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The Life of Christ
Leather Binding on Spine and Corners with Golden Leaf Printing on round Spine (extra customization on request like complete leather, Golden Screen printing in Front, Color Leather, Colored book etc.) Reprinted in 2019 with the help of original edition published long back [1874]. This book is printed in black & white, sewing binding for longer life, Printed on high quality Paper, re-sized as per Current standards, professionally processed without changing its contents. As these are old books, we processed each page manually and make them readable but in some cases some pages which are blur or missing or black spots. If it is multi volume set, then it is only single volume, if you wish to order a specific or all the volumes you may contact us. We expect that you will understand our compulsion in these books. We found this book important for the readers who want to know more about our old treasure so we brought it back to the shelves. Hope you will like it and give your comments and suggestions. - eng, Pages 529. EXTRA 10 DAYS APART FROM THE NORMAL SHIPPING PERIOD WILL BE REQUIRED FOR LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. COMPLETE LEATHER WILL COST YOU EXTRA US$ 25 APART FROM THE LEATHER BOUND BOOKS. {FOLIO EDITION IS ALSO AVAILABLE.}
744 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1896
118 people are currently reading
355 people want to read
About the author
Frederic W. Farrar
685 books9 followersFrederic William Farrar (Bombay, 7 August 1831 – Canterbury, 22 March 1903) was a cleric of the Church of England (Anglican), schoolteacher and author. He was a pallbearer at the funeral of Charles Darwin in 1882. He was a member of the Cambridge Apostles secret society. He was the Archdeacon of Westminster from 1883 to 1894, and Dean of Canterbury Cathedral from 1895 until his death in 1903.
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 4, 2016
I read and savored this book slowly over the course of about eight months. It was written in 1874 by an Anglican priest who ministered in Westminster Abbey, was later Dean of Canterbury, and was also a classics scholar. His tender portrayal of Christ is written "as a believer to believers" and draws from the Gospels, Josephus, apocryphal writers, philosophers, poets, years of research, his own translation of the Gospels from Greek, and personal experiences. The text is broken up by chapter headings that make it very easy to navigate so that it can be read alongside the Gospels themselves. Farrar's love and testimony of Christ emanates from every page. It's a lengthy book (700 pages) but worth the commitment.
May 14, 2008
I came across this title on a "want list" for Benchmark Books and when I googled it Amazon had 2 great reviews which reminded me of how incredible this book is. Not meaning to dis Talmage but this work is way beyond his in scope, beauty, scholarship, depth, faith and inspiration. Yes, a doctrinal error here or there but they are negligible compared to its spiritual power. It's the one thing I own that I hope my kids fight over when I'm gone. :) J/K
January 16, 2024
There are few words to express how absolutely beautifully written this book is. What a pleasure it was to read and to reread certain parts due to Ferrar's choice of words and the melodious way he described incidents and people so familiar to me. Starting from the beginning as he explains his task: "I consented to make the effort, knowing that I could at least promise to do my best, and believing that he who does the best he can, and also seeks the Blessing of God upon his labours, cannot finally and wholly fail... if the following pages in any measure fulfill the objects with which such a Life ought to be written, they should fill the minds of those who read them with solemn and not ignoble thoughts; they should "add sunlight to daylight by making the happy happier;" they should encourage the toiler; they should console the sorrowful; they should point the weak to the one true source of moral strength." to the end "To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail..."
Ferrar's book was originally published in 1874 and carefully studies the life of Christ from the Nativity to the Resurrection. He quotes a wide variety of authors, poets, philosophers and clergy, but mostly he lovingly catalogs the events and people that walked and learned with Christ. It's a daunting task- over 700 pages but well worth the time and effort. Words cannot begin to express how amazing the reading of this was. We have a hard back, but it's available via Amazon for a mere $.99 - the best dollar I ever spent!
Ferrar's book was originally published in 1874 and carefully studies the life of Christ from the Nativity to the Resurrection. He quotes a wide variety of authors, poets, philosophers and clergy, but mostly he lovingly catalogs the events and people that walked and learned with Christ. It's a daunting task- over 700 pages but well worth the time and effort. Words cannot begin to express how amazing the reading of this was. We have a hard back, but it's available via Amazon for a mere $.99 - the best dollar I ever spent!
November 24, 2025
BOOK REVIEW - The Life of Christ, by Frederic W. Farrar (2004)
I’ve read many books on the life of Chirst, both devotional and scholarly. Farrar’s The Life of Christ remains one of the most compelling and spiritually rich portrayals of Jesus ever written. Though published in the late 19th century, it retains a rare combination of scholarly depth and devotional warmth. Farrar approached the Gospels with the best tools available to him in his time—linguistic study, historical geography, classical sources, Jewish history, and early Christian writings. Yet what makes the work so memorable is that he never lets scholarship eclipse faith. His aim is not to dissect Jesus but to illuminate Him.
Farrar’s writing is one of the book’s greatest strengths. His descriptions of the nativity, the Galilean ministry, the parables, and especially the Passion, are rich and emotionally charged without slipping into sentimentality. He carefully reconstructs the physical settings—deserts, villages, synagogues, seas, and Roman roads—so the reader can actually see the world Jesus walked in.
His portrayal of Christ is both majestic and deeply human. He shows a Jesus who experiences fatigue, loneliness, compassion, sorrow, and righteous anger—yet always with divine purpose.
