On Being a Christian

Why should one be a Christian? Is there something more to being a Christian than to being human? Just what does it mean to be a Christian, especially in today's modern world? Hans Kung, one of the greatest theologians of this century, ponders these questions and, from a lifetime of study, suggests the answers. He looks carefully at the evidence in the Bible, at the challenges of modern humanisms and of the world-religions, at the questions concerning death, at the local and the universal church, at the individual's own personal decisions, and at the freedom that Christianity brings, including the freedom to serve.On Being a Christian is a vital and important statement about what it means to be a Christian. Hans Kung has himself said of the book, which he regards as his magnum opus, that it intends to "clarify and challenge Christian faith and life at a time when the churches have unfortunately lost rather than gained in credibility. It seeks to bring to light for this present time the original Christian message and particularly the figure of Jesus of Nazareth." The book continues to offer a strong message to today's Christians. As Kung says in the closing of the book, "By following Jesus Christ, people in the world today can live, act, suffer and die in a truly human way; in happiness and unhappiness, life and death, sustained by God and helpful to fellow men and women."