INTRODUCTION THE SOURCES OF THE LIFE OF JESUS HE earliest information about Jesus THE which we have is given us by St. Paul. His name is continually repeated in the few letters of the apostle which have come down to us, and Paul appears to have been very precisely informed upon the principal events in the life of his Master. Had he known him personally? It can hardly be supposed; but it is highly possible that he had seen him, and often seen him, walking in the porticos of the Temple; perhaps he had heard him replying to the Pharisees when he himself, a young and high-spirited disciple of Gamaliel, was carrying on his studies in Jerusalem. However this may have been, Paul counted among his intimate friends men who had lived in Jesus' company, Barnabas 1 and Silas, for example, and in the earlier 1 Acts iv. 36, etc. 2 Acts xv. 22. days John surnamed Mark,1 who later became the companion of Peter. Paul had also spent a fortnight at Jerusalem with Peter and James; 2 he had had the opportunity of receiving from their lips many details of the life of Christ, and he certainly had done so. We know that Paul narrated the life of Jesus in his churches, and in particular that he described his Passion in such moving terms that it seemed as if Jesus were crucified anew before his hearers. He also described the resurrection of the Lord - we know with what power and what insistence. More than this, his letters abound in allusions to the teachings of Jesus, concerning marriage, for example, or the Lord's Supper, or mere citations of the Master's precepts.7 6 Taken as a whole the testimony of St. Paul gives a very accurate, very clear, and very lifelike portrait of Jesus. The principal features of his life are brought out by the apostle, and his allusions con 1 Acts xii. 12, 25. 8 Gal. iii. 1. 5 1 Cor. vii. 10 f. 7 See also Acts xx. 35. 2 Gal. i. 18, 19. 4 1 Cor. xv. and passim. 6 1 Cor. xi. 23 ff. firm in advance that which the Gospels say at a later day. This, in a few words, is what Paul gives us to know about Jesus: his birth, his Davidic origin, the time of his appearing, which was that determined by God, the humility of his earthly condition, his perfect holiness, his Messianic dignity, the character of his life: perfect fulfilment of the will of God; that of his mission: to preach, himself, to the people of Israel only, and to leave instructions for the future with twelve apostles, by them making the gift of his Gospel to all men; his death upon the cross, which is the seal of the new covenant; the circumstances accompanying his death; the last supper; the institution of the Holy Communion; the betrayal by Judas; finally the resurrection on the third day; the order of the appearances of the Risen Lord, concluding with his life in heaven with God, whence he shall return to judgment. It is evident that in the details given and the allusions here and there made by St. Paul, nothing essential is lacking in the life of Jesus Christ. After St. Paul we must cite as among the most ancient documents the earlier |