Christianity Is Christ

The founder of no other religion is absolutely essential for that religion in the same way that Christ is essential for Christianity.  It is true that the founder was necessary for the founding, but the believer in a particular religion does not enter into the same kind of an encounter that a Christian enters into with Christ. It is the personal relationship to him which is decisive.  Christ therefore occupies a different place in Christianity than Buddha does in Buddhism, than Confucius in Confucianism, Mohammed in Islam, and even Moses in Judaism.  When you come to Christ, Christianity demands the personal, intimate bond.  We have to be one with him, one with him in such a way that we cannot in any way claim to be Christian unless we reflect the person, the mind, the will, the heart, and the humanity of Christ.