About The Guy In My Avatar

[HymenaeusAlexander]

The guy portrayed in my avatar is Julian the Apostate. As the last non-Christian ruler of the Empire, he tried and failed to turn back the tide of Christianity through mostly non-violent means. I applaud his optimism in thinking speeches, writings, several reforms and maybe even a couple of burned churches here or there would do the trick in the context of his cultural and political milieu. However, had he used force, his efforts may have proved more successful, not that I’m condoning that sort of thing.

 

He wrote a book that, thanks to total douchebags who were fearful of the power of writings critical to their religion, didn’t survive the anti-pagan purges of 448 and 529. What survives are the reconstructed excerpts that were recorded in the works of his detractors, mainly the ass-hat anti-Semite murderous douchebag par excellence Cyril of Alexandria who wrote a pitiful refutation of Julian’s work full of many of the same kinds of red herrings, ad hominem attacks, and other logical fallacies most of us have come to know and love. Not that any of the trustworthy folks in the Roman Catholic Church would ever do this, but Cyril’s work may have been eventually judged too pathetic of a refutation to survive and consequently some of it was conveniently “lost” along with the remaining excerpts of Julian’s work quoted therein.  

 

In spite of this, what does survive is some really good stuff. I’d recommend reading it. Some things that really stand the test of time are:

• his suspicions that the ancient Hebrews were originally pantheists that moved progressively toward henotheism and finally monotheism
• his observation that creation ex nihilo is a concept largely foreign to both the Old and New Testaments
• his lampooning of things like the Garden of Eden myth and the Tower of Babel
• his accusation that Christianity is just a mixture of the worst parts of both Judaism (rash cultural isolation and xenophobia) and Hellenism (indifference and vulgarity)
• his unfavorable comparison of the irrational and violent behavior of Yahweh to even the most capricious and insidious members of the Greco-Roman pantheon
• his questioning of the value of Christian wisdom and ethics (which he demonstrates were not original) with respect to the advancement and betterment of humanity in comparison to the medicinal, philosophical, political and technological achievements of the Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Babylonians, etc.

 

Writings like Julian’s seem to illustrate the notion that the Enlightenment may have just been Western Civilization waking up from the coma of Christianity. It’s funny because I hear all the time that things like skeptical approaches to the interpretation of the Bible are just a result of “the spirit of the age” but it’s clear these criticisms have been around for millennia. They were just suppressed by the people who stood to lose power and influence.

There’s an enticing passage where Julian makes reference to the differences among the accounts of Jesus in the gospels and writes, “I will consider this again a little later when I begin to examine particularly into the miracle-working and the fabrication of the gospels.” Whatever that was, of course, did not survive the purges. I really wish it would’ve because I would love to see how Julian went about deconstructing the gospels. I can’t help but wonder if that part read something like a summary of D.F. Strauss’ The Life of Jesus Critically Examined. A fragment with Julian commenting on Jesus’ prayer prior to his arrest that survived in the New Testament commentary of Theodore the Interpreter gives us a glimpse into this later portion of the work:

 

 

Furthermore, Jesus prays in such language as would be used by a pitiful wretch who cannot bear misfortune with serenity, and though he is a god is reassured by an angel. And who told you, Luke, the story of the angel, if indeed this ever happened? For those who were there when he prayed could not see the angel; for they were asleep. Therefore when Jesus came from his prayer he found them fallen asleep from their grief and he said: "Why do ye sleep? Arise and pray," and so forth. And then, "And while he was yet speaking, behold a multitude and Judas." That is why John did not write about the angel, for neither did he see it.

 

 

Julian makes an unwarranted assumption about John writing the gospel bearing his name, but his point still stands. What eyewitness did Luke consult for this report? He also basically calls Jesus a cry-baby who can’t handle of bit of torture, knowing full well he’s going to be alive again in few days instead of behaving in a dignified manner like a real god would. Ouch. It's almost shades of Nietzsche.

 

Anyway, check out what survives of his work if you’re interested in sixteen hundred year old criticisms of Christianity that still resonate today.

[new2me]

I only had time to skim a little bit of the text in the link, but what I read is very interesting.  The discussion of issues regarding the credibility of Christianity - the same issues we discuss on this site today - were laid out quite well 1,600 years ago.  I sure wish I could have had some exposure to material like this in my teenage years.

[stryper]

This is why I like this site.   Every now and again fascinating new pieces of information com up that I never knew. 

[MultifariousBirdLady]

Excellent topic!

 

 

 

You might also enjoy The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Wilken, which provides a good overview of some other ancient authors who commented on Christianity, and Porphyry's Against the Christians (a reconstruction like Julian's Against the Galileans) edited by R. Joseph Hoffmann. 

 

Have you read other Pagan works along these lines?  Anything else by Julian?

 

[Joshpantera]

I hadn't read any Julian the apostate before, pretty interesting criticism for his day. Sort of Celsus-like.

[duderonomy]

Which Empire was Julian the last ruler of? Just asking because I don't know and I couldn't find out in the post (unless I missed something), and also to stay on topic. What I really want to say is this:

 

Nuts. I have an avatar that so many here copy, and this guy comes along and gets all the attention with his. I hate when that happens.

[HymenaeusAlexander]

You might also enjoy The Christians as the Romans Saw Them by Robert Wilken, which provides a good overview of some other ancient authors who commented on Christianity, and Porphyry's Against the Christians (a reconstruction like Julian's Against the Galileans) edited by R. Joseph Hoffmann. 

 

Have you read other Pagan works along these lines?  Anything else by Julian?

I haven't really read much from other Pagans. I've read a good bit of Contra Celsum, but it's been awhile and was with different eyes and, of course, with a view to what Origen was saying and not so much Celsus. I'll be sure to check those books out. Thanks.

 

Which Empire was Julian the last ruler of? Just asking because I don't know and I couldn't find out in the post (unless I missed something)

 

The Galactic Empire.

 

Just kidding. It was the Roman Empire. And he wasn't the last ruler of it, just the last Pagan ruler. All of his successors found Christianity to be much more politically expedient.