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

by Richard E. Rubenstein

Book Overview

"A splendidly dramatic story... Rubenstein has turned one of the great fights of history into an engrossing story." -- Jack Miles, Boston Globe; author of God: A Biography.

The life of Jesus, and the subsequent persecution of Christians during the Roman Empire, have come to define what many of us know about early Christianity. The fervent debate, civil strife, and bloody riots as Christianity was coming into being, however,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156013150
• ISBN13: 9780156013154
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

One of the best books I've read in a long long time

It takes genius to make such cerebral material not only comprehensible but gripping to a Kansas housewife (such as myself). One of the best books I've read in a long, long time.

A gripping, fascinating history with contemporary relevance

When Jesus Became God illuminated an era for me. Rubenstein managed to convey an epic struggle, both between paganism and Christianity, and within Christianity. Christians were divided between those who saw Jesus as a man with whose holiness and kinship to God elevated him and made him a model for mankind and those who saw him as wholly divine. Arius and his followers felt that the humanity of Jesus brought him closer to them--wheras Athanasius and his followers believed this view of Jesus was heresy. This book conveys the political struggles between these bishops and their allies, and between the bishops and emperors, and the religious struggle among priests, christian emperors, and laity to define the nature of Christ. As someone raised as a born-again Christian, I was amazed at how much controversy there was on the nature of Christ more than 300 years after the birth of Christianity--further, it was very interesting to read how engaged people were in the religious conflict of the time. They were engaged enough to have pitched street battles between mobs--Alexandrians took their religious conflicts seriously. I saw many parallels to religious and ethnic conflicts today. For example, persecutions by the Roman state divided those christians who tried to collaborate or flee and those who suffered--similar to the experience people of occupied countries in World War II, who faced similar problems after that conflict ended. Although not someone who normally reads books on religious topics, this was one I could not put down. This book is a page-turner--really vivid and alive. At the end, I had a deeper understanding of the roots of Christianity and the power of faith to change empires such as Rome.

Read this book to understand people, not Jesus!

Written with a grace of style that makes this book hard to put down, When Jesus Became God is far more than a mere history of Christology. The question that drives Rubenstein's story is why would essentially reasonable people who share a belief in the divinity of Jesus turn to open conflict, dehumanization of their opponents and violence in support of their point of view concerning the exact nature of Christ's divinity? His chronicling of the Arian-Athanasian controversy is an engaging history that explores these questions: Why did the contestants believe that toleration of serious religious differences seems grossly negligent? What about the contest prompted the contestants to move from attempts at persuasion to attempts to defeat the other side? How and why was the contest really resolved?Anyone who reads this book to answer questions of the essential nature of Christ's divinity will be disappointed for Rubenstein's story is not a theological disputation. Anyone who wonders why those of us who are less than divine are willing to take up arms in defense of the truth as we see it will be fascinated and enlightened by this book. Read it!

Charged, informative, and relevant. Do read it!

Richard Rubenstein's book, When Jesus Became God, is not only a profound look at religious conflict and controversies in the early Christian Church -- its also a page turner! I had no idea how interesting and hard-fought the battle was between people who thought Jesus was God Himself and those who thought he was less than God. The story is gripping. Rubenstein puts you on the streets of Alexandria and Constantinople in the fourth century and in the minds of fascinating people like Emporor Constantine and Athanasius. His vivid portraits of the main characters, and his lively descriptions of the "action," ranging from political intrigues to street riots, make an overlooked complex historical situation--one of tremendous significance--lively, colorful and comprehensible. As someone interested in conflict resolution, I was taken by the story's implications for understanding modern religious conflicts. Whether you are interested in spirituality, conflict, history, or in all three, this book will capture your imagination.