J.. II, vm; Vita, 2.
+ Talm. of J eras., Sanhedrin, xiv, 16; Abodazara, n, 2; Schabbath, xiv, 4; Talm.
ofBab. , Sanhedrin. -43 a. 67 a; Schabbath, 101 b, 116 b. Comp. Chagiga, 4 6; Gittin,
'la,Wa. The two Gemaras borrow most of their notions concerning Jesus
from burlesque and obscene legends, invented by the adversaries of Christianity,
and of no historic value.
X Jos., Ant., XVIII, m, 8.

LIFE OF JESUS. 365
Thus we comprehend how, by an exceptional desti
ny, pure Christianity still presents itself, at the end
of eighteen centuries, with the character of a univer
sal and eternal religion. It is because in fact the reli
gion of Jesus is, in some respects, the final religion.
The fruit of a perfectly spontaneous movement of
souls, free at its birth from every dogmatic con
strain t, having struggled three hundred years for lib
erty of conscience, Christianity, in spite of the falls
which followed, still gathers the fruits of this surpass
ing origin. To renew itself, it has only to turn to the
Gospel. The kingdom of God, as we conceive it, is
widely different from the supernatural apparition
which the first Christians expected to see burst forth
in the clouds. But the sentiment which Jesus intro
duced into the world is really ours. His perfect ideal
ism is the highest rule of unworldly and virtuous life.
He has created that heaven of free souls, in which is
found what we ask in vain on earth, the perfect nobil
ity of the children of God, absolute purity, total ab
straction from the contamination of the world, that
freedom, in short, which material society shuts out as
an impossibility, and which finds all its amplitude on-
lv in the domain of thought. The great master of
those who take refuge in this ideal kingdom of God, is
Jesus still. He first proclaimed the kingliness of the
spirit ; he first said, at least by his acts : " My king
dom is not of this world." The foundation of the true
religion is indeed his work. After him, there is no
thing more but to develop and fructify.
" Christianity" has thus become almost synonymous
with " religion." All that may be clone outside of
this great and good Christian tradition will be ste-

366 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
rile. Jesus founded religion on humanity, as Socratea
founded philosophy, as Aristotle founded science.
There had been philosophy before Socrates and science
before Aristotle. Since Socrates and Aristotle, philo
sophy and science have made immense progress ; but
all has been built upon the foundation which they
]aid. And so, before Jesus, religious thought had
passed through many revolutions ; since Jesus it has
made great conquests ; nevertheless it has not depart
ed, it will not depart from the essential condition
which Jesus created ; he has fixed for eternity the idea
of the pure worship. The religion of Jesus, in this
sense, is not limited. The Church has had its epochs
and its phases ; it has shut itself up in symbols which
have had or will have their day : Jesus founded the
absolute religion, excluding nothing, determining no
thing, save its essence. His symbols are not fixed
dogmas, but images susceptible of indefinite interpret
ations. We should seek vainly in the gospel for a
theological proposition. All the professions of faith
are disguises of the idea of Jesus, much as the scho
lasticism of the middle ages, by proclaiming Aristotle
the sole master of a perfect science, was false to the
thought of Aristotle. Aristotle, had he witnessed the
discussions of the scluols, would have repudiated this
narrow doctrine ; he would have been of the party of
progressive science against the party of routine, which
was shielding itself under his authority ; he woul
have applauded his contradictors. And so, were Je-,
sus to return among us, he would acknowledge as his
disciples, not those who claim to include him entirely )
in a few phrases of the catechism, but those who labor
to continue him. The eternal glory, in every order

LIFE OF JESUS. 367
of grand achievements, is to have laid the first stone.
It may be that, in the " Physics" and in the " Meteor
ology" of modern times there is found no word of the
treatises of Aristotle which bear these titles : Aristo
tle is none the less the founder of natural science.
Whatever may be the transformations of dogma, Je
sus will remain in religion the creator of its pure sen
timent: the Sermon on the Mount will never be sur-'-
passed. ITcTrevolution will lead us not to join in reli
gion the grand intellectual and moral line at the head
of which beams the name of Jesus. In this sense, we
are Christians, even though we separate upon almost
all points from the Christian tradition which has pre
ceded us.
And this great foundation was truly the personal
work of Jesus. To become adored to such a degree,
he must have been adorable. Love does not exist
without an object worthy to enkindle it, and did we
know nothing of Jesus but the passion which he in
spired in those around him, we must yet affirm that he
was great and pure. The faith, the enthusiasm, the
constancy of the first Christian generation is explained
only by supposing at the beginning of the whole
movement a man of colossal proportions. When w
look upon the marvellous creations of the ages of
faith, two impressions, equally fatal to good historical
criticism, arise in the mind. On the one hand, we are
led to suppose these creations too impersonal ; we at
tribute to a collective action what often has been the
work of one powerful will, of one superior spirit. On
the other hand, we refuse to see men like ourselves in
the authors of these extraordinary movements which
nature conceals in her breast. Our civilizations, gov

