spiritual nucleus is something to be gained not by means of
knowledge, but by means of love. Eucken goes so far as to state that the
idea of love and love of one's enemy as presented in Christianity forms
a new element for the redemption of the individual and of the race. To
grasp this idea and to penetrate into its nature is to solve all the
problems of life and death. This is the Eternal element in the Christian
religion. It is found, it is true, in other religions; but why should we
look for it elsewhere when it blossomed with such divine glory in the
life of the Founder? This is the highest spiritual synthesis
conceivable. The world has known nothing greater, and nothing greater is
to be known. This is the Eternal element in Christianity which has to be
possessed and preserved and furthered. If we ask the question concerning
the success or failure of Christianity in the future, the answer is to
be found by answering the question, Is Love to God and Love to man found
within it to-day? If we are able to answer in the affirmative, we are
thereby answering the question in regard to the future duration and
conquests of Christianity. And if it possesses [p.187] this element
deeply enough, it can adopt any existential-form which appears true
without any kind of alarm. If we have to answer in the negative, there
is no guarantee as to persistence of Christianity in the future.
Anything less than the spiritual nucleus of Love is lacking in strength
necessary to withstand the storms of the future.

We thus see that the essence of Christianity and its durability do not
lie in any kind of theology: it lies within the Spiritual Substance
which has abode within it throughout the centuries. Here will the world
find its peace and power; here will all social complexities be solved;
here will the meanings and blessings of the spiritual over-world of
goodness and love become the possession of man. This is what Eucken
means by contending that it is not the business of Christianity to deal
with social problems in any light but the light of Infinite Love.
Without an experience of this deepest source of Christianity, we do not
possess the equipment for doing anything more than patching and
re-patching the evils of the world. And all our patching, when but a
small span of time has passed away, will leave the situation just as it
was, or probably worse. Every solution will give birth to a new
complexity; the world may be incessantly active i