The Creed, or Whatever

The book by Rubenstein, When Jesus Became God, is exceptionally well written and approachable by the lay reader. It addresses the topic of Christology, namely just what was Jesus Christ, man, God, both, and are there three Gods, one, a blend. This has been a major issue in Christianity. It is a monotheistic religion, namely one God, but in the Gospel writing we see Jesus as Son of God, but equal to the Father, and then the Holy Spirit, somehow a third entity acting upon the Apostles. Add to this mix the background of many in Greek philosophy and Greek philosophical terms. Finally add the ascension of Constantine, the "first" Christian emperor in Constantinople who see a cacophony of voices with opinions on this "Trinity" of Gods, yet being just one God. Rubenstein notes that battles would ensure at bakers, merchants, sailors, bar keeps as to what Jesus and the three really were. To Constantine he needed unity not dissension.

The battle was between, at this time, Arians and non-Arians. Arians saw Jesus as Son of God with all that such a relationship brings. The non-Arians are those who saw unity in the Trinity, unity and equality.

Enter Greek, its words, its meanings, its philosophical underpinnings. Enter also the collection of egos acting as Bishops fighting viciously against opposing sides, seeking the approval of Constantine with execution being the adversarial tactic.

The book takes you from before Nicaea to during the Council to many of the events proximate to its ending. It covers the theological issues, the political intrigues, and the religious infighting. There were Councils after this which settled a few issues but not all.

A key set of observations that the author opines on are:

1. The dominant role of Constantine, who at this point is frankly not even a Christian not having been baptized until just before his death.

2. The lack of almost any role by the Bishop of Rome, now the Pope in the Catholic Church. It would not be until the beginning of the next millennium that the concept of a powerful Pope would evolve.

3. The sustaining of a multiplicity of views in the context of deadly conflict.

In the end Rubenstein alludes to the fact that Mohammed and his interpretation had but one God, the Father if you will, and that Jesus was a prophet, as was Moses and in turn as was Mohammed. This simplicity Rubenstein argues was what the Muslim faith spread so rapidly, it simplified so much of the extreme complexity of the Christology. Yet I would argue that this was but one of the many reasons for its spread. One must remember that Muslim faith spread from about 625 onwards whereas the events in this tale are surrounding the period of Nicaea, 325, three hundred years earlier. I would argue that it also was the oppression of the Emperors in Constantinople, the wars with the Persians, the influx of Germanic tribes and a conflux of many other factors.

There is also the maintaining of the Arian faith amongst the newcomers such as the Lombards which lasts well into the 7th Century. There is the detailed theological work using Aristotle by Aquinas in the 13th century and finally the abandonment of this by Ockham in the 14th century, reverting to faith rather than reason.

The greatest challenge in a book of this type is setting the stage for Greek words and meanings circa the 4th century. Such terms as person, essence, substance, and so forth, have meanings in Greek at the time which were modified from Aristotle and his followers, and then as we get to the Scholastics, modified again, and frankly read today may have no nexus to the reality of the time and place of these arguments. I would like to have seen some discussion of this issue, one which I have struggled with in trying to understand early 7th century works. Add to this the complexity of meanings as one crosses the Mediterranean, from Constantinople to Alexandria, then to Syria and beyond.

Overall Rubenstein does a great job for a book of this type. The writing is clear, focused, organized. The explanation and very reasonable and the interplay with the Greek is included. For anyone interested in the battle with Christology this is a superb beginning.

Creeds and their enforcement are sensitive issues. The Eastern Orthodox Church still has core differences, and even amongst Western churches there are material discrepancies. Thus public shows of reciting one Creed or another can and do often result in conflicts, often based upon gross ignorance of the underlying issues. Rubenstein adds to our understanding greatly.