SOURCE: “A Jesus for Everyone, A Christ for None,” in Christianity Today, Vol. 39, No. 11, October 2, 1995, pp. 40, 42.

In the following review, Bloesch calls into question Küng's historical focus on the life and teaching of Jesus, instead of Jesus's preexistence as a member of the Trinity, in Christianity, although he praises the book's comprehensiveness.

In [Christianity: Essence, History, and Future], which the author presents as the culmination of a lifetime of study and reflection, noted Catholic theologian Hans Küng undertakes a comprehensive theological history of Christianity, showing its biblical roots and global implications. Küng differentiates the ceremonial and doctrinal embellishments of the Christian faith from its essence—the historical person of Jesus Christ. Küng seeks to get beyond a “Eurocentric” understanding of the Christian religion to a “universal historical view” that nevertheless maintains continuity with the original New Testament message. He sees Christianity not as an...