Each country seems in turn to produce an author who expresses doubts about the historical personality of Jesus. This book is one of the kind. It has created some sensation in France and has called forth extensive criticisms at the hands of such authorities as Maurice Goguel and Alfred Loisy. The author's point of view is essentially that the Pauline tradition is our oldest authority, and there we already find Jesus described in abstract and mythological language. He believes that the human figure of Jesus has been, so to speak, condensed from this general nebula rather than that the reverse was the order of events.