Janus in Nicea: Origins of the Roman Imperial Christian Cult

This book explores some of the controversies and historical gaps that confront those seeking an historical Christ, before presenting a coherent and historically verifiable narrative that explains the motivations and context for the creation of the Christian Church in the 4th century CE. Searching for an historical Christ has been a popular effort of several scholars over the last half-century, obscuring the common understanding prior to the 20th century that the Gospels were fiction. Many obstacles stand in the way of modern historical investigations: problems in archeology, Biblical analysis, theology and dogma, among others. These conflicts are easily resolved when the origin of Christianity is placed within the proper time and place. As a 4th century Roman artifact, the theology and dogma of the Church are products of their time, and the lack of 1st century material is no longer mysterious.