"The problem of the way in which patristic exegetes viewed the New Testament, and indeed the whole Bible, has concerned scholars a good deal in recent years, especially since it has been discovered that many of the Fathers' methods were analogous to our own. The problem of historical criticism, however, does not seem to have occupied so much attention. . . . "By concentrating on one problem, that of the life of Jesus, I have sought to see how early Christians up to and including Origen faced it, and what there is in their work which deserves retention or rejection." --from the Preface