PREFACE.

The four Gospels, each telling in its own way the story of the Life of Jesus, are the rich heritage of Christians.  No one of the Gospels could be spared.  But in reading any one of the four we miss some of the familiar words and incidents we love.  Almost from the days of the Apostles there have been attempts to unite the Gospels in a single narrative.  The first of these efforts, so far as we know, was undertaken by the devout scholar Tatian, soon after 173 A.D.  His book served a useful purpose in his own and later generations, and is now a valuable witness to the antiquity and early acceptance of our four Gospels.

There have been many harmonies of the Gospel from the second century to the present; and they are all but indispensable to the scholar.  Almost every minister keeps one at his elbow.  But these, for the most part, are made for purposes of scholarly comparison, and not for general reading.  Moreover, they are expensive.

The editors of this little book have undertaken to prepare an interwoven story of the Life of Jesus from the four Gospels for popular reading.  A booklet that may be carried in the pocket, and may be sold, in paper binding, for ten cents, has been their ambition.  They have been led to this undertaking by the large demand for copies of their booklet, “His last week,” which comprises the last third of this volume, whose use at Easter time has brought them many requests for the complete Gospel story, interwoven in the same manner.

The work of preparation has been done by three ministers of Oak Park, in suburban Chicago, who have shared equally the labor, but the undertaking has the support and co-operation of the entire group of fifteen local pastors, representing six different denominations.  To this larger group of brethren is due a grateful acknowledgment of sympathy and assistance.  The book has at least the value of an illustration in practical interdenominational co-operation.  In the spirit of this fine fellowship it is commended to Christians of every name.

Theeditors

=His Life=

=I.  His Birth and Boyhood=

1.  The Divine ANNOUNCINGS
     The Word made Flesh. 13
     The Promised Birth of John the Baptist. 14
     The Angel’s Visit to Mary. 15
     Mary’s Visit to Her Cousin. 16
     Mary’s Song. 17
     The Birth of John the Baptist. 17
     The Song of Zacharias. 18