Does Christianity have an essence? How should the identity of Christianity be defined in the modern world? As early as 1903, German theologian Ernst Troeltsch began to question the then-popular concept of an “essence of Christianity.” In his search for alternative categories and methods for conceptualizing Christianity and its potential roles in modern society, Troeltsch immersed himself in the study and analysis of Christian history. This book demonstrates the intimate connection between Troeltsch’s philosophical writings on the essence of Christianity and his historical investigations of Christianity’s past, focusing on Troeltsch’s conceptions of Christian origins, historical development, and the ideal types of church-sect-mysticism.

Lori Pearson argues that as a result of his historical work, Troeltsch moved beyond the category of essence and sought new ways of theorizing Christian identity in the context of modernity’s pluralistic yet fragmented society.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS	i
SHORT REFERENCES TO TROELTSCH'S WORKS	v
INTRODUCTION	1
	I. The Dialogue with Modernity: Troeltsch as a Historian and Theorist of 
		Christianity and Protestantism	5 
	II. Sources for Constructing Troeltsch's Theory of Christianity	14
CHAPTER ONE: THE ESSENCE OF CHRISTIANITY AND MODERN HISTORICAL THINKING
	Introduction	22
	I. The Background, Occasion, and Argument of Troeltsch's Essay	24
	II. Heinrich Rickert and the Study of History	33
	III. Troeltsch's Reception and Critique of Rickert's Historical Method	39
	IV. What Does "Essence of Christianity" Mean for Troeltsch?	46
	V. The Nature of "Purely Historical" Inquiry	54
	VI. Locating the Essence: Origins or Development?	63
	VII. A New View of Authority: Affirming Christianity in the Modern World	70
VIII. Conclusion: The Essence of Christianity and Troeltsch's Emerging View of Historical and 
Normative Christianity	74
CHAPTER TWO: CHRISTIAN ORIGINS AND THE IDENTITY OF CHRISTIANITY 
	I. Introduction	78
	II. The Relation of Earliest Christianity to its Historical Context: Christian Origins 
			as "Purely Religious"	83
		A. Troeltsch's Language of "Purely Religious" (rein religi¿s)	85
		B. "Purely Religious" or "Purely Social"? Troeltsch's Dispute with Marxist 
			Historians	89	
		C. "Purely Religious" as a Specific Kind of Social Community	95
		D. "Purely Religious" as Lacking a Social Doctrine or Social Philosophy	96
		E. "Purely Religious": Concluding Reflections on Its Meanings	100
	III. The Origins as the Site and Source of Lasting Elements of Christianity	102
	IV. The Original Period: Normative for All Other Forms of Christianity?	105
	V. Conclusion	111
CHAPTER THREE: CHARTING CONTINUITY AND CHANGE: TROELTSCH'S CONCEPTION OF HISTORICAL 
DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOCIAL TEACHING
	Introduction	113
	I. Pluralistic Causality	114
	II. Continuity: Seeds of Possibility and Development	123
	III. The Interaction (Wechselwirkung) of Religious and Social Phenomena	128
	IV. The Boundaries of Christian Social Philosophy: Normative Dimensions in 
		Troeltsch's Conception and Account of Christianity's Historical Development	133
		A. The Compatibility of Stoicism and Early Christianity	134
		B. Foreshadowing the Dialogue With Modernity: Latent Tensions Between 
			Stoicism and Christianity	137
		C. The Gradual Split of Stoic "Rationalism" and Christian Social Philosophy	142
		D. Troeltsch's Ambivalence About Modernity	145
	V. Conclusion	149
		
CHAPTER FOUR: THE SOCIAL POSSIBILITIES OF CHRISTIANITY: TROELTSCH'S USE 
OF THE IDEAL TYPES
	Introduction	152
	I. The Typology of Church-Sect-Mysticism	153
	II. Troeltsch's Adoption of the Types: Historical Background	158
	III. The Types and the Larger Project of the Social Teaching	163
	IV. Five Uses of the Types	167
	V. Troeltsch's Normative Assessment of Christianity's Social Forms	175
		A. Gendered Dimensions of the Types	176
		B. The Types and the Challenges of Christianity in the Modern World	184
		C. Troeltsch's Recommendation: A Spiritual and Sociological "Church"	191
	VI. Conclusion	196
CHAPTER FIVE: FROM ESSENCE TO SYNTHESIS
	Introduction	198
	I. The Development of Troeltsch's View of Historical Phenomena	203
	II. Troeltsch's Late Conception of the Historical Object: The Category of the
		Individual Totality in the Historicism Volume	208
		A. The Individual Totality as Complex and Fluid	209
		B. The Continuity (Development) and Value (Individuality) 
			of the Individual Totality	214
	III. Troeltsch's Move From Essence to Cultural Synthesis	222
		A. Troeltsch's Gradual Dissatisfaction with the Concept of an Essence	222
		B. The Limitation of the Essence in the Historicism Volume	226
		C. The Place of the Essence in Troeltsch's Logic of History	228
	IV. The Cultural Synthesis	230
		A. Connecting Past and Present, Actual and Ideal	230
		B. The Content and Validity of the Cultural Synthesis	234
		C. The Cultural Synthesis and the Essence	236
	V. Conclusion	239
	
CONCLUSION	242
BIBLIOGRAPHY	260
INDEX			273