{"id":6387,"date":"2014-06-19T17:16:25","date_gmt":"2014-06-19T17:16:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/?p=6387"},"modified":"2014-06-19T17:19:58","modified_gmt":"2014-06-19T17:19:58","slug":"five-surprises-that-hit-me-when-writing-how-jesus-became-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithforward\/2014\/06\/five-surprises-that-hit-me-when-writing-how-jesus-became-god\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Surprises That Hit Me When Writing “How Jesus Became God”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/span>In my opinion,\u00a0<\/span>How Jesus Became God\u00a0<\/em><\/a>\u00a0is the most important book I\u2019ve written for non-scholars, since it deals with one of the truly vital issues not only for Christianity but also for Western civilization. One could easily argue that if Jesus had not been declared God, the history of the West would have been inconceivably and unalterably different. If Jesus\u2019 followers had continued to think of him merely as a great Jewish teacher or as another failed prophet of God who was crucified for crimes against the state\u2014if they had not <\/span>elevated him to a level of divinity (or recognized that God had done so)\u2014they would have remained a small sect within Judaism; as a consequence, they would not have attracted large numbers of Gentiles into their religious movement; in turn, there would not have been a steady growth of the church over the first three centuries; as a result, the emperor Constantine would probably never have even heard of this movement, let alone converted to it; and then, the massive conversions after Constantine would not have happened. Christianity would not have become the religion of the Roman State. We would not have had the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Reformation, or Modernity as we know it. It all hinges on the declaration that Jesus was God. This is a huge issue<\/span>.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Possibly because of the enormity of the topic, I learned more writing\u00a0How Jesus Became God<\/em>\u00a0than I did for any other book I\u2019ve ever written for a general audience. Even more striking\u2014at least to me, personally: I changed my mind about truly significant issues in the study of the New Testament and the history of early Christianity. Here is a taste of the surprises that lay in store for me when I began doing my eight years of research on the book. (I argue each point at length in various chapters of the book.)<\/p>\n