The Essence of Christianity

Abstract

What is the essence of Christianity? As I have just asked it the question is ambiguous and in need of clarification. For there are two different things that we might be looking for. We might be looking for that which is most important in Christianity. Or we might be looking for that which is uniquely christian and not paralleled in any other faith. In other words we might be asking for the essence of Christianity in the sense of that which is most significant in it, or in the sense of that which is uniquely peculiar to it; and these are two different questions. For that which is peculiar to Christianity may or may not turn out to be the same as that which is most important in it. And so it is well to be clear at the outset what it is we are seeking.