Compared to modern biblical scholarship—richer today in archaeology, textual criticism, and historical method—Farrar inevitably shows his Victorian limits. He sometimes harmonizes Gospel accounts where today’s scholars prefer to highlight differences; he occasionally accepts traditional assumptions that later research has revised.
But these limitations hardly diminish the work’s impact. In fact, there is something refreshing and deeply moving about Farrar’s approach. He is not writing as a detached academic but as a devoted Christian thinker striving to articulate the life and meaning of Jesus with clarity, respect, and awe.
More than a century later, The Life of Christ remains a model of what religious biography can be: thoughtful, faithful, beautifully written, and spiritually elevating. It lacks some of the technical precision of contemporary research, but it offers something just as valuable and often harder to find—a vivid, reverent portrait of the Savior that touches both mind and heart.
For anyone seeking a Christ-centered work that is intellectually respectable while still capable of deep emotional resonance, Farrar’s book stands among the very best.
Quotes
“His life was one long act of self-sacrifice. From the hour of His birth in a manger to the hour of His death upon the cross, the whole course of His existence was a continual offering of Himself for others. Not one selfish word is recorded of Him; not one action that had its source in personal ambition. The splendor of earthly rewards He put from Him; the allurements of power He rejected; the voice of popularity never altered His path. His was the royalty of perfect humility, the sovereignty of absolute love.”
“He trod the road to Calvary with the calm majesty of one who knew that His suffering was the world’s redemption. The crowd might insult Him, the soldiers might mock Him, the disciples might flee from Him; yet there was upon His countenance a divine endurance that no outrage could disturb. In that hour of agony and abandonment, when earth had rejected Him and heaven seemed silent, He bore the whole burden of human sin, and by His stripes the world was healed.”
I’ve read many books on the life of Chirst, both devotional and scholarly. Farrar’s The Life of Christ remains one of the most compelling and spiritually rich portrayals of Jesus ever written. Though published in the late 19th century, it retains a rare combination of scholarly depth and devotional warmth. Farrar approached the Gospels with the best tools available to him in his time—linguistic study, historical geography, classical sources, Jewish history, and early Christian writings. Yet what makes the work so memorable is that he never lets scholarship eclipse faith. His aim is not to dissect Jesus but to illuminate Him.
Farrar’s writing is one of the book’s greatest strengths. His descriptions of the nativity, the Galilean ministry, the parables, and especially the Passion, are rich and emotionally charged without slipping into sentimentality. He carefully reconstructs the physical settings—deserts, villages, synagogues, seas, and Roman roads—so the reader can actually see the world Jesus walked in.
His portrayal of Christ is both majestic and deeply human. He shows a Jesus who experiences fatigue, loneliness, compassion, sorrow, and righteous anger—yet always with divine purpose.
Compared to modern biblical scholarship—richer today in archaeology, textual criticism, and historical method—Farrar inevitably shows his Victorian limits. He sometimes harmonizes Gospel accounts where today’s scholars prefer to highlight differences; he occasionally accepts traditional assumptions that later research has revised.
But these limitations hardly diminish the work’s impact. In fact, there is something refreshing and deeply moving about Farrar’s approach. He is not writing as a detached academic but as a devoted Christian thinker striving to articulate the life and meaning of Jesus with clarity, respect, and awe.
More than a century later, The Life of Christ remains a model of what religious biography can be: thoughtful, faithful, beautifully written, and spiritually elevating. It lacks some of the technical precision of contemporary research, but it offers something just as valuable and often harder to find—a vivid, reverent portrait of the Savior that touches both mind and heart.
For anyone seeking a Christ-centered work that is intellectually respectable while still capable of deep emotional resonance, Farrar’s book stands among the very best.
Quotes
“His life was one long act of self-sacrifice. From the hour of His birth in a manger to the hour of His death upon the cross, the whole course of His existence was a continual offering of Himself for others. Not one selfish word is recorded of Him; not one action that had its source in personal ambition. The splendor of earthly rewards He put from Him; the allurements of power He rejected; the voice of popularity never altered His path. His was the royalty of perfect humility, the sovereignty of absolute love.”
“He trod the road to Calvary with the calm majesty of one who knew that His suffering was the world’s redemption. The crowd might insult Him, the soldiers might mock Him, the disciples might flee from Him; yet there was upon His countenance a divine endurance that no outrage could disturb. In that hour of agony and abandonment, when earth had rejected Him and heaven seemed silent, He bore the whole burden of human sin, and by His stripes the world was healed.”
November 2, 2010
I had a hard time putting it down while reading but at the same time it's like scripture in that you want to stop and think about his insights and ideas. This book was quoted in April 2010 General Conference by a General Authority, so I thought I'd read it. It seems to unlock greater insight into Christ's life than Talmage's Jesus the Christ. Check it out someday. You will feel closer to knowing the Savior and understanding his actions and words because Farrar knew the cultures and habits of the time.
August 8, 2023
This is a WONDERFUL book chronologically going through the events we know of the life of Jesus Christ. Farrar does a great job explaining the context and circumstances surrounding events in the Savior's life, helping me to better understand the times and trials Jesus faced and the importance of His teachings.
