Curious Paradoxes: James Anthony Froude's View of the Bible

James Anthony Froude disapproved of the apologetic methods used by English Protestants in defending Christianity because he felt they did not answer the real questions. Nevertheless, he was disquieted by the rise of religious infidelity during the nineteenth century. Froude believed that heterodox clergymen deserved a hearing, but he also believed they had to be answered. He feared that simply using legal means to silence the doubters would strengthen infidel opinion, and drive young inquirers toward Rome or atheism. At a minimum, Froude himself wanted to believe the gospel history. While he could not believe much that was said in its defence, he was unhappy with much that was said against it. Froude suggested that the synoptic gospels might have been based on an early, authentic biography of Christ. He preferred this solution to assuming that the early church had been motivated by “passion or fraud or cowardice” in creating a fiction.