Rejected of Men

Rejected of Men is Howard Pyle's solemn, provocative transposition of the Gospel narrative into the conditions of modern life. Subtitled a story "of to-day," it imagines the figure of Christ entering a society governed by wealth, respectability, law, and institutional religion, only to meet once more with incomprehension and rejection. Written in a grave, biblical cadence, the book blends moral allegory, social criticism, and spiritual romance, belonging to the fin-de-siècle tradition of Christian social fiction that asked what the Sermon on the Mount might mean amid modern capitalism and public piety. Howard Pyle, best remembered as the great American illustrator and reteller of Robin Hood and Arthurian legend, brought to this work the same symbolic clarity and ethical seriousness that shaped his medieval romances. Born in Delaware and associated with Quaker culture, Pyle was deeply interested in conscience, honor, sacrifice, and the imaginative power of sacred story. His training as an artist also informs the novel's vivid tableaux and dramatic contrasts between worldly authority and inward truth. This book is recommended for readers interested in literary treatments of Christianity, American moral reform, and the social anxieties of the early twentieth century. It is not merely devotional fiction, but a challenging meditation on whether modern civilization would recognize holiness if it appeared among us.