A few of the sections that I really loved included telling of the time he visits Mary and Martha and Martha is busy serving while Mary sits to listen. "An imperfect soul, seeing what is good and great and true, but very often failing in the attempt to attain to it, is apt to be very hard in its judgments on the shortcomings of others. But a divine and sovereign soul--a soul that has more nearly attained to the measure of the stature of the perfect man--takes a calmer and gentler, because a larger-hearted view of those little weaknesses and indirectnesses which it cannot but daily see. And so the answer of Jesus, if it were a reproof, was at any rate an infinitely gentle and tender one, and one which would purify but would not pain the poor faithful heart of the busy, loving matron to whom it was addressed (page 461)." I also loved the way he recounted the story of the widow's mite on page 538.
After recounting the events of the Crucifixion he helps us understand the scene. "And in truth that scene was more awful than they, or even we, can know. The secular historian, be he ever so sceptical, cannot fail to see in it the central point of the world's history. Whether he be a believer in Christ of not, he cannot refuse to admit that this new religion grew from the smallest of all seeds to be a mighty tree, so that the birds of the air took refuge in its branches; that it was the little stone cut without hands which dashed into pieces the colossal image of heathen greatness, and grew till it became a great mountain and filled the earth.....The effects, then, of the work of Christ are even to the unbeliever indisputable and historical. It expelled cruelty; it curbed passion....there was hardly a class whose wrongs it did not remedy. It rescued the gladiator; it greed the slave; it protected the captive; it nursed the sick; it sheltered the orphan; it elevated the woman; it shrouded as with a halo of sacred innocence the tender years of the child. In every region of life its ameliorating influence was felt. It changed pity from a vice into a virtue. It elevated poverty from a curse into a beatitude. It ennobled labor from a vulgarity into a dignity and a duty. It sanctified marriage from little more than a burdensome convention into little less than a blessed sacrament. It created the very conception of charity, and broadened the limits of its obligation from the narrow circle of a neighborhood to the widest horizons of the race (page 652)."
"To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three short years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever, even until the eons have been closed, and the earth itself, with the heavens that now are, have passed away, shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, "God with us (page 672).""
This was a great re-read (August 2023). Here are some other quotes I liked this time through:
“The associations of our Lord’s nativity were all of the humblest character, and the very scenery of His birthplace was connected with memories of poverty and toil. On that night, indeed, it seemed as though the heavens must burst to dissolve their radiant minstrelsies (p. 1).”
“The light that shined in the darkness was no physical, but a spiritual beam; the Dayspring from on high, which had now visited mankind, dawned only in a few faithful and humble hearts. And the Gospels, always truthful and bearing on every page that simplicity which is the stamp of honest narrative, indicate this fact without comment. There is in them nothing of the exuberance of marvel, and mystery, and miracle, which appears alike in the Jewish imaginations about their coming Messiah, and in the apocryphal narratives about the Infant Christ (p. 5).”
“The appearance and disappearance of new stars is a phenomenon by no means so rare as to admit of any possible doubt (p. 15).”
“What was His manner of life during those thirty years? It is a question which the Christian cannot help asking in deep reverence, and with yearning love; but the words in which the Gospels answer it are very calm and very few… but what eloquence in their silence! (p. 24)”
“‘Did ye not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ This answer, so divinely natural, so sublimely noble, bears upon itself the certain stamp of authenticity (p. 36).”
“‘Is not this the carpenter?’ We may be indeed thankful that the word remains, for it is full of meaning, and has exercised a very noble and blessed influence over the fortunes of mankind. It has tended to console and sanctify the estate of poverty; to ennoble the duty of labor; to elevate the entire conception of manhood, as a condition which in itself alone, and apart from every adventurous circumstance, as its own grandeur and dignity in the sight of God (p. 37).”
“The language which our Lord commonly spoke was Aramaic; and at that period Hebrew was completely a dead language, known only to the more educated, and only to be acquired by labor: yet it is clear that Jesus was acquainted with it, for some of His scriptural quotations directly refer to the Hebrew original (p. 41).”
“In any family circle the gentle influence of one loving soul is sufficient to breathe around it an unspeakable calm (p. 43).”
“There are times when the grace of God stirs sensibly in the human heart; when the soul seems to rise upon the eagle-wings of hope and prayer into the heaven of heavens… At such moments we are nearer to God; we seem to know Him and be known of Him (p. 72).”
“His ministry is to be a ministry of joy and peace (p. 79).”
“How exquisitely and freshly simple is the actual language of Christ compared with all other teaching that has ever gained the ear of the world! (p. 124)”
“He suffered with those whom He saw suffer (p. 147).”
“Not even on the farther shore was Jesus to find peace or rest (p. 155).”
“The God who cared even for the little birds when they fell to the ground—the God by whom the very hairs of their head were numbered—the God who… held in His hand the issues, not of life and death only, but of eternal life and of eternal death… He would acknowledge those whom His Son acknowledged (p. 170).”
“The first attack in Galilee arose from the circumstance that in passing through the cornfields on the Sabbath day, His disciples, who were suffering from hunger, plucked the ears of corn (p. 205).”
“The day which had begun with that lesson of loving and confiding prayer was not destined to proceed thus calmly (p. 214).”
“They had already found by experience that the one most effectual weapon to discredit His mission and undermined His influence was the demand of a sign… from heaven (p. 230).”
“The human mind has a singular capacity for rejecting that which it cannot comprehend—for ignoring and forgetting all that does not fall within the range of its previous conceptions (p. 238).”
