When Jesus Became God: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome

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 show more 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. show less

I skimmed through this very quickly looking for some specific information, but I'd give this three and a half stars based on its general approach and writing style.

The author describes it, in the acknowledgements, as "a work of storytelling and interpretation," and this seems an apt description. If you'd like to know more about how Christianity came to believe that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine (ie, the Arian controversy) with more attention to human history and historical context than to theological subtleties, in a lively rather than dry academic style, this is the book for you. (A fair warning: Christians who think that the theological developments of the early church were pure and unsullied by human venality are in for show more a sad disillusionment.)

The book is definitely aimed at the general reader and requires no prior knowledge of either the theology or the history of the time. Endnotes provide pointers to the historical and theological details for the more academically oriented reader, citing both primary and secondary sources. And there's a fine map of the "the Roman world in the fourth century" inside the front and back covers that's very helpful in visualizing where all these people were from and where these things were happening. show less

I inherited a few nonfiction books from my grandfather years ago, this among them. I'm finally getting around to reading a couple of them to see what I want to hold on to.
This book added somewhat to my knowledge of the Council of Nicea and its aftermath, of which I really knew nothing. However, it was rather dry and I probably would have been at least as enlightened, if not more, by reading a condensed article. I was interested in the subject! But I guess I like my history humanized a bit, and this didn't work for me.

Quite interesting look at the Council of Nicea, the opposing factions of early Christianity and the political maneuvering that resulted in the doctrine of Jesus' divinity as opposed to him being just the son of God. Not for light reading, this is a dry read for a casual historian, but it portrays the story behind the events that kept apologists employed trying to explain the trinity.

We all know the story of Jesus' life, his death, his resurrection, and the persecution of his early followers. Less well known is the struggle the early Christians had in deciding whether Jesus was God Himself or the holiest of men, adopted by God and raised to divine rank

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 show more 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. show less

I didn't expect it to be this good. It was very interesting and I probably would still have read the entire book even if I am not required to for class.