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Renan in his Vie de Jésus—that gracious Fifth Gospel, the Gospel according to St Thomas one might call it—says somewhere that Christ’s great achievement was that he made himself as much loved after his death as he had been during his lifetime.[99.1] And certainly, if his place is among the poets, he is the leader of all the lovers[99a]. He saw that love was that lost secret of the world for which the wise men had been looking, and that it was only through love that one could approach either the heart of the leper or the feet of God.
勒南写了《耶稣的一生》——那部优美的第五福音书，照圣托马斯所言可说是只此一部的福音书——他在书中某处说了，耶稣伟大的成就，在于使自己死后如同生前一样受人爱戴。当然，倘若他是诗人的同道，那更是天下有爱心之人的魁首[99a]。他看到，爱就是世界失去的那个真意，贤哲在寻找的那个真意；他看到，只有通过爱，一个人才能到达麻风病人心间，或上帝跟前。
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