868 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
erned as they are by a minute policy, can give us no
idea of the power of man in the ages when the origin
ality of each had a freer field for development. Sup
pose a solitary dweller in the quarries near our capi
tals, going thence from time to time to the palaces of
sovereigns, forcing an entrance, and, in an imperious
tone, announcing to kings the approach of revolutions
of which he has been the promoter. The idea alone
makes us smile. Such, nevertheless, was Elijah. Eli
jah the Tishbite, in our days, could not pass the gate
<»f the Tuileries. The preaching of Jesus and his free
dom of action in Galilee are no less entirely beyond
the social conditions to which we are accustomed.
LTntrammeled by our polite conventionalities, exempt
from the uniform education which refines us, but
which diminishes so greatly our individuality, these
complete souls carry into action a surprising energy.
They appear to us like the giants of a heroic age, who
must have been unreal. Entire mistake ! These men
were our brothers ; they were of our stature ; they felt
.and thought as we do. But the breath of God was
, free with them ; with us it is enchained by the iron
bands of a society mean and condemned to an irre-
' mediable mediocrity.
Let us then place the person of Jesus on the highest'-'''
summit of human grandeur. Let us not permit our
selves to be led astray by exaggerated distrust in re
gard to a legend which continually draws us into the
supernatural world. The life of a Francis d'Assisi ia
also only a tissue of miracle. Still has anybody evei
doubted the existence and the character of Francis
d'Assisi ? Let us say no more that the glory of the
foundation of Christianity should be given to the mass

LIFE OF JESUS. 369
of primitive Christians, and not to him whom the le
gend has deified. The inequality of men is even more
marked in the East than among us. It is not rare to
see rising there, in the midst of an atmosphere of gen
eral wickedness, characters whose grandeur astonishes
us. Far from having been created by his disciples,
Jesus appears in all things superior to his disciples.
They, St. Paul and St. John excepted, were men with
out talent or genius. St. Paul himself bears no com
parison with Jesus, and as to St. John, I shall show
hereafter that his character, very high in one sense,
was far from being in all respects irreproachable.
Hence the immense superiority of the Gospels among
the writings of the New Testament. Hence the pain
ful fall which we experience in passing from the histo
ry of Jesus to that of the Apostles. The evangelists
themselves, who have bequeathed to us the image of
Jesus, are so far below him of whom they speak, that
they constantly disfigure him because they cannot at
tain his hight. Their writings are full of mistakes and
misconceptions. At every line we recognise discourse
of a divine beauty reported by writers who do not
understand it, and who substitute their own ideas for
those which they but half comprehend. Upon the
whole, the character of Jesus, far from having been
embellished by his biographers, has been belittled by
them. Criticism, to discover what he really was,
must eliminate a series of mistakes, arising from the
indifferent understanding of the disciples. They have
painted him as they conceived him, and often, while
tii in king to make him greater, have in reality made
him less.
I know that our modern ideas are wounded more

870 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
than once in this tradition conceived by another race
under another sky, in the midst of other social needs.
There are virtues which, in some respects, are more
in accordance with our taste. The noble and gentle
Marcus Aurelius, the humble and mild Spinoza, not
believing in miracles, were exempt from some errors
in which Jesus shared. The second, in his profound
obscurity had an advantage which Jesus did not seek.
By our extreme scrupulousness in the employment of
the means of conviction, by our absolute sincerity and
our disinterested love of the pure idea, we all, who have
devoted our lives to science, have founded a new ideal
of molality. But the appreciations of universal histo
ry should not be confined to considerations of person
al merit. Marcus Aurelius and his noble masters have
had no lasting effect upon the world. Marcus Aure
lius left behind him delightful books, an execrable son,
a transitory world. Jesus remains to humanity an in
exhaustible source of moral regenerations. Philoso l
phy is not enough for the mass. It requires sanctity.
An Apollonius of Tyana, with his miraculous le
gend, was to have greater success than a Socrates
with his cold reason. " Socrates, it was said, leaves
men upon the earth, Apollonius transports the in to
heaven ;- Socrates is but a sage, Apollonius is a
God."* Religion, even to our days, has never existed
without some portion of asceticism, of sanctity, of the
marvellous. Were it desired, like the Antonines, to
make a religion of philosophy, it would have been ne
cessary to transform the philosophers into saints, to
write the "edifying Life" cf Pythagoras and of Plotinus,
• Philostratus,£t7eo/4pononii«,IV,2;VII, lljVIII, 7; Eunapius, Lives of Ou
Sophists, p. 454, 600 (edit. Didot).

