27 June 363 AD. Julian the Apostate Dies. Churches Rejoice.
Dr. Rusten tells the story. Rusten, E. Michael and Rusten,
Sharon. The One Year Christian History.
Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2003. Available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Year-Christian-History-Books/dp/0842355073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393302630&sr=8-1&keywords=rusten+church+history
It was a happy day for Christians when the Roman
Emperor, Julian the Apostate, died.
Good, he’s been dispatched to meet His Maker and Judge for further
disposition.
Julian was born in 331 AD. He was the nephew of Constantine the Great
(CG), the liberator of Christians from imperial persecutions and the one
legitimating Christianity as a legal religion.
Julian was 6 when CG died. The Empire went to 3 of CG’s sons:
Constantine II, Constans, and Constantius.
After a series of internal wars, Constantius emerged as the Emperor.
Julian received a Christian education. He was baptized. He was even elected to be a
lector, or, reader, in the Church. But,
he believed his Christian teachers were hypocrites. He also didn't like
Christian austerity.
Julian went to Athens. He was schooled in Homer, Plato and
Aristotle. He privately embraced the
Greek pantheon. He told a confidant that
he conversed (sounds like a TFO talking to the dead) with Jupiter, Minerva,
Apollo and Hercules. He concealed these
commitments. He was a Great Necromancer like John Henry Newman, consorting with
familiar spirits.
In 356, Emperor Constantius made Julian the
Governor of Gaul. Constantius was in
Constantinople and threatened from the East by the Persian. He ordered Julian to give aid from Gaul, but
Julian was averse to the order, and the Army mutinied and declared Julian the
Emperor. Constantius died before a Civil
War developed.
As an Emperor, Julian set about to restore ancient
paganism, necromancy, restoration of heavy and punitive taxes on Christians,
removal of Christians from military and government offices, prohibition of
Christians from teaching, the reopening of pagan temples and the restoration of
pagan sacrifices. He was all-in as an
Anti-Christ, anti-Gospeller, anti-Bible and anti-Christian. Sounds like the clerics at the Council of
Trent, but we digress.
After 8 years of abusive rule, he went to war
against the Persians. He died as a
result of received wounds. The Army elected Jovian as the replacement.
When news of Julian’s death was received, the
church were thankful.
Daniel 4.17: “The Most High rules over the kingdoms
of the world and given them to anyone He chooses.”
Sources
Frend. The
Rise of Christianity. 593-617.
Norman, J.G.G. “Julian the Apostate.” NIDCC. 555.
Schaff. History of the Christian Church. 3:
41-60.
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