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The author, Dr. Albert Schweitzer, is a very gifted physician, theologian and philosopher. This book was written for his doctoral thesis initially published in 1913, but it reveals very little positive psychiatric insight despite the fact that it is interesting reading. The greater part of the text is devoted to the reputation of other psychiatric studies of Christ, with arguments that are not too convincing to a modern psychiatrist. One difficulty is the obvious lack of knowledge regarding Christ's behavior on the part of any one living today. Was Jesus considered odd, peculiar or distinctly abnormal by his associates and contemporaries? Another difficulty is the fact that the psychoses do not always progress according to an assumed pattern. Therefore the author's evidence marshalled against mental disorder in his subject is not particularly strong.
One is inclined to advise that those interested in the mental exercises inherent in this subject, should read this book of Schweitzer's and then digest the two volume work of the great American psychologist, G. Stanley Hall, entitled, “Jesus the Christ in the Light of Modern Psychology” (Doubleday, Page & Company, 1917), which is a truly remarkable study.