The Church And Its History: the essence and identity of Christianity!

In its most basic form, Christianity is the tradition of faith that focuses on the figure of Jesus Christ. In this context, faith refers both to the act of trust of believers and to the content of their faith. As a tradition, Christianity is more than a religious belief system. It has also generated a culture, a set of ideas and ways of life, practices and artefacts that have been passed down from generation to generation. Since, of course, Jesus became the object of faith. 

Christianity is therefore both a living tradition of faith and the culture that faith leaves behind. The agent of Christianity is the church, the community of people who make up the body of believers. To say that Christianity focuses on Jesus Christ is not a good thing. It means that it somehow brings together its beliefs and practices and other traditions in reference to a historical figure. Few Christians, however, would be content to keep this purely historical reference. 

Although their tradition of faith is historical, that is, they believe that transactions with the divine do not take place in the realm of timeless ideas but between ordinary human beings through the ages. The vast majority of Christians focus their faith in Jesus Christ as someone who is also a present reality. They can include many other references in their tradition and thus they can speak of "God" and "human nature" or of the church "and of the" world. But they would not be called Christians if they did not bring their attention first and last to Jesus Christ.

While there is something simple about this focus on Jesus as the central figure, there is also something very complicated. This complexity is revealed by the thousands of separate churches, sects and denominations that make up the modern Christian tradition. To project these separate bodies against the backdrop of their development in the nations of the world is to suggest bewildering variety.