Once the Roman Empire became Christian, calling Jesus “Son of God” functioned in that wrong way. The power of the Christian emperor of the Byzantine Empire rested on his claim to be the delegate on earth of that foreboding Son of God. It is this grimly frowning, overbearing face of the Son of God that stares down from a golden mosaic on the ceiling in the cupola of the magnificent Byzantine cathedral Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey, the ancient Byzantine capital Constantinople. There it once cowed the local population into obeying absolutely Christ’s emissary, the Byzantine emperor. - JAMES ROBINSON