Many years of study of Christian origins have convinced some of us that
it is impossible to be absolutely certain historically of any objective
fact relating to the life of Jesus as handed on by tradition. -from the
Foreword How much of the New Testament gospel story is true? This is the
stunning question posed-and answered-in this provocative volume, first
published in 1903 and just as startling today as it must have been a
century ago. Mead, considered one of the greatest thinkers on the
origins of Christianity and a renowned expert on Gnostic and Hermetic
literature, considers the story of Jesus from a theosophical outlook,
one that embraces the unifying, enlightening philosophies that underlie
all religions. His explorations of the unclear boundaries between
history and myth-and how they affect the modern Judeo-Christian
traditions, practices, and beliefs-is a thoroughly humanistic one of
immense value today, as we struggle to balance faith with secularism in
our society. Also available from Cosimo Classics: Mead's The Hymn of
Jesus and The Doctrine of the Subtle Body in Western Tradition. British
scholar and philosopher GEORGE ROBERT STOW MEAD (1863-1933) was educated
at Cambridge University. He served as editor of The Theosophical
Society's Theosophical Review, and later formed The Quest Society and
edited its journal, The Quest Review. He is also the author of Notes on
Nirvana (1893) and an 1896 translation of The Upanishads.
