The rise of the Christian churc h takes up one-third of this volume, with Constantine's conversion and the resulting Council of Nicea formulizing the "Holy Roman" Catholic Church in 325 A.D. Although his reports on the theology of the church is minimal, Gibbons does flatly state that this is where the exact pronouncement of the Christ being the son of God and rising from the dead takes place -- almost 300 years AFTER the fact. ( )