Christianity is essentially a faith tradition centered around the person of Jesus Christ. In this sense, faith encompasses both the act of trust exercised by believers and the substance of their faith. Christianity is more than just a set of doctrines; it’s a tradition. Since Jesus initially came to be the focus of faith, it has also produced a culture—a collection of beliefs, customs, and artifacts that have been passed down from generation to generation. Thus, Christianity is both a live religious tradition and the legacy of that faith in society. The church, or the group of individuals who comprise the body of believers, is the agent of Christianity.

When Christianity is said to “focus” on Jesus Christ, it means that it integrates its practices, beliefs, and other traditions with regard to a historical person. But few Christians would be happy to leave this allusion purely historical. While their religion tradition is historical—that is, they hold that interactions with the divine have happened among common people throughout history rather than in the domain of timeless ideas—the great majority of Christians center their trust in Jesus Christ as a living, breathing person. They might talk about “God,” “human nature,” the “church,” and the “world” since they follow a lot of different traditions, but they couldn’t call themselves Christians if they didn’t focus on Jesus Christ first and foremost.