Vie de Jésus

Renan opens his study with a moving tribute to his sister, whose memory frames his quest to uncover the hidden roots of the Christian faith. He invites listeners to travel back to the shadowy beginnings of a movement that would later become a public certainty, focusing first on the life and teachings of its founder. The narrative blends careful examination of ancient sources with a personal, almost meditative tone, setting the stage for a scholarly yet intimate exploration.

In the first act, Renan reconstructs the earliest period, from the obscure, subterranean years of the new cult to the moment when the figure of Jesus emerges as its central, almost mythic, presence. He draws on linguistic, archaeological and textual evidence to portray a world where diverse Mediterranean peoples and secretive sects intersected, laying the groundwork for later doctrinal development. Listeners will gain a nuanced picture of how these initial ideas began to spread, even as the Roman Empire reached its administrative zenith.