Page:The Collected Works of Theodore Parker Discourse volume 1.djvu/210



is quite plain to all impartial students, that Jesus of Nazareth did not teach that complicated system of theological doctrines now called “Christianity:” that is the growth of the ages after him. But yet it is not easy, nor perhaps possible, to determine what doctrines he taught on all important matters. For when we turn away from the sects of the Christian Church, we find it difficult to obtain the exact words of Jesus himself.

There are two collections of ancient documents which relate to his life and teachings,—the Canonical, and the Apocryphal Gospels. The two agree in their common reverence for Jesus, and their mythological treatment of his life, differing only in degree, not kind. Neither collection consists of simple historical documents. The Apocryphal Gospels are of small value for our present purpose, though highly important monuments of the age when such weeds grew out of the soil deeply ploughed by Revolution: they wild growth of fancy and Religious zeal, yet bear doubtless some historic flowers.

Of the Canonical Gospels, after impartial study, we must reject the fourth, as of scarcely any historical value. It appears to be written more than a hundred years after the birth of Jesus, by an unknown author, who had a controversial and dogmatic purpose in view, not writing to report facts as they were; so he invents actions and doc-