Description
The Fifth-Century Political Battles That Forever Changed the Church.
In this fascinating account of the surprisingly violent fifth-century church, Jenkins describes in bloody detail the battles over “right belief” that had a far greater impact on the future of Christianity than the much-touted Council of Nicea convened by Constantine a century earlier. Jenkins argues that were it not for these controversies the papacy as we know it would never have come into existence and today’s church could be teaching something very different about Jesus.
Comment
“Are you hungry for a rip-roaring tale of theological intrigue filled with conspiracies, Byzantine plots, murder, and mayhem? Or are you longing for a solid, informative, and accurate history of the development of Christian orthodoxy? If your answer is yes to both, Philip Jenkins’ Jesus Wars … is your book.”
— Christianity Today
“In showing general readers how he finds fresh ideas and the resurrections of past teachings invigorating to religious studies, Jenkins provides an accessible book … [which] enlightens readers on the backstory to current Christian divisions.”
— Library Journal
“Jenkins … has done a remarkable job of documenting this little-understood slice of history. There’s lots of excitement and plenty of intrigue, and Jenkins does a fine job in his recitation of this strange story.”
— Publishers Weekly
“Jenkins condenses centuries of church and imperial strife with admirable clarity.”
— Booklist
“Jenkins manages to explain very clearly why people in the early Christian era were so passionately concerned with issues of high theology.”
— The Economist