LIFE OF JESUS. 371
to attribute to them a legend, virtues of abstinence and
contemplation, supernatural powers without which
neither credence nor authority was found with the
age. Let us guard, therefore, against mutilating history
to satisfy our poor susceptibilities. Who of us, pig
mies that we are, is able to do what the extravagant
Francis d'Assisi, or the hysterical St. Theresa have
done? Though medicine have names to express these
great aberrations of human nature ; though it main
tain that genius be a disease of the brain ; though it
see in a certain delicacy of morality the commence
ment of phthisis ; though it class enthusiasm and love
among nervous symptoms, what matters that ? The
words of sick and well are altogether relative. Who
would not rather be sick like Pascal than in good
health like the multitude ? The narrow ideas which
are general in our day in regard to madness, mislead
our historical judgment most seriously in questions of
this kind. A condition in which a man says things
of wliich he has no conscious knowledge, in which
thought is produced without being called and regulat
ed by the will, now exposes him to be shut up as a
lunatic. Formerly, this was called prophecy and in
spiration. The finest things in the world are done in
a state of fever; every eminent creation involves a
destruction of equilibrium, a violent condition for the
being who produces it.
Certainly, we acknowledge that Christianity is a
work too complex to have been the creation of a sin
gle man. In one sense, all humanity worked together
upon it. There is no portion of the world so walled in
that it does not receive some breath from without

372 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
The history of the human mind is full of strange syn
chronisms by which far distant fragments of the hu
man race attain at the same time, without intercom
munication, to ideas and imaginations almost identical.
In the thirteenth century, Latins, Greeks, Syrians,
Jews and Mussulmen affect scholasticism and almost
.he same scholasticism, from York to Samarkand ; in
the fourteenth century, the taste for mystical allegory
becomes universal in Italy, in Persia, in India ; in the
sixteenth century, art is developed in an entirely simi
lar manner, in Italy, at Mount Athos, at the court of
the Great Mogul, yet there had been no acquaintance
between St. Thomas, Barhebisens, the doctors of Nar-
bonne, and the moteeallemin of Bagdad : Dante and
Petrarch had seen no s>ufi, no pupil from the schools
of Perouse or Florence had visited Delhi. One would
say that great moral influences sweep over the world
like epidemics, without distinction of frontier or of na
tion. The commerce of ideas in the human race does
not work by books or by direct teaching only. Jesus
did not even know the name of Buddha, Zoroaster, or
Plato ; he had read no Greek book, no Buddhist sou-
tra, and yet there is in him more than one element
which, without his knowledge, came from Buddhism,
from Parseeism, or from the wisdom of the Greeks.
Ab this is done through secret channels and by that
species of sympathy which exists between various di
visions of humanity. The great man, on the one hand,
receives all things from his time ; on the other, ho
masters his time. To show that the religion founded
by Jesus was the natural consequence of what had
preceded, is not to diminish its excellence ; it is to
prove that there was a reason for its existence, that it

LIFE OF JESUS. 373
was natural, that is to say, conformable to the in
stincts and to the needs of the heart in a given
age. Is it more just to say that Jesus owed all to Juda
ism, and that his grandeur is none other than that of
the Jewish people ? No person is more disposed than
I to give a lofty place to this unique people, whose
peculiar province it seems to have been to compass
the extremes of good and evil. Undoubtedly Jesus
emanates from Judaism ; but he emanates from it as
Socrates emanated from the schools of the Sophists, a?
Luther emanated from the Middle Ages, like Lamoxi
nais from Catholicism, like Rousseau from the eight
eenth century. A man belongs to his age and his race,
even when he reacts against his age and his race. Far
from being the continnator of Judaism, Jesus repre
sents the breaking off with the Jewish spirit. Even
supposing that his thought in this regard may leave
room for some uncertainty, the general direction of
Christianity after him permits none. The general
progress of Christianity has been to separate more
and more from Judaism. Its perfection will be in re
turning to Jesus, but certainly not in returning to Ju
daism. The great originality of the founder, there
fore, remains complete; his glory admits no rightful
sharer. Undoubtedly circumstances counted much in the
gnccess of this revolution ; but circumstances only
second that which is just and true. Each branch of
the development of humanity has its privileged epoch,
in which it attains perfection by a sort of spontaneous
instinct and without effort. No labor of reflection
succeeds in producing immediately those master-pieces

374 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
which nature creates at such moments, through the
inspiration of genius. What the beautiful ages of
Greece were to the arts and profane literature, the age
' of Jesus was to religion. Jewish society presented
the most extraordinary intellectual and moral condition
through which the human species has ever passed.
It was truly one of those divine hours when the grand
is produced by the collaboration of a thousand con
cealed forces, when beautiful souls find to sustain them
a tide of admiration and of sympathy. The world,
freed from the petty tyranny of little municipal repub
lics, enjoyed great liberty. Roman despotism did not
make itself felt until much later, and, besides, it was
always less burdensome in these distant provinces
than at the centre of the empire. Our petty preven
tive annoyances (far more murderous than death to the
things of the spirit) did not exist. Jesus, for three years,
was able to lead a life which, in our state of society,
would have brought him twenty times before the police
courts. Our laws concerning the illegal practice of
medicine alone, would have sufficed to cut short his
career. The incredulous dynasty of the Herods, more
over concerned itself little with religious movements;
under the Asmoneans, Jesus would probably have
been arrested at his first step. An innovator, in such
a state of society, incurred no danger but that of
death, and for those who labor for the future, death is
kind. Imagine Jesus required to bear until sixty or
seventy years old the burden of his divinity, losing his
celestial flame, wearing out little by little under the
necessities of an unparallelled position ! All things
favor those who are signally marked.; they go into
glory by the sweep of an irresistible and fatal tide.

LIFE OF JESUS. 375
This sublime person, who each day still presides
over the destinies of the world, we may call divine,
not in the sense that Jesus absorbed all divinity, or
was equal to it (to employ the scholastic expression),
but in this sense that Jesus is that individual who has
caused his species to make the greatest advance to
wards the divine. Humanity as a whole presents an \
assemblage of beings, low, selfish, superior to the ani '
mal only in this that their selfishness is more premed- '
itated. But in the midst of this uniform vulgarity,
pillars rise towards heaven and attest a more noble
destiny. Jesus is the highest of these pillars which
show to man whence he came and whither he should
tend. In him is condensed all that is good and lofty
in our nature. He was not sinless ; he conquered the
same passions which we combat ; no angel of God
comforted him, save his good conscience ; no Satan
tempted him, save that wliich each bears in his heart.
And as many of the grand aspects of his character are
lost to us by the fault of his disciples, it is probable
also that many of his faults have been dissembled. But
never has any man made the interests of humanity
predominate in his life over the littleness of self-love
bo much as he. Devoted without reserve to his idea,
he subordinated everything to it to such a degree that
towards the end of his life, the universe no longer ex
isted for him. It was by this flood of heroic will that
he conquered heaven. There never was a man,
Sakya-Mouni perhaps excepted, who so completely
trampled under foot family, the joys of the world, and
all temporal cares. He lived only for his Father, and
for the divine mission which he believed it was his to
fulfil.

376 ORIGINS OF CHRISTIANITY.
As for us, eternal children, condemned to weakness,
we who labor without harvesting, and shall never see
the fruit of what we have sown, let us bow before
thesedemi-gods. They knew what we do not know:
to create, to affirm, to act. Shall originality be born
anew, or shall the world henceforth be content to fol
low the paths opened by the the bold creators of the
ancient ages ? We know not. But whatever may
be the surprises of the future, Jesus will never be sur
passed. His worship will grow young without ceas
ing ; his legend will call forth tears without end ; his
sufferings will melt the noblest hearts; all ages will
proclaim that among the sons of men there is none
born greater than Jesus.

SUV OF THE Lira Of J8SUR.

^@: «--'";=:

u There is a kind of physiognomy in the titles
of books no less than in the faces of
men, by which a skilful observer
mill know as well what to ex
pert from the one as the
other." — Bvtlir.

4&
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And New Editions Recently Issued by
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SUPPRESSED BOOK ABOUT SLAVERY.  . . do. $2.00
john guilderstring's sin. — A novel. . . do. $1.50
centeola.— By author " Green Mountain Boys." do. $1.50
red tape and pigeon-hole generals. — . do. $1.50
treatise on deafness. — By Dr. E. B. Lighthill. do. $1.50
around the pyramids. — By Gen. Aaron Ward. do. $1.50
china and the chinfse. — By W. L. G. Smith. do. $1.50
the yachtman's primer. — By T. R. Warren. do. 50 cts.
edgar poe and his critics. — By Mrs. Whitman, do. $1.00
married off. — Illustrated Satirical Poem. do. 50 cts.
the flying Dutchman. — J. G. Saxe, illustrated, do. 75 cts.
Alexander von Humboldt. — Life and Travels. do. $1.50
life of hugh miller. — The celebrated geologist, do. $1.50
the Russian ball. — Illustrated satirical poem. do. 50 cts.
the snoblace ball. do. do. do. do. 50 cts.
an answer to hugh miller. — By T. A. Davies. do. $1.50
cosmogony. — By Thomas A. Davies. . . 8vo. cloth, $2.00
twenty years around the world. J. Guy Vassar. do. $3-75
sural architecture. — By M. Field, illustrated, do. $2.00

M£

YALE UNIVERSITY

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