Christian Beginnings by Geza Vermes

This is a brilliant book that I recommend to you all, even if you’re not religious or a follower of Christianity.

This book traces the evolution of the figure of Jesus from a prophet in the tradition of other Jewish holy men of the Old Testament to a mysterious being who is consubstantial and coeternal with God and the Holy Ghost.

In the 300 years prior to the Council of Nicaea in 325 AD, St Paul, John, Clement, Ignatius, Polycarp, and many others all added to the myth of Jesus that the man had become to them. Add three wise men in the form of Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen and the scene was set for the first council of Nicaea called by Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor.

The council’s main accomplishment was to settle the issue of the divine nature of God the Son and his relationship to God the Father, largely because the heresy of Arianism was threatening to split the church in two or more parts. Most of the attendees were from the Eastern Church indeed it’s accepted that only 5 people attended from the Western Church.

The basic question I have is, if Jesus did return and saw what the Roman Catholic Church had turned him into and how they’d used his teachings, would he even recognise himself?