“Christ did not speak to them in the language of warning only; He held out to them a gracious hope (p. 277).”
“True joy—the highest joy—be ‘severe, and chaste and solitary, and incompatible,’ then how constant, how inexpressible, what a joy of God, must have been the joy of the Man Christ Jesus, who came to give to all who love Him, henceforth and for ever, a joy which no man take to from them—a joy which the world can neither give nor take away (p. 282).”
“Nowhere, in all probability, did Jesus pass more restful and happy hours than in the quiet house of that little family at Bethany (p. 300).”
“Zacchaeus should not only see Him, but He would come in and sup with him, and make his abode with him—the glorious Messiah a guest of the execrations publican (p. 323).”
“The Deliverer weeps over the city which it is now too late to save (p. 332).”
“They loved their blindness; they would not acknowledge their ignorance; they did not repent them of their faults; the bitter venom of their hatred to Him was not driven forth by His forbearance; the dense midnight of their perversity was not dispelled by His wisdom (p. 355).”
“It was Love, as the test and condition of discipleship. Love as greater than even Faith and Hope. Love as the fulfilling of the Law (p. 384).”
“At the moment when Christ died, nothing could have seemed more abjectly weak, more pitifully hopeless, more absolutely doomed to scorn, and extinction, and despair, than the Church which He had founded (p. 452).”
“What was it that thus caused strength to be made perfect out of abject weakness? There is one, and one only possible answer—the resurrection from the dead. All this vast revolution was due to the power of Christ’s resurrection (p. 452).”
“Jesus wait to her, ‘Mary!’ That one word, in those awful yet tender tones of voice, at once penetrated to her heart (p. 456).”
“To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three short years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever… shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel… ‘God with us’ (p. 463).”
A few of the sections that I really loved included telling of the time he visits Mary and Martha and Martha is busy serving while Mary sits to listen. "An imperfect soul, seeing what is good and great and true, but very often failing in the attempt to attain to it, is apt to be very hard in its judgments on the shortcomings of others. But a divine and sovereign soul--a soul that has more nearly attained to the measure of the stature of the perfect man--takes a calmer and gentler, because a larger-hearted view of those little weaknesses and indirectnesses which it cannot but daily see. And so the answer of Jesus, if it were a reproof, was at any rate an infinitely gentle and tender one, and one which would purify but would not pain the poor faithful heart of the busy, loving matron to whom it was addressed (page 461)." I also loved the way he recounted the story of the widow's mite on page 538.
After recounting the events of the Crucifixion he helps us understand the scene. "And in truth that scene was more awful than they, or even we, can know. The secular historian, be he ever so sceptical, cannot fail to see in it the central point of the world's history. Whether he be a believer in Christ of not, he cannot refuse to admit that this new religion grew from the smallest of all seeds to be a mighty tree, so that the birds of the air took refuge in its branches; that it was the little stone cut without hands which dashed into pieces the colossal image of heathen greatness, and grew till it became a great mountain and filled the earth.....The effects, then, of the work of Christ are even to the unbeliever indisputable and historical. It expelled cruelty; it curbed passion....there was hardly a class whose wrongs it did not remedy. It rescued the gladiator; it greed the slave; it protected the captive; it nursed the sick; it sheltered the orphan; it elevated the woman; it shrouded as with a halo of sacred innocence the tender years of the child. In every region of life its ameliorating influence was felt. It changed pity from a vice into a virtue. It elevated poverty from a curse into a beatitude. It ennobled labor from a vulgarity into a dignity and a duty. It sanctified marriage from little more than a burdensome convention into little less than a blessed sacrament. It created the very conception of charity, and broadened the limits of its obligation from the narrow circle of a neighborhood to the widest horizons of the race (page 652)."
"To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three short years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever, even until the eons have been closed, and the earth itself, with the heavens that now are, have passed away, shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted, "God with us (page 672).""
This was a great re-read (August 2023). Here are some other quotes I liked this time through:
“The associations of our Lord’s nativity were all of the humblest character, and the very scenery of His birthplace was connected with memories of poverty and toil. On that night, indeed, it seemed as though the heavens must burst to dissolve their radiant minstrelsies (p. 1).”
“The light that shined in the darkness was no physical, but a spiritual beam; the Dayspring from on high, which had now visited mankind, dawned only in a few faithful and humble hearts. And the Gospels, always truthful and bearing on every page that simplicity which is the stamp of honest narrative, indicate this fact without comment. There is in them nothing of the exuberance of marvel, and mystery, and miracle, which appears alike in the Jewish imaginations about their coming Messiah, and in the apocryphal narratives about the Infant Christ (p. 5).”
“The appearance and disappearance of new stars is a phenomenon by no means so rare as to admit of any possible doubt (p. 15).”
“What was His manner of life during those thirty years? It is a question which the Christian cannot help asking in deep reverence, and with yearning love; but the words in which the Gospels answer it are very calm and very few… but what eloquence in their silence! (p. 24)”
“‘Did ye not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’ This answer, so divinely natural, so sublimely noble, bears upon itself the certain stamp of authenticity (p. 36).”
“‘Is not this the carpenter?’ We may be indeed thankful that the word remains, for it is full of meaning, and has exercised a very noble and blessed influence over the fortunes of mankind. It has tended to console and sanctify the estate of poverty; to ennoble the duty of labor; to elevate the entire conception of manhood, as a condition which in itself alone, and apart from every adventurous circumstance, as its own grandeur and dignity in the sight of God (p. 37).”
