The Struggle to Define Christianity During the Last Days of Rome
By Richard E. Rubenstein
The following book review is provided by Matthew Johnson
I just finished reading When Jesus Became God by Richard Rubenstein, and it is by far one of the best books I have read in regards to the historical issues surrounding the Trinity and the deity of Christ.
Rubenstein not only does an excellent job in retelling history, but he does it from a very unbiased viewpoint. The book itself is a thrill to read, and he has an amazing ability to quickly engross you into a story in which you soon forget you are reading a very historical piece.
So few people really understand all of this historical events that surround the Trinity, and even fewer people realize how many brave men and women opposed this pagan belief and were tortured or killed because of it. The book retells all of the gross and startling details that surround the development of this doctrine.
With an issue so crucial as the Trinity, it is imperative that we have a solid understanding of Scripture and history because both paint a very vivid picture that are quite contrary to what most of the Church is teaching today.
If you want to have a better understanding about the historical aspects surrounding the Trinity, then take the time to read this book. It is relatively short and will give you a lot of knowledge as you continue your search for Truth.
The following are quotes from others who have read this amazing book!
“Early church history has never been so fascinating…The author breathes life into the personalities that dominate this era in history.”
“Rubenstein has taken one of the major religious controversies of the early Christian Church…and turned it into a flesh-and-blood encounter of real people that reads like an adventure story.”
“After almost three hundred years of persecution, Christianity made an astonishing breakthrough in 324, when Constantine the Great became the emperor of Rome. No longer fearing for their own survival, Christians turned to the question of how to define what beliefs identified a “true” Christian. Led by two charismatic priests — Arius who preached that Jesus, though uniquely holy, is less than God, and Athanasius who argued that Jesus is God himself in human form — the debate over Jesus’ degree of divinity escalated from heated argument to violence and bloodshed.
With vivid detail and METICULOUS research, Rubenstein re-creates the political intrigue, riots, and power struggles of one of the most critical moments in history — one with startling parallels to our own time.”