Christians correctly believe that Athanasius and several subsequent councils in the 4th century were simply affirming what the vast majority of Christians already knew after over two centuries of use, that the 27 letters or "books" of the NT were Scripture.

At that same time in 325 A.D., The Great Council of Nicaea attempted to settle speculative disputes about the nature of our Lord Jesus Christ. Later, that council, in conjunction with the Council of Constantinople of 381 A.D., produced the Nicene Creed that we have today. However, you'll be surprised to know that unlike the previous councils , the Councils of Nicaea and Constantinople conducted their business in a spirit of violence, coercion, and State interference.

Although written by a non-Christian with an inaccurate presuppositional view, enough truth shines through in this book to reveal that these councils went beyond Scripture into the realm of speculation, when considering the theories of both Arius and Athanasius on the nature of Christ. Because of the Nicene Creed's unscriptually supported view of the nature of God, today's ecclesiastical Christian priesthood have no choice but to rely on mental gymnastics and unreasoned mysticism to weakly justify the Nicene Creed and enforce it as orthodoxy on a bewildered Body of Christ. ( )

In the Fourth Century AD, the newly legalized and consolidating Christian church was rocked by a bloody and seemingly intractable theological argument which involved roman emperors (Constantine, Theodosius) as well as bishops (Arius, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Athanasius, St Jerome) and brought about synods (Councils of Nicea and Constantinople), official confessions of beliefs (Nicene Creeds) and accusations of heresy (Arianism). At issue was the exact nature of the divinity of Christ, whether a created being or unbegotten and emanating from one same substance. The author is in complete command of the subject matter: the history and politicking are griping and the all sides of the theological debate clearly expounded. This quarrel hinges on a fine point of semantic detail with enormous repercussions on faith. The author makes clear that this polemic was driven by bishops. However, I would have loved to read how ordinary people were engaged in the debate: how did it affect them in their lives? How did they receive these creeds and accept them as faith? Perhaps the historical record is too thin, but mourir pour des idées, l’idée est excellente… Read in French. A great book which got me interested in early church history and Christian doctrine. ( )