“The language which our Lord commonly spoke was Aramaic; and at that period Hebrew was completely a dead language, known only to the more educated, and only to be acquired by labor: yet it is clear that Jesus was acquainted with it, for some of His scriptural quotations directly refer to the Hebrew original (p. 41).”
“In any family circle the gentle influence of one loving soul is sufficient to breathe around it an unspeakable calm (p. 43).”
“There are times when the grace of God stirs sensibly in the human heart; when the soul seems to rise upon the eagle-wings of hope and prayer into the heaven of heavens… At such moments we are nearer to God; we seem to know Him and be known of Him (p. 72).”
“His ministry is to be a ministry of joy and peace (p. 79).”
“How exquisitely and freshly simple is the actual language of Christ compared with all other teaching that has ever gained the ear of the world! (p. 124)”
“He suffered with those whom He saw suffer (p. 147).”
“Not even on the farther shore was Jesus to find peace or rest (p. 155).”
“The God who cared even for the little birds when they fell to the ground—the God by whom the very hairs of their head were numbered—the God who… held in His hand the issues, not of life and death only, but of eternal life and of eternal death… He would acknowledge those whom His Son acknowledged (p. 170).”
“The first attack in Galilee arose from the circumstance that in passing through the cornfields on the Sabbath day, His disciples, who were suffering from hunger, plucked the ears of corn (p. 205).”
“The day which had begun with that lesson of loving and confiding prayer was not destined to proceed thus calmly (p. 214).”
“They had already found by experience that the one most effectual weapon to discredit His mission and undermined His influence was the demand of a sign… from heaven (p. 230).”
“The human mind has a singular capacity for rejecting that which it cannot comprehend—for ignoring and forgetting all that does not fall within the range of its previous conceptions (p. 238).”
“Christ did not speak to them in the language of warning only; He held out to them a gracious hope (p. 277).”
“True joy—the highest joy—be ‘severe, and chaste and solitary, and incompatible,’ then how constant, how inexpressible, what a joy of God, must have been the joy of the Man Christ Jesus, who came to give to all who love Him, henceforth and for ever, a joy which no man take to from them—a joy which the world can neither give nor take away (p. 282).”
“Nowhere, in all probability, did Jesus pass more restful and happy hours than in the quiet house of that little family at Bethany (p. 300).”
“Zacchaeus should not only see Him, but He would come in and sup with him, and make his abode with him—the glorious Messiah a guest of the execrations publican (p. 323).”
“The Deliverer weeps over the city which it is now too late to save (p. 332).”
“They loved their blindness; they would not acknowledge their ignorance; they did not repent them of their faults; the bitter venom of their hatred to Him was not driven forth by His forbearance; the dense midnight of their perversity was not dispelled by His wisdom (p. 355).”
“It was Love, as the test and condition of discipleship. Love as greater than even Faith and Hope. Love as the fulfilling of the Law (p. 384).”
“At the moment when Christ died, nothing could have seemed more abjectly weak, more pitifully hopeless, more absolutely doomed to scorn, and extinction, and despair, than the Church which He had founded (p. 452).”
“What was it that thus caused strength to be made perfect out of abject weakness? There is one, and one only possible answer—the resurrection from the dead. All this vast revolution was due to the power of Christ’s resurrection (p. 452).”
“Jesus wait to her, ‘Mary!’ That one word, in those awful yet tender tones of voice, at once penetrated to her heart (p. 456).”
“To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three short years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever… shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel… ‘God with us’ (p. 463).”
June 28, 2021
I loved this book and almost feel like I was there walking with Christ.
September 24, 2018
One of the most influential books on my life as it taught me so beautifully about Christ and His life.
Frederic Farrar was a dean at the Canterbury Cathedral in England (I visited his grave!) and studied at the divinity school in Cmbridge (fact check me!) The book was written in the 1880s after he traveled to the Holy Land in 1860 to research the life of Christ. His language is so eloquent and beautiful. I started reading the book after finding an old copy (published in 1894) in a Welsh bookstore (!!) As I read the chapters leading up to Christmas last year, Christ came alive for me in so many powerful ways. Farrar's doctrine around Christ's life and purpose is almost 100% reflective of restored teachings. He was definitely inspired and divinely instructed.
Some of my favorite passages included his description of the Christ's teachings of Sabbath, Christ's interactions with his disciples, His love and attention toward the women in His life (the Mary's, Martha, woman taken in adultery, the widow of Nain, etc.), Lepers, the Parables and especially his suffering in the garden and the cross and His triumphant resurrection. His last paragraph in the book, containg Farrar's personal testimony of Christ was particularly beautiful. I've included it below.
James E Talmage, who wrote, Jesus the Christ, references a ton of Farrar's work and research. MUST READ!
P. 651 (1894 edition) - After referencing Christ's ascension into heaven:
Between us and His visible presence--between us and that glorified Redeemer who now sitteth at the right hand of God-- that cloud still rolls. But the eye of Faith can pierce it; the incense of true prayer can rise above it; through it the dew of blessing can descend. And if he is gone away, yet He was given us in His Holy Spirit a nearer sense of His presence, a closer infolding in the arms of His tenderness, than we could have enjoyed even if we had lived with Him of old in the home of nazareth, or sailed with Him in the little boat over the crystal waters of Gennesareth. We many be as near to him at all time --and more than all when we kneel down to prayer - as the beloved disciple was when he laid his head upon His breast. The word of God is very nigh us, even in our mouths and in our hearts.
