The primary source of the appeal of Christianity was Jesus - His incarnation, His life, His crucifixion, and His resurrection.

Latourette’s sentence distills a central thesis in much modern church historiography: Christianity’s historical vitality is not explained primarily by institutional structures, ethical teaching, or cultural accommodation, but by the person and narrated career of Jesus as proclaimed by the early church. By listing incarnation, life, crucifixion, and resurrection, the quote sketches the core of classical Christian kerygma—the claim that God acted decisively in history through Jesus’ embodied life, atoning death, and vindicating resurrection. The emphasis also implies that secondary factors (organization, apologetics, social benefits) gained persuasive force insofar as they were anchored to this Christ-centered story.