Founded by a Jew, in its fundamental spirit Chris-
tianity is essentially a continuance of prophetic Judaism.
With allowance for the effects of differences of individ-
ual character and environment Jesus and Paul may be
considered in the line of Hebrew prophets. Yet Chris-
tianity is not simply a reformed Judaism. It owes very
much to early influences of the culture of the eastern
Mediterranean, especially to the thought of classical
Greek and Roman antiquity. Nevertheless, it will be
widely contended that the chief differences between
Christianity and Judaism is not the effect of these non-
Jewish influences but the place ascribed to Jesus.

The question therefore may be raised at the outset:
What, from the standpoint of modern scholarship, is
the historical evidence concerning Jesus? The three
Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, have not the value
of three entirely independent and mutually supporting
documents. All three depend in large measure either o
an earlier now non-extant work, or Matthew and Luke
are indebted to Mark. The acceptance and reproduction
suggest approval, and that counts for something. The
non-Marcan portions of Matthew and Luke correspond
so closely that it is highly probable that they used an-
other document chiefly made up of discourses. As the
non-Marcan parts of Matthew and Luke give com-
paratively little of a biographical nature, the earliest
account of Jesus may be regarded as obtained by a dis-
criminating use of Mark.

What may reasonably be affirmed about Jesus if the
influence of later developments of thought is avoided? ¹
Jesus was known as the son of Joseph and Mary. He was

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