To ears that have been closed, His voice may seem indeed to sound no longer. The loud noises of War may shake the world; the eager calls of Avarice and of Pleasure may drown the gentle utterance which bids us "Follow Me"; after two thousand years of Christianity the incredulous murmurs of an impatient skepticism may make it scarcely possible for Faith to repeat, without insult, the creed which has been the regeneration of the world. Ay, and sadder even than this, every now and then may be heard, even in Christian England, the insolence of some blaspheming tong which still scoffs at the Son of God as He lies in the agony of the garden, or breathes His last sigh upon the bitter tree. But the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and He will show them His covenant.
To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever, even until all the Eons have been closed, and the earth itself, with the heavens that now are, have passed away, shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted "God with us."
Frederic Farrar was a dean at the Canterbury Cathedral in England (I visited his grave!) and studied at the divinity school in Cmbridge (fact check me!) The book was written in the 1880s after he traveled to the Holy Land in 1860 to research the life of Christ. His language is so eloquent and beautiful. I started reading the book after finding an old copy (published in 1894) in a Welsh bookstore (!!) As I read the chapters leading up to Christmas last year, Christ came alive for me in so many powerful ways. Farrar's doctrine around Christ's life and purpose is almost 100% reflective of restored teachings. He was definitely inspired and divinely instructed.
Some of my favorite passages included his description of the Christ's teachings of Sabbath, Christ's interactions with his disciples, His love and attention toward the women in His life (the Mary's, Martha, woman taken in adultery, the widow of Nain, etc.), Lepers, the Parables and especially his suffering in the garden and the cross and His triumphant resurrection. His last paragraph in the book, containg Farrar's personal testimony of Christ was particularly beautiful. I've included it below.
James E Talmage, who wrote, Jesus the Christ, references a ton of Farrar's work and research. MUST READ!
P. 651 (1894 edition) - After referencing Christ's ascension into heaven:
Between us and His visible presence--between us and that glorified Redeemer who now sitteth at the right hand of God-- that cloud still rolls. But the eye of Faith can pierce it; the incense of true prayer can rise above it; through it the dew of blessing can descend. And if he is gone away, yet He was given us in His Holy Spirit a nearer sense of His presence, a closer infolding in the arms of His tenderness, than we could have enjoyed even if we had lived with Him of old in the home of nazareth, or sailed with Him in the little boat over the crystal waters of Gennesareth. We many be as near to him at all time --and more than all when we kneel down to prayer - as the beloved disciple was when he laid his head upon His breast. The word of God is very nigh us, even in our mouths and in our hearts.
To ears that have been closed, His voice may seem indeed to sound no longer. The loud noises of War may shake the world; the eager calls of Avarice and of Pleasure may drown the gentle utterance which bids us "Follow Me"; after two thousand years of Christianity the incredulous murmurs of an impatient skepticism may make it scarcely possible for Faith to repeat, without insult, the creed which has been the regeneration of the world. Ay, and sadder even than this, every now and then may be heard, even in Christian England, the insolence of some blaspheming tong which still scoffs at the Son of God as He lies in the agony of the garden, or breathes His last sigh upon the bitter tree. But the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and He will show them His covenant.
To all who will listen He still speaks. He promised to be with us always, even to the end of the world, and we have not found His promise fail. It was but for thirty-three years of a short lifetime that He lived on earth; it was but for three broken and troubled years that He preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; but for ever, even until all the Eons have been closed, and the earth itself, with the heavens that now are, have passed away, shall every one of His true and faithful children find peace and hope and forgiveness in His name, and that name shall be called Emmanuel, which is, being interpreted "God with us."
March 7, 2023
I read Jesus the Christ by James E. Talmage back in 2008. 60% of his footnotes came directly from Frederic Farrar (maybe that’s an exaggeration). I’m closing the loop.
This is the most 3D biography of Christ’s actual life that I’ve come across. Farrar has extensive knowledge of Jerusalem, its ancient culture, classical history, and ancient texts. Even better, his writing isn’t dry (I give him a pass for the flowery late 19th-century prose; he nobly controls that impulse). Either one of those missing would result in a mediocre read. I’m not a member of the Church of England circa 1870, so my religious lense leads me to a few small differences of understanding, but that’s a moot point. He’s changed my perception of many details accepted as 21st century standards (I’ll go to bat now for Christ being born in a cave).
The footnotes hold back a higher score. I’m being petty. Quality footnotes should feel like details the author wished to include in the text, but the editor said “no,” so they were hidden in citations. Farrar’s footnotes added zero value, and took away some joy I may have felt. No utility added to the actual text body. By including them on the pages of the book, rather than in the back, Farrar suggests merit in reading them. False.
Held off finishing this book for four months because I was so burnt out from the inconsistency in flow between actual text and the footnotes. When I finally returned and finished sans citation perusal, the final 150 pages were great. Had the footnotes not been included on each page, resulting in my compulsion to read them, and the continual hiccups that caused in my reading experience, I’d give this a higher score.
