Christianity is a religion, something which claims to explain ultimate reality and the place and role of humans therein. It is something with a social structure, and it lays moral prescriptions upon its members, with offers of reward and (particularly in the past) threats of punishment. Again, I will start the discussion historically, and again I note that not everyone means the same thing by “Christianity.” Because my intent is to compare Christianity to Darwinism, a product of Western thought, I will not apologize for an exclusive emphasis on Western Christianity. (In what follows, the backbone of the discussion was provided by Jaroslav Pelikan, The Christian Tradition [1971–89]. Also useful have been Metzger and Coogan 1993; Hodgson and King 1994; Gunton 1997; and McGrath 1997.)

Jesus Christ

For the Christian, the essential and central event is the existence, the life and death, of Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish preacher and prophet and healer who lived two thousand years ago, in Palestine. His behaviour and sermons so upset the authorities, especially the conservative Jewish religious authorities, that he was seized and crucified by the Romans, the occupying power. It is the Christian's claim that Jesus was no ordinary person but that he was the son of God – the Messiah foretold by the Jews, the Christ – and that after death he rose again revealing himself to his disciples before ascending into heaven.