When Jesus Became God（ISBN=9780156013154）pdf/txt下载_在线阅读全文

内容简介

　　The story of Jesus is well known, as is the story of Christian persecutions during the Roman Empire. The history of fervent debate, civil strife, and bloody riots within the Christian community as it was coming into being, however, is a side of ancient history rarely described. Richard E. Rubenstein takes the reader to the streets of the Roman Empire during the fourth century, when a fateful debate over the divinity of Jesus Christ is being fought. Ruled by a Christian emperor, followers of Jesus no longer fear for the survival of their monotheistic faith but break into two camps regarding the direction of their worship. Is Jesus the son of God and therefore not the same as God? Or is Jesus precisely God on earth and therefore equal to Him? The vicious debate is led by two charismatic priests. Arius, an Alexandrian priest and poet, preaches that Jesus, though holy, is less than God. Athanasius, a brilliant and violent bishop, sees any diminution of Jesus' godhead as the work of the devil. Between them stands Alexander, the powerful Bishop of Alexandria, who must find a resolution that will keep the empire united and the Christian faith alive. With thorough historical, religious, and social research, Rubenstein vividly recreates one of the most critical moments in the history of religion.

作者简介

　　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.

媒体评论

　　"[Rubenstein] has taken one of the major religiouscontroversies of the early Christian church, a controversy thatconsumed its energies for most of the fourth century, and turned itinto a flesh-and-blood encounter of real people that reads like anadventure story." (The Christian Science Monitor )"A splendidlydramatic story . . . Rubenstein has turned one of the great fightsof history into an engrossing story."The Gospel narratives maysuggest that Jesus was divine, but they do not insist upon it.Hundreds of years after Jesus' death, the Church councils madeJesus' divinity a central tenet of belief among many of hisfollowers. When Jesus Became God: The Epic Fight over Christ'sDivinity in the Last Days of Rome by Richard Rubenstein is anarrative history of Christians' early efforts to defineChristianity by convening councils and writing creeds. Rubensteinis most interested in the battle between Arius, Presbyter ofAlexandria, and Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria. Arius said thatChrist did not share God's nature but was the first creature Godcreated. Athanasius said that Christ was fully God. At the Councilof Nicea in 325, the Church Fathers came down on Athanasius's sideand made Arius's belief a heresy.

"[Rubenstein] has taken one of the major religious
controversies of the early Christian church, a controversy that
consumed its energies for most of the fourth century, and turned it
into a flesh-and-blood encounter of real people that reads like an
adventure story." (The Christian Science Monitor )"A splendidly
dramatic story . . . Rubenstein has turned one of the great fights
of history into an engrossing story."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."
　　(Amazon.com Review -Michael Joseph Gross )The Gospel stories
of Jesus' life, death and resurrection are familiar tales in
Western literature. Yet, the Gospel narratives do not themselves
pose or answer the theological question of Jesus' divinity. None of
the disciples become engaged in disputations about whether Jesus is
fully God or fully human. It took almost 300 years for these
questions to be raised in such a serious way that Christianity was
changed forever. Rubenstein, a Jew who proclaimed in a now famous
book (After Auschwitz, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992) that
God died "after Auschwitz," examines the details of the fractious
period in early Christian history when Christianity was defining
itself against other religious sects through a number of councils
and creeds. Although he focuses on several of the controversies
surrounding the divinity of Jesus, Rubenstein zeroes in on the
fiery battle between Arius, a presbyter of Alexandria, and
Athanasius, who was Bishop of Alexandria. Arius contended that
Christ did not share God's nature but was simply the first creature
created by God the Father. Athanasius, on the other hand, argued
that Christ was fully God, asserting that the incarnation of God in
Jesus restored the image of God to fallen humanity. With a
storyteller's verve, Rubenstein brings to life the times and deeds
of these two leaders as well as the way that the Council of Nicea
in A.D. 325 established the Christian orthodoxy that was later used
to judge and exile Arius as a heretic. As a result of Nicea, the
author says, "To Christians God became a Trinity. Heresy became a
crime. Judaism became a form of infidelity." Rubenstein's lively
historical drama offers a panoramic view of early Christianity as
it developed against the backdrop of the Roman Empire of the fourth
century. (Publishers Weekly )

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