or The Creation of Christ (1939) The original French title was Jésus: Le Dieu fait homme ("Jesus: The God made man", 1937). Challenged and criticized from all sides in France, Couchoud published his book as a public answer. Couchoud had the advantage of the advanced research published by three elite scholars: the independent historian Charles Guignebert, the Protestant theologian Maurice Goguel, and the excommunicated critic of the Catholic Church Alfred Loisy. Couchoud displayed no acrimony against Christianity, and always showed respect and appreciation for it, occasionally using poetic language to describe Jesus and his influence. He dedicated the book "to the memory of that most noble man", John Mackinnon Robertson (1856-1933), accepting his idea that a myth and a cult must have preceded the development of the figure of Christ and of the Christian religion. Couchoud did not believe that a human Jesus had existed. Couchoud believed that the figure of Jesus Christ had been originally conceived by Jews as a purely 'heavenly Man' who announced a cosmic transformation. This heavenly Jesus was amplified and diffused through the mystery books ("apocalypses"). "It was only much later that he was made flesh and blood [in the Gospels] on paper. Thus Christ was created", as a "literary creation". In The Creation of Christ, Couchoud told a story in which Marcion wrote the first gospel, followed by Basilides, Mark, Matthew, John and Luke; Mark knew Paul's theology; the Acts of the Apostles is a thoroughly reliable historical source; and Clement of Rome is the likely author of the Gospel of Luke. The book of 459 pages was published in two slim volumes. It consists of three parts, with 22 chapters and 2 Appendices: Part 1 THE APOCALYPSES (168 B.C. – A.D. 40), 7 chapters - "Appearance of secret and mysterious books": Daniel, Enoch, Moses. Part 2 THE PROPHETS (A.D. 40-130), 5 chapters - The eruptive and anarchic activity of Christian prophets. Part 3 THE GOSPELS (A.D. 130-150), 10 chapters - Books that "fix and regulate the faith". Appendix I: The Gospel According to Marcion Appendix II: The Historicity of Jesus (Response to Loisy in Hibbert Journal ) Reception and criticisms Couchoud's thesis was received with passionate reactions in France, a culture traditionally dominated by Catholicism, and he became subjected to a wave of criticisms from various quarters. Léonce de Grandmaison, Jesus in history and in mystery (1924) Léonce de Grandmaison, (1868-1927), a priest