born Feb. 28, 1823, Tréguier, France
died Oct. 2, 1892, Paris
French philosopher, historian, and scholar of religion.
He trained for the priesthood but left the Catholic church in 1845, feeling that its teachings were incompatible with the findings of historical criticism, though he retained a quasi-Christian faith in God. His five-volume History of the Origins of Christianity (186380) includes his Life of Jesus (1863); an attempt to reconstruct the mind of Jesus as a wholly human person, it was virulently denounced by the church but widely read by the general public. His later works include the series History of the People of Israel (188896).
Renan, detail of an oil painting by Léon Bonnat, 1892; in the Musée Renan, ...
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