There’s no anti-Christian like an ex-Christian, and there was no figure in antiquity like the Emperor Julian. He promoted the return of paganism as the official religion of the Roman Empire. But it was a strange paganism, modeled on the Christian Church. Julian began by making it difficult for Christians to work in professions like education, law, and military. His methods were mostly bloodless. He knew that martyrs made Christianity strong. It was better he thought, to marginalize believers, neutralizing their influence, pushing them out of public life.

Links

Julian the Apostate, Against the Galileans http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/julian_apostate_galileans_0_intro.htm

Julian the Apostate, Oration upon the Sovereign Sun http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/julian_apostate_1_sun.htm

Gregory Nazianzen, “Oration 4: First Invective Against Julian” http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/gregory_nazianzen_2_oration4.htm

Adrian Murdoch, The Last Pagan: Julian the Apostate and the Death of the Ancient World https://www.amazon.com/Last-Pagan-Julian-Apostate-Ancient/dp/1594772266/

More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/

Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Mike Aquilina’s books https://catholicbooksdirect.com/writer/mike-aquilina/

Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of Corpus Christi Watershed http://www.ccwatershed.org

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