t
conspicuous teacher of our generation, in two at least of these
particular fields, has been Harnack. In his lifelong labour upon the
sources of Christian history, he had come upon this question of the
canon again and again. In his _Lehrbuch der Dogmengeschichte_,
1887-1890, 4te. Aufl., 1910, the view of the canon, which was given
above, is absolutely fundamental. In his _Geschichte der altchristlichen
Literatur bis Eusebius_, 1893, and _Chronologic der allchristlichen
Literatur_, 1897-1904, the evidence is offered in rich detail. It was in
his tractate, _Das Neue Testament um das Jahr_ 200, 1889, that he
contended for the later date against Zahn, who had urged that the
outline of the New Testament was established and the conception of it as
Scripture present, by the end of the first century. Harnack argues that
the decision practically shaped itself between the time of Justin
Martyr, c. A.D. 150, and that of Irenaeus, c. A.D. 180. The studies of
the last twenty years have more and more confirmed this view.

LIFE OF JESUS

We said that the work of Strauss revealed nothing so clearly as the
ignorance of his time concerning the documents of the early Christian
movement. The labours of Baur and of his followers were directed toward
overcoming this difficulty. Suddenly the public interest was stirred,
and the earlier excitement recalled by the publication of a new life of
Jesus. The author was a Frenchman, Ernest Renan, at one time a candidate
for the priesthood in the Roman Church. He was a man of learning and
literary skill, who made his _Vie de Jesus_, which appeared in 1863, the
starting-point for a series of historical works under the general title,
_Les Origines de Christianisme_. In the next year appeared Strauss'
popular work, _Leben Jesu fuer das deutsche Volk_. In 1864 was published
also Weizsaecker's contribution to the life of Christ, his
_Untersuchungen ueber die evangelische Geschichte_. To the same year
belonged Schenkel's _Charakterbild Jesu_. In the years from 1867-1872
appeared Keim's _Geschichte Jesu von Nazara_. There is something very
striking in this recurrence to the topic. After ail, this was the point
for the sake of which those laborious investigations had been
undertaken. This was and is the theme of undying religious interest, the
character and career of the Nazarene. Renan's philosophical studies had
been mainly in English, studies of Locke and Hume. But Herder also had
been his beloved g