Person of Christ: The Miracle of History. With a Reply to Strauss and Renan, and a Collection of Testimonies of Unbelievers.

“The object of this book is simply to show, in a popular style, that the Person of Christ is the great central miracle of history, and the strongest evidence of Christianity,” Schaff writes in the preface to The Person of Christ. During the 19th century, however, it had become fashionable in Western universities and seminaries to demythologize not only the supernatural accounts in the Bible, but the very divinity of Christ as well. Arguing against the positions of such liberal theologians as Ernest Renan, Schaff explains how Christ would, as miraculous and supernatural, perform miracles in accordance with his nature. A desperate willingness to explain away anything that defies modern, empirical sensibilities, Schaff writes, leads to a skepticism that “legitimately ends at last in the nihilism of despair.” The issues Schaff addresses remain some of the most hotly debated issues within contemporary Christianity.

Kathleen O’Bannon
CCEL Staff