If Christianity be regarded as a certain kind of life—if it be conceived as sonship to God, membership in the kingdom of the Godlike then we cannot say that any ore particular form of church organization is esseitial to it. True Christianity is formed within all hese forms of organization. Except in some pirely human, arbitrary definition of it, it cannot* truly said that divine grace is the special pr4ogative of any one of them. Nor can any thecw or prac tice concerning the sacraments, or ether rites, be essential. A vast range of sieculative dogma, though often insisted upon asessential to salvation, can hardly be a constitrtnt part of Christianity, since the vastly greatet art of the Christian world knows nothing o $.
Christ never emphasized organizatn or ceremonies or dogmas. His great worn were love, righteousness, sonship to God aid the like. He said that all ritual observanceswere trifling in comparison with judgment, and the love of God; that he who had a brother might better leave his sacrifice tnof fered and go and right the wrong; that lore to God and man was the substance of all lawsand commandments; and his life was the peifect commentary on these sayings. It was that o.,an obedient, trustful son of God. His one clief concern was to found and foster the kingdom of God; that is, the reign oi love among nen. For this end he labored, suffered and died, and taught that his followers most follow him on this path of service and sacrifice. To live the kind of life he lived is the essence of Chris tianity. See CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
Bender, 'Das Wesen, der Religion) (4th ed., Bonn 1888); Dreyer„ (Un dogmatisches Christentum' (4th ed., Brunswick
1890); 'The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief); 'The Christian Religion" Foster, 'Finality of the Christian Religion' (Chicago 1906); Hatch, 'The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church' (5th ed., London 1895) ; Lipsius, 'Die Hauptpunkte der christlichen Glaubenslehre' (Brunswick 1891) ; Orr, 'The Christian View of God and the World' ; Fairbairn, 'The Philosophy of the Christian Religion' ; Renan, 'Histoire des origines du christianisme) (Paris 1862-83) -abatier, 'Religions of Authority R and the Religion of the Piinjer, 'The History of the Christian Philosophy of Re ligion' ; Toy, 'Judaism and Christianity' ; Weiss, 'The Religion of the New Testament); Kaftan, 'The Truth of the Christian Religion' ; Harnack, 'What is Christianity?' (Eng. trans., London 1901) ; id., (Expansion of Christianity in the First Three Centuries (trans., 2 vols., New York 1904-05) Bruce, 'Apologetics, or, Christianity Stated' ; Brown, 'The Essence of Christianity' (New York 1902) ; Gordon, 'Ultimate Conceptions of Faith' ; Clarke, 'An Outline of Christian The Brace, 'Gesta Christi); Storrs, 'The Divine Origin of Christianity Indicated by Its Historical Effects.' The following works are by Roman Catholic authors: Chateaubriand, 'Le genie du christiati isme) (5 vols., Paris 1802); Shahan, 'The Beginnings of Christianity' (1903) ' • Devivier, 'Christian Meagher, 'Christ's Kingdom on Earth' (New York 1900) ' • Car dinal James Gibbons, 'The Faith of Our Fathers' (Baltimore 1880 et. seq.).