WHY I BELIEVE THE BIBLE 11 could have succeeded in such an effort, David Strauss was the man, but he failed utterµ,. For a time it seemed to many that he had succeeded in his purpose, but when his life of Jesus was itself submitted to rigid, critical analysis it fell all to pieces, and to-day is utterly discredited, and those who wish to eliminate the miraculous element in the story of Jesus feel that they must make the attempt anew, since the attempt of David Strauss has come to nothing. Where David Strauss failed, Ernest Renan tried again. He had not, by any means, the ability and genius of Strauss, but he was a man of brilliant genius, of subtle imagination, of rare literary skill, of singular adroitness and finesse. His " Life of Christ " was read with interest and admiration by many. The work was done with fascinating skill. Some fancied that Ernest Renan had suc ceeded in his attempt, but his " Life of Jesus " naturally enough was discredited even in a shorter time than that of David Strauss. All other attempts have met with a similar fate. It is an attempt at the impossible. Let any candid man take the life of Jesus and read it for him self with attention and care, and he will soon discover that the life there pictured could not have been imagined, but must have been really lived ; that the teachings reported as uttered by Jesus are no :fictitious ·teachings put into the mouth of a fictitious person, but the real utter ances of a real person. He will also discover
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