This is the most 3D biography of Christ’s actual life that I’ve come across. Farrar has extensive knowledge of Jerusalem, its ancient culture, classical history, and ancient texts. Even better, his writing isn’t dry (I give him a pass for the flowery late 19th-century prose; he nobly controls that impulse). Either one of those missing would result in a mediocre read. I’m not a member of the Church of England circa 1870, so my religious lense leads me to a few small differences of understanding, but that’s a moot point. He’s changed my perception of many details accepted as 21st century standards (I’ll go to bat now for Christ being born in a cave).
The footnotes hold back a higher score. I’m being petty. Quality footnotes should feel like details the author wished to include in the text, but the editor said “no,” so they were hidden in citations. Farrar’s footnotes added zero value, and took away some joy I may have felt. No utility added to the actual text body. By including them on the pages of the book, rather than in the back, Farrar suggests merit in reading them. False.
Held off finishing this book for four months because I was so burnt out from the inconsistency in flow between actual text and the footnotes. When I finally returned and finished sans citation perusal, the final 150 pages were great. Had the footnotes not been included on each page, resulting in my compulsion to read them, and the continual hiccups that caused in my reading experience, I’d give this a higher score.
October 26, 2022
This book was recommended to me by another serious Christian. It takes a very deep and scholarly look at the life of Christ and the surrounding social and political climate. The reason that this book is so useful is that, despite the scholarship involves, it is remarkably readable. This book explains issue carefully, not as if speaking to a scholar, but as to a lay reader interested in finding more about Christ’s lifetime.
People have asked me whether I believe all that Farrar says is correct and indeed I do not. Yet I find this a very small portion of this great tome because his spirituality, dedication and faith are almost insurmountable. Had he written today, with all the new scholarship available, it is quite probable that he would correct himself.
It is difficult to find a book as inspirational as this one but marvelously readable at the same time. So many writers speak from the lofty heights to us, but this one speaks as a man with a mission from God, one he is overjoyed to perform in his mighty name. I keep this in the bookcase by my bed so that I can refer to it easily now. I hope others find this as significant in their walk as I have.
People have asked me whether I believe all that Farrar says is correct and indeed I do not. Yet I find this a very small portion of this great tome because his spirituality, dedication and faith are almost insurmountable. Had he written today, with all the new scholarship available, it is quite probable that he would correct himself.
It is difficult to find a book as inspirational as this one but marvelously readable at the same time. So many writers speak from the lofty heights to us, but this one speaks as a man with a mission from God, one he is overjoyed to perform in his mighty name. I keep this in the bookcase by my bed so that I can refer to it easily now. I hope others find this as significant in their walk as I have.
September 5, 2025
A comprehensive, tender, honorable, honest telling of the life of Jesus chronologically, encompassing not only the four Gospel accounts, but extensive research by writers through the ages, as well as secular texts that mention Jesus. The author's visits to the Holy Land also feed many of his descriptions of life at the time of Jesus in the place and towns he walked and lived. When there have been controversial discussions about some of the Biblical accounts, Farrar addresses them and expertly encourages the reader to understand why his conclusions are drawn, and how important the disagreements are in the end. Aside from the Bible, this is the best information on Christ I've ever read. Highly recommended!
Reread in summer, 2025...even more wonderful!!
Reread in summer, 2025...even more wonderful!!
December 11, 2015
This book totally amazed me! I can't believe how much Frederic Farrar had studied about Christ and then he was able to present his findings with such passion. It took me some time to understand his style of writing- it was a little confusing at first with all the gazillions of footnotes and stuff, but as I got better at reading it I felt like I really learned a lot. I am sure I will come back to this book as a reference in the future- it covered everything you could want to know about the life of Christ. It was not an easy read- it was more of a study for me, and it took a few months. But it was wonderful!
September 27, 2008
I was reading Bruce R. McConkies Mortal Messiah and realized the Farrar was extensively quoted by him throughout the book. I obtained a copy and have read it. What a wonderful approach to the saviour and his life. Though he comes at it from another approach than Elder McConkie, it still seems to be a very scholarly yet touching read. The book contains many of the classical artists pictures about the saviour. I found this book both fascinating and uplifting. I recommend it to anyone who is looking to.."draw nearer unto Him".
March 9, 2011
This is an absolutely wonderful study of the life of Christ. Farrar pulls the accounts from Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John together with available history and geography. The result is a feasible timeline and a more contiguous narrative of Christ's life.
The portions that I found most fascinating were the little nuggets of geography and the historical information about the people and places on the Savior's journey.
Farrar preaches, a little. It does not distract or subtract from this great study.
The portions that I found most fascinating were the little nuggets of geography and the historical information about the people and places on the Savior's journey.
Farrar preaches, a little. It does not distract or subtract from this great study.
May 10, 2019
This is one of the best books on Christ I have ever read and I rank second only to "Jesus the Christ" by Dr. James E. Talmage. I enjoyed the historical commentary to help give context to the words Christ used to help me understand the way those who heard Him originally would have understood them. I also enjoyed the authors writing style; I felt, for lack of a better way of saying it, that it was very poetic, lyrical, rhythmic. It is a great book, should be read by every student of Christ and His gospel.
February 6, 2015
Such a great book. Even though it was difficult to start because of how wordy Farrar can get, once you get far enough into this book his interpretation and unfolding of the Life of Christ is very powerful.
The only downfall is that outside sources (at least in the kindle version) are not available for further inquiry.
