CONTENTS. IV. The First Sayings of Jesus-His Ideas of a Father God" and of a pure Religion-First Disciples . V. John the Baptist-Visit of Jesus to John, and His PREFACE. SINCE to me it has been given, to trace an image of Jesus that has attracted some attention, I believe it to be my duty to present that image in a conveniently prepared form, to the poor, to the afflicted of the world, to those whom Jesus loved the most. Many persons having regretted that the book, in consequence of its price and size, was not accessible to all, I have sacrificed the Introduction, the Notes, and certain passages in the Text with which the reader, tolerably versed in special critical researches, is presumed to be acquainted. By the suppression of these different parts, a threefold end has been attained: First, the book has assumed such a modest form, that any person who cares for it can possess it; second, I do not believe that it contains a word or a phrase which, in order to be perfectly understood, requires preliminary study; finally, by the abridgment, I have obtained a result which is to me not less valuable. I have written my book with the cold candour of a historian, with the single aim of discovering the finest and most exact shades of truth. This candidness could not fail but cause some irritation to many of my excellent friends, who have been educated and nurtured in Christianity. More than once I have regretted to see some people, whom it would have been an infinite delight to please, turn from reading a book, some of whose pages might perhaps have proved to them at once agreeable and profitable. I am of opinion, that many true Christians will not find in this little volume anything to offend them. Without a single change, as far as I can see, I have been able to suppress all the passages which were calculated to produce misapprehensions, or which would require long explanations. History, like Chemistry or Geology, is a science. To be properly understood, it requires the most profound study, the highest result of which is to know how to appreciate different times, countries, nations, and races. To-day a man who believes in ghosts, or sorcerers, is not regarded by us as a serious man. But, formerly, there were eminent men who believed in all these, and, perhaps, in certain countries it is still possible, in our day, to ally real superiority with similar errors. Persons who have not succeeded, either by travel, by extensive reading, or by great mental penetration, in explaining those differences, find always something which shocks in the |