11. On the Essence of Christianity

It is useful to first study the foundations of religion in the ancient Indian, Egyptian, Greek, Jewish religions and only then to come to the Christian one. There one will find that the symbolism was the same at all times, that the spirit has always given answers to the questions of humanity living at the time. Theology in recent times has been unable to unlock the true spirit of Christianity because it has become too immersed in materialism. The insights it provides are unsatisfactory for both the religious and the scientific mind. Others say: the doctrine it brings says nothing new, exactly the same thing has been taught at all times. From another side, however, it is emphasized that in Christianity it depends mainly on the person of the founder of this religion. That is correct. Let us compare the other founders of religions with Him. Take Buddha and so on, Moses, Mohammed. Their teachings were in part equally sublime, but they did not want their person to be revered: they regarded themselves only as messengers called to proclaim unearthly truths to the world. Christ should be regarded somewhat differently. It is not what he taught that matters. He himself did not write down any of his teachings, and the teachings that have been handed down to us by his disciples contain nothing really new – and yet something quite different: he himself is the center of religious beliefs.