Out of My Life and Thought by Albert Schweitzer

This is a short autobiography that is also a brief review of his major ideas. It is interesting about his view of Jesus as a mistaken figure who thought he would be the Messiah and was mistaken. He sees Christianity as an ethical system and later espouses "reverence for life" as a unifying principle linking the great faiths. His upbringing, his obvious brilliance, his desire to follow Jesus and renounce his fame made him more famous. It is interesting how his rejection of the Gospel of John to me seems to have determined his intellectual "fate." He was a man of astonishing intellect, great stamina and courage. His briefly-mentioned encounters with orthodox believers are described with warmth but condescension. After deconstructing the Gospels and being their arbiter, there was no turning back!