(1823–1890), was a French philosopher and historian. In 1878, he was elected to the French Academy. He was famous for his Life of Jesus; History of the People of Israel; and Philosophical Dramas. In La Vie de Jesus, 1863, Renan stated in his introduction concerning Jesus:
The whole of history is incomprehensible without Him.2613
In Les Apotres, 1866, Renan wrote:
Religion is not a popular error; it is a great instinctive truth, sensed by the people, expressed by the people.2614
In 1866, Joseph Ernest Renan exclaimed:
What would we do without [Christianity]? … If rationalism wishes to govern the world without regard to the religious needs of the soul, the experience of the French Revolution is there to teach us the consequences of such a blunder.2615