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32—Julian, the Apostate Who Aped the Church

Way of the Fathers

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 Donate today! http://www.catholicculture.org/donate/audio