The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidences of His Existence

Remsburg, John E. (John Eleazer), 1848-1919Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 3.2
Word count
724K words
Chapters
73

Tags

English Originals Religion Historical DocumentsHistorical ResearchDoctrinal DebateCritique of ReligionSkepticismRational ReflectionLiberal ThoughtAcademic CommentaryIntellectual CommentaryJesus Study

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidences of His ExistenceAuthor: Remsburg, John E. (John Eleazer), 1848-1919,Language: English, Class: BT: Philosophy, Psychology, Religion: Christianity: Doctrinal theology, God, Christology, Release Date: Sep 28, 2014

Editor's review

This is John E. Remsburg's critical examination of the evidence for Jesus's existence, a work of popular scholarship within the late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century currents of freethought and biblical criticism. Following the documentary evidence, the author discusses extrabiblical materials, the reliability of early Christian writings, and the date and character of the relevant historical sources, seeking to show where the traditional account's chain of evidence is weak. The book's value lies less in offering a definitive verdict than in demonstrating a mode of argument that openly questions and tests the evidence item by item, which makes it useful for understanding the history of modern biblical criticism and the style of religious controversy. Its language is polemical and dense with quotations and inferences, and it is best read as supplementary material for religious studies, historical method, or intellectual history. Readers should exercise independent judgment, set the arguments alongside later scholarly responses, and not treat it as the only reference.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. Begin with the table of contents and the conclusion to grasp the author's main line of argument, then return to each chapter to see how the evidence is developed.
  2. Read it alongside a contemporary introduction to the historical study of Jesus to distinguish the controversy of a century ago from today's scholarly discussion.
  3. Mark the sources the author relies on as you read, and verify key quotations against the original documents or notes.
  4. Treat the book as an example of method rather than a collection of conclusions, and note the logical difference between a lack of evidence and evidence to the contrary.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
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  18. 18
  19. 19
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  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
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  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73

FAQ

Does this book deny that Jesus existed? The book is a critical review of the traditional evidence, focused on pointing out weak links in the chain of argument rather than simply announcing a verdict. Readers should understand it in the context of modern religious controversy and compare it with scholarship from different positions, rather than infer its stance from the title alone.
Are the sources and arguments still reliable today? As a polemical work published a century ago, it reflects the documentary conditions and scholarly debates of its time, and some materials and inferences have since been supplemented or revised by later research. Its value lies more in method and intellectual history; specific historical judgments should be checked against contemporary scholarship.
Can I understand it without a theology background? Yes, but it requires some patience. The book involves proper names from the Gospels, patristic literature, and related sources, so it helps to know the basic structure of the New Testament and the outlines of early Christianity; a brief table of figures and documents will noticeably lower the barrier.
Is it suitable as an introductory book for religious studies? Not really as the sole introduction. Its stance is pronounced and its argument strongly polemical, so it is best used as supplementary material for understanding one historical position, together with a neutral survey or textbook, to avoid forming a single perspective.

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About the author

Remsburg, John E. (John Eleazer), 1848-1919 Author

John E. Remsburg (1848–1919) was an American freethought writer active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; public information about his life is limited. Five of his works are held in this collection, focusing on religious criticism and examinations of the faith of historical figures. He was known for critically assessing Christian scripture and church tradition, as in The Christ: A Critical Review and Analysis of the Evidences of His Existence, The Christian Sabbath: Is It of Divine Origin?, and The Bible: I. Authenticity II. Credibility III. Morality, which question biblical texts and doctrine. He also wrote Abraham Lincoln: Was He a Christian? and Thomas Paine, the Apostle of Liberty, exploring the religious beliefs and intellectual contributions of historical figures. His writing is well documented and direct in argument, and he had some influence in the American freethought movement.