THE LIFE OF JESUS
It follows that this must be an object of our diligent study. Certainly it is not the only Bible life we need be concerned with, and no doubt it cannot be fully understood without reference to many others, but it is far and away the most important of them all. It ought to be studied first without particular regard for chronological or geographical setting, but simply with a view to what Jesus said or did, in certain circumstances or about certain topics. His parables and his miracles should be considered in the local context in which they occur. Though this should be followed by considering the course of his life in something like historical order, none of the refinements of accuracy, historical or geographical, which we may then properly introduce into our knowledge of him, will at all equal in value what the continuance of our earlier methods will teach us.
There is abundance of excellent written material on the life of Jesus in the works of men, which will help us to appreciate aspects of his infinite variety which our upbringing, or our natural habits of thought, may have caused us to overlook.