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

Concerning the time and place of the birth of Jesus, we know next to
nothing. According to uniform tradition, based upon a statement of the
third gospel, he was about thirty years of age at the time when he began
teaching. The same gospel states, with elaborate precision, that
the public career of John the Baptist began in the fifteenth year of
Tiberius, or A. D. 28. In the winter of A. D. 35-36, Pontius Pilate was
recalled from Judaea, so that the crucifixion could not have taken place
later than in the spring of 35. Thus we have a period of about six years
during which the ministry of Jesus must have begun and ended; and if the
tradition with respect to his age be trustworthy, we shall not be far
out of the way in supposing him to have been born somewhere between B.
C. 5 and A. D. 5. He is everywhere alluded to in the gospels as Jesus
of Nazareth in Galilee, where lived also his father, mother brothers and
sisters, and where very likely he was born. His parents' names are
said to have been Joseph and Mary. His own name is a Hellenized form of
Joshua, a name very common among the Jews. According to the first gospel
(xiii. 55), he had four brothers,--Joseph and Simon; James, who was
afterwards one of the heads of the church at Jerusalem, and the most
formidable enemy of Paul; and Judas or Jude, who is perhaps the author