Identities of Christian Traditions - An Alternative for Essentialism

Essentialism is a powerful theory about Christian identity, because it reduces various complex questions to one issue : the determination of an invariable essence. What distinguishes Christianity from other religions ? What is authentic Christian faith and what is contrary to it ? What is the unity of Christianity beneath all the different forms of expression ? What is its identity through time ? Which aspects of faith are indispensable ? All these questions are answered at once by essentialism.
However, the price to be paid for this simplification is high. It implies that differences among Christians themselves cannot be essential ; that Christian history should contain some kind of homogeneous development of the essential content of faith ; and finally, that church unity can only come about when all agree about the essence. Should we not rather look for an alternative way to think about Christian identity ? In this book, modern philosophical analyses of the identity of objects and persons are used to develop an alternative which can do more justice to the differences and changes within Christianity.