Editorial Reviews  
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The Gospel narratives may suggest that Jesus was divine, but they do not insist upon it. Hundreds of years after Jesus' death, the Church councils made Jesus' divinity a central tenet of belief among many of his followers. When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ's Divinity in the Last Days of Rome by Richard Rubenstein is a narrative history of Christians' early efforts to define Christianity by convening councils and writing creeds. Rubenstein is most interested in the battle between Arius, Presbyter of Alexandria, and Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. Arius said that Christ did not share God's nature but was the first creature God created. Athanasius said that Christ was fully God. At the Council of Nicea in 325, the Church Fathers came down on Athanasius's side and made Arius's belief a heresy. Rubenstein's brisk, incisive prose brings the councils' 4th-century Roman setting fully alive, with riots, civil strife, and spectacular public debates. Rubenstein is also personally invested in the meaning of these councils for religious life today: he wrote this book, in part, because he grew up in a mixed Jewish Catholic neighborhood and was bewildered by animosity between the religious groups on his block. Digging back in history, Rubenstein learns that before the Arian controversy, "Jews and Christians could talk to each other and argue among themselves about crucial issues like the divinity of Jesus.... They disagreed strongly about many things, but there was still a closeness between them." But when the controversy was settled, Rubenstein notes, "that closeness faded. To Christians, God became a Trinity and heresy became a crime. Judaism became a form of infidelity. And Jews living in Christian countries learned not to think very much about Jesus and his message." --Michael Joseph Gross 

Book Description  
Remarkable religious history, meticulously researched and written with the fire of Robert Graves's I, Claudius. 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. This controversy was at the heart of the most fateful conflict in Christendom until the Reformation. It was characterized by fervent debate, riots, a series of ecumenical councils, and civil strife. The key players were two priests, Arius and Athanasius, brothers in Christ, ideological opponents, and mortal enemies. Arius, a firebrand bishop, intelligent and eloquent, preached that Jesus was less than God. Athanasius, a brilliant and violent deacon, ardently opposed Arius's subversive preaching. Between them stood Alexander, the powerful bishop of Alexandria, the man on whose shoulders lay the need for a speedy resolution, which was essential both to keeping the empire united and to the continuation of the Church. Richard Rubenstein presents a vibrant portrait of the thriving Roman Empire in the centuries after the birth of Jesus Christ, as he brings to life the ideas of the most influential leaders and shows us a major religion at the crossroads of its faith. 

The author, Richard E. Rubenstein <richruben@aol.com.>, August 4, 1999 
The dramatic story of a struggle that defined Christianity 
Not long ago, I gave a talk to a church congregation about the subject of WHEN JESUS BECAME GOD: the great struggle over the divinity of Jesus Christ that ripped the Christian community apart in the fourth century. Today it's known as the Arian controversy, after an Alexandrian priest named Arius, who insisted that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, but not God Himself. At least half the Christian world at that time agreed with him. People in the street took sides along with emperors, bishops, and theologians. It took almost a century of fierce debate, political intrigue, and mass violence before the opposing view - that Jesus was God in the flesh - was accepted as Christian orthodoxy. In the discussion period, members of the congregation peppered me with questions. Why hadn't Christians made up their minds about Jesus' true nature three centuries after his crucifixion? Why couldn't the Roman emperor and more than thirty church councils settle the matter? Why was the conflict so intense and violent? And what can we learn from it that might help us deal with religious conflicts in our own time? The questions were sharp, but I was ready to try to deal with them. These issues, after all, are what the book is about. What surprised me, though, were the comments that people made privately, when we talked one-on-one. "What a story!," said one woman. "I can't believe that we don't learn about it in Sunday School or discuss it in church." "I've never really thought much about Jesus being God," a man admitted. "Maybe I'm really an Arian!" And, from another congregant: "Now I understand the real differences between our Christian faith and the beliefs of Jews and Muslims." I hadn't realized until then how little was generally known about one of the most important struggles in Christian history. I'm glad that I told the story for this reason and several others. It really is a dramatic tale, combining high-level theological debate with portraits of fascinating characters and unexpected plot twists. It brings to life a great urban civilization, now mostly forgotten, but in many ways like ours. It helps us understand why religious disputes sometimes become lethal and what it takes to resolve them. And it invites us to think again about the most significant figure of the past two millennia: the Palestinian rabbi, executed as a rebel, who inspired hundreds of millions of people to change their lives and their world. 

About the Author  
Richard E. Rubenstein is a professor of Conflict Resolution and Public Affairs at George Mason University, where he specializes in religious conflict. A graduate of Harvard College, Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar), and Harvard Law School, he currently lives in Fairfax, Virginia.