In comparison to Jesus the Christ by James Talmage, I like that this version was more flowing.
The only downfall is that outside sources (at least in the kindle version) are not available for further inquiry.
In comparison to Jesus the Christ by James Talmage, I like that this version was more flowing.
November 8, 2008
This is a wonderfully literate book on the life of Christ. The story I've heard is that it's organization served as an outline for James E. Talmages book on Jesus Christ.
There are a lot of scripture references in greek/aramaic(?) but at least in the version I read there were also helpful translations provided to make it more accessible for us non-greek conversant philistines.
There are a lot of scripture references in greek/aramaic(?) but at least in the version I read there were also helpful translations provided to make it more accessible for us non-greek conversant philistines.
January 7, 2016
This is my new Sunday reading book. I don't have the Deseret Book edition, but an older one by another Christian press. My mom has an early 1900 edition that is falling apart with small print. So far, I really like it. It is not like a scholarly book today but written in 1874, so at times, you have the author address the reader like Charles Dickens does--Cool!
February 28, 2012
This was a great scholarly work on the life of Jesus Christ. I had read excerpts from this book used in other books that I've read by Mormon authors such as James E. Talmage and Bruce R. McConkie so I decided to read it myself. It took quite awhile as it was 900 or so pages, but it had tons of great insights that I had never before considered.
September 23, 2013
Amazing book that is very well written by a man that was not only a scholar of Middle-Eastern studies around the time of Christ, but also a Christian believer whose faith is found throughout the book, adding more to the work than a cold, scholarly treatise. I definitely look forward to re-reading this book when I am ready for another 700+ page undertaking.
July 28, 2014
Moving and powerful
Although Farrar's theology is traditionally Protestant, his understanding of the history, the times, and the settings of the Holy Land are marvelous. His book is an oft-quoted source in Talmage's Jesus the Christ for God reason. The chapter on the Crucifixion was moving and powerful.
Although Farrar's theology is traditionally Protestant, his understanding of the history, the times, and the settings of the Holy Land are marvelous. His book is an oft-quoted source in Talmage's Jesus the Christ for God reason. The chapter on the Crucifixion was moving and powerful.
November 13, 2021
What an amazing perspective on this pivotal figure in history. The author provides a real sense of place along with clear perspective on doctrines. The footnotes are challenging at times due to language use, but overall they add explanations. I recommend this book to anyone in search of information on Jesus Christ. However, I would not separate this search from the biblical literature.
February 12, 2013
I love this book. I read it over and over as well as Jesus the Christ by James E . Talmage and The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah by Alfred Edersheim. All are wonderful reads. I recommend them highly.
December 6, 2008
where it's at
November 6, 2013
Hands down one of the best books ever written.
July 9, 2022
The edition I have isn't represented on Goodreads, so I just picked a cover...Meanwhile, I find this to be a worthy book on the life of Christ. Farrar's love for the Savior is evident, and this book was a great labor of love for him. Sometimes I feel he gets into too much travelogue and not enough history, but having read this after my own trip to Israel, I found his travelogue taking me back to the places I had visited. Granted our visits were a hundred years apart, and I traveled by tourist bus and not by camel, there was still enough similarity that I could feel him setting the stage so we could visualize the setting as well as the event. Sometimes his writing gets dry, but it's well worth the read.
November 14, 2024
Wow. I LOVED this book. It is a moving depiction of Christ's life written in 1874 by a cleric of the Church of England (I know that date and author might make it sound like it'll be boring. I promise not). I discovered the book when I read that Elder James E. Talmage relied heavily on it when he was writing Jesus the Christ. Written from a scholarly and faithful point of view, and with beautiful prose that sometimes brought me to tears, I felt my testimony of and love for my Savior deepen as I made my way through the book. Yes, it's long. Yes, it's worth it.
(Note: I found an antique 2 volume copy on eBay that was published, I believe, around 1912 (there's no copyright date), and that was a fun way to read it, but you can easily find Kindle/modern options.)
(Note: I found an antique 2 volume copy on eBay that was published, I believe, around 1912 (there's no copyright date), and that was a fun way to read it, but you can easily find Kindle/modern options.)
August 9, 2023
This book took me four months to read, but it is a book to be enjoyed and contemplated slowly. It is beautifully written and well researched. He clearly traveled to the Holy Land because his descriptions are reminiscent to me of how Steinbeck writes about California. It is like a biography with commentary from a believing (but scholarly) standpoint. I just loved it.
The only thing that dates it is how he talks broadly about "Orientals" in a pretty racist way. I did roll my eyes a few times about that. But considering that this book was written in the 19th century, that's not terribly surprising.
The only thing that dates it is how he talks broadly about "Orientals" in a pretty racist way. I did roll my eyes a few times about that. But considering that this book was written in the 19th century, that's not terribly surprising.
February 9, 2019
This is an exceptional book, excellently researched and written covering the life, the teachings, and the glory of Jesus Christ — King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the very Father of Heaven and Son of God.
I highly recommend reading it. In doing so, I came to know Him better by thinking more deeply on His message, and on the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice that He offers to all.
I highly recommend reading it. In doing so, I came to know Him better by thinking more deeply on His message, and on the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice that He offers to all.
May 30, 2017
Yay! I always knew I would like this. Sometimes I thought it might be too heavy, so when I finally started reading I was glad to see that it's not